UKH

Just a heads up to anyone thinking about returning something to Garmin, I had a faulty Chest HRM that I had sent off to them in the middle of February thinking I would get a replacement within the week... Well it took them about 7 working days before they even opened the package due to covid (fair enough) however I am -still- waiting on the replacement item to be sent back to me as they apparently 'don't have any stock at the moment' which is quite funny as it is in stock in several online shops! 

So if you are thinking about returning something to Garmin, I would ask if they have it in stock before sending it off as you may not get it back anytime soon!

I had a friend who bought a new Garmin chest HRM when he thought the one he had was dead after swapping a battery out, turns out all he had to do was short circuit the battery circuits before putting new one in to get it to work again (apparently Garmin reccomend you let the unit sit for 10 mins between taking the old battery out and putting the new one in as well? Odd.) Long story short I got a free HRM out of it lol.

Don't know if that was an issue you were dealing with or not but possibly useful info in the future.

Yeah I had tried that already as well as new batteries but to no avail - they just can't handle the sweat build up i think unfortunately..! 

I ended up swapping it for a Wahoo Tickr last year, the "premium" strap was practically falling apart despite handwashing it after most rides. Was going to buy a new strap from Garmin but considering I could get the Tickr for the exact same price at the time and it have bluetooth while solving the issue of "is this thing on?" with a very simple LED light (because for whatever reason Garmin decided there was no need to let you have and indication of whether it was working or not except for whether it was outputting to whatever you had it connected to) it just seemed like a nobrainer.

Aye I broke 3 Garmin HRMs in 20 months. Sold the replacement on eBay and got myself Wahoo Tickr. It’s easier to put on, got LEDs, cheaper and hasn’t failed (yet!). 
 

Granted, I have run 166hrs (1016mi/155k ft) this year already (620hrs last year) so I do get some use out of them. 

Blimey that's some good going, definitely putting it to good use.

But yeah, for basic HR functionality I don't think there's a HRM out there right now that has the Tickr beat (the Polar H10 strap is a lot more comfy than the Tickr's but at double the price it's not THAT nice imo.)

I've got a tickr+ (old one). And strap replacement is quite hard. The cheaper polar style don't fit well. Stock of official wahoo straps was non existent at the time. Polar h10 was on offer. Bought. Never looked back.

The new tickr looks good. Anyone know how replacement straps are?

Won't be changing myself, but b might be useful info for someone else. 

Took about 3 weeks for my f6... And that was in stock. I was going a bit mental. And they got contact from me every day at the first week. 

Yeah I tried the Polar on and the strap is way superior but I couldn't justify the price compared to the Tickr (plus having 3 BLE channels on the Tickr vs. 2 on the H10 has come in really handy surprisingly)

Fortunately haven't had to replace my strap yet it's holding up well, did a quick check and no one seems to have them in stock (except XL size for 48"+ chest which is up for £16.99 - seems reasonable enough) £11.99 on Wahoo's site but out of stock.

I recently had a Forerunner 645 screen failure after 11 months. I contacted Garmin and they have a scheme that meant I could buy a replacement which was sent out on next day delivery. The cost was then reimbursed once the faulty unit was received. I was impressed. I had expected to be without a watch for a week or more so this worked perfectly and allowed me to keep all my training data intact. 

White spots/lines?

Not too technically minded but the screen reminded legible but some of the display was showing visible lines being illuminated all the time. Quickly replaced with no quibble.

Seems to be a bit of an issue with 245/625 in particular. You get white lines which gradually get bigger and turn into white bobs.

My 245 did the same at 11 months. I returned it to the retailer (Wiggle) for a refund. Bought the same model again (about £20 more) but at least the refund clock resets to zero after each purchase.

Ordered the new Tickr based on your opinion, seems I will not be getting my Garmin one back anytime soon and the Tickr seems reasonably priced - let's see how it goes. I do like the idea of it having the LEDs so that you know its on and connected as this sometimes is a bit confusing with the garmin strap.