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Are you tired of struggling with your smartphone taped on the handlebars? Are you looking for the watch that will revolutionize your bike outings? Don’t worry, I did the dirty job for you.
After having tested a chied of models (and emptied my bank account in passing), I give you my verdict on the best connected watches cycling of the moment. Spoiler: there are some who made me hallucinate, others were clearly the cold shower.
See the Garmin Forerunner 965 and opinions on Amazon
If you have the budget, stop looking. The Forerunner 965 crushes the whole competition with its GPS which even captures under the trees (where my friends with their tocantes at 100 balls flip to lose their mark).
Autonomy is just crazy: 11 p.m. in active GPS mode. You can make the Tour stage without stressing.
On the other hand, € 600, do not have the pockets holes. I tested this model for three months and frankly, I was amazed by the precision of the data. You can take a look at my full comparison of the Garmin if you want to see how it is positioned in front of the other models of the brand.
See the Polar Grit X Pro and opinions on Amazon
The thriller is a bit like the brand of purists. Less known than Garmin, but damn what she sends heavy. The recovery monitoring is just mind -blowing – you will know exactly when you can do this without risking to burn yourself.
The only thing that inflated me? The slightly less intuitive interface than in competitors. But hey, we get used to it quickly.
See the Coros Pace 3 and the opinions on Amazon
This is my surprise of the year. A watch at 250 € that stands up to the behemoths. Light as a feather (30g), patient autonomy (38 hours in GPS), and functions dedicated to really well thought out cycling. The integrated barometer is a real plus when you eat elevation.
The integrated power measurement is 95% reliable compared to my Favero sensors. The touch screen, absent on Pace 2, facilitates navigation a lot. Great performance! I dug the issue of alternatives in another article.
See Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Amazon reviews
So yes, Apple does beautiful things. The screen is to die for, integration with the iPhone is perfect. But let’s be honest for two seconds: it’s not a pure juice cyclist’s watch.
Autonomy? A large joke if you are more than 5 hours of bike. 12 hours max in GPS and again, I have never managed to hold so long. But if you’re a Sunday cyclist who wants a watch to do everything (and you have 800 balls to slam), why not. If you hesitate between the different models of Apple Watch, I made a complete comparison that should help you see more clearly.
In the end, if you want my advice as a cyclist who rolls 10,000 terminals per year, the Garmin Forerunner 965 remains the absolute reference. The Coros Pace 3 is the smart choice if you don’t want to ruin yourself.
Avoids first -price models at less than 150 €, it really does not feel good level reliability of the data. As for the Apple Watch, it’s a bit like buying a Ferrari to get the bread: cool but absurd.
The main thing is to choose a watch that corresponds to your use. You’re not going to let go of 600 balls if you go out twice a month, it would be completely stupid. Conversely, if you prepare cyclosportive, invested in a serious model, you will thank me later.
