Lost heart rate sensor pairing

[joesamm]

I'm have been using the Dash with iBike for my mountain bike rides for several months now and haven't had any problems until several weeks ago when the heart rate sensor stopped pairing with the Dash. I'm using the latest Garmin strap with a new battery which does also work fine with my Garmin monitors. I have tried numerous times to rescan the sensors in the Dash/iBike, the speed sensor pairs fine but nothing for the heart rate sensor. I've tried everything I can think of including deleting the iBike app from my iPhone (4.0) and rebuilding the database but nothing seems to be working for me. Got any suggestions?

On another note, I have noticed that the calorie tracking with the Dash produces a figure almost half of that produced by my older Garmin devices. Is this a normal issue with the iPhone or perhaps the iBike algorithm?

And finally a general question about the use of digital technology in this industry, I recently bought a stationary exercise bike to use on really bad weather days and it came equipped with the iFit WiFi links for storing rides and so forth. My Garmin devices are now using their own proprietary web site links and so forth; and of course Velocomp is using Strava. Any chance you are all discussing some standardization with the file formats, etc. among the manufacturers? I'm not venting but it is a bit maddening to have to remember all the individual account usernames and passwords.

Cheers (and keep up the good work!)
joe

[racerfern]

Sorry, I don't know what to say about the HR strap pairing issues. Obviously try resetting the HR strap by flipping the battery in the strap and trying again. Unfortunately that means re-pairing your Garmin device also. Try and see if the Dash will pair with a friend's HR strap. Just leave yours off and try a different strap. At least you'll narrow things down.

AFA Calorie tracking, I would trust the Dash before any Garmin unit. Garmin has always been extremely generous in calorie count. My Gen 3 iBike and my iDash match calories burned and I consider them spot on.

There are so many standards, there are no standards when it comes to file structure and commonality. Garmin commands ANT+ and may not always make all of it open for others. As far as file exchange every developer thinks theirs is the ultimate and they all have advantages and disadvantages. The iBike/iDash format for instance is very small in its file storage and transfer which makes things happen quicker. It is proprietary but at least it allows for different export types. Each file type has its limitations but I think CSV has the most versatility.

Regardless of cooperation or lack thereof, it's up to you which site offers you what you want to see. There are huge differences. Strava is awesome at making competition among friends easy to visualize, while something like Training Peaks drills more into your individual efforts. You'll probably always use more than one. Personally for me it's Strava for fun and friends and SportTracks for my personal efforts and goals.