Bought a Lumi for the hubs- need strap replacement

[Bleen]

My husband's birthday is coming up and I knew that he'd love a watch. His old one died a long time ago and after a lot of research, I decided the Suunto brand was right up his alley. The only problem was the size- he has 6 inch wrists and I know he wouldn't want a watch that looked oversized. He's going to be wearing it all the time and it needs to at least fit well enough to go under his sleeves. The Lumi is perfect (aside from being advertised as a women's watch) and I know he won't care. It's got enough gadgets to make him happy, definitely looks masculine enough and the size is perfect. The only problem is the strap. I've looked on the posts here and found one by lumiman where he has replaced the strap and it looks great! But then a lot of people have said that third party straps won't work on this watch. Can someone help me out here? Where can I buy a more masculine strap for the Lumi?

[Jeff_C]

Can you post a pic of the Lumi you are talking about? (Admittedly I have no experience with the Lumi).

Have you considered the Sunnto Observer? Its a much smaller watch and IMHO has a more "masculine" look.

[KHaskus]

Have you considered the Sunnto Observer? Its a much smaller watch and IMHO has a more "masculine" look.

I am going to have to agree with Jeff, The Observer does look like a better fit based on your description.

-KH-

[Joakim Agren]

I do not recommend the Lumi as it was a faulty product discontinued after 2 years. It had an incorrect sensor placement making it unreliable for pressure readings as the wrist tended to clog it up. So I do not recommend it. The smallest ABC that is very reliable is the Observer. But I do not think the Core should be ruled out. Even tough it is a big watch there is versions without lugs where the strap is attached directly to the watch case. So even tough it wears big, small wristed people can still wear it without over hang. I have seen several women wearing the Core and it fit them just fine.

[Bleen]

I looked at the Observer, but it didn't suit some other requirements I wanted and it seemed a little too complicated and bulky. The Lumi is already bought and so if you have recommendations on straps, I'm all ears. I noticed a post down a little further about the Core and replacing the straps on that watch and how he needed adapters to do so. Where do you get adapters to switch out the straps on Suuntos?

[Jeff_C]

I dont think it will work with the lumi. As you are aware the Lumi is not too popular on here.

the reason the core straps can work is that they made models with "lugs". So all one has to do is get the lugs (usually acquired by buying a whole new strap set). I dont think this will work at all with the Lumi as it has an integrated strap system.

I would think you could MAYBE use a very thin nylon strap.

Bottom line, the model was designed to be thinner, lighter and smaller and was marketed toward women. So there are not many more "masculine" straps available.

The one pictured isnt bad though. Its not the strap with the flowers on it... so it may be about as good as you can get.

[cobrapa]

Is this the band on it presently? Suunto still has these available:
Lumi Sportif Black Strap | Suunto

[Bleen]

That is the band that is on there. I'm not sure how I feel about the decorative detail on the inside of the band and the clasp at the end. And yes, I do realize that the Lumi is not a favorite here, but that could be said about a myriad of watches. If the husband doesn't like it, I'll adopt it as my own and get him the Observer. :) I just happen to think that this the Lumi will be a better fit overall (if I can just find a third party strap to fit it!) and I got a fantastic deal on it.

I really like the strap that lumiman put on his, which you can see if if you scroll down in his post- First Sunnto . . . Lumi on a man!! I'm just wondering where he got it and how he managed to get it attached on there...

[ejunge]

Hush Joakim. It isn't faulty it works just fine, because I HAVE one for my wife and her performance is just as good as mine... They didn't discontinue it because it was faulty, they discontinued it because it wasn't selling.

As for straps, they use a strap that attaches with a screw at the top and bottom of the case. Unfortunately, it's strictly OEM. Call Suunto customer care and tell them that you are looking for a replacement strap, they will either direct you where to buy one, or send you one.

[Joakim Agren]

Hush Joakim. It isn't faulty it works just fine, because I HAVE one for my wife and her performance is just as good as mine... They didn't discontinue it because it was faulty, they discontinued it because it wasn't selling.

As for straps, they use a strap that attaches with a screw at the top and bottom of the case. Unfortunately, it's strictly OEM. Call Suunto customer care and tell them that you are looking for a replacement strap, they will either direct you where to buy one, or send you one.

Perhaps it was not faulty but it certainly did not have an ideal sensor hole placement. The main reason it did not sell is ofcourse because it did not sell well, but a large part of that is probably because of bad reputation amongst many female professional users. I once asked my local Suunto dealer why they had pretty much every other Suunto watch but not the Lumi. The response was that it had a high return rate so they removed it from their assortment. I have also seen several posts here in the forum and also a Swedish forum where some female users have complained about the bad sensor function when the hole gets covered.

This do not mean that everyone will have a problem with it, but several users did.