Wearable fitness tracker for cycling – How to Find the best one

One of the best ways to lose your weight is through cycling. Adding cycling to your daily weight loss workout routine will do wonders to your health. But, how do you track all your cycling activities? You can now use a wearable fitness tracker for that purpose.

Fitness trackers or smart watches that are specially designed for cyclist is available in the market today. It can keep track of your distance, speed, calories burned, heart rate, sleep hours etc. Some trackers even alert when your heart rate is higher than normal.

The more feature you needed on a fitness tracker the more it is going to cost you. In this buying guide I’m going to list out a set of criteria you should consider if you want to buy the best fitness activity tracker for biking.

What is the best fitness tracker for biking?

A most common question that I get asked always! There’s no clear answer to it because each fitness tracker has its own pros and cons and no one single tracker device available that fulfill everyone’s need. No matter your budget, you won’t find that one best fitness tracker that suits all your needs, so you might have to make some compromises.

So, whenever I get this question asked, instead of pointing them to a certain brand or model, I rather give them a list of things they should look out for before jumping on to their shopping wagon.

Size: When it comes to fitness trackers, size matters the most. You don’t want to tie a huge tablet sized tracker on to your wrist. So, pick the size that is comfortable.

Battery life: Look out for a fitness tracker that offers the most battery life on a single charge. Some trackers do come with replaceable battery, so do choose one according to your needs.

Waterproof: As a cyclist you sweat a lot, so do look out for a fitness tracker that is at least sweat proof. I would recommend you to choose a fitness tracker or smart watch with IP68 rating.

GPS: If you need more accurate stats, then go for smart watches with in-built GPS function. You can also choose a wearable fitness tracker with “connect GPS”, but you need your smartphone with you always to see any real-time stats.

Built-in Apps: Most smart watches come with preloaded sports apps which lets you track your stats with a simple tap.

Accuracy: Always choose a fitness activity tracker that offers the most accurate metrics. Most cheap fitness trackers are mostly inaccurate.

Cost: You can get a good fitness tracker under $100, but if you need a wearable smart watch with dedicated GPS and built-in apps, then it would cost anywhere between $200 to $500.

Fitness Tracker for Cycling

Can I use fitness tracker for indoor cycling?

Yes, you can use fitness tracker for stationary/indoor cycling. However, do note that a tracker that depends only on GPS to track your distances won’t pick up your stats because you are not moving anywhere when you cycle indoors, and GPS trackers need you to travel distances physically.

The best indoor cycling fitness trackers are probably one with pedometer. It requires neither internet or satellites, but just your physical movements to track your cycling stats.

Is there an app to track how far you bike?

If you are someone who owns a smart turbo trainer that features ANT+ and Bluetooth, then you can use apps to track your indoor cycling activities without the need of a wearable fitness tracker. You can download apps directly on to your mobile phone or laptop and see all your progresses in real time. However, if you bike outdoor then tracking apps on a mobile phone are quite inaccurate compared to dedicated fitness trackers.

Fitness Tracker or Smart Watch for cycling?

If you require only the basic functions like heart rate monitor, distance traveled, calories burned, notification vibrations etc., then a low-end fitness tracker band will do the job. However, if you want inbuilt GPS, Bluetooth, touchscreen, voice and text notifications, dedicated sports apps and better accuracy, then a smart watch would be a perfect choice.

Conclusion

If you are ready to hit your cycling goals, then a fitness tracker will definitely help you with achieving that. Do consider the above-mentioned things before choosing a fitness tracker for biking.