hamster

Watch form factor is fundamentally deficient for a cycling computer. It's in the wrong place (hard to see) and it's too small. That's why even Garmin has separate product lines of Forerunner (watch form factor, for runners) and Edge.

I wouldn't mind a watch with a built-in HR sensor that talks to Edge via ANT+. I even looked into this some time back but I couldn't find anything. There are apparently technical challenges involved in making this work. There's at least one watch on the market right now that has a HR sensor which only works correctly when you're not moving (I know it sounds absurd, but that's the way it is). Things may be changing though. Wearables are the next big thing in consumer electronics (or so their manufacturers think, anyway), so we should see more smart watches and someone might figure out how to do this properly.

Kingpcgeek

I have a Wahoo Cycling Cadence Sensor that pairs instantly with my iPhone once I crank the pedal once and it wakes up from sleep.

With regards to the Apple Watch, wait until version 2. The version 1 of Apple's last two hit products, the iPhone and the iPad were very poor representations of what was going to come in future iterations of the product. They also became quickly unsupported by future software upgrades.

SpeshulEd 

I'll buy one. I like watches. *shrug*

Dave Cutter

Good point! Early adopters seem to shrug that loss off as quick as they're on to the newest shiny tech object. But for me... I'd like to get enough use time out of the watch to feel like I got my moneys worth.

dalava

The new Edge 1000 actually is pretty bad on battery life. With GPS+ on all the time, I don't get more than 8 hours.

K.Katso

I have an Edge 1000. I've found by talking to some other Edge 1000 owners that it depends on how many data sources you have. I recently did a stage race where one of the stages was about 8 hours from start to finish (150km up and down cols, in the rain). My Edge 1000, using only the speed sensor, still had almost 20% charge left. One of my fellow racers said his died after 6 hours - he was using speed, cadence, heart rate, and power meter. Another guy I talked to said he had speed, cadence, and heart rate, and his died nearer to the end. The next day, the second guy disconnected everything but the speed sensor and said it consumed far less battery power. I'm guessing the CPU is just consuming more power by crunching more numbers. I'm hoping this is something they can optimize in the future because I love the computer and I'm buying a power meter in the next few weeks.

FIVE ONE SIX

hopefully, no one in this thread that's thinking about getting the new Apple watch is a lefty. sure, it'll have a "left-handed mode" built into it, but the digital crown will be on the bottom and you will have to reverse the band. overly annoying...

linnefaulk

Early adopters usually by each version of the device. Most people cannot afford a new iPhone or any other device every year.
I did get the first iPad on day one. I had no issues until it was a couple years old and just couldn't keep up.

SpeshulEd 

I don't understand this. Is it that hard to turn a dial/tap on the screen with your right hand?

hamster

It is for a leftie. What I don't understand is what difference does it make whether the crown is on the top or on the bottom.

Shimagnolo

Funny; Right now my Mac is working with a Sony monitor, a Sun keyboard, a Kensington trackball, and a Cisco switch.
My iPhone and iPad work just fine with a Cisco access point.

K.Katso

That's not exactly what I meant. Ethernet, Wireless, and USB are standards they must comply with to make the devices useful. What I'm getting at is vendor lock-in, which Apple loves. They have a "walled garden" approach with regard to their products (App Store, iTunes, etc), which I find obstructive and annoying. I'm sure if they could make their own wireless standard, they would. They used to have their own networking protocol before they finally had to give up in favor of IP.

(*I also work for Cisco BTW, so I'm well aware of the standards our products comply with, as well as the capabilities for and interactions between our devices and those of other vendors. I actually know quite a bit about how Apple products behave on a network.)

dalava

I call BS on this.... just because Apple approaches their product as part of an ecosystem better than most doesn't mean it's evil.

K.Katso

Problem is that it is an ecosystem made up of only their products most of the time. It's not that it's evil, it's just too tightly controlled and limited - that's the problem I have with it. Anyway, without getting into too much of a pro/anti-Apple discussion, I stand by my original assertion that it will make a lousy replacement for a proper bike computer, and will likely only work with things they have control/ownership over. Sorry my opinion of Apple doesn't agree with yours. It's your money after all.

dalava

The key here is what you said about "vendor lock in". I don't believe Apple is going out of their way to lock you in to their products by making deliberate proprietary implementation of standards, established or industry practice; rather they are making all their software and hardware (desktop, mobile, etc) work more seamlessly so the advantage of buying into their entire ecosystem makes sense from convenience standpoint and requires the consumers to be less tech savvy. You may disagree with both of these points, but that's exactly why Apple may not be for you: because you want to have more control over every piece of your device and how they are interconnected. But a lot of people don't care.

Kingpcgeek

iPhone connection via BT 4.0 to Wahoo Fitnes SC? √
iPhone/iPad connection to Sonos system? √
iPhone/iPad connection to Google Chromecast? √
iPhone/iPad controlling TiVo? √
iPad using Logitech Bluetooth keyboard? √
Google Nexus 7 using iPhone WiFi hot spot? √

Got to agree, iDevices are useless without other iDevices

banerjek

Nothing says seamless like something that is USB at one end and something screwball at the other end. Or the bazillion dongles it always takes to get their products connected at meetings.

But I agree that proprietary isn't necessarily a bad thing. On the other hand, I don't think any of their products make good bike computers. A watch that starts at $350 that must be mated to an even more expensive phone strikes me as even worse. There's nothing wrong with people liking to use that stuff, but power and sensor issues aside, a watch is just not the right place to put a display when you're cycling -- that's why people with cheap HRM's often put the watch readouts on the bars.

Leinster

Yup. It's why Garmin have quick release kits for their Forerunners.

dalava

As of today, I am already riding with an iPhone and a Garmin Edge 1000. It strikes as ridiculous if I am to wear an Apple Watch on my wrist also. That's like 3 full-blown computers that would've taken 3 large rooms back in the 70's.

Kingpcgeek

While Apple has the mind share of people, where it really counts, market share, the winner by a huge margin is Samsung. In the last year Samsung has released three smart watches that are just as useless as the upcoming Apple Watch. All three of those watches require the latest and greatest, just as expensive as an iPhone, Samsung smart phone. Where is all of the Samsung hate?

dalava

Actually the Gear went through 6 versions already in a year. See here: Six models in a year: Samsung's struggle to perfect the smartwatch

I think one of the killer app for the Apple Watch has to be fitness/health-related; hence my original thought about using it as cycling computer.

banerjek

The subject never came up. Probably because hardly anyone advocated using one for any purpose, let alone a cycling computer.

Apple's fitness/health angle will undoubtedly appeal to a number of people. But if you need a real computer, it's not a good choice. It's more like a fitbit on steroids. I understand the appeal of fitbit even less, but they are very popular.

SpeshulEd 

But you wear the watch on your left wrist...being left handed, you don't have enough control over your right hand to twist the crown?

I could understand if you wear the watch on your right wrist that it would be difficult to twist the crown with your left, but this would be the same with any traditional watch as most watches are designed to be worn on the left wrist.

I'm right handed, but that doesn't mean my left hand is a lifeless corpse that just flops around all day.

slavik13

Somehow I just had a mental picture of Chris Froome towing a trailer full of mainframes on his Pinarello.

Dave Cutter

Before I retired I was a network admin. So I've owned every version of windows since 3.1 (including ME). I am sure I allocated a larger part of the budget to technology than most Americans did. So I can understand the desire to want the latest greatest. But I've become more thrifty with my tech purchases.