Apple Watch Experiences
 

Does anyone here own an Apple Watch, and use it while you're cycling? I am considering purchasing one for normal day-to-day use, but I am wondering if there are many uses for cycling. I know Strava recently launched an Apple Watch version of their app, but the functionality seems vague.

If you have an Apple Watch, I would also like to hear some reviews!

This one comes with the cycling-specific feature of emptying all your savings so you can't buy a pro level road bike and 3 sets of Zipps.

Apple Watch Edition - 42mm 18-Karat Rose Gold Case with White Sport Band - Apple

Fun feature- Apparently you can send someone else with the watch your heart rate, which is received as little taps on their wrist from their watch. Nothing like letting your wife know that you're in the middle of some hard intervals by having her watch tap out 180 bpm on your behalf.

I bought a Garmin Fenix 3 GPS watch a few months ago. It's sort of like an Apple Watch except the battery can last a month and a half, and the GPS works if you leave your phone behind. :)

Having a watch as a bike computer is actually pretty convenient if you already have some kind of cyclocompter that tells you what you need to know (or you're willing to put your watch on your handlebars) and you do other outdoor/exercise things you'd want to track, eg other than cycling.

I have an android watch, not apple, and don't use it for cycling anything but it is nice to get notified when somebody texts or calls me without having to dig my phone out of my jersey/ziploc. I could not possibly care less about having my watch display my HR, and it tries to measure my fitness all the time, as if that is some sort of motivation for me. Bleh.

I'm figuring that would be the most convenient feature, pulling my phone out is always a hassle. I also wonder if the Apple Watch would be able to shown Strava segments in real-time on the screen (which from what I understand, is going to be a featuring coming to the Garmin 510 anyway).

I have it. Battery will NOT last an entire ride (3+ hour). Worthless for anything longer than a quick 1 hour training ride.

How do you like the watch overall for day-to-day use?

Not very good.... If I were you, I would wait for the next gen. The current Apple Watch is pretty much half baked: battery is terrible, no good apps, very limited 3rd party API access (for them to build cool apps in fear of consuming too much battery), erratic behavior, non-adjustable taptic touch, completely useless without the iPhone, etc. It doesn't feel like an Apple product, more like a fake Apple product made by some Chinese company, to be honest. I am very disappointed as a long time Apple product user.

honestly, if you just watch notifications or to see who is calling, etc.. just get a $99 Pebble smart watch.

I am looking for the functionality the Apple Watch provides off the bike as well, but for on, I was figuring the extent of its usefulness would expire at phone notifications and potentially real-time Strava alerts.

Have done a couple rides using Outdoor Cycle, as compared to Edge 500 with heart monitor.
Distance basically measures the same (have iPhone in back pocket)
The total time measures about a few minutes more with watch for some reason.
Calories measures lower on watch.
garmin ride 1 and 2 were 576 and 537
watch ride 1 and 2 were 502 and 449

For day to day use, it's a watch, easy to set an alarm and timer, like seeing text messages come in on watch, like the sharpness of the display, comfortable, have plenty of battery left by end of evening.

Probably the watch recorded more time because it doesn't have auto-pause?

I don't know about the Apple Watch, but I have a Moto 360 and I use it while I ride. It'll show Strava data on the watch which can be useful, and you can pause/stop your ride from the watch which is great if you're taking a little break. I also just say "OK, Google. Start a bike ride" when I leave, and it automatically starts a Strava bike activity for me. I assume the Apple watch has this same functionality. It's actually quite convenient.

My watch has easily lasted longer than a 3 hour ride.

I agree with this.

The watch doesn't make a good cycling computer...

My main reason for buying the watch was so I could see text messages/alerts when I'm riding, but the vibration (taptic or whatever) isn't strong enough to notice over the road vibration.

Currently, the activity app doesn't sync with strava or myfitnesspal, or whatever else. So if you want credit for your daily activity, you have to run the activity app plus strava or whatever else. I find this silly and annoying. As far as I can tell, it doesn't even sync with the Apple Health app. As annoying as all of this is, I do find the watch keeps me more active, getting up to walk around once an hour to get my stand points in and whatnot. I also like collecting the little awards it gives you. I've almost went the entire month of July without missing my stand points, activity points, and workout minutes which means I'm going to get a monthly award for July. Whoopee! This also means that my legs are about dead without a rest day.

The apps are slow to start up...it takes about 30 seconds or longer for any of them to get going. It also tends to download available watch apps to the watch automatically even though I've switched that option off. But hey, I love spending 5 minutes every week deleting all the pointless apps off the watch.

I listen to music when I ride, spotify mostly, and while I can control the music or see what song is playing from the music app, it's clunky and hard to get to. When the activity app is going, it comes up first, which means you have to back out of it, and then click the proper app, etc and it's touch sensitivity isn't all that great, especially while riding a bike.

The mapping feature is ok, but it takes awhile for the maps to load, just like the other apps.

Overall, the watch is ok, but it hasn't changed my life nor has it benefited me in the ways I was hoping it would. It's nice when I'm in a meeting or out with a client and can see a message without pulling my phone out, but that's about it.

I have a Garmin Tactix and use it mainly on the mountain bike. I find that I like not seeing my bike computer at times...especially if I'm tired and still have a ways to get back. A watch is cool in a sense that its more than just a GPS like my 510. I also like the altimeter on the Tactix too. :D


I just picked up a Pebble for less than 40 shipped. It has a Strava app that relays the info from the phone to the watch.

I have a Pebble Steel that I bought after the Apple Watch was released (think Pebble had just dropped the price). I don't know what it can do besides showing phone/iMessage/email notifications, but it made sneaking out for a mid-day/lunch ride a lot more practical without having to constantly fish the phone out to see if there was something important I had to respond to.

You guys buying smart watches for checking messages while riding... Have you tried just using line in control earphones and having the phone read the messages to you? Maybe you have and you don't like it, but it's a way to check messages without pulling your phone out of your pocket and it lets you control a music app. I do this with a little $15 pair of Sony earbuds, I have the earbud with the controls in my right ear while I ride so my left ear is free. I need to slow down a little so the wind noise lets Siri hear me asking it to read my messages and if I want to reply, but I usually just save that for the stop signs/lights and I'm good to go. Quick way to send my wife ETA updates on longer rides and it lets me skip crappy Pandora stuff without fuss. Only issue is most control buttons seem to fail from sweat eventually. I'm on my 3rd pair of buds in the last couple years, but that's probably partially my fault for letting them run through the washer every now and then.

I've never tried Siri reading me messages, does it work with emails too?

I do use the earbud controller to skip songs and whatnot, but sometimes I'll hear a song and not know what it is and don't want to pull out my phone to check. However, checking it on the watch is about the same hassle. Currently, my favorite earbuds to use are Etymotics because they seal well in the ear. My last set just died after two years. I believe it was a sweat issue in the controls. I then tried the bluetooth Jaybird Bluebuds...those things are overpriced hunks of junk. They cut out constantly and fall out of the ear even with the little rubber flange thing. Those were quickly returned to Amazon and I now have another pair of Etymotics.

Getting back to the watch and the Strava app...Every time I try to start the Strava app on the watch, it tells me I need to sign in on my phone, even when I'm already signed in. As far as I'm concerned, Apple has failed with the watch.

I don't really use it for that, but after trying it just now it does. It's a little awkward because it'll read signature blocks and such to you, but it does the trick. I like when you make it read emoji back to you. If my wife sends a text with the little poo emoji, siri says "Smiling pile of poo". So descriptive.

Haha, that is fantastic!

I'm trying to decide if I'm fortunate or unfortunate in having a life where text, email, and phone notifications while riding would provide me little benefit.

I don't care to listen to music when riding, but I too use the "personal assistant" (Cortana, in my case) to read incoming texts and dictate responses. Headset not even necessary, but I do need to slow a little to have the phone understand me while still in a jersey pocket.

Fortunate, IMO. I really only use it to respond to my wife in a timeframe that keeps her from worrying that I'm in a roadside ditch.

The whole "little benefit," thing, though, mirrors my thoughts on smart watches in general. They're not standalone devices and add minor conveniences to the experience. As such, these are not much more than nifty gizmos, to me, and don't warrant a $400 price point. $100, maybe. $200 if I'm in a particularly weak-willed moment.

Screw all that. I don't like riding with ear buds (part of the reason for all of this is to be outside, part of my environment) so this is off the table. The watch buzzes noticeably and if I'm in a position to and want to read it, I will. Otherwise, I know why my phone is buzzing, and I can usually see who it's from which tells me how important it probably is.

I started using "Live Tracking" when I ride, it gets me out of sending ETAs because she knows my route.