Polar CS200Cad ?

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gavintc

Guru
Location
Southsea
I am looking at buying a better HRM and note the reasonable discounts online for the Polar CS200Cad. I want a HRM that I can download the data; HRM, Speed and Cadence to my computer and maintain a log of my rides.

I have read some negative reports on this HRM. Reportedly it is difficult to download the data and once downloaded, you dont get all the readings for a ride. Does anyone on here use this HRM and if so, have they had good or bad experiences with it. Equally, I note the jump to an IR download HRM means paying over twice the price. Anyone got any comments on the Polar 400 or the Timex Ironman Bodylink.
 

Noodley

Guest
I have one. I am techno stupid and found downloading a pain in the arse so gave up. I have only worn the HRM a few times (mostly as this season was crap and I did little training) but the bike computer bit is great, no faults or blips and loads of functions. I suppose I would have been disappointed if I was looking for an easy to use HRM for downloading data, but as I was looking for a reliable bike computer with HRM facility, and bought it at a good price in Jan/Feb of this year, I am happy with it.

Remember I said I was techno stupid so it may be okay.
 

Noodley

Guest
Okay, I have just remembered why I had problems with it after I posted that. It was something to do with using a microphone to download data...I think I found it difficult as I had an external microphone rather than one built into my laptop.
 
OP
OP
gavintc

gavintc

Guru
Location
Southsea
thanks for the comment Noodley, your comment about the downloading problems fit with what I have found from reviews online.
 

Steve Austin

The Marmalade Kid
Location
Mlehworld
Never been able to download anything from mine. I could never pick up enough of a signal to get a reading.
Great computer on the bike though....
 

nickwill

New Member
Location
Kendal
Mine works perfectly with a cheap external mike. As far as I can remember, there is an option with the software, where you can change the settings to allow for a quiet signal. Once I changed this it has worked perfectly.
 

walker

New Member
Location
Bromley, Kent
I've just recently bought a CS400, and I have no idea what's going on. I've upgraded from a CS200 but for the life of me I can't seem to get the 400 to display what I want from the 200, I want speed, time, and HR on the screen, anything else, fine big bonus. but I can't get these simple figures to show. Anyone else know how to work it as the instructions are pointless and I have vista and the disc is for Windows 98. Will the disc tell me what I need to know? I can dig out my old PC
 

Mortiroloboy

New Member
Noodley said:
I have one. I am techno stupid and found downloading a pain in the arse so gave up. I have only worn the HRM a few times (mostly as this season was crap and I did little training) but the bike computer bit is great, no faults or blips and loads of functions. I suppose I would have been disappointed if I was looking for an easy to use HRM for downloading data, but as I was looking for a reliable bike computer with HRM facility, and bought it at a good price in Jan/Feb of this year, I am happy with it.

Remember I said I was techno stupid so it may be okay.


I'm also techno stupid, although I do subscribe to the theory that all technology knows I'm there, I will sit in front of a computer at work and for some entirely inexplicable reason it won't do for me what it will do for a colleague, who does the same things, presses the same buttons etc that I do:wacko: I think it (IT) know's I'm there and does it just to pi$$ me off and make my job harder than it already is:angry:

As for the Polar CS 200 CAD, I have one, as Noodley points out the computer bit is great, Polars after sales is questionable, I had an issue with mine giving me cadence readings, even though the cadence sensor was not on the bike (due to the magnet) forever falling off the crank arm, I gave up on it, but the head unit still gave me random readings!:evil: I emailed Polar loads of times <cue tumbleweed> never heard diddly from them, so not overly impressed.

Very occasionally the chest strap will not send to the head unit, but I find more and more that I tend to listen to my body, rather than slavishly allow the HRM to control what I do on the bike.
 

domtyler

Über Member
I used to have one and liked it, yeah the upload via microphone was flaky but I coped. It ended up falling off the bike in the middle of a sportive and getting run over by about a hundred riders behind me. :biggrin:

I replaced it with a Garmin Edge 305. Talk about a revelation! It is everything that the Garmin was and then about a hundred times more. GPS on your cycle computer is the way to go, it is simply in a different league. Makes the Polar feel very much like yesterdays toy.
 
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