Garmin HRM-BIKE – Opinion & Speculation

OK. Fill in the sequence: SWIM-XXXX-RUN-TRI

Thinking caps on. Now try this one.

HRM-SWIM, HRM-XXXX, HRM-RUN, HRM-TRI

Using my considerable powers of deduction there just might be a HRM-BIKE in the offing 🙂

Ta da !!

So the HRM-SWIM brought underwater caching of heart rate (nice), a bit of stickiness to the torso and a bit of chlorine resistance too.

I’ve no idea if one exists. This is pure speculation.

The HRM4-RUN (the new one with the 630) brought extended-advanced dynamics and a nice red bit.

The HRM-TRI added the swim+run bits together whilst omitting the chlorine resistance of the HRM-SWIM.

What could a HRM-BIKE do to whet our appetites?

Probably not a lot to be honest.

Maybe it could have some sort of riding-position analysis (various forms of sway), degrees of how well you can hold an aero position, some sort of vertical oscillation whilst pedalling? Perhaps integrating with some of the stuff in the CYCLING DYNAMICS?

This would require some form of 3d-motion sensor/accelerometer which it probably already has. Such a sensor could even already be inside the existing run/swim/tri models. Just as we’ve seen the caching turned off for the HRM-RUN-2 then, quite easily, 3d-motion could have been disabled too.

With WAHOO’s TICKR-X it is possible to recognise cycling cadence on WAHOO’s own app. So Garmin could do that and more.

If Garmin did go down the route of adding a new 3d-movement sensor to a HRM then that could see a further development on the HRM4-RUN ie to include other motion dynamics in a HRM5-RUN. And no, I’m not going to write about that. (Ever).

I don’t think I’ll be running out to get one.

To further spice up the interest, some form of bike-wobble sensor could be further added and integrated with the rider-wobble sensor in the HRM-BIKE.

Please vote below. Let’s try and get it up to a 2/5 stars…more than this post deserves 🙂