Cycling watches - I Love Bicycling

One of the most popular current trends in technology is wearable tech, more specifically cycling watches. In today’s market you are left with many different types of cycling watches to choose from. This article will help lay out some of the pros and cons of the top five cycling watches on the market in our opinion.

The Apple Watch

Pros:

The Apple Watch is the most brand recognizable out of all the cycling watches and carries a bit of prestige and notability with it. This watch also has many non-cycling related features that could make cycling more enjoyable, such as send/receiving messages, weather, and Apple Pay. Strava is probably the most used app on the Apple Watch for cycling. The watch can automatically upload your rides and give you current ride updates. Heart rate, elevation, and time and distance are a few other useful features of the Apple Watch. GPS can be useful when riding in a new area; with turn-by-turn directions on your wrist it is much easier than reaching for your phone to see every turn.

Cons:

Price is undoubtedly a con of the Apple Watch at a starting price of $399. Many cycling watches on the market can provide the same cycling specific functions as the Apple Watch at a fraction of the price. Another con of the Apple Watch is users must own an IPhone to get the full benefits of the watch. Pairing the watch and the IPhone for long periods of time while running apps can have a taxing effect on the battery life of each product.

The Garmin Vivo Series

Pros:

The Garmin Cycling Watch offers many of the same functions as other watches but it is waterproof, while many others are only water resistant. Being waterproof allows the Garmin to be used while swimming or competing in a triathlon. With up to 3 weeks of battery life, this watch can outstand forgetting to charge it every night. Garmin’s Customer Service is top notch and is certainly more supportive when handling customer’s problems or concerns opposed to other companies. The Garmin also starts at $219.99 a much more reasonable price than other cycling watches.

Cons:

Garmin unfortunately offers only 3 different colors, black, white, and slate. A lot of users may want to customize there products and this leaves very little opportunity to do so. The overall appearance of this cycling watch also suffers; the curves and shape are not crafted with the same aesthetic appeal as others.

The Fitbit

Pros:

Fitbit offers a watch for any fitness goals whether you want to be a pro athlete or just improve your health. Fitbit has several different models, but all have the same sleek design. The Fitbit is not large and bulky like other cycling watches. Fitbit watches also start at $129.95 and offers many different colors to choose from. Fitbit also uses an app through your smartphone allowing users to own any type of phone they want. Fitbit has also collaborated with fashion designs to offer brand name accessories for the Fitbit.

Cons:

Simplicity is a large part of Fitbit, this watch does not offer a screen to view GPS or other metrics while cycling. Some of the more expensive Fitbits have a bit larger display that can show heart rate and time. The Fitbit also has a smaller space for storage and only keeps detailed data for 7 days, so it is possible to forget to sync your activities and lose the detailed data. The larger Fitbit that offers GPS and Strava, costs $329.95 and the amount a user is able to customize bands is decreased.

The Polar Sports Watch

Pros:

The Polar V800 Sports Watch is designed for serious and professional athletes. One of the largest benefits of the Polar watch is that it displays power and can show all your different zones. Users can also pre-load routes and workouts into the watch to display during an activity. The Polar watch also doesn’t need a phone to be useful during training sessions. Polar cycling watches are also Training Peaks compatible; most of their competitors are not.

Cons:

The first most noticeable aspect of the Polar V800 is the price tag, starting at $619.99 it is at least double the cost of other cycling watches. This price does include a heart rate monitor, bike mount, and cadence sensor. The Polar watch comes in black or red, but most people purchasing this watch are more concerned with the features than aesthetics.

The Suunto Sports Watch

Pros:

The best aspect of the Suunto Sports Watch is the amount you are able to customize the product. Once you are ready to purchase the product you choose almost every color on the watch. The dial, case strap, buttons, buckle, bzelel screws, and strap screws are all pieces of the watch that are customizable. Firstbeat is offered on this cycling watch, which checks your recovery status in only a few minutes. This uses the Ambit3 to check your heart rate and measure the variability from day to day to give you a percentage of how recovered you are.

Cons:

Suunto does not have the quality reputation and brand recognition as other cycling watches reviewed. This is not necessarily a negative, but it is uncertain of what kind of customer support you may receive. The price range is quite large for Suunto watches running from $250- $850.

The wearable tech market is certainly booming particularly with cycling watches and new products are being released very quickly. Hopefully new more powerful gadgets will continue to be released!

Best Cycling Watches

Garmin has the highest quality products on the market; however, some also come with a big price tag! The Garmin 920XT is the best cycling watch on the market and truthfully, this watch is designed for triathletes, and not just cyclists. The Garmin 920XT comes with the kitchen sink! It will track power, cadence, heart rate, speed, VAM (vertical ascension metres – vertical climbed per hour), distance, time and many more critical pieces of data useful for analyzing your ride.

For Running it will track cadence, vertical oscillation and even ground contact time along with the myriad of other useful tools that all running watches have. Basically if you can imagine it, this watch will have it!

Swimming features include (but are not limited to) distance, pace, stroke type, stroke count drill logging and rest timers.

If you are looking for a top of the line cycling watch and plan to do any swimming or running this is the watch for you!

Garmin has built a reputation as a great watch maker because of products just like this, which is a versatile cycling watch that also has features for running, swimming and even golf. The large range of features are all easily accessible from a high quality, touchscreen display, making the watch clear and very easy to understand.

Couple that with a GPS system that will help out whenever you decide to tackle a new route, with a battery life of up to 3 weeks, and you can’t go wrong. Garmin even makes data fields and other apps available for free download.

This highly durable watch is designed for use by cyclists, runners and triathletes, so the design really has to be up to scratch to ensure that each gets the most out of it. Luckily, that is the case, so you will be able to use this watch and the in-built heart monitor to keep track of how you are developing when you train.

This cycling watch also comes with a two-year warranty, just in case something does happen, and features a training computer with a host of features to ensure you are training at the right intensity to reach your goals.

Slightly garish colors aside, this cycling watch offers everything that you could possibly want in a nice and neat package. With a detailed GPS system, heart rate monitor and a handy bike mount, it is perfect for practically any cyclist.

Better yet, it also comes with a weather display that lets you know what conditions you are going to be facing, plus it can be linked to any Android-based phones so that you can keep track of incoming calls.

TomTom is one of the best producers of GPS systems in the world today, so you can be assured a high level of route planning accuracy with this sturdy cycling watch. It also comes with a heart rate monitor and cadence sensor so that you can keep track of your cycling speeds at all times.

The watch itself also features a large graphical display that makes it very easy to read and interpret the data that it puts out. TomTom takes full advantage of this with their Graphical Training Partner, which helps you to train effectively and better gauge the benefits of what you are currently doing.

Advertised as a heart rate monitor, this cycling watch offers so much more than simply keeping track of your heartbeat. It also comes packed with a range of Smart Coaching features that ensure you stay on the right track when it comes to making the gains you need from your cycling training.

Furthermore, the watch is waterproof and can be used for a number of sports, for which you can create individual profiles that you can switch between as needed. It can also be combined with a range of other Polar accessories, though these usually need to be purchased separately.