I’ve been riding off and on for about 2 years, about 8 months ago I got serious about it when I joined a cycling club that rides on weekends. I have a cyclometer that does a good job tracking time and distance, but I hadn’t sprung for the heart monitor. How I have all three in once device on my wrist!
So how did it go? A little rough at first…
As we were getting ready to depart I started the new Cycling app on the band. It said “Start a new ride. Press action button to begin and go.” So I hit the button and saw the display say “Searching for GPS…”. I figured it would find the GPS in a few seconds and all would be well, after all it said press the button and go…
That was my second mistake. 9 miles later during a break at the Seal Beach Pier I looked at the display expecting to see some cool telemetry data, instead I was shocked to see the message “Press action button and go.” Huh???? I already did that!!
Attn Microsoft: you need to change those messages. I take some blame for not testing it out first, but when it says “Press action button and go.” I should have to wait for something to happen before pressing the button a second time.
Ok, nothing lost – I have the telemetry data on my Cateye Stealth 50 cyclometer. Chalk it up to experience, and track the rest of the ride on the Band. As we departed for our Warner Ave I hit the action button and saw a time that starting counting so I knew I was in business. I could feel an occasional buzz on my wrist, and assumed it was mile markers. I would have looked but I was a bit busy. LOL I left it running during our break at Warner, and again at the Coyote Crossing Bridge. Then we got back to the shop... and the display was dark. GRRR!
My first mistake was I didn’t have it fully charged. I thought I had it at about 70% (I use it track my sleep as well so it wasn't fully charged), I should have but it on the charger before I left but it ran out before the ride finished. I think the display was on while time during the first 9 miles, which likely drained the battery.
My review, part deux: Success
I don’t usually ride both Saturday and Sunday, but my wife gave me the Sunday off so I thought I’d try it again the next day. This time I had a full charge and knew what to do, and it worked PERFECTLY! I rode the same 26 mile route in 1:46 (my best recorded time), and the results were very close to what my GPS-based cyclometer said (about .1 mile difference, although with some of the ride being on trails and not roads I think that would be considered acceptable). It was about 2 hours later that I thought to take note of the battery level, and it was still at 60%.
I had my cell phone (Lumia Icon) in the transit bag under my seat, I don’t know if it syncs periodically or not as I was a bit busy riding; I’ve been told the Band has very little on-board memory though. The report from the phone was cool, showing where I rode faster and slower, what my speed and heartrate was at each split (mile). Cool stuff!
All in all I’m quite pleased with the new addition to my Microsoft Band, although a few little UI changes would help the first-time cycling user.
The Microsoft Band has been available the last few days on the microsoftstore.com website, and there are rumors that it may be available at selected Best Buy locations. It can sync with IOS and Android devices as well as Windows Phones.
I’ve been tempted to try wearing my Band while playing hockey to see how it does; I know that Windows blogger Paul Thurrott has worn his while playing basketball. However I sweat a lot under those big leather gloves, and have taken more than a few slashes on my wrists over the years so I’m thinking that might not be a good idea. :)
On a final note: I have a BIG ride coming up next month, my first cycling event. You can read all about it here: http://main.diabetes.org/goto/lousyracuse
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