Which fails first for YOU on a hill-your legs or breathing capacity?

[midliferider]

Brain gives up first.

It doesn't happen all that often but every now and then, on a big hill, typically late in a ride, a little voice in my head shouts "stop this, it's stupid", and off I get.

That is exactly my point. Listen to your body. It will tell you when to stop.

 

[night cycler]

Lots of Fitness trackers measure heart rate
Apple Watch will (I have one) but it’s a premium product that has to be paired with an iPhone so may not be what you want.
what exactly are you looking for (and budget), many work best with a smart phone (which do you have?)

I use android system as opposed to Apple. I have Samsung S5

 

[Alex321]

Isn’t 220-age utter bunkum?

Pretty well. Particularly as you get older.

There are other formulae which better account for that, but they still only give a rough average for any age, and yours may be way different. I know mine is much higher than any of the formulae would suggest.

And BTW, there is nothing much you can do to affect your max heart rate. It is a part of your physiology, and is unaffected by fitness or health, but does generally decline with age. The only reason max heart rate matters is that it defines the "zones" within which you will exercise.

 

[vickster]

I use android system as opposed to Apple. I have Samsung S5

There are plenty of Samsung watches which compete with the Apple Watch. Might be an option if you want some compatibility

 

[CXRAndy]

Here is HR capture from this mornings race

Near 2 mins at flat out effort up a 5 min climb

 

[HLaB]

It has to be a very, very steep road before I'll have a complete failure on road but then legs will give up the legs will 'give up the ghost' . Off road often though my brain will tell me when to stop, whereas a skilled rider would push through.

 

[Time Waster]

Wouldn't get a phone brand tracker/ watch just for interest tracking. You don't have to use them for compatibility. Garmin or fitbit. Fitbit of just basic as their app gives more lifestyle things. Garmin if you think you're likely to get hooked on data. Or whatever app you prefer.

Or get amazfit for lot less.

I often think that of my legs go it's because my cv system ran out of capacity to supply what my legs need. I don't think you can put it down to one element of a linked system personally. Not for us mere mortals. Not without the techies of a TdF team analysing your stats.

 

[alex_cycles]

Isn’t 220-age utter bunkum?

Yes It absolutely is.
I’m 52, so 220-52 gives 168 bpm. I exceed that almost every time I ride. I must be dead.

I did a CX race last week for 40 minutes with an average heart rate of 183, max was 194.
My working max is 197, which I see a few times per year and get close to probably a couple of times a month. But the highest I’ve ever seen (which I took to be an outlier) was 214.

In my opinion the only way to know your maximum heart rate is to monitor it whenever you do activities and adjust accordingly. As long as you’re not grossly unfit or have a medical condition, pushing yourself a bit is not a problem (particularly if you do it incrementally rather than trying to take large jumps in one go.)