I am relatively new to triathlon and was wondering what heart rate monitors people use and does any one have any recommendations? One that also measures cadence on the bike would be good (as my cycle computer doesn't - damn!)

thanks

KT26

Polar and Garmin both make models that can measure Cadence. I personally use a Garmin Forerunner 305 - you can have different settings for run and bike and a Cadence sensor is an optional extra.

I have the polar 625x it is the same as the 725x mine is a running one so I bought the bike stuff to go with it (cadance and speed sensors) or if you get the 725x you buy the foot pod!!!good bit of gear I must say and you can load all of your exercises to your computer so you can keep a eye on what your doing (or not doing )

I've got a Polar RS200 that works admirably. I wear the strap under my tri suit when racing and it works fine, seems to pick up a HR pretty easily during the swim leg. It's got a heap of lap memory too (awesome for recording swim, then bike and then km run splits). Plus it's small enough to use as an everyday watch pretty nicely too.

I mainly bought as it had a feature whereby you can set up predetermined interval alarms and target HR zones, but I've found that I've not used those features too much.

--Toby

Edit: Meant to also say that it doesn't have any cadence features, but my bike computer has that, so it wasn't an issue for me.

I was told not to take my Garmin swimming...it will kill it, so I wouldn't take it on the swim legs of your triathlons. There would be no problems for the other sections. Maybe the Polar would be better...

I have a Polar F11 - it will go in the pool, which is great. I also have a Shimano Flight Deck on my bike (or will have when I get the bike) - this shows me the gear I'm in and the cadence I'm using. As far as running - I use the HRM for timing and then go to www.mapmyrun.com.au when I get home to tell me the distance I've gone.

The HRM shows time in zones and allows me to 'test' my fitness before heading out and readjusts my zones for that workout. I find it great for letting me know if I'm not feeling the best, so I can then go a little easier.