Cycling Computer - Heart Rate or Cadence or neither

Kingtut87

Looking to get a computer with either cadence or heart rate monitors. Which will be more useful?

I'm thinking heart rate as Im much better at guess cadence and it wont clutter the bike with cables so much.

Does anyone have any recommendations? Also i've got Cinelli Via wing shaped bars which are pretty fat up top, will all computers fit on here?

guilliano

Go for both! A Polar CS200 Cad will set you back just over a ton and is completely wireless. Will fit the bars ok too

zedders

Have a look at the Polar CS200cad cycle computer. You can get one for £80 or so. Its a standard cycle computer, but has a HRM, and cadence sensor included. So for £80 is a good price. Polar have been doning HRM for a number of years they are are pretty reliable as afr as I am aware.

Am also lead to believe you can download the data onto your computer via polar's website.

I read a couple of previous blogs on this forum and it appears to be liked by those that use it. I have just ordered one from rutland cycling.com.

As for where to put the computer, just put it on your stem?

gabriel959

Hasn’t the Polar got some bad reliability issues? So I heard last time I went out on a Sunday ride.

How is the warranty like? They are definitely good value - £80 for Speedo, Cadence and HRM.

e999sam

I've got a cs200 and would not recommended it. It's a nightmare to set up and regularly looses it's signal for no apparent reason. Both the speed and cad sensors are sealed units so you have to replace the whole thing.
As for my preference between heart rate and cad I find heart rate much more use full I usually keep my cad at a rate that feels comfortable and don't generally need to know what it is.

symo

I disagree the only reason my CS200CAD isn't used anymore is that I had a windfall and really fancied an EDGE 705.

Problem I has with the cadence sesor turned out to be an alloy bottle cage. Replaced that with Resin/Plastic one and the issue resolved itself.

zedders

See this link. A few more comments ref the CS200cad:
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... highlight=

Mark1962a

Just fitted one of these and works a treat - I like Cateye as quality always seems good and full support on their Website - Heart Rate monitor is very sensitive and it is a nice bike computer as well - Designed with a mount that puts it just ahead of the stem/bars centralised -At £35 reduced from £99 rrp seemed a snip - - I have a Wireless Cateye Strada on my other bike which has always been great

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/productde ... 0000000000

I was only looking for a 2nd decent wireless computer and then saw this.

Some have had issues with Ribble but I have always found them to be good and fast

Also Blackburn do a combined HR and Cadence - Delphi 5 or Neuro 5 but i dont think the quality is as good as Cateye

I have had a Cadence sensor before but dont miss it and find HR more useful

heaven

I do agree with you. Those are the most effective way

have a blessed day




Computer

stevenmh

With buys like this it always pays to think further ahead. For example is there a chance you might want GPS, be able to upload rides to a site, download, memory, or some other facility.

If so then everyone seems to recommend the Garmin 705.

In the past I bought what I needed today only to find that in a few months/year I realised I needed something extra which means I end up with two computers, one a waste of money.

careful

The usefulness of cadence and HR monitors depends on the type pf riding you do. If you are looking to do serious training for competition then HR is vary useful. If you just enjoy riding your bike then you dont need either. After using them for some years, now that I dont compete I find that they diminish the enjoyment of the ride as you can become preoccupied with numbers/zones etc. As for cadence, unless you are a complete beginner they fairly pointless IMO.

BigG67

careful wrote:

The usefulness of cadence and HR monitors depends on the type pf riding you do. If you are looking to do serious training for competition then HR is vary useful. If you just enjoy riding your bike then you dont need either. After using them for some years, now that I dont compete I find that they diminish the enjoyment of the ride as you can become preoccupied with numbers/zones etc. As for cadence, unless you are a complete beginner they fairly pointless IMO.

I'd disagree, I use the cadence for some of my training - there are plenty of sessions based on using a fixed cadence and varied speed or the other way round. Especially to promote higher leg speed.

Not the be all but worth having if it fits in your budget.

eh

Neither are that useful IMO. Most people can't seem to get their maxHR right so any training levels are out, combine that with HR drift and everythings starts to go pear shaped quite quickly. Suppose if you have the time and inclination to do a proper maxHR test and understand the pros and cons of HR training then they maybe useful.

As for cadence what a waste of money, bought one and all it did was tell me what I already knew.