Heart rate monitors

[pam_in_sc]

I'm thinking of buying a heart rate monitor. I get discouraged about being slow. I rode 7 hours last Saturday but that was only about 75 or 80 miles (I was stopping every half hour to test my blood glucose, but that doesn't take long). I thought maybe the heart rate monitor would encourage me by showing how much effort I am putting in--it is pretty hilly here. I'm not generally someone who wants to measure what I am doing (then I focus on that rather than on having fun) so I don't want to spend a lot of money--I don't expect to use it very seriously. But my question for this group is are they comfortable, and are there any that can clip onto the band of my bra instead of having to wear another strap?

Pam

 

[diane143]

I have had one for almost 2 years and love it. I got a Cardiosport, asked for it for xmas. It doesn't have a ton of features, but it tells me time in zone (I program in that I want it to caculate Zones 2 & 3) and it does have some recording features. Yes, it will tell you if you are not pushing enough and vice versa! I did groups rides all summer and towards the end the group faster than us lost people and some of them, including the shop owner rode with us. I went from 35+ mins in zone to 5 mins on a particular route and could still walk the next day lol. I was in Zone 4 for most of the ride (damn hills kill me).

I did another ride today myself, the other day I was in zone 30 mins (spinning workout), today under 10, (I kept my cadence over 90).

This is the one I got: http://heartmonitor.com/special_hstz_package.htm

There are a lot out there! I also have a Sports Instruments one on my MTB, my SO just got a Timex with the pod for running distance (his downloads his average HR and more to his computer), Just decide what you want to spend and features, or do what I did and go cheap first and see what you like.

I'll be you get addicted, good luck!

Diame