Smart watch for navigation and tracking

golfer+1

After a 22 year gap (kids) I’m buying a road bike this winter. I currently ride approx 7000 miles per year commuting to work on a hybrid so not exactly a beginner.

Does anyone use a smart watch or even iPhone for navigation instead of a bike specific GPS - Garmin GPS bike products reviews hardly inspire confidence. If so what smart watch and app do they use. What are the benefits/drawbacks etc. Thanks

cougie

I sometimes use my Garmin fenix for navigation. It's fine in the country. Probably no use for cities where you'd get more roads. The display is fine for rural rides though.

wongataa

The only possible smart watch you could use to meet your requirements is a Garmin Fenix. The main issues would be seeing the relevant info on the small screen while riding. Plus, they are not cheap.

The issue with using any phone is that for navigation you are likely to want to have the screen on all the time which will quickly drain the battery leaving you less/no battery if you need to use it to make a call. There is also the issue that you may not want to lash an expensive phone to your handlebars (a location where it could be easily damaged in a crash).

If you don't want a Garmin cycle computer there are other options available - Wahoo Elemnt/Elemnt Bolt or the Lezyne units for example.

pmannion9

Buy a bike specifc GPS and save the faffing...
I use a Garmin and have done for years. Others brands are available . Buy based on features you need and may use.
As ever, most online reviews/comments are always when things go wrong..

Buy one - try it and if not happy return it ..
Simples...

timothyw

People love a moan - the vast majority of Garmin GPS computers are 'good enough' and people quietly get on with using them.

If you don't like the reviews of the Garmin's then get a Wahoo instead, which are also good, but also have their share of people tearing bits off them online.

What I can't see the point in is getting a smart watch, almost certainly also a Garmin, when the functionality of it will be pretty much identical to that on a bike GPS but with a tiny screen and worse battery life.

I used a garmin 200 for a few months, it was faultless, I then had a hand me down Garmin 500, I've used that for the past 4 or 5 years without any major issue - it had started to get a bit glitchy, I performed a full reset and it was back to working just fine.

I've just ordered a Garmin 520 as the reviews for it seem decent, it does a lot more than my 500, and I expect to get 5 years out of it, which compares pretty favourably with pretty much any other piece of bike equipment given it will be used on every ride.

I've got a Sony Smartwatch 3 incidentally. It's a couple of years old and started to play up - battery doesn't last as long as it used to, I had to replace the strap - twice. Some water got into it and made the screen misty for a few days last time I rode it in the rain. If I'd bought it to use it instead of the garmin, I'd have made a mistake.

pamplemoose

It's a total pain in the arse to try and navigate using a watch while riding.

You could spend cash on a watch, then ditch it and spend money on mounting your phone to your bars, but you''ll probably end up doing what everyone else does and buy a bike specific gps eventually. Save yourself some cash and get either the Wahoo Element Bolt or the Garmin 520 (or whatever Garmin everyone uses). There's a reason that you see loads of them compared to people with smartwatches or their phones on their bars.

bianchimoon

Using a smart watch to navigate on a bike! forget it I've used my Fenix a couple of times on walks, passable but a poor substitute for iPhone and gamins, etc. Having said that for everything else I love the watch, wouldn't be without it

cougie

I've done 80 mile rides in strange areas with my fenix. It's not that hard to do. Easy enough to see when you go off course.
A bike computer would obviously be easier but I run and swim too so this works for everything.