Doomrider74

Does anyone find their HRM works more consistently if they wear a base layer over the top, under your cycling jersey?

I have a Wahoo Tickr Ive been using for about 3 months and its had issues with inconsistent readings on my Garmin 530, particularly at the beginning of rides. However, I've noticed if I wear a base layer over the top, below my jersey, it works from the start and has far fewer dropouts.

The Chemist

I've noticed something similar in winter. In summer I can wear my Bryton HRM right under my jersey and it'll work from the start because the heat and humidity gets me sweating right away. But in winter with much cooler weather it takes much longer to start sweating so my HRM drops out constantly, but if I wear a thicker layer over my jersey I get sweaty more quickly and the HRM doesn't drop too much at the start.

Bald Paul

A little dab of something like KY gel on the pads usually works. Also, check the tension of the chest strap.

Tourist in MSN

I put my HRM chest strap on. If it is not warm out and there may be a delay before I sweat, I lick my thumb and rub my thumb on the skin under the pads on the chest strap to get electrical contact with the saliva on the skin.

pdlamb

All this. Plus, if I misjudge the temperature and wear a light polypro jersey when it's too cool to sweat, the readings get really erratic.

I got some electrode get a while back for situations like that, when even the saliva method fails. Now if I could just figure out when I need to carry it!? It sits inside and laughs at me from miles away once a week or so all winter.

Riveting

It goes without saying that any external pressure on the HRM would make it sit tighter/closer to the skin. I bet a strip of medical tape to secure the HRM would gain even better (or possibly the best) results, as well as shaving the location under the HRM, which is what I used to do, as well as wetting the HRM pads.

Seattle Forrest

I run mine under the sink for a moment before I put it on.

canklecat

Yeah, I use water from the sink to wet the strap and my chest when putting on the Wahoo Tiickr. Then I check my heart rate variability with the Elite HRV app. By the time I'm moving around and on the bike I'm sweating enough to maintain steady conductivity. I drink electrolytes with most workouts, which also ensures consistent conductivity.

BTW, the Wahoo Tickr strap may be good for about a year before the contacts will begin to peel away from the strap, or the connections will fail. I replaced my strap with this one from CooSpo, which maintains more reliable conductivity. But the plastic buckle broke after a few months. I used small zip ties to permanently latch the buckle together and just slide the closed loop around my head or step into it like pants. Not a big hassle, so I'll just keep using it that way until the contacts fail.

scottfsmith

My Tickr can be quite finicky. But at some point I learned if after I put it on if I rub each of the electrode sections up-down-up-down against my skin it seems to always work.

I tried lots of other things like tighter strap, spitting, wetting, side-to-side rubbing, and only the up-down seems to do it. I have no idea why. Maybe it gets it under the hair better?

Seattle Forrest

You mean like in the toilet?

canklecat

Incidentally, some of the finicky behavior in getting the Tickr paired may be a Bluetooth/ANT+ issue, rather than the Tickr itself.

My sensors connect quickly with my inexpensive XOSS G+ computer. But about once a week or so my Android phone gets balky about all of my Bluetooth devices -- Tickr, earth induction speed/cadence sensor, ear buds, remote speaker, etc. I have to restart the phone to clear up the problem.

Same with GPS sync issues. About once a week or so I need to recalibrate the compass, via the Google Maps calibration trick. And restart the phone to clear up jagged GPS traces that look like I'm riding or running in a weird sawtooth pattern.

So some of these issues might not be a problem with the Tickr.