Cycling Watch Collaborations Deep Dive

Full-carbon frames…… speed-specific appeal… electronic shifters… high-accuracy quartz… carbon composite cases… The watch world and the cycling world, much like the watch world and the motorsport world, have enjoyed an undeniable crossover in recent years. Innovation in the cycling world in the last decade or so, much like in the watch industry, has been insane, and I think the slew of luxury watch collaborations in this space offer a microcosm of that performance, engineering and the need for accuracy, on your wrist. In this article, we’ll take a look at where the crossover between cycling and mechanical watches comes from, why cyclists wear nice watches in the first place, and take a deep dive into some of the hottest and most successful case studies so far.

Why Do Cyclists Wear Watches?

*Pro Cyclists in the 80s donning Tag Heuers*

Well a vast majority don't. But there is a crossover, and despite a boom in the sport’s popularity in recent decades, this crossover is nothing new. Tag Heuer, who in just the last few years signed a partnership with the BMC Cycling team, partnered with the Seven Eleven team back in the early 1980s to promote the release of their 2000 Series. Tag’s Formula 1 watches can be seen on the wrists of greats including Andrew Hampsten throughout the 80s. This is, as far as I can find, the earliest a watch brand has collaborated in the cycling world and made use of pro cyclists influences as exposure for their brand.

As the popularity of the sport continues to grow today, collaborations from brands offering actual cycling-specific USPs keep hitting the shelves.

But why is cycling associated with nice watches at all, let alone delicate mechanical ones? Back when I was a teenager watching the Tour de France on TV, one of their sponsor partners in the UK used to be the online secondary-market luxury watch retailer Watchfinder (as well as long-term partner Tissot). When I saw the Watchfinder advert on screen of a middle-aged man riding a bike with a stupidly expensive Rolex on his wrist, I couldn’t help but recoil slightly at the thought of him crashing and destroying his watch. And although Tissot makes a bit more sense - being far less expensive and often with the shock-resistance benefit of quartz - it was still a little strange to me.

I can, however, slowly and tentatively begin to understand the appeal of a watch while riding, and a few releases from brands crossing into the cycling world show why it might be a nice use case. To begin with, through all the data and metrics, from wattage to FTP (that’s functional threshold power), the humble watch can show you the most basic and intuitive metric of all: time spent on the bike. Then beyond that, a wristwatch can be a stopwatch to show you how quickly you complete a segment, how fast you climbed or how quickly. It can be used to track timezones when travelling for your sport, which many do. It can also be part of an aesthetic, which obviously not a necessity, plays a massive role in the elite cycling world, but getting to the nitty gritty of that particular facet would require a whole new post, or even an ethnographic study into modern cyclists.

Ultimately, despite risking damage, watches are to be used. That’s essentially the point of this blog in the first place. And if that use is accompanying a ride, I’m all for it. To really understand why cyclists wear watches, let’s take a look at a few highlights from brands offering watches specifically for the use of cycling.

Bremont MBIII Rapha Special Edition

Rapha is a premium cycling apparel brand known for combining high-performance gear with sleek, minimalist style. Founded in 2004, it’s built a global community through its apparel, events, and the Rapha Cycling Club.

What we have here is Bremont’s Martin Baker series GMT, named after the British ejector seat manufacturer because of it’s ability to withstand massive levels of shock and G-force such that it can survive an ejection from a fighter jet, in titanium, with a black PVD coated case.

Rapha has made this the ideal cyclists’ mechanical watch. They've chosen the MB series Bremont as the basis for the watch, which is not only very legible at a glance (on a bike, all you’ll get is a glance), but also very resistant to shock, so you can rest assured you won’t damage the watch riding on gravel or if (or perhaps when) you crash.

The titanium case means the watch will feel about half as hefty as its steel counterparts, offering comfort on the wrist while riding. The matt black coating gives the watch a utilitarian look and feel as well as offering an anti-reflective bonus; you don’t want something bouncing light in your face while descending at potentially 100kph.

Finally, the GMT complication, although it seems useless for a cycling accessory, has its place in the fact that many cyclists will travel abroad for their hobby, to hotspots like San Fransisco, Mallorca, or to one of Rapha’s RCC Clubhouses worldwide.

Tudor Pelagos FXD 'Cycling Edition'

A bold vision for the future, backed by Swiss precision, the Tudor Cycling Team is fast becoming one of the most exciting names in pro cycling. Backed by Rolex’s sister brand and guided by the legendary Fabian Cancellara, this UCI ProTeam is serious about performance. With a focus on developing young talent and racing aggressively across Europe and beyond, the team is carving out its place in the peloton.

In January 2023, to distill the drive, ambition and modernity of TeamTudor into a commemorative model within the brand, Tudor brought out a special edition of their Black Bay Dark chronograph with commemorative red accents. Although really cool, the watch was still only a modified version of an already existing model, housed in a heavy not-so-cycling-friendly 43mm stainless steel case.

An update came last year which looks almost identical to the special addition Black Bay from 2023; but make no mistake, the new version is so much more. The watch now comes housed in Tudor’s pioneering FXD case. This means the case has what are essentially integrated fixed lugs, a design which Tudor developed for the Marine Nationale (French Navy) underwater navigators in 2021 with the release of the Pelagos FXD MN. This takes the watch out of the heritage Black Bay line, and in with the professional models where it belongs. But while the Pelagos range are in lightweight titanium, suitable for cyclists and thus used by the other watches in this feature, Tudor have rendered the case in even lighter carbon composite. The use of carbon is not only lighter and naturally sleek and anti-reflective, it also mirrors the materials used in modern high-performance bikes. The watch also keeps its cycling-specific complication - a chronograph.

A final detail worth pointing out is that the FXD Cycling Edition has pump pushers as opposed to crew-down ones. This make the watch actually useful for its purpose, since a rider doesn’t have to unscrew the pushes while riding, which is surely impossible. To go further than the cycling USP, I hope Tudor makes pump pushers the standard for non-heritage chronograph models moving forward since fiddly crew-down pushers are an unnecessary hassle for the brand’s big brother chronograph - the Rolex Daytona.

UNIMATIC X MAPP UK Modello Quattro UT4-M

The UNIMATIC × MAPP Modello Quattro earns its place on this list thanks to its ultra-tough build and utilitarian design - two things any cyclist can appreciate. Built in collaboration with MAPP (a UK-based outdoor brand), this watch is deliberately made to handle harsh environments, making it ideal for gravel riders, mountain bikers, or anyone who likes taking the road less traveled.

The watch, like others on this list, is in lightweight grade II titanium. But unlike the two automatic watches so far, the UNIMATIC uses an anti-shock protection quartz movement. I think makes a lot of sense considering the watch is: (1) not necessarily aimed at watch enthusiasts but more so at cycling enthusiasts who might not fancy the hassle of servicing a mechanical watch, and (2) there's still that fear of a mechanical watch breaking with shock despite the innovations, whereas quartz is almost impossible to break in comparison. The water resistance for a cycling watch only needs to be around 30 meters, to protest against sweat or rain, but the UNIMATIC is a whopping scuba-ready 300 meters. Complete overkill for cyclists I know, but design overkill is often what both watches and bikes are all about.

Outlandish Richard Milles

Speaking of over-engineered, the modern luxury watch powerhouse that is Richard Mille have created some pieces that are eye-waveringly expensive. While they do just happen to be on the wrists of pro cyclists, RM also offers up some real cycling UPS also. Apparently tens of thousands of dollars on a bike isn’t quite enough, with some pros actually wearing million dollar RMs on race day. To end, let’s take a look at three examples from RM…

RM 70-01 Tourbillon Alain Prost

The RM 70-01 Alain Prost edition is a 30-piece run of hand-wound tourbillon watches made in collaboration with Alain Prost, four-time Formula 1 World Champion and passionate cyclist. Featuring a tourbillon is obviously absurd for a sports adjacent watch, though cyclists needs are kept in mind with the inclusion of an odometer. I’m new to the odometer, especially as a watch complication, but it is essentially like a milage gage for your bike. The watch shows how far your bike has traveled by way of you inputting how many miles you ride each time you’re on the bike (which I know isn’t technically a complication per-se, but is a feature with real cycling relevance). Oh yeah, and the watch comes with a bespoke Colnago road bike worth around £12,000 thrown in too.

RM 67-02 UAE Team Emirates Edition

RM is official watch partner to UAE Team Emirates and offer a super-lightweight edition to commemorate the partnership. Weighing just 32 grams by utilising their proprietory TPT composite materials (that’s Thin Ply Technology) and grade-5 titanium, seamless, non-slip, and highly elastic strap for comfort, and designed for optimal legibility while gripping handlebars, this watch is worn by team members like Tadej Pogačar during races including the Tour de France.

RM 67-02 Mark Cavendish Edition

Mark - Manx Missile - Cavendish, the legendary sprinter from the Isle of Man, has blazed his way into cycling history with a record 35 Tour de France stage wins, plus major victories at the Giro, the Vuelta, and World Championships. His legacy goes well beyond the finish line. In 2024, Sir Cavendish was knighted, and honored with the BBC Lifetime Achievement Award in the same year. For his wrist, RM offers a burnt orange colour scheme to allude to his stint with the Bahrain-McLaren team, who’s kit matched the same shade.

While wearing something so expensive and delicate while cycling would be absurd for even a serious cyclist, the top end of the elites in the sport sees teams spend multiple millions on athletes and brand deals in similar ballparks. It’s an expensive sport, so much like F1, yacht-racing and even football, it’s no surprise that luxury brands with a sporting edge want to get in on the action.