Strava Premium question

JohnBrac

Hi all - New to the forum but have been reading for some time.

I have recently taken the plunge and signed up to Strave premium. To take full advantage of this, it seems I need a heart rate monitor / power meter. I have the app on Android (Galaxy S3) I have searched the internet, but there don't seem to be many options at all, especially for a reasonable price.

Any suggestions?

Grill

Gotta pay to play where power meters are concerned, but for an HRM there are reasonable options. You should be able to get an ANT+ dongle (selfloops make one) and pair it with an ANT+ strap.

pinarellokid

I recently did the same and paired my iPhone with a polar HRM. Used Bluetooth

£50 from amazon.. Works great

AntD365

For Android I believe that Zephyr is the only option. I brought mine from bhipltd.co.uk

Buckie2k5

rather than fork out money on zephyrs etc aswell putting the money towards a garmin.

ednino

I was using Strava on my iphone for a while but bought a Garmin with sensors and its much better

Stupid-death

Get garmin, the battery will last a lot lot longer than a smart phone using gps, do any kind decent long ride and your phone will be nearly dead! http://www.handtec.co.uk/ do decent prices in the uk

MountainMonster

I'll add a different twist to this and offer the shocking idea that a phone is good enough. I have had no problems with my phone while using Strava on longer rides, it has worked well.

A Garmin is not necessary.

teisetrotter

Yep, phone in my back pocket is fine even when I am out over four - five hours.

ednino

Stupid-death wrote:

Get garmin, the battery will last a lot lot longer than a smart phone using gps, do any kind decent long ride and your phone will be nearly dead! http://www.handtec.co.uk/ do decent prices in the uk

I've done 6 hour rides using Strava on iphone with no battery problems at all

There were many good things about using it on my phone, just the garmin is better. Worth £200 for me, but not everyone

Barrzy257

Just wondering why people upgrade to strava premium?

Buckie2k5

MountainMonster wrote:

I'll add a different twist to this and offer the shocking idea that a phone is good enough. I have had no problems with my phone while using Strava on longer rides, it has worked well.

A Garmin is not necessary.

it is necessary when he is wanting to use features such as hrm, cadence and power.

Grill

MountainMonster wrote:

I'll add a different twist to this and offer the shocking idea that a phone is good enough. I have had no problems with my phone while using Strava on longer rides, it has worked well.

A Garmin is not necessary.

Your idea of a longer ride must be quite short...

charliew87

Barrzy257 wrote:

Just wondering why people upgrade to strava premium?

I've got it.

They gave me a month free when I used my HRM for the first time (assume this is usual practice). I then tried to buy an extra month when that ran out, but clicked the wrong thing and bought a full year.

Not 100% sure what extras I get above the usual stuff any longer, but there are certainly a few extra levels of detail which you can't usually access. Also seems easier to see how my friends are doing on certain segments, but not sure if that's a Premium feature or me just working out how to use the site better!

MountainMonster

Grill wrote:

MountainMonster wrote:

I'll add a different twist to this and offer the shocking idea that a phone is good enough. I have had no problems with my phone while using Strava on longer rides, it has worked well.

A Garmin is not necessary.

Your idea of a longer ride must be quite short...

7 hour rides when back in Austria through the mountains on a MTB? Where trees and such interfere with signal, but somehow I still come home with over 50% battery. I guess those rides must be very short.....

You love making assumptions, everything I post up you seem to assume something different.

And Buckie, you can buy ANT+ adaptors for the phone which allow these items to be used. A Garmin is not necessary, people just think it is.

Grill

Long ride is at least 8 hours. A phone won't last an audax, especially if you're feeding it HR data and/or using it for mapping. Not only do phones not last, but they're also far more likely to provide erroneous data. On pretty much every group ride I've been on (and it's a lot) there's always one who has Strava on their phone and they run out of juice.

Your experience is not typical and is likely due to the fact you turned off data as well as the screen. I'm surprised at your response as you strike me as the type of person that buys kit because you find it purposeful. If you can justify aero bars for commuting, then surely a Garmin shouldn't be much of a stretch...

Either way I will be trusting my Garmin for the 30+ hour ride I have this weekend and using my phone in case of emergency.

MountainMonster

Grill wrote:

Long ride is at least 8 hours. A phone won't last an audax, especially if you're feeding it HR data and/or using it for mapping. Not only do phones not last, but they're also far more likely to provide erroneous data. On pretty much every group ride I've been on (and it's a lot) there's always one who has Strava on their phone and they run out of juice.

Your experience is not typical and is likely due to the fact you turned off data as well as the screen. I'm surprised at your response as you strike me as the type of person that buys kit because you find it purposeful. If you can justify aero bars for commuting, then surely a Garmin shouldn't be much of a stretch...

Either way I will be trusting my Garmin for the 30+ hour ride I have this weekend and using my phone in case of emergency.

There is a difference between a 30+ hour ride, and a normal long ride for average riders. I left data on and had everything as normal with my the phone, so not sure where every one else has the problems with their phones. Garmin s can be iffy as well with the data as the data can become skewed. I do buy things for a purpose, and I do have plans for getting a Garmin once funds allow, all I am trying to point out is that it is not "necessary" for the average rider.

Grill

The OP has an S3, same as a good buddy of mine I used to ride with. We rode just shy of 150 miles last November and he was only able to record 123 miles of the ride with 2 batteries (8:30 elapsed, 7:30 of riding). You must be incredibly fortunate with your choice of phone.

MountainMonster

Grill wrote:

The OP has an S3, same as a good buddy of mine I used to ride with. We rode just shy of 150 miles last November and he was only able to record 123 miles of the ride with 2 batteries (8:30 elapsed, 7:30 of riding). You must be incredibly fortunate with your choice of phone.

A lot of it has to do with how people charge the phone and look after the battery. I left my phone on charge when I bought it for roughly 12 hours, and only charge when it is fully depleted. This is on an iPhone 3GS. I get very good life from mine, even after 3 years of ownership.

Stupid-death

Well that's surprising since fully discharging Lithium Ion batteries damages them.

drlodge

Stupid-death wrote:

Well that's surprising since fully discharging Lithium Ion batteries damages them.

Fully depleting = discharging to 3.7 volts or so, at which point the device will turn off, not fully flat.

But yes, if you really "fully" deplete them, it will damage the cells.

hatch87

MountainMonster wrote:

Grill wrote:

The OP has an S3, same as a good buddy of mine I used to ride with. We rode just shy of 150 miles last November and he was only able to record 123 miles of the ride with 2 batteries (8:30 elapsed, 7:30 of riding). You must be incredibly fortunate with your choice of phone.

A lot of it has to do with how people charge the phone and look after the battery. I left my phone on charge when I bought it for roughly 12 hours, and only charge when it is fully depleted. This is on an iPhone 3GS. I get very good life from mine, even after 3 years of ownership.

Tut tut tut, not the best way to look after lithium-based batteries. You should only completely deplete once a month and thats just to resync the timer. You don't run a marathon every day, you stay within you limit. Thing to note, when they say one charge cycle, that doesn't meant every time you charge it. 2 50% charges are the equivalent of one charge cycle.

MountainMonster

drlodge wrote:

Stupid-death wrote:

Well that's surprising since fully discharging Lithium Ion batteries damages them.

Fully depleting = discharging to 3.7 volts or so, at which point the device will turn off, not fully flat.

But yes, if you really "fully" deplete them, it will damage the cells.

This was exactly what I mean, modern phones will not let you completely fully deplete, at least not the iPhone.

I go by manufacturer recommendations with regards to charging which tell you not to plug in until your phone has died. Works a treat for my phones, so i'll stick with it.

jotko

MountainMonster wrote:

Grill wrote:

The OP has an S3, same as a good buddy of mine I used to ride with. We rode just shy of 150 miles last November and he was only able to record 123 miles of the ride with 2 batteries (8:30 elapsed, 7:30 of riding). You must be incredibly fortunate with your choice of phone.

A lot of it has to do with how people charge the phone and look after the battery. I left my phone on charge when I bought it for roughly 12 hours, and only charge when it is fully depleted. This is on an iPhone 3GS. I get very good life from mine, even after 3 years of ownership.

My 3GS lasts just over 3hrs using strava app,it is pretty much brand new as it was an insurance replacement phone. I use an edge 500 now, lasts longer than I ever will.

Bordersroadie

Just rode the Fred at the weekend (fairly long ride), me with my Edge 500 and my mate with his 3G phone. Sadly for him the phone died before the ride was complete. To say he was p issed off is an understatement. He's going to buy a Garmin now.

The other thing about these fancy fandangled 3G phones, compared to a very small basic phone, is that they comparatively take up a lot of space and are not that robust. To add to my mate's woes, after the battery died his fancy phone was also waterlogged in the latter part of the day. Me, with my very old Samsung waterproof builders' phone, I was quietly smug and had a very long phonecall with my wife at the end with plenty of battery to spare. I lent him my phone to make a call while I checked all my ride data. . .tee hee!

snoopsmydogg

For a lot of folk on here a smart phone in the back pocket is enough with maybe a cycle computer if you want to see data on the go. I struggled to see the benefit when riding a few hours at a time.

That said i bought an edge 500 the other day because a friend bought a 510 and gave me a good price. The intention was to give it a go and sell it on if i didnt get on with it. After a few rides, not having to wait to find gps, having all the info in front of me and saving my phones battery life i currently have no intention of selling.

bernithebiker

I used to get 2.5 to 3 hours out of my Iphone 3GS, and it's a pain to make sure it's fully charged before every ride.

I now use a Garmin 500 and would never go back. A mate used a phone on a ride alongside me recently and whereas I recorded about 30 segments, he only got 15 or so, the phone does not plot as accurately.

FatTed

My Garmin will not last 30 hours, nor would I.

RubbishCyclist

Also...Garmin = Waterproof, Phone = Not

I got caught out in the rain and soaked my Galaxy S2 got a bill for £60.....wished id just put the money to a Garmin in the first place.

Ive got an Edge 500 now and its amazing, as said, far better battery, accuracy, etc. Lets be honest its purpose designed for the job, a phone isnt. People think their phone is upto the job until they get a garmin then they wonder how they did without it

MountainMonster

For a few quid you can buy a plastic case/ sleeve thing to keep your phone in in your back pocket. I have one, have been drenched plenty of times with no problem to the phone and the pouch thing also is large enough for me to put ID, bank card and a few coins should the need arise to use them.

While I understand people's problems with these things, they are often solved by either a change of habit, or putting a plastic case around them.

Buckie2k5

MountainMonster wrote:

And Buckie, you can buy ANT+ adaptors for the phone which allow these items to be used. A Garmin is not necessary, people just think it is.

Which would eat your battery even more. No point arguing with me as i used my phone for strava for 6 months. I know the pros and cons and a garmin is a clear winner. Especially if you need/use navigation, HRM, cadence.

A phone running ant+ adaptor, navigation, and strava is gonna last about 10mins. Fair enough if all you need is strava you start it and stick in your back pocket and it will last hours.