Garmin HRM gel

[Hackfall]

Hi I always fond not getting contact from moisture in first 15 mins of a ride tricky in getting a true HRM reading, I can get readings of over 200 bpm. I have tried wetting a little but I think the right gel is what i need. Not sure what to buy but understand it needs to be water based like you would use for a pregnancy scanner?

Is this the stuff?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221206915993? ... EBIDX%3AIT

[trull]

Saliva works, and there is a ready supply. Have you changed the battery? This can cause dodgy readings too.

[Hackfall]

saliva no good, and dodgy readings as I say always in first 15 mins until sweat gets the contacts going for want of a better term

[dellwood33]

This is the gel that I have been using to good effect

http://www.google.co.uk/aclk?sa=l&ai=Cm ... e-gel.html

[Mick F]

I used a tiny bit of soap and water. I found that saliva dried off in the cooler weather but hot weather was ok because of the sweat.

Yes, soapy water works and make sure spread it about.

[gerrymcm]

I've been using this stuff for about 3 years without issue. Previously I used to, like yourself, suffer erratic readings from my current and previous HRM without this gel. Apparently there is stuff that's designed for this sort of application but the stuff I've linked has always worked for me.
It's handy in that it comes in two small bottles which is handy for me as I leave one at work and one at home.

"2 x 100ml Original ABGYMNIC Highly Conductive Gel for TENS..."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003 ... UTF8&psc=1

Gerry

[freeflow]

Would putting your HRM monitor on 15 minutes before you start riding generate enough moisture between your skin and the sensor?

[Mick F]

It never did with me.
I tried it.
Nice and warm in the house and my skin would dry out. I needed hard work to generate the moisture to make a good contact. Plus the deep breathing expanded the chest and created friction and movement to help the connection too.

(Note the past tense. I don't have an HR strap any more.)

[andrewjoseph]

Mine goes erratic when it's too loose. Tighten the strap and it's fine again. I use spit and it works fine. Same for my wife, tighten strap and use spit.

[Ayesha]

+1 Tighten the strap.

And shave your chest where the pads grip the skin.

[Mick F]

-1
Don't tighten the strap.

It's an electrical contact that you need. By tightening the strap you get better contact, but by having it more comfortable and having sweat it works just fine instead.

The problem is, is when you're not sweaty! You need an electrolyte and spit works well until it dries out. Use something else, but don't tighten the strap to compensate!!!!!

Uncomfortable and restrictive!!!!

[Scunnered]

No need to have the strap any tighter than it needs to be to keep it in place.

KY Jelly works fine for enhancing electrical contact, it's cheap and you can get it from most supermarkets or a chemist.
Apply the gel to the strap and wet your skin.

[Mick F]

Exactly!
+1

Do NOT tighten the strap to compensate for lack of electrolyte.

[andrewjoseph]

I'm not advocating restrictive compression, but there is middle ground between too loose and too tight!

I find that our straps loose elasticity over several rides, tightening to snug feels better and helps conductivity. This technique has worked for the last 10 years or so since we started using hrm. Not ever used gel. Spit works fine.

[Chuck Glider]

I had the same problem with my Garmin chest strap (soft strap type). I solved it by buying a Polar chest strap and swapping the electronic pod unit over - it has press buttons that match. The Polar is way more reliable and consistent ime. I just use a few drops of water to moisten the contact patches.