I see one great use for heart monitors as a non-competitive rider - to ensure I don'[t go to hard on the early hills of say a century with a mountain pass. I did this years ago on the Barlow Century. I had ridden that winter on the trainer and mapped out my zones. For the century, I made it a point to not go over 155 on the early hills, then 164 on the biggie. I had to let a lot of riders go on the early hills. Settled into the 164 for the biggie and held it to the top. After that, I was tired and never looked at it again, But I did pass a bunch of those riders who left me hours before and were now cooked.

I would do this more (wearing the monitor for long, hard rides to keep HR in check) but for the fact that I have never met a monitor that liked being put away and pulled out for a ride 18 months later. I don't know if it is dead batteries, the units not talking to each other or what, but it almost a given that I will not be able to get it to work. I now have a box of dead ones. At $75 per and one use only, it's not worth it. Now if I could get a reliable $20 unit that just read heartrate, nothing else, I'd love it.

Ben