I bought a computer with cadence and the heart monitor last year in order to give myself something to focus on during the winter when I have to "ride" my bike on the trainer. I worked on trying to keep my cadence around 90. When I got onto the road in the spring I found that my average speed had gone up about 1/2 mph. It's not huge, but over a long ride it can make a difference. As far as the heart rate monitor... all I discovered is that I can't get my rate up to 80%. I have no idea what that means. Anyway, now that I'm back on the road, I don't wear the monitor and rarely have the computer set to the cadence function. I prefer to be able to just enjoy the ride.