Pairing an Apple Watch with a bicycle power meter?
I use the native “Workout” app on my Apple Watch Ultra to track calories burned during bike rides.
I’m considering adding a power meter to my bike (like Garmin Rally pedals or a SRAM AXS RED spider) that would be able to measure real-time power (either single- or double-sided), and I’m trying to understand whether/how that would work with my Apple Watch. Has anyone done something like this? I’m wondering:
- Is it possible to pair (via BLE) one of these power meters with the Apple Watch (natively, not with a third-party app)… like I already do with a Polar heart rate monitor?
- Is the Apple Watch Workout app smart enough to actually use the power readings from the meter to make more-accurate calorie calculations? (For example, today, it doesn’t seem to adjust my calories if I’m carrying a heavy load, or in a long ride going into the wind, etc. But a power meter would be able to take that into account…)
- Is it smart enough to automatically understand whether the meter is a single- or double-sided one (so that it doesn’t incorrectly double- or half-count the readings)?
- Any chance that the Exercise app records power, to be reviewed later? How about left/right balance? How about cadence? Separately, is it possible to display any of these things in realtime on the Workout app on my paired iPhone? (Currently when I’m on a ride and the watch is in Cycle mode in Workout, I can set the iPhone to display key stats like speed, heart rate, etc. … is it possible to also see power there?)
Thanks!
Apple Watch Ultra