Is there an effective way to pace for an outdoor ride without a power meter? Or a less expensive way other than power pedals or cranks?
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Pay attention to your breathing rate in the different zones when riding with a power meter. Then take that knowledge to rides where you don’t have one.
And a heart rate monitor.
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Before power meters we used heart rate for zones . It’s effective.
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For long efforts, heart rate works well. But there’s a significant lag.
Otherwise - RPE. But this requires that you genuinely think about how you feel.
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As others have said, HR can be decent for pacing. But there are pretty cheap pm options out there also. People are basically giving away old powertap hubs/wheels if your bike doesn’t have disc brakes. Single sided spindle-based sram is cheap if you have a crank that supports upgrade. But eBay/marketplace are where you can often find stuff used for not much more than a new HR strap.
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For many years we just went by feel. I don’t recall ever hearing the term RPE back then. When HRMs became commonly available, I looked at it as a novelty, not as something I used while riding. After a ride I would look at it and say, “Oh, I averaged this BPM, or maxed out at that BPM.” When I finally got a PM, it was similar. I still rode by feel and only looked at the PM occasionally, but mainly after the ride. Quantitative methods like HR or power can provide a bit of an edge in some competitive situations, but even then how I feel can be more relevant and is how I ride.
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