I thought I’d share my experiences trying to use my Apple Watch Ultra 2 as a dedicated cycling computer. I’ve been using a Garmin 530 for the last 5+ years but now with its waning battery life it’s starting to feel old. I recently picked up an AW Ultra 2 and would like to have it track all my activities (rides and runs mainly) along with sleep to optimize training and recovery.
The problem with the AW is that it’s not a good cycling computer when it’s on the wrist. It’s not as glance-able as a typical handlebar head unit. I did a comprehensive search for ways to mount the AW as a head unit. There’s some strap mounts but those look amateur. There’s a bike mount from Bikling but it looked cheaply made and not well designed with having to forcibly press the watch into the case. It also had no display protection and relied solely on the friction fit to hold it in place. I wanted a case that was easy to put into the case, highly protective, and secure.
So I’ve put my head down and spend several days figuring out CAD and designed a case mount for the AW Ultra. The AW Ultra case mount I designed is about the same size as a Garmin 130 Plus (but the AW Ultra has a larger display and it’s color). I’m currently prototyping in FDM to get the dimensions right but I eventually plan to print in SLA tough resin for better resolution and materials. The case is like a clamshell so it encloses the AW Ultra completely. I plan to secure the halves with neodymium magnets. With the 4 super-strong magnets it’ll take about 10 lbs of force to separate the halves (more than 50x the weight of the AW Ultra) so it should be able to handle a pretty severe crash.
If there’s any interest in this, I may do a run of them. Let me know what y’all think.
Also for those using an AW on rides, what apps are you using?
Personally I see a narrow market for such an item. The biggest limiter for me is the size of screen size and the loss of heart rate data.
With SRAM providing hammerhead units with RED equipped bikes it’s hard to see where an additional unit is going to disrupt the market.
Now if you could image power data or whatever metric you need onto the inside of your cycling glasses, then sir, that would be a game changer especially if you could change data by using the gear levers or satellite switches on the hoods…….
Agreed. It’s definitely niche. But then again all cycling computers are niche. They do one thing and some of them don’t even do that one thing well. Garmin’s UI and navigation is pretty mediocre. Sure the screen size is smaller than a 540 but the resolution of the AW Ultra is almost twice it. And if you wanted a 1050, sure the screen is bigger but again the resolution is much less. Same goes for the Hammerheads.
At least an Apple Watch has multiple uses from smartwatch to cycling computer to ECG. SRAM proving Hammerheads as a package deal tells me they’re having a hard time selling them.
Back in the days before smart watches and fancy bike computers, I mounted a Polar HRM on handlebars using this mount. Since the HRM was in the form of a watch, the band wraps around the mount. Quite simple. But I understand you want a physical shell to protect the AW, correct?
How well does the 3d printed mount base mate with the handlebar mount? Curious to know how good the tolerance is in a print. I’m beginning to experiment with 3d printing various mounts myself.
Usually tolerances and such are quite good, I think the biggest hurdle is print direction for strength and materials.
I get pissed off when I see people selling stuff that needs strength in PLA…
I usually print in nylon for cycling stuff, do a lot of light holders for Garmin Varia and Trek Flare RT, MagicShine etc. and never had issues with things breaking (once I figured out print direction and how to print for strength).
I read some things about how bad the carbon reinforced stuff is for health, so will try to move away from that and maybe do more things in PETG.
Milanese loop wearers are excluded from your solution. (I have the UW2 with. that band, and love it after having issues with the standard watch Milanese band ruthlessly yanking hairs)
I blew huge money on a Garmin fenix watch with hopes of using it as the one that rules the all, the sorts I did at the time, and just couldn’t get into having to glance at my wrist while riding, and had vision bad enough that seeing it on the stem was difficult, especially with it moving around. I went to the bigger 10xx series and haven’t looked back. I feel that people using watches on the bike are potentially as dangerous as wearing headphones when riding, or reading while driving. The 1040 I have is head and shoulders above what I could have expected from a watch. But rock it if you can.
I do use the UW2 for a dive ‘computer’, and it does that function rather well, but given the other options, the UW2 was at least multi-function enough that it works so well as a watch that also does… that it’s not at all awkward. (ie: I would never use the more typical dive computers as an everyday watch) I’m 100% sold on not using a watch for cycling, which might be an unpopular opinion?, but yeah, there it it…
Apple Watch Ultra (or any Apple Watch) as a bike computer is a bad idea.
I’ve got a 1040, and it’s great (well most of the time) but I have to take my AWU with me on every ride, and sometimes you just want to keep it simple, sure record power and speed e.t.c … but that’s not what the ride is about
So when it comes to commutes, short rides with mates, recovery rides, I just record on the AW, if I had something like this … I would probably use it for TT’s and weekly chain gang
Agree with with some of the comments about it being niche, and I don’t think this forum is the target market (new SL8 to go with my 1050) , plenty of people are happy using phones e.t.c and this is just an extention of that
During races I use my Apple Watch Ultra in place of bringing my big phone along. Works great for my wife to track my location, stream music, and make calls in the event of an emergency. I take the bands off and leave it in my top tube bag, however. If it was cold I may wear it, but I generally don’t like the band on my wrist when drenched in sweat.
Same. The location tracking and crash detection are a big features that I want without having to bring my phone with me. I ride alone a lot and these features are not only beneficial for me but also my partner (I’ve been hit by a car and she only found me at the hospital because of Find My Friends).
I’ve been slowly testing out the various cycling apps. The default Workouts app isn’t that bad. It’s basic. No graphs or ways to customize data screens. But you can push TR workouts to it. That feature, though, is a bit frustrating to use on the wrist as I’ve accidentally skipped intervals and there’s no way to go back (or hold an interval). It’ll probably be better as a head unit.
I’ll be trying out WorkOutdoors and Cyclemeter in the next few weeks.
Next, I tried different print directions and settings. Printing with the face to the bottom seems to provide a better overall shape and contour, resulting in a better fit for the watch to the case. Printing with the side down warps the print, causing a 0.1-0.2 mm gap in the top and bottom halves.
Furthermore, I think that printing with the bottom face down aligns the layers perpendicular to the “wings” of the quarter-turn, which are crucial for securing it to the bike.
Would love to hear your thoughts?
The next step will be to try the magnets as a method of securing the halves. Right now, I’m using plastic rod as a stand in and it seems work pretty well!
Interesting design concept I’d likely have made it one piece to the bar that clamps instead of using the Garmin/wahoo quarter turn system. That cuts down on height since you can still remove the watch from the two piece design.
Critical flaw with AWU is the lack of power data to Strava when recorded using Apple fitness.
Yeah, okay, my AWU saved my ride. I was out riding the crusty snow and fell twice. On the second fall, the 1040 decided it had enough, and dropped the ride. I saw the first ride screen again but was trying not to fall again, but at the start I did okay the AWU to start a bike ride, and had it at the end, but getting that into Strava was not easy. What did I do wrong with that? I thought it was automatic, but I had to manually enter it and cut and paste the route map. And maybe I should look for a case that will fit well to protect it. I already have 2 small scratches on the top of the bezel.
I thought of using also my Coros Apex 2 as bike computer to have all running and biking activities in the same platform. My issue is that it doesn’t connect to the Garmin radar, which is of absolutely necessity for me. If anyone knows of any trick to make the connection l would appreciate it!
How did you link Apple Fitness/Health to Strava, I don’t have mine set to auto as I don’t want all my workouts in Stava, but I just click on the Strava app → Notifications and select the workouts I want, simple as
