Hi. I need an HRM to work with Zwift. Can I use a wrist bluetooth fitness tracker linked to my phone to feed the information to Zwift. If so can anyone suggest a budget model??
You can use a wrist based HRM, but they are not nearly as accurate as a chest strap. I would recommend a Wahoo Tickr Run, it is duel band (ANT+ and BLE) and if you want to run within Zwift it can be used for that.
Not all fitness trackers can broadcast HR data, it only track data and send it to the phone app when the app ask for it.
Thanks- I thought that might be the case. Does anyone know of one that does broadcast HR data??
AppleWatch and some of the newer Garmin watches can.
Scosche (Rhythm+) and Wahoo (TICKR FIT) are among the sources for an armband heart rate monitor (not a general fitness tracker for steps, etc.). Those two broadcast both Bluetooth and ANT+. Either signal is suitable for Zwift; you’d choose according to the platform you’re using to run Zwift. The Scosche has been out for a while and has a good reputation for reliability. The Wahoo is a new model.
Many thanks for your swift and helpful replies. Cheers
My Garnin Vivosmart Hr+ broadcasts on Ant+ which Zwift can see just fine with my Ant+ Dongle and my Bridge.
However they are not very good at tracking HR because of the position your wrist sits at on the bars effecting the reading.
I used it for awhile before moving to a CooSpo chest strap from Amazon which has been excellent and talks to my Appl TV 4K as Bluetooth so no bridge needed.
Cheers. Thanks for that. This forum is great for finding out other riders experience with gear before buying.
The wrist based sensors would be affected by positioning if you were doing blood pressure. They are not affected by placement on handlebars when it comes to heart rate. The Garmin 935 works fine with a ant+ dongle after selecting broadcast under settings/sensors/heart rate.