Smartwatches have replaced gadgets to become great sports watches too. The smartwatch for cycling comes inbuilt with GPS, fitness tracker, time-stop, and many other digital features that come in handy for any athlete.
For cycling enthusiasts, the smartwatch can be a savior. The ultra-light and strong strap fits their wrist easily hence they can drop the heavy gadgets such as smartphones. Most fitness smartwatches come with extra features such as altimeters, preloaded maps, advanced metrics, and music storage.
While the majority of best smartwatches are aimed at runners, you can find specific smartwatches that are a great treat for cyclists too.
5 Best Smartwatches for Cyclists
Here is the list of the 5 best smartwatches for cyclists.
1. Fitbit Versa 2
Fitbit has a long history of providing fitness gadgets that are durable and reliable. In 2019, Fitbit sold 16 million units alone. Fitbit’s smartwatches are the most purchased fitness gadgets in the world. But does the smartwatch work for cycling enthusiasts?
If you’ve just recently decided to track your fitness and improvements while cycling, any line of Fitbit’s smartwatches can be a great choice. Fitbit Ionic was the first-ever GPS smartwatch.
The recent lines of Fitbit include:
- Fitbit Versa Lite Edition $159.95
- Fitbit Versa 2 Special Edition $229.95
- Fitbit Versa 2 $199.95
- Fitbit Versa 3 $229.95
- Fitbit Sense $329.95
Fitbit Versa 2 is a fabulous device with all the versatilities required for a cyclist. The great thing about it is that it offers all these features at a very affordable price – $199.95.
Its latest model offers 5+ days of battery life with built-in Alexa support. It comes with a slim and sleek new design with a noticeably faster processor, and a microphone. The only disadvantage with the Fitbit Versa 2 is that it doesn’t support GPS. For this, cyclists can upgrade to the newer model of Fitbit.
As long as you keep it strapped, it continues giving the 24/7 heart rate monitoring report. It also tracks each of your activity including sleep stages. It comes with 5 ATM water resistance with swim tracking. The new AMOLED display makes the UI (User Interface) a great experience.
2. Polar M460
Polar, a fitness gadget, started with M400. The earliest smartwatch was one of the best GPS watches despite lacking many navigation tools. To counter the previous flaws, Polar came up with a great new line of smartwatches. Among its latest smartwatches is Polar M460 which is solely meant for cyclists.
The new gadget is particularly designed with cyclists in mind. It is built for endurance, durability, and long hours. It also comes with GPS and many other navigational features that allow cyclists to stay up to date.
The makers call it a complete cycling smartwatch packed with useful features such as heart rate guidance, 3rd party power compatibility, Strava Live Segments, and Polar Smart Coaching. Along with tracking their progress, it also provides an in-class training experience for cyclists at all levels. It’s also compatible with most Bluetooth Smart power meters.
The new device comes with Strava Live Segments where the device alerts the cyclists when they approach one of the starred Strava segments. It then offers real-time data on performance. Along with monitoring the health, it provides insights about the speed, distance, altitude, and gradient with GPS and barometer.
Polar M460 has a battery life of up to 16 hours of training. You can also get your hands on Polar V650 integrated with OpenStreetMap.
3. Garmin Vivoactive 4
Have you thought about monitoring your health, navigating the trail, and listening to music at the same time? Yes, Garmin’s latest Vivoactive 4 does it all.
It was announced in late 2019 that Garmin Vivoactive 4 will replace Vivoactive 3. It’s one of their latest smartwatches to hit the market. The new model has it all: on-screen workouts, two size options, and lots of music storage.
The cyclists can choose from two sizes, 45mm, and 40mm. Although the 40mm Garmin is called as Vivoactive 4S, it offers the same features as Vivoactive 4. The slate stainless steel bezel offers much-needed durability. Pay the hefty price of $349.99 and it’s yours.
It comes loaded with a lot of features including heart rate, respiration rate, fitness age, sleep, Pulse Oximeter (Blood Oxygen level) hydration, menstrual cycle, etc. The advanced sensors can act as GPS, Barometric Altimeter, Compass, Gyroscope, Accelerometer, and Thermometer. Music storage, find my phone feature; calendar, weather, Bluetooth, etc. are some of the other additional features.
The long-lasting battery and 20+ preloaded sports apps are the newest features of Vivoactive 4. The built-in GPS allows you to map outdoor runs without having to bring your phone, and the watch is waterproof up to 50M.
4. Samsung Galaxy Watch
When it comes to smartwatches, how can Samsung remain behind in the race with the biggies? The Tech Giant was one of the earliest companies to introduce smartwatches but they didn’t quite catch up with fitness enthusiasts.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 46mm comes at the price of $349.99. The Galaxy Watch Bluetooth 42mm version will cost you $329.99. Everything about it is dazzling and big. It’s packed with every essential feature including activity and sleep tracking, heart rate monitoring, automatic workout detection, and reminders to physically move and breathe. The watch data can easily be synced with the Samsung Health companion app. You can check the data also in your smartphone.
The Galaxy smartwatches come with waterproofing up to 50 meters. The bezel around the screen also rotates as a fun way to navigate menus rather than touching the screen. Although it isn’t specifically designed for cyclists, those who wish to splurge can definitely buy one.
5. Apple Watch Series 5
Apple’s Watch Series 5 is probably the most magnificent invention by Apple Inc. The latest series comes with a digital compass that allows the cyclists to record and show heading, incline, latitude, longitude, and elevation. It’s always a handy tool for cyclists riding for hours on unknown terrain.
Probably the best feature about Series 5 is that it offers international emergency calling and works in over 150 countries, so a cyclist doesn’t have to be in the US to use its services. You can also make calls as long as you have a cellular-capable model of the series.
Built-in cellular lets you go with just your watch. Field a call from the office, text a thumbs-up to a buddy, check your email. You can also connect to Apple Watch to catch the streaming of your favorite episodes from Apple Podcasts. With Apple Music in place, you can also listen to music and radio stations.
When it comes to fitness, Apple Watch Series 5 is probably more than a cyclist could ask for. It’s like carrying an entire office in your smartwatch. The price starts at $399 and goes up to $799.
Some of the other popular smartwatch for cycling worth mentioning:
- Polar Vantage V
- Gamin Fenix 6X Pro
- Suunto 9
- Polar Grit X
- Coros Apex
- Polar Unite
- Garmin Forerunner 735XT
- Suunto 5
- Amazfit BIP