Do You Wear a Wristwatch When You Ride?

[stompandgo]

Galaxy Watch 4. I use the HRM/steps when doing beach walks. On the bike I wear a Tickr on a Garmin strap.

 

[BEC111]

I may have already posted that I ride with my Apple Watch using it for heart beat tracking and using it for workouts while riding. Recently, the watches battery was getting fully drained on rides of only 60 to 90 minutes. I was struggling with finding a solution. I bought a heart monitor band with the intent to use that with Strava on my iPhone. If that didn’t solve the battery life problem I was considering getting a cycling computer.

Well, last weekend I crashed my bike which resulted in some scraped knees, elbow and shoulder plus a broken kickstand and heavily scratched eyeglasses. My Apple Watch was also totaled. This was a very expensive crash. Kickstand was cheap. I bought it on closeout from my LBS. I needed to replace the Apple Watch, a quick $475 with taxes. I was due for an eye exam anyway, but that was planned for next month. So another $600+. Total almost $1100 and I haven’t even checked the bike out thoroughly yet.

So, I ride with my watch on, but now I have the new conundrum of whether I use the heart monitor plus Strava or use the new watch that has a brand new battery that might last for three or four hours during a cycling workout. The latter will probably be ok for a while, but ultimately, if I try a really long ride, I’m ga k to needing the cycling computer. And spending a few hundred bucks more.

Suggestions?

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I may have already posted that I ride with my Apple Watch using it for heart beat tracking and using it for workouts while riding. Recently, the watches battery was getting fully drained on rides of only 60 to 90 minutes. I was struggling with finding a solution. I bought a heart monitor band with the intent to use that with Strava on my iPhone. If that didn’t solve the battery life problem I was considering getting a cycling computer.

Well, last weekend I crashed my bike which resulted in some scraped knees, elbow and shoulder plus a broken kickstand and heavily scratched eyeglasses. My Apple Watch was also totaled. This was a very expensive crash. Kickstand was cheap. I bought it on closeout from my LBS. I needed to replace the Apple Watch, a quick $475 with taxes. I was due for an eye exam anyway, but that was planned for next month. So another $600+. Total almost $1100 and I haven’t even checked the bike out thoroughly yet.

So, I ride with my watch on, but now I have the new conundrum of whether I use the heart monitor plus Strava or use the new watch that has a brand new battery that might last for three or four hours during a cycling workout. The latter will probably be ok for a while, but ultimately, if I try a really long ride, I’m ga k to needing the cycling computer. And spending a few hundred bucks more.

Suggestions?

Don't you have a Vado SL 1? If you're willing to run the Specialized app while riding, it can record your HRM along with your ride, and if you like, pump all that data straight into Strava. This might take some of the load off your watch battery.

If your phone has an OLED screen, and you run the app in dark mode (black background), the app uses amazingly little phone battery.

 

[BEC111]

I had looked into the Specialized app. It doesn’t connect to the watch for Heart Beats, which is my main statistical interest. The other riding and bike details are just for fun. Since I now have a separate heart monitor I should check it out.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I had looked into the Specialized app. It doesn’t connect to the watch for Heart Beats, which is my main statistical interest. The other riding and bike details are just for fun. Since I now have a separate heart monitor I should check it out.

Got a cheap chest-strap HRM from iGPSPORT just for kicks. The Specialized app connected to it right away — via ANT+ I think.

 

[JimFMB]

I have an Apple Watch Ultra. It has the larger battery and have no issues so far as the battery running low. I use it for HR while riding and the fitness app. I also us the ecg app and the pulse oximeter. I have worn a watch since high school So that would be about 130 years.

 

[Chazmo]

Nope. Haven’t worn a watch since the early 20-teens when I started carrying an iPhone. Honestly, I think I use my iPhone more to know the time than I do as a phone.

On my bike I have a phone mount and mostly that’s for RideWithGPS. Both my watch and my bike display have the time.

I actually used to like watches as jewelry, and I’ve got a few beauties at home, but no… No watch for me.