Those who are seriously involved in mountain biking are by necessity in top physical condition. There is a major difference between hopping on a bike to ride up and down a few hills and racing down a steep rock covered mountain side at breakneck speed. These people love their sport and at the same time realize that in able to continue to enjoy it they must remain free of injury. This means getting into and staying in the best physical condition possible. Just as their mountain bikes use specialized equipment to maintain top performance the riders themselves can take advantage of space age technology to arrive at and remain in the best physical condition possible.
One of the best devices used to monitor the physical activity and enable the athletic to judge and record his or her improvement is a specialized heart rate monitor and fitness trainer watch. Keeping track of time to monitor the length of workouts is very important but is also just a small part of what these watches offer. A short list of some of the features offered by these watches is:
* Heart Rate Monitor
* Displays current heart rate, average heart rate, and maximum heart rate
* Tracks workout time and effort
* Includes dual-time, date, and alarm functions
* Includes a log memory
* Fully Water resistant
* Tracks calories burned
* Watch includes time and calendar
* Alarms time and heart rate
* Lighted dial face
This is but a partial list of the features offered by the manufacturers of these amazing watches. Whether you are training to compete in a national downhill mountain bike event or are just dedicated to getting yourself in top physical condition so you can enjoy any sport to the fullest, an investment in one of these specialized watches will make all your workouts more productive. As with any piece of technical gear these watches are available in many styles and offer a variety of features. To make sure you purchase a model that covers all the features you need spend a little time on the internet to research what is available and which models fit your budget.
While doing your research you may wish to investigate a few attachments which will make your watch even more helpful. One such attachment is a bicycle cadence pod. One style of this device attaches to your bikes front fork with a second attachment placed on the spokes of the front wheel. Other models attach directly to the bikes frame. These devices enable you to accurately record distance and speed to help you get the best from your workouts.
What do the gear changes in my bike mean?
Ok I just bought a bike with gear changes. It has 7 changes. And on the other side it has an L and an H.
I always have it set to 7 and L.
What do all these gear changes mean?
Answer
You probably bought a Mountain Bike. A 7-Speed to be exact. Okay, the 7 changes are to help minimize the strength needed to peddle. So, for example, if you were to go riding up a hill, the best gear to be on would be 1, because it requires less strength to peddle. Once you’re on top of the hill, you can change it to 7 to go faster. Remember, the higher the gear, the heavier the peddling, the faster you go. As for the L and H, L probably stands for Low and H probably stands for High. Every mountain bike has two types of gear changers. One on one side, the other on the other side. If you switch it to L you will probably have an easier time peddling.
