Inexpensive Heart Rate Monitor/Cyclocomputer (sort of long)

Many years ago I decided I'd like to try a HRM, and purchased a Vetta
HR1000. They were being cleared out cheap because of problems with the
transmitter strap. It was pretty well known (and discussed on r.b.*)
that sweat got into the xmitter and did nasty things. First thing I
did was take the back off the xmitter and caulk up the gaps with
silicone rubber sealant.

I was so happy with my HR1000 I bought a couple more for my other
bikes. Also got some spares from others who had given up on them
because of the xmitter failures.

Eventually Vetta stopped selling them, replacing them with (IIRC) the
HRM50; but then SuperGo started selling the same unit for $34.95(US)
under their brand. These were identical to the Vetta units except for
the color of the buttons and the transmitter straps were improved. I
bought a couple of these HRM1000s as my bike collection continued to
grow.

Finally one of these units started to give faulty mileage readings. By
swapping displays around I determined the problem was in the wiring
harness/mounting bracket. I tried SuperGo to either get a wiring
harness or lacking that a new HRM1000. Turns out they could no longer
get these from their supplier in Hong Kong. I replaced the
intermittent harness/mount with one taken off my TT bike, a bike I've
not ridden in a couple of years.

Then a couple of weeks ago another harness failed. This time the wire
had broken off the mounting bracket. Now I really needed a solution.
An ebay search turned up a guy in Hong Kong selling these for
$9.70(US) each. His shipping and handling charge is a bit out of line,
but totalling up the cost they're still cheaper than when SuperGo was
selling them. Anyway, I did a "buy now" and three new SuperGo HRM1000s
arrived yesterday, total cost $87.10(US).

I'm NOT an agent for the seller; a google groups search will find I've
been high on these HRMs for years. The display units are practically
bullet-proof and the chest straps are much improved. At these prices
it's a real deal. If you're interested in trying a heart rate monitor
cheap, an ebay search for "HRM1000" find them.


jeverett3ATearthlinkDOTnet http://home.earthlink.net/~jeverett3