Are hrm and cadence worth measuring?

[Kies]

As a follow up .... I mounted the cadence sensor to my hybrid as it's become my turbo bike during this wet and windy weather. Hrm and cadence/speed have really brought the training to life .... I watched a sufferfest video at the same time and managed 40 minutes and 10 miles without getting bored.
I know nothing of max heart rates and zones, but at least now i can see any improvements in my heart rate,cadence and speed - the Garmin 800 is starting to make sense now .... LOVE IT

 

[Crankarm]

LoL, love this thread. Seems like a lot of Mamils all the gear no idea buying expensive tech stuff then saying they CBA to use it. Mad!
Of all the measurements you can make cadence is probably one of the most useful as you can use it to improve so much, stamina, power, pedalling efficiency, sprinting. If you can ride at 90 then you can ride at 95. If you can comfortably ride at 95 then you can do 100-105. If you are really fit then you can ride at 110-115. Also it shows when you should change up or down a gear as going up your cadence will drop say 10% as you go into the higher gear thus you'll need more power to get back to or near the same cadence. Also HRM is pretty important if you want to see how hard your heart is working at say a given cadence. Cadence also stops you pushing heavy gears and being inefficient knackering your knees. I have a Sigma Rox 9 which does cadence and HRM and lots of other stuff, but not GPS data. A power meter would be the other measuring device you might consider. If you are content to be a plodder then don't bother buying such a good piece of kit such as the Garmin Edge 800/810/1000 bundle with cadence and HRM or similar devices as you are wasting your money. Just get a basic cheap cycle computer with speed and distance functions.

 

[Julia9054]

As an amateur musician, I measure my cadence by humming something at the correct bpm and turning my pedals in time. Get a metronome app and your favourite playlist!

 

[montage]

LoL, love this thread. Seems like a lot of Mamils all the gear no idea buying expensive tech stuff then saying they CBA to use it. Mad!
Of all the measurements you can make cadence is probably one of the most useful as you can use it to improve so much, stamina, power, pedalling efficiency, sprinting. If you can ride at 90 then you can ride at 95. If you can comfortably ride at 95 then you can do 100-105. If you are really fit then you can ride at 110-115. Also it shows when you should change up or down a gear as going up your cadence will drop say 10% as you go into the higher gear thus you'll need more power to get back to or near the same cadence. Also HRM is pretty important if you want to see how hard your heart is working at say a given cadence. Cadence also stops you pushing heavy gears and being inefficient knackering your knees. I have a Sigma Rox 9 which does cadence and HRM and lots of other stuff, but not GPS data. A power meter would be the other measuring device you might consider. If you are content to be a plodder then don't bother buying such a good piece of kit such as the Garmin Edge 800/810/1000 bundle with cadence and HRM or similar devices as you are wasting your money. Just get a basic cheap cycle computer with speed and distance functions.

Sorry but this post is crap - especially given the condescending opening line.

Crankarm, I think you should go advise Tony Martin to up his cadence, perhaps he'd win a world championship or something if he didn't grind so much.

 

[Kies]

Crankarm is our resident troll and likes to wind people up. I am happy with my purchase and don't feel it's a waste of money

 

[montage]

Crankarm is our resident troll and likes to wind people up. I am happy with my purchase and don't feel it's a waste of money

Troll or just a bit simple...

 

[montage]

Glad you are enjoying the HRM.

If you want to use it to structure your training (which it doesn't appear from your OP) then you can find your threshold heart rate and set your training zones accordingly. That's where the science begins to come in and play, and if you wanted more information on that then ask away and CC will help - there is also an abundance of info online.

 

[Kies]

I would like to find my threshold heart rate, as then the training zones will make more sense to me ... so yeah how do i do that?

 

[montage]

From Joe Friel - "There are many ways to find LTHR. The simplest (not the easiest by any means) is to complete a 30-minute time trial all by yourself (no training partners or races). Warm-up and then go as fast as you can for the entire 30 minutes. Treat it as if it is a race. Ten minutes after the start hit the lap button on your heart rate monitor. When you are all done look to see what your average heart rate was that last 20 minutes. This is a good estimation of LTHR, I’ve found. Please note that this is NOT a 10-minute warm-up and a 20-minute race effort. For some reason many athletes assume that’s what I’m saying. It is a 30-minute, all-out effort. We are just looking at the last 20 minutes of it."


I am a fan of the Coggan zones for heart rate - Though for intervals under 10 minutes heart rate lag causes issues, therefore perceived effort may be more accurate

 

[Kies]

this will be tonights mission on the turbo ......

 

[Soltydog]

Cadence also stops you pushing heavy gears and being inefficient knackering your knees.
If you are content to be a plodder then don't bother buying such a good piece of kit such as the Garmin Edge 800/810/1000 bundle with cadence and HRM or similar devices as you are wasting your money. Just get a basic cheap cycle computer with speed and distance functions.

Some people like to 'push a heavy gear' I'm a grinder rather than a spinner & I cycle at a cadence that I am comfortable with, the info from my Garmin is nice to know, but not essential for me to enjoy my cycling. I find my garmin very useful for navigation which most basic cycle computers dont seem to offer

 

[PK99]

Yes, approximately, for an average adult. The science is quite complicated and if you are interested I suggest some internet research

NOOOOOOOOO!

It may be the average over a population but is useless in relation to an individual:

i am 58, 220 - 58 = 162 max.

I see high 160's on every hilly ride and have seen 178 without maxing out.

 

[Crankarm]

Some people like to 'push a heavy gear' I'm a grinder rather than a spinner & I cycle at a cadence that I am comfortable with, the info from my Garmin is nice to know, but not essential for me to enjoy my cycling. I find my garmin very useful for navigation which most basic cycle computers dont seem to offer

So what cadence of you typically ride at?

 

[JoeyB]

I've had a Garmin Edge 800 since I bought my bike back in November 2012, I have never taken the two sensors out of the box! I might do soon though, all this max HR stuff sounds quite interesting....

 

[PK99]

I used to measure both cadence and hrm.

Cadence was useful for a while as it showed me i was on the low side, increasing to 80/90 made a big difference, but i find most of my riding is now with groups where speed/cadence is of little relevance.

heart rate on the other hand, remains very useful in a number of ways.

• with a guesstimated maximum i can set approximate zones and sometimes work to them - especially on recovery rides
• It gives a rough idea of fitness improvements. I used to struggle up box hill and ranmore with heart rate around 170 and die. Now i can cruise up at the same speed i used to at 135-140bpm and feel no stress. Ditto on fast circuits of Richmond park, my sustainable heart rate has gone up significantly
• i can tell when illness is affecting me on a ride - eg i know my normal heart rate at various speeds on regular rides and when eg recovering from a chest infection a month or so ago, was 20/25bpm higher than normal, I kept the riding easy until HR was back to normal.