Polar CS300 Great upper-entry level cycling HRM

I'm very pleased with the CS300. I purchased mine with the optional wireless cadence sensor.

I've used a number of generic, low-end, heart rate monitors for cycling in the past. When I decided that it was time to step up to a cycling specific HRM, this is the one that I picked.

I used the CS300 to not only upgrade my HRM, but also to replace my existing cyclometer and cadence sensor. It's slightly bulkier on the handle bars, but getting rid of the wires to the speed and cadence sensors on the old cyclometer is a real plus.

PROS:

--Very reliable. Had trouble with it displaying apparently erratic heart rates at first, but that turned out to be the fact that I wasn't wetting the contacts on the chest strap enough before starting my ride. Now I just run it under water before putting it on, and it has never had another problem.

--I love the "OwnZone" function, which selects an appropriate target heart rate zone every time that I ride based on my max heart rate, heart rate above my resting rate, etc. I find it to be very accurate. If it says that I haven't fully recovered from the hard ride the day before, it is always right. In the cases that I've tried to overrule its judgement, I've discovered that my legs really weren't ready for another intense workout. And on the days that I want to just go out and crank, I can set my own manual limits.

--Distances are extremely accurate. I've checked it against GPS, and it is dead on.

--The upload to the Polar training diary website works well, once you fiddle with it a bit. Polar training website allows you to record and chart a huge variety of data elements.

--The wireless speed and cadence sensors work very well.

--I like the fact that it differentiates between cycling workouts and non-cycling workouts, and is still able to run the estimated calories burned for each.

--The VO2max estimation function is great!


CONS:

--Only a single target heart rate zone. I wish that it had multiple zones, as other more expensive units have, but that's a tradeoff that I made knowingly.

--I wish I had the ability to pause recording during a ride (such as when stopped at the mini-mart for a Power Bar) so that the stopped time didn't dilute my average speeds, heart rates, and cadence. It's possible that the unit will already do this, but I haven't found it yet. I've only been riding with it for a few weeks, and the multiple functions of each button, depending on mode, can be a bit confusing at first.

--I wish that the volume on the audible alarms went up just a little bit higher. In a strong headwind it can sometimes be difficult to hear.

--I really wish that when I uploaded the stored workouts from the HRM to the Polar training website, that the website would recognize workouts that had previously been uploaded and deduplicate them. At the moment I have a number of workouts on the HRM that I don't want on the training diary. It automatically uploads all stored workouts every time, and I have to go into the online diary and delete those workouts. It would be nice if it didn't upload those workouts again the next time. Minor irritation.

SUMMARY:

Overall, a very, very good cycling heart rate monitor. It doesn't have the features of the $700-$800 dollar units. But it doesn't have the price tag either. And it does everything that I realistically need it to do. I'm not Lance Armstrong. I'm just an over-40 guy who likes to ride a couple hundred miles a week, and improve his general fitness level.