Help with HR Zones

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montage

God Almighty
Location
Bethlehem
look at the thread on Winnats Pass in here, I think there are some good ideas about how to find your max HR out there!
 
OP
OP
xxmimixx

xxmimixx

Senior Member
Like Rob3rt I don't think heart rate zones are an exact science, they are good enough for us leisure cyclists I think but personally if I was a competitive cyclist I'd want a power meter of some sort. The calculator I use is this one, the zones are slightly different to the Garmin.

http://www.machinehead-software.co.uk/bike/heart_rate/heart_rate_zone_calculator_abcc_bcf.html

I ignore the age box, I don't fill that in I just put my max heart rate in.

I just recently started reading up and getting "curious" about power meters and am completely sold on it, albeit I dont have the money for it now, but is something that I would definitely consider in the future. They are soooo expensive :sad:
 
D

Deleted member 1258

Guest
I just recently started reading up and getting "curious" about power meters and am completely sold on it, albeit I dont have the money for it now, but is something that I would definitely consider in the future. They are soooo expensive :sad:

I know they are pricey, some of the lads in the club use them, I'm 61 now and have a chest full of medical hardware so I wouldn't consider one, but if I was a young man and wanted to road race or time trial I would want to use one to give me a chance of getting the best results I could..
 

Rob3rt

Man or Moose!
Location
Manchester
On the topic of power meters, a power meters is IMO the best thing you could invest in other than the basic stuff such as a bike that fits, if you are serious about doing as well as you can and/or making the most of your time.

Training with power data is a revelation, there is nowhere to hide and you can not kid yourself about how hard you are working. But, they cost a lot (power2max is the cheapest proven crank based pm I believe, the power tap basic model is about the same price, both have advantages and disadvantages, Quarq and SRM cost a lot more) and the amount of information and different ways to interpret the data can be overwhelming. Not everyone can or wants to invest this much money in one. It can, on the face of it seem like you are spending a huge sum on not much (you could buy a pretty great bike or some very nice wheels for the price of a power meter) but the benefits in use are great. I love my power meter and could not imagine training without it now.

I wouldn't worry about "missing out" though and you can train VERY effectively without one.
 

Ningishzidda

Senior Member
It is power that makes the rear wheel go round, so measure it.
A cheap-and-cheerful power indicating turbo is the Elite Qubo Wireless Digital and around £280 online.
You may not be able to immediately co-relate the power on this machine to speed on your real bike, but if you are producing more power week on week, this is not a bad thing.
 
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