Apple Watch not so suitable for cycling directions

[respectabilia]

One of my use cases for the Apple Watch I was planning on was to use the watch for directions while cycling, via haptic feedback.

Without the watch, you would have to rely on headphones/earphones for Siri's voice, which isn't ideal nor safe of course when on the road.

So I tried my first journey with the Apple watch and found that the haptic feedback for directions wasn't strong enough that I could feel them while gripping the handle bars and facing the general rough bumps on the road.

Nevertheless, the Apple Watch did come in handy in the end, just not as handy as I initially expected. Once I switched back to Siri via my phone/earphones, I found the journey directions displayed on my watch and it was handy glancing at the screen from time to time at stops and traffic lights etc.

I'm curious to know, has anyone else tried cycling with the Apple Watch? If so, how did you make use of it?

 

[profets]

I usually cycle twice a week (currently 1-2 hour rides each time). Most of the time I have my arms pointed forward on aero bars (It's a triathlon bike). I quickly found that using the watch isn't really easy to do while riding. At most I can lift my arm that the watch is on and glance at info, but removing my second hand from the bike to interact with it isn't easy at all. I still like that I can use it to record the Outdoor Bike Workout, though for any stats/info I have a handle bar mounted display which I can quickly look at that shows me duration, speed, cadence, grade and distance (running from an app on my iPhone). The only missing piece of information which I like to see is HR, so I do leave the watch showing the HR metric during the workout for quick glances.

 

[respectabilia]

I usually cycle twice a week (currently 1-2 hour rides each time). Most of the time I have my arms pointed forward on aero bars (It's a triathlon bike). I quickly found that using the watch isn't really easy to do while riding. At most I can lift my arm that the watch is on and glance at info, but removing my second hand from the bike to interact with it isn't easy at all. I still like that I can use it to record the Outdoor Bike Workout, though for any stats/info I have a handle bar mounted display which I can quickly look at that shows me duration, speed, cadence, grade and distance (running from an app on my iPhone). The only missing piece of information which I like to see is HR, so I do leave the watch showing the HR metric during the workout for quick glances.

Thanks for that. Yeah, I initially was riding and expecting the watch to capture it as exercise for short rides but I don't think it does so accurately unless you start an outdoor cycle workout. For a short commute, I start a workout with no goal, but it's still useful because it adds towards my exercise goal more accurately and captures more detailed metrics.

 

[ddkkpp]

Thanks for that. Yeah, I initially was riding and expecting the watch to capture it as exercise for short rides but I don't think it does so accurately unless you start an outdoor cycle workout. For a short commute, I start a workout with no goal, but it's still useful because it adds towards my exercise goal more accurately and captures more detailed metrics.

i'm using it to stop strava (can't start it on the watch) and just do an "outdoor cycle" activity.

i wish it would tap your wrist to tell you where to go on a pre-determined route - but alas, it doesn't work that well.

 

[Smartdrive]

One of my use cases for the Apple Watch I was planning on was to use the watch for directions while cycling, via haptic feedback.

Without the watch, you would have to rely on headphones/earphones for Siri's voice, which isn't ideal nor safe of course when on the road.

So I tried my first journey with the Apple watch and found that the haptic feedback for directions wasn't strong enough that I could feel them while gripping the handle bars and facing the general rough bumps on the road.

Nevertheless, the Apple Watch did come in handy in the end, just not as handy as I initially expected. Once I switched back to Siri via my phone/earphones, I found the journey directions displayed on my watch and it was handy glancing at the screen from time to time at stops and traffic lights etc.

I'm curious to know, has anyone else tried cycling with the Apple Watch? If so, how did you make use of it?

I am planning to. If I only had a watch!