my old man want a heart rate monitor for crimbo, i don’t know any thing about them!

he want a watch type for biking and running, with the option for bar mount if posable.
he wants it to beep/warning when gets over a set bpm

so whats good?

When I use to train I used the aldi which was everything i needed

http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/special_buys3_26322.htm

Polar are generally the best at HR monitors but they have been a little left behind on the navigating front. here

i’ve used one of these for the last 2 years, reliable strap, usual data, minor irritation that it resets after 9hrs use, but most people will cope with that

http://chris-noble-mtb.blogspot.com

Ygm ref polar ones

I’d go for a Garmin device that has ANT+ as it will be compatible with a wider range of accessories like bike speed/cadence sensors. Polar don’t use ANT+ so they’ve been left behind on connectivity.

Here’s a selection

them Garmin are a bit over budget.

looking at £50 -£100. just don’t know where to start.

that suunto looks ok, the M5 looks like you can agg gps/bike pods later if you want. but can you set your own limits for bpm?

I was looking at a Polar FT2 so hoping no-one will slag it off in here!

Aiming for the same features as you I think, nothing complicated apart from the heart rate zones.

heart rate that’s an old hat now were on power meters now you know 😉

There is a fairly good “guide to” here:
http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/kit/heart-rate-monitors—the-basics/496.html

I had a very basic polar one for years which just had a single zone which would beep if you were above or below it. It was a previous version of this:
http://polar.fitnessmegastore.co.uk/polar-297/fitness-298/polar-ft2-heart-rate-17415.htm?tab=specification

If all you want is one that has an audible warning if you are in a zone, you cant get much better. You can set your own zones which is useful as the age based ones tend to be a bit off for some people. If you dont need nav etc, keep it simple.