Band adapters: What's better, spring bar or tube type?

[WingNut33]

Which type of adapters do you prefer and why? I'm really interested in which ones are more secure and work better. I would be concerned with the spring bar popping out on those, but I would be concerned with the small screws stripping or falling out on the others.

Thanks.

 

[BarracksSi]

You've got the gist of it.

The tube type (I figure you're referring to the ones Apple uses for their classic leather straps) should be pretty secure, but I think it'd also be simplest to have one set of adapters per strap because of the possibility of stripping a screw. Some sort of thread locker is recommended to keep the screws in place, too (Apple mentions it in their docs about adapters).

Springbar adapters -- well, they're as secure as the springbars on any other watch.

 

[imhereareyou]

Don't like the springbars, anything but those.

 

[WingNut33]

Thanks to both.

 

[CarlJ]

Springbar attachments for watch bands can be extremely secure, it depends largely on the quality of the pins used (this is how the straps on most high-end watches are secured, after all). But the actual implementation of the third-party springbar adapters... Of the handful I've seen, I've yet to meet one I totally love, as far as how they connect to the watch (always a little loose one way or the other).

The tube ones, on the other hand, always scare me; Apple's real ones I'd trust, because Apple's reputation is on the line, but the design bothers me, you've got extremely small screws that could gradually loosen/unscrew over a long period of time without you noticing, and once it comes loose, the result could be catastrophic. With springbars, the tension in the spring works perpendicular to the direction in which the strap is tugged - as long as there's enough tension in the spring to keep the bar extended a few millimeters into the holes on both sides, it's quite secure.

 

[JSway]

I prefer spring, after running into trouble removing a tube type adapter

 

[TheIntruder]

Execution matters, of course.

But the tubular lugs have three points of potential failure, as opposed to two, and rely on thread locker to remain secure.

Spring bars are tried and true on the watches that have come before, and will come after the AW.

Apple's OE lugs are a safe bet, but have not been made available to end users, and it's difficult to find strap makers who buy and use them through the MFAW program. I'd be more open to the tubular style if Apple made them available, but it has to protect its own strap business, which forces users to take risks with poorly made copies on the market.

For me, the advantages are clear.

 

[WingNut33]

I appreciate all the input. I'm leaning toward the spring bar ones from Clockwork Synergy. My daily wear will likely be the Nike strap anyways. The adapters will only be when I want to wear the nicer leather.

 

[sean000]

I appreciate all the input. I'm leaning toward the spring bar ones from Clockwork Synergy. My daily wear will likely be the Nike strap anyways. The adapters will only be when I want to wear the nicer leather.

Clockwork Synergy makes some nice straps and they stand by their products. I bought one of their leather straps almost two years ago when they were shipping them with the tubular lugs. After a few months one of the tiny screws fell out of the lug. I was just going to apply threadlocker and screw it back in, but I didn't have a screwdriver that would fit the tiny screw. I contacted Clockwork Synergy to ask if they would send a screwdriver to me. They responded right away and said they would rather replace my strap with one that has the spring-type lugs. They said they stopped selling the tubular type lugs/adapters because they didn't feel it was possible to make them as reliably secure as the kind they now sell with their straps. The springbar itself feels robust, and there are no screws to worry about.

Sean