Cadence/HRM or both?

cste

Evening all.

I'm on the verge of buying my first Garmin, mainly for GPS. But as I have signed up for a couple of century rides this year I want to train to cover more distance easier.

What are your thoughts on using cadence based training, or HR based, or bit of both? As I was looking at the Touring plus ( HRM, but no cadence ) or paying that bit more for the edge 800 ( HRM, AND cadence ).

Your thoughts would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

craker

This came up a week ago...

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40042&t=13013026

mrwibble

Buy both, simple. Power training is the way forward imho

JayKosta

I don't see a benefit of cadence or HRM for use on the road.
Learn to understand your 'relative perceived exertion' (RPE) levels - primarily:
http://www.topendsports.com/testing/images/rpe-1-10.gif
and learn what your performance capability (duration, etc.) is at various exertion levels.

It is also good to have some sort of repeatable 'metric' that you can use to judge your performance - e.g. time to climb a particular hill, or to ride a particular route.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

nigeldoyle

In my opinion if your serious about your training then having cadence and heart rate data as your riding is the bare minimum. That way you can train in specific heart rate zones and or at specific cadence ranges. GPS is really useful. Any decent training plan will almost certainly have you training in certain cadence and heart rate zones. My training plan does.

I use a Garmin Edge 510. I can upload my rides to Strava etc and see my ride data. I can then gauge my progress plus compare myself to other people. The Garmin also allows you to program in workouts e.g. intervals. Much easier than having to remember what heart rate zone you should be in and having to constantly check your watch to see how much longer the interval segment has. Then of course the unit can give turn by turn navigation instructions on roads you're unfamiliar with.

My last endurance race was a week ago. 149km https://app.strava.com/activities/245084199. Avg speed 37.3km/h. 4.00 hours dead. Not bad for a 53 year old. I was constantly monitoring my cadence and heart rate and easing off if I was going too high with my heart rate. I had followed a 12 week endurance training plan that had me training in specific heart rate zones for all rides.

BTW if you do go with a Garmin 510 or 810 I recommend getting the magnetless sensors. Very easy to swap between bikes. The standard speed sensors are very easy to knock out of alignment whereas the magnetless speed sensor wraps around the rear hub.