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Using an AW as a bike computer ?
- Thread starter Bacasable
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I tried and it‘s not a very good idea. While a cycling workout does show your heart rate, it’ll be a significant distraction to raise your wrist when on the road. You should use a chest strap heart rate monitor connected to your phone, or even better, a dedicated cycling computer. If you use Strava then they’ll still fill your activity rings.
When I hear that term “bike computer” I take it to mean people who are much more serious about biking and measurements (which ones? Btw) than I am. (Or maybe you just want your speed or heart rate only? )
I bike often and I‘ve been pleased with the watch’s performance. It maps my route after, it lists the time biking and the average speed for the ride, a few other things like elevation up and down completed, and average heart rate. So I guess for me it’s definitely a more than ample “bike computer,” but I’m content with having the info presented to me after the ride. If I do check anything during the ride, it’s just distance completed or time completed, both of which help me to not overdo it.
I bike often and I‘ve been pleased with the watch’s performance. It maps my route after, it lists the time biking and the average speed for the ride, a few other things like elevation up and down completed, and average heart rate. So I guess for me it’s definitely a more than ample “bike computer,” but I’m content with having the info presented to me after the ride. If I do check anything during the ride, it’s just distance completed or time completed, both of which help me to not overdo it.
Cyclemeter can transmit real time heart rate from your apple watch to your phone.
apps.apple.com
Cyclemeter Cycling GPS Tracker
Cyclemeter is the ultimate cycling app for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch. Transform your iPhone into a powerful cycling tracker and training tool, designed specifically for cyclists and individual sports enthusiasts. With advanced tracking, customizable stats, training plans, and live biking...
apps.apple.com
I have not tried this, but if you where an external heart rate monitor and pair it with your Apple Watch, you could use your Apple Watch as a bike computer and have your heart rate track and display on the watch.
I am sure you could find a mount for your bike.
I have an Apple Watch 7 with AOD and always use it for my bike rides, never taking my iPhone with me. I do have cellular though but I get distance, average speed, time and heart rate all ready visible without taking my hand off the handlebars. When I get home I have all details of my route, heart rate and average, average speed, distance and time. Perfect. If you want to put your watch on the handlebar (why??!!) then you'll get nothing as it'll need your passcode to work and will switch off after a bit of time.
I don't think mounting the watch on the handlebars would really be a good idea if you're using the Fitness app to track your workout. I'm pretty sure it's looking for the slight changes in movement, sway left and right and so on, in order to tell when you are actually pedaling and when you're not. It's also looking to determine how hard you're working vs. how fast you're going and what not so that it can determine whether you're using an e-bike or not.
This might have some ideas The best bike mounts -https://theapplewatchtriathlete.com/blog-1/2018/3/29/the-best-bike-mounts-for-apple-watch#:~:text=While your Watch is mounted on your bike,you'll want to make these changes to settings
eta-somehow I edited this without meaning to do so -but it is down below as well
eta-somehow I edited this without meaning to do so -but it is down below as well
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I prefer a separate bike computer to using the watch. I find looking using the crown are not that convenient.
It depends what your use cases are. If you're riding your bike for 30ish min commutes, running errands, travel etc, then the apple watch is fantastic. As others have said, the heart rate and gps tracking are plenty accurate.
However, if you want to do much longer rides and sportives for hours and hours, absolutely invest in a dedicated gps unit like a Garmin. The battery life is measured in days, not hours. The display can be completely customised to display heart rate, speed, distance, cadence etc. I find it very useful seeing my speed on my bike stem
However, if you want to do much longer rides and sportives for hours and hours, absolutely invest in a dedicated gps unit like a Garmin. The battery life is measured in days, not hours. The display can be completely customised to display heart rate, speed, distance, cadence etc. I find it very useful seeing my speed on my bike stem
I plan to use the iphone pro (max) 14 in conjunction with my AW5 to avoid the need for a dedicated bike comp. At this point it's mostly a matter of the software (app) catching up. Between the shimano etube ride app and syncing the relevant data to it and/or Strava from the watch, it should be a good solution. Mainly curious at this point to see how the always on/promotion display can/can't be leveraged by 3rd party apps to better handle things like this without being such a battery suck.
The biggest issue with using the iPhone or the watch for riding is it is highly inaccurate when it comes to mileage. At least for mountain biking. You really need a speed sensor to get accurate readings and apple so far has not been willing to work with other companies or use open standards to communicate with other devices. I had to get a dedicated garmin to overcome this issue.