15 responses so far ↓

• 1 Ngok

  I’m a Polar S725x Heart Rate Monitor user and I’ve been using the Polar S1 Foot Pod diligently for my runs and walks. I like the light weight feel of the Footpod. After having seen the buzz here about the G1 GPS, I had to give it a shot. Prior to using the s725x, I was actually a Timex Bodylink user. The Bodylink system is a heart rate monitor, speed, distance, and altitude system. I switched over to Polar because heart rate data is more important to me than anything else. Here’s my review of the G1:

  What you get: G1 GPS Unit, Armband, AA battery, and a nice little storage pouch.

  First off, the weight initially feels a little heavy. Compared to the Timex GPS unit, the G1 is just a tad heavier. After having it strapped to my upper arm for a few minutes though, I forgot that it was there. So it’s just a matter of getting used to it being there.

  Set-up: When I first powered up the unit, the G1 took about three minutes to find a signal.

  Now on to accuracy…

  TEST #1: I decided to head out to Fort Funston here in San Francisco and take a walk along a path where I know the precise distance. Not only that, but I decided to bring along my Magellan Explorist 210 GPS. This GPS uses the highly accurate WAAS system. The roundtrip distance for the walk is 1.11 miles. There isn’t that much tree cover, and when I did pass under a tree canopy, it was only for a distance of 100 feet or so. I didn’t experience any loss in signal. At 0.7 miles on my GPS, the Polar G1 started to deviate a little bit. The G1 was reading 0.75. The deviation of 0.05 miles remained at the One Mile mark. But at the end of the walk, my GPS read 1.1 miles while the Polar G1 registered 1.2 miles. Of course, this is without calibration. (I’ve done this path before to test the S1 Footpod and found the deviation to only be 0.025 miles, so out of the box the S1 was more accurate without calibration.)

  One thing I did notice about the G1 is that it seems to sample speed at a rate of about 3 seconds or so. Sometimes it was bang-on with the speed on my GPS, and sometimes it was catching up to it.

  TEST #2: Now with the Running Feature calibrated for the deviation, I decided to walk the same path again. The GPS was powered off, then powered on again. It took about 45 seconds to find a signal. This time the measurement came out to just shy of 1.1 miles, so it’s pretty close. With a little more calibration, it should be okay.

  Comparisons to the Timex Bodylink: I’ve never used a Garmin HRM before, so I can’t comment on those, but in comparing this G1 to the Timex GPS sensor, the Timex wins hands down. With the Timex, you get speed, distance, elevation, and logging features. Also, the battery lasts 20+ hours. I figured Polar could have done some forward-thinking with this unit and added some of those features. Perhaps they will when the new rs800cx comes out, or with the new FT series watches. So this is why I only give it 4/5 stars, because it doesn’t have as many features as the Timex GPS.

  Final Thoughts: I bought the Polar s725x because Polar is the absolute best when it comes to EKG accurate heart rate monitors. For me, my heart and its health is more important than anything else. Every other perk of the technology is just an added bonus. Sure, I do like to log distance and mileage, but when it comes to miles, I’m more interested in 10ths of a mile than anything more accurate than that.

  I plan to alternate using the G1 and my S1 Footpod, depending on where I decide to walk or run. I’ll use the G1 when I know I’ll be in an area with a lot of open space, and the S1 when I know I’ll be in an area with a lot of tree-cover.

  One more thing about the G1. Now that it’s out there, the Polar s625x and the s725x have become true multisport computers. I can now do some crosstraining, like kayaking and inline skating, and have a multitude of data that I can now analyze. For that alone, I think it’s worth it.

• 2 Quiroz

  I love my Polar F60. I bought it to track my fitness on hikes and runs while on a trip in southwest Utah. And with it, I bought the Polar G1 GPS Speed and Distance Sensor. Alas. The shallowest of canyons had it flummoxed; the most unthreatening cliffs stymied it. On a given hike (or run) I would get mileages from 2.1 to 8.5 miles off from the established distances.
  Coming home to New York City, I fared no better. Testing the G1 on daily Central Park runs of (tested) 3.7 miles, I got readings from 2.2 to 6 miles. (And according to the G1, I was running 12.3 miles per hour at my MAX – possible for some, perhaps, but not for me.) Pretty useless. Apparently the “four satellites” that are accessed need to be directly overhead.
  I’m going to try the foot pod. Until I move to a Plains state.

• 3 Escalante

  I have the Polar S625X and use it all the time for running, biking and swimming. I use the S1 foot pod for running and have had very good luck with it, even without calibration. I also use a Garmin Forerunner 205 while running for more accurate distance measurement. I was very excited when Polar released the G1 gps that would work with the S625X. I like the Garmin but get tired of keeping up with two watches, plus the running log software with Polar is far better than Garmin’s.

  I waited quite some time before buying, hoping I’d find some product reviews on-line. I didn’t find many so decided to just try it myself. After getting mixed information from a polar rep (from my local bike shop) and the customer service at Polar, I bought it from Amazon.com.

  Unfortunately, I feel now like I wasted $140. I first tried it while running and although the distance was not so bad, the pace information was useless. At one point it was stuck at 10:40 min/mile while I was running closer to 8 min/mile. Even slowing down and speeding up wouldn’t get it to budge. I tried other times running and the error in distance got even worse.

  Then I rode my moutain bike while others were running (so I was going pretty slow). It measured short and then stopped altogether.

  I will try get it to work better, but I’m not so confident. If you use the S1 foot pod, I would stick with that as the pace info on the G1 is worthless (most gps’ aren’t very good for that anyway while running) and I can’t seem to get the distance to work very well. If you want really accurate distance, I would suggest the Garmin products. Otherwise, just use your S1.

• 4 Nollie

  This is worth adding to your Polar system. I’m actually considering buying another one just to put on a different pair of shoes. I love the whole system.

• 5 Earp

  The service is second to none. Excelent in timing and the product just work perfect. Thank you.

• 6 Cahill

  Amazing stuff ! Together with the RS 800 CX give to you a lot of usefull information. I liked it very much.

• 7 Ullrich

  All too often, I do a ride with friends, think its great but have no idea where we went. With this device, I can now chart the ride I just took so I can repeat it in the future. Great feature.

• 8 Murch

  Works like a charm. Just turn it on, wait for it to link with the watch, and run.

• 9 Frankenstein

  My attempt to purchase this item was curtailed by the fact that it can’t be shipped to me. But the speed sensor can?
  I’d have to rate a product that a supplier refuses to sell to me as 0 stars.

• 10 Izell

  This is manufactured by a company known for making top quality electronics. It is made in Finland and you can tell.

• 11 Sheahan

  This is the fourth Polar S-Series Cadence Sensor that I’ve purchased. No, none have worn out, nor have there been any issues; it’s just that the sensor is so good and helpful, that I’ve put one on each of my three bikes, and picked up this fourth one for when I travel and rent at my destination. In this case, Las Vegas. Having one to use strictly for travel may seem extravagant, but it serves me well for two points: (1) I don’t have to keep snipping the zip ties on one bike, removing the sensor and the pedal magnet, then reattaching them when I’m back from my trip; and (2) If any of my other three sensors do break or run out of battery, I’ve got a handy replacement.

  I’ve had no interference issues with this sensor, and no apparent drop-out, nor weird spikes that I sometime see with my heart rate and speed. The only downsides that I see with this sensor are: (1) The price – it seems to be about $5 to $10 more than *I* think it should; and (2) The declining availability; as Polar’s moved to newer models of heart rate monitors, it’s getting tougher to find the S-Series components.

  In conclusion, if you’ve got an S-Series monitor, and are serious about your bike training, I highly recommend this sensor. It’s been of great help to me, both on the road and when riding the trainer indoors with the Carmichael Training System videos.

• 12 McMurtray

  This is a good piece of equipment and its well worth forking out an extra bit for if you are like me and cant afford to go for the power sensor. It allows you to keep an eye on your pedalling rate . Keeping it at around 90 rpm should see you get the maximum benifit from each session.

• 13 Rivero

  I have no complaints about the functionality of the Polar cadence sensor, so I can’t knock it too much. It has worked flawlessly for me. My only complaint is that it is downright ugly.

  To pick up the magnet mounted on your crank arm, the cadence sensor needs to be mounted on your down tube at a strange angle — about 45 degrees from vertical on my bike. The end result is something that looks like a growth on your shiny frame.

  Oh well, don’t let it stop you from purchasing it. As I said, it works great. No problems with interference, weather, etc.

• 14 Noyes

  At first I thought the price was high for what I was looking for. But after finding out all this things it can do I purchased a bundle with the foot pod and heart rate monitor. What can’t it do is the question??
  1) Logs your run (automatically loads it when your near your pc) – you can watch it back over a google map, it shows your pace/speed, heart rate, elevation, mileage at any given point.
  2) I have asthma, it constantly reports my heart rate so I can feel more comfortable.
  3) You know your exact mileage, at times before the GPS I thought I was running further than I was. When I used this gps I found out I wasnt. Helps with goals.
  4) You can set mileage, calorie goals for a week, month etc. and it will keep track for you.
  5) I could go futher but by now you get the point
  NO RUNNER, JOGGER or biker should be without.

• 15 Kenyon

  The watch is an excellent all-around training device that can be used across many sports. I found more use for it than I intended. I like the web facilities and how it let’s me analyze every second of my runs.

  Too bad the Footpods and the HR Monitors seem to come with battery problems. I had to send mine back to Garmin for replacement as the accessories just wouldn’t pair. They sent me a replacement and this time the HR Monitor paired in a second and the footpod is yet another bad one even from the box. I hope replacement #3 works. But the watch itself is awesome.

  The retailer I bought the product from HRM were very prompt in their delivery and are willing to support; but Garmin kind of undermines their efforts with the browning HR monitors and footpod.

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