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Why would I need one, what purpose does it serve??
It quantifies how much effort you're putting into riding. They're not perfect, but can bebetter than just going off percieved effort.
For example, if I want to go out for a 100mile ride I know I have to keep my HR below 155bpm otherwise I'll really suffer after a few hours. Conversely I could use it to do the opposite and test myself at higher HR's to see how long I could maintain that speed/HR for and find out what pace was sustainable for an hour.
More use on a road bike IMHO where you're more likely tobe varying your pace to keep the effort constant as the gradient changes, but still usefull on an MTB as long as the climbs not dictated by grip/technical sections where your effort needs to be determined by other factors.
Use polar and online diary it helps you to see your estimated training load so identifes when you need rest which is a real plus or when you need to put more effort in!
Since using it training has just been more efficient. Helps cut out junk training and monitors any slacking. If you your not disciplined or motivated enough to train using its data though it wont make you fitter.