I’ve been lucky enough this summer to test our more fitness-/workout-oriented wearables for We Wear It. These particular devices were born to run..or bike, or swim (three things that I occasionally do); some of them don’t even count steps the way a Fitbit or iPhone does. The Wahoo TICKR X is one of those: it isn’t a wellness wearable in the classic sense; its job is more about tracking your workouts and helping you get fitter, faster, and stronger.
Who’s Been Wearing It: Melissa, Dan
What It Does:
Running: Time, distance, pace, heart rate, cadence, “smoothness,” calories burned
Cycling: Time, distance, speed, heart rate, cadence, calories burned
Fitness: Time, reps (via the Wahoo TICKR X Fitness app), heart rate, calories burned
Wahoo is a relatively new entrant to the field of workout tracking, and one of only a few companies marketing a (consumer-level) heart rate strap. Wahoo has taken a big swipe at the old guard, however, by including an accelerometer and internal memory in their straps. This means no more running with a watch, or—worse—your giant sweaty-drenched smartphone.
The strap snaps to the body of the sensor, which lights up and vibrates when it connects to your phone or watch. The TICKR X talks to your devices via either Bluetooth or ANT+, so you don’t have to worry about it being incompatible with your fancy GPS watch.
Running/Cycling
For running and cycling, the TICKR X gives you basically what you would expect from a heart rate monitor, but also a little more. When cycling, for instance, the TICKR X’s built-in accelerometer records cadence data without a dedicated cadence sensor. That means you can easily use it during a spin class or on a second bike (you guys all have second bikes, right?).
Running is where that little accelerometer really shines, though. The TICKR X records what it calls the “smoothness” of your stride—basically the amount of vertical and lateral oscillation it detects when you run. This is great for people those of us who want to improve not just our fitness, but also efficiency.
Wahoo’s “home screen,” which scrolls down to give you more detailed information about your workout.
All that fancy “smoothness” analysis, distilled down to some pretty (or not-so-pretty, in my case) red bars and line graphs.
Fitness
Added since the TICKR X’s debut is a new app from Wahoo that detects a number of bodyweight strength training activities and counts reps of those for you. This is a rarity among fitness trackers, since most measure movement from your wrist, instead of your torso. This means rep counting is more accurate (and harder to fake, not that I would ever dream of that!).
Despite what this screenshot implies, I can actually do a push-up. Most of the time.
We’re not here to sell you any specific product, but as a triathlete, I’ve used a lot of heart rate straps in my time and the KICKR X might just be my favorite. It’s a top-notch heart rate monitor, has some great additional features, really isn’t much more expensive than comparable straps, and–most importantly–it’s comfortable.