Cycling with your Apple Watch
With the Apple Watch you have an extensive sports watch on your wrist. The Apple Watch can measure dozens of sports, including indoor and outdoor cycling. Or cycling, if you prefer a sportier approach. Whether you go to work by bike or go for a ride in your free time: with the apps below you can find out exactly the distance and collect all kinds of other useful statistics. Directly on your wrist, without having to reach for your iPhone. So no chance of a fine.
In this article you can read about:
- What should a good Apple Watch cycling app meet?
- #1 Apple’s Workout App: Good by default
- #2 Strava: for the community
- #3 Cycle meter: lots of data
- #4 WorkOutDoors: the alternative
- #5 Aaptiv: motivation in your ear
- “Why isn’t Garmin in it?”
If you want even more technology on the bike, you could also mount Garmin or Polar cycling computers. Or if you want to go one step further: a power meter. You can then let it communicate with your iPhone, so that you get an even more accurate insight into your performance. We will first get started with the Apple Watch and the apps you can use on it.
Which cycling and cycling apps for the Apple Watch are good?
Cycling apps on the Apple Watch must meet a number of requirements. The weather is not always nice, so an app must be easy to operate, even with wet hands or gloves. The Digital Crown is your friend, but not all apps can be operated by turning and tapping. Apple’s own Workout app, for example, works with swiping, where you can swipe between the pause screen, the sports dashboard and the music buttons. Fortunately, you can control the start and stop of the workout with voice commands via Siri.
Another problem is that you cannot cycle continuously while cycling in the city, so if you want to accurately measure your performance, the app must automatically pause when you are at a traffic light. Strava can, Apple’s own Workout app can’t. It is also useful if you can distinguish your cycling tours in the city from your longer tours at the weekend. This is possible with Strava, but not with Apple’s own Workout app. So it pays to take a good look at which app suits you.
Anyway: with the right apps, the Apple Watch gives you a great cycling computer on your wrist, which is accurate and afterwards shows a nice map of where you’ve been.
#1 Workout App
You don’t actually need a separate app to cycle. One of the best apps is already there by default: Apple’s own Workout app. It is ideal because it is so easy to operate. With the quick start function you can immediately cycle away and you will receive all necessary information while cycling.
Optionally, you can customize the Workout app’s mini-dashboard. If you have an Apple Watch with built-in GPS (from the Series 2) you can also record the route traveled without having to take your iPhone with you. While cycling you can pause at any time, for example to start the music function.
You can also use the Workout app for indoor rides. There is a special indoor cycling workout available. Other circumstances are taken into account, so that the measurement is also done accurately for indoor journeys.
When doing a workout you can choose whether you want an open goal, a time, distance or calories goal. We usually choose an open goal, because then you can just keep cycling and still see on the display what distance or time has already elapsed.
#2 Strava for cycling with the Apple Watch
Strava is the best-known app among cyclists and cyclists and can of course be found on the Apple Watch. The app can take measurements independently, without the need for an iPhone. You will first have to go through a number of steps on the iPhone to, for example, give permission for your location and notifications. The great thing is that Strava fills in some of the gaps that the default Workout app leaves behind. You will receive audible instructions, the app will automatically pause if you step off for a while, and you will also see sufficient data on the Apple Watch. For Apple’s own Workout app, it’s best to grab the iPhone if you want to see all the statistics.
While cycling you will of course see all relevant data: distance, time, heart rate, speed, height differences and calories burned. If you are a member of Strava Premium, you will also see your Suffer Score, which indicates in each heart rate zone you have trained. You can further analyze this heart rate data.
If your bike has a power meter, you can also view the Power Zone analysis with Strava. This gives you more information about your training load and intensity, but you can only see that data afterwards. A big plus of Strava is the community. While the Activity app allows you to share your workouts with others, there isn’t much to chat with and you don’t get to see the performance of others in detail. You only get to see that your friends did a workout or met their goal. If you want to exchange more experiences, you are better off with Strava.
#3 Cycle meter
With most apps you have to grab your iPhone afterwards to see a lot of statistics. Cyclemeter does not do that: it shows all kinds of useful figures on the Apple Watch itself. You can view over 200 metrics on the Apple Watch, including heart rate, cadence, speed, and power. You can divide that data over several screens, so that you have a lot of information at your fingertips. With Force Touch you can start, stop the app and record lap times. You can also receive notifications about the time, distance, intervals and other goals you have set for yourself. You can see much more data via the accompanying app than on the Apple Watch. You also have the option to use training schedules and routes. For people who want to have all the details about their bike rides at their fingertips on the Apple Watch, this is a very complete app. To use all the features of the Apple Watch app, the $10.99 Elite upgrade is required.
#4 WorkOutDoors
Not a fan of app subscriptions? Then you could consider the WorkOutDoors app, because you buy the app in one go for €6.99. The app then keeps track of exactly where you have cycled and how your heart rate has developed along the way. Afterwards you can also see exactly your average speed, altimeters and calories. The app also lets you determine everything yourself. This way you can design interval training yourself and determine what the layout of the data on your Apple Watch looks like. This way you always have your eyes on what is important to you. If you want, you can also use the app to follow directions, possibly from an imported GPX route. The biggest advantage of this app is your privacy. The developer claims not to collect any data from you.
#5 Aaptiv
Are you a beginner or do you hate that you always have to cycle on your own and are you looking for some exposure? Then Aaptiv time can be an attractive option. This app offers more than 2500 audio workouts and therefore mainly works as a kind of personal trainer. You receive the instructions in your ear via AirPods or wireless earbuds. These training plans are aimed at all kinds of sports, from running to rowing to strength training and yoga. 30 new lessons are added every week. To use it you have to take out a paid subscription. For example, the cycling workouts are intended for indoor cycling, but there are also workouts for people who want to improve their cycling during the triathlon. The workouts are recorded by qualified personal trainers. You can also listen to all these workouts on the Apple Watch, but you must first add them to your favorites.
The workouts are based on intensity and you can listen to music while exercising (which you can also control on the Apple Watch screen). You can hear the distance, calories burned and other information via the Apple Watch. You can also see which lessons you have already done via the accompanying app. Just don’t expect too much when it comes to statistics, because Aaptiv just has less to offer on that point. There is something for every level. If you want to get others excited, you can do that too: you can send friends and family a Guest Pass, so they can use Aaptiv unlimitedly for a month.
Why isn’t Garmin included?
One well-known name is missing from this overview and that is Garmin, one of the most famous tech brands among cyclists and cyclists. That is because the Garmin Connect app does not work on the Apple Watch and that also has a reason: Garmin prefers to sell its own Edge cycling computers for the bicycle handlebars, with ANT technology. You can pair these with the Garmin Vector power meters and other accessories. And of course Garmin also prefers you to put Garmin sports watches such as the Fenix on your wrist. Reasons enough for Garmin not to develop an Apple Watch app that competes with its own products and services.
Do you prefer to get on your bike with the iPhone or do you want to plan a nice bike ride for your pleasure? We also have an app list of the best cycling apps for iPhone, which are also suitable for mountain bikers.
https://www.iculture.nl/gids/beste-apps-mountainbiken-fietsen-iphone-ipad-vakantie/
Other tips and guides for cyclists can be found here:
- Bicycle navigation on your Apple Watch: that’s how you get there
- The best bike navigation apps for the city
- With these bicycle accessories for the iPhone you drive smarter and safer
- Keep your hands on the handlebars with these bike holders for the iPhone
