Something I’ve been wondering for some time as bikes get progressively more connected: Do you find any of it intrusive to the experience of the ride?
Distractions can be anything from message notifications (texts, Strava, etc.) on your head unit to pacing lights to, basically, anything that takes you out of the experience of the ride that you’re trying to have - whatever that is, whether you’re doing focused training, working through stuff in your head or just enjoying being outside.
I don’t find tech distracting on the bike, but then the only interaction I get is through my bike computer. Sure I get notification of messages, but I generally ignore those. I don’t listen to music on rides, so I don’t have to scroll through playlists songs on my Garmin. I do get a “beep” every 10 minutes to remind to drink something. My phone on rides is usually set to “Do Not Disturb”, so my phone doesn’t ring unless my wife or daughter calls. Even then, I don’t stop until it’s convenient/safe.
For years I resisted getting a head unit because I didn’t want to get sucked into the numbers. If I’m outside on my bike I want to be outside on my bike, dammit! I did low tech turn-by-turn routing on 3x5 cards. Finally gave in when someone gave me a Varia, and I realized that on gravel I kept stopping to check the map on my phone so I might as well have one on the handlebar.
Now I generally ride with the map screen up and most alarms off. Only occasionally look at the data screen. I thought the ClimbPro would be intrusive but it’s been good for pacing on new routes, and one can easily go back to the plain map. I don’t have phone text messages linked and keep the phone silent.
Tracking with Strava Beacon or an InReach on long solo rides has actually reduced distractions because I don’t get calls or messages from a worried partner. The Varia has been so reliable that I worry less about what is behind me.
So overall, the tech is not a distraction. And if I want to feel less connected, I have no problem dropping the head unit in a pocket for a while.
The trainer is where I stare at numbers. Outdoors I’d rather look at something else.
I disable any/all notifications to my head unit. While I’m riding my phone regularly turns on “Do not disturb while driving” which prevents my watch from buzzing as well. Alternatively I’ll turn on DnD myself if necessary.
Very occasionally I’ll move my head unit into my jersey pocket if my aim is to just track the ride without wanting any stat-based pressure.
My tech doesn’t, as I’ve configured it to be as low key as possible - just tracking my stats and showing Varia input, with all tones off. My phone is always on silent. Oddly my increasing short sightedness helps, as I need to put on my glasses if I want to read my head unit and who can be bothered to do that during a ride?
But the Edge belonging to one of my regular riding mates drives me nuts! He runs it as it came OTB and it pings away for auto pause and start, approaching corners, nutrition reminders, phone messages and so on. Great way to ruin a quiet morning on a dirt road.
For me tech is what you make of it whether it is the on rushing tech of the bike itself or the electronics you ride with. I have been using electronics on my bike since my first Avocet in the mid-80’s. I currently run a Garmin Edge 1040, but barely use any of the “extra” tech on it. Neither of my phones (Personal & Work) are connected to it, and only my Personal is connected to my Garmin watch. I finally upgraded to a used Varia last week, after using mirrors on the end of my drop bars for the last 8 years. I left the mirrors on the bike as the Varia and them complement each other.
Some of my riding friends use way less in the way of head units, and some use way more all the way up to a Meta frame. The way I see it tech is all a personal decision, plus I work in IT and riding my bike is how I relax after working on various firewalls all day.
So use however much you are comfortable with at that specific point in time.
I’ve never been much of a tech head so the decision a couple of years ago to ditch the lot was relatively easily made.
I will never go back: I like there being nothing to distract me from being in the moment. I know roughly how far I’m riding because I know the roads, I know roughly how fast I’m riding because I know the shape of the day. I really don’t need anything more: to paraphrase Rolls Royce I know my power output is “inadequate”.
Tech in itself is not the cause for distraction to me, but I recently started to follow a training plan with structured workouts, which is a major distraction. I like it for adding purpose to riding, giving me reason to actually ride hard at times, and improving my fitness. But I clearly enjoy the unstructured rides a lot more. Planning the route so the intervalls would fit in (and getting frustrated when it turns out they don’t), trying to stay within the power window of the workout adds stress that makes riding less enjoyable. All better than indoor riding though!
For me lots of things can become distracting – when they don’t work. It can be the HRM that doesn’t want to connect or the PM that creates wrong numbers. But it can also be a rattling bottle cage or squeaking pedals.
The issue is: often it’s the electronics that don’t work.
I don’t have notifications set up on my head unit, but I do use it pretty regularly on drop-bar rides for navigation, for metrics, and very importantly as a display for my radar. On mountain bike rides I’m far more likely to record on my watch since A) my head unit doesn’t have great trail base layers to begin with, and B) I don’t have any sensors other than heart rate on that bike. Definitely helps keep attention on the trail but that attention would have to be there in any case.
I’m relatively low-tech on the bike. I do have a head unit but without notifications (which are basically all turned off on my phone as well), and only a heart rate sensor.
Most of my rides are commuting. Head unit always on the metrics screen, and I think the same routes would become boring without the tech there to challenge myself - i.e., can I beat my PR here without blowing up my heart rate.
When going out for a real ride, I’m 95% of the time on the nav screen (I hate repeating routes and I like building new routes), with speed and heart rate fields at the bottom.
So no, not distracting, and I’d even go as far as saying that it adds a positive layer to my riding.
Having started using Zwift on a smart trainer recently, I do think that it would be interesting to ride with a power meter - but that would be distracting because I’d focus too much on trying to keep the right power, instead of following my legs’ feeling.
Edit/addition: also no music, cycling really is my zen-empty brain moment. Guess the only distracting tech are all those “motorized vehicles” sharing the road! 
No music, no calls, no texts while I ride. If I feel I am sneaking a ride in and need to be available, I learned this becomes a no fun ride. My head unit data doesn’t distract me. On some rides I will record the data but show only a page for the Varia radar signals. No active ride data.
I looked down at my head unit to match a power target about which my head unit was beeping , crashed and broke my wrist in multiple places. Needed surgery. Off work for 3 months. I, too, may turn off notifications when I can finally ride gain.
Yes and no. I recently retired so I turned off notifications on my computer. Which is great! But before retirement I was always watching for calls or texts. And having to stop to take calls or deal with some level of BS. That was a distraction. A while back, though, I finally got a Garmin taillight, which has been a revelation for me. I have deafness and for years I was able to more or less hear traffic. But in rain the 'aids had to come off and I was in a bubble. Now with the Garmin I can see what’s behind me. Which is sort of a distraction, but in a good way.
When it doesn’t work - very distracting.
Sometimes, having too much data on the head unit can distract from what matters. I try to scale the information provided with what type of ride I am trying to have.
For example, when I am pulling the trailer with my daughter and my wife riding alongside, I have a page on my head unit set with just the time of day and the miles ridden. This is all the information I need to help my wife and I make informed decisions throughout the day, and I don’t get distracted by other junk that doesn’t matter.
I don’t mind getting a text forwarded to my head unit, just to see who it’s from. I wish I could get data from my continuous glucose monitor sent to my head unit (I have Type 1 Diabetes). This would prevent me from pulling out my phone and potentially being distracted.
Turn your headunit on, put in your pocket, and go ride. You, or your coach, can look at the captured data later. Within a week or two, if not sooner, you’ll be able to ride at any prescribed effort level based on feel, so no need to think you’re wasting time by not training in the right zones. IME, it took longer to get over the compulsion to want to check the data while riding than it did to learn to ride by feel.
I have a lot of tech with me - power meter, radar, DI2, heart rate, wind direction. I use different screens on my Garmin for the different types of riding I do. When I’m doing workouts I use Xert Magic Buckets. If I’m doing a fast groupride it’s just power, speed, distance, and time. If I’m exploring a new place I leave it on the map. Mountainbiking trails I alreay know it stays in my pocket.
Tech is as much of a distraction as you want it to be.
I NEVER ride without a Garmin Varia, with audio and visual alerts enabled. Never (well, not when commuting).
I prefer using a head unit over my phone for this. When I dont want to be distracted by data (Di2, HR, PWR, etc), I leave the map screen displayed.
No, I wouldn’t use any tech that distracts me from riding.