iphone - blue sc - topeak case

enduro-hound

Last week I purchased a Wahoo Blue SC speed and cadence sensor and the topeak iphone case. Mainly to help with turbo training and it seemed like a cheaper option than anything else. I also liked the fact that it 'worked' with Strava. Unfortunately the compatability with Strava is pants.....no real time cadence feedback and it doesn't use the speed sensor either.....

That aside the wahoo app is good but I went on a road ride on Saturday morning ......my phone only lasted an hour and 10 before it died....it had a full charge too.

I think it's a result of the cold rather than the apps being power hungry.

Has anyone else experienced this and more to the point found a way of fixing it??

YIMan

What IPhone have you got? I experienced very similar early last year with a 3GS which led me to buy a Garmin. I doubt any iPhone will last long enough for a decent ride - might be ok for a couple of hours from fully charged at most would be my guesstimate.

pinarellokid

i have done 3 100 mile rides now
all recorded on my iphone..
turn off the apps in the background is i good tip
may be cold related, but all battery things will be affected by the cold

iphone's last ages on rides

pinkteapot

Try the Cyclemeter app?

I've used this since March. Recent updates have actually made the batter life even longer. I run it with both GPS and bluetooth turned on (I have the Wahoo Blue HR monitor) and it lasts over four hours.

I tried the Strava app but couldn't get on with it. Have 1,300 miles logged in Cyclemeter now and it's great. I plan out rides on ridewithgps.com and load them into Cyclemeter so I can follow the routes. You can then export from Cyclemeter to the Strava website - just email a GPX or TCX file to upload@strava.com. So long as you send emails from your phone from the same email address that you're registered on Strava with, it'll match your files up with your account.

Also have to say the support has been brilliant. A couple of times I've emailed the Abvio team who make Cyclemeter and I've always had a really quick and helpful reply. Better support from a £2.99 app than from many more expensive things!

I also did a ride on Saturday in the cold and in 1.5 hours my battery dropped from 100% to 65%.

slowbike

screen brightness? That's one huge drag on the battery if you've got the backlight on all the time.

Primus84

Apps in the background shouldn't affect the battery unless they're doing something in particular. You're using bluetooth and GPS at the same time as having the screen on with the brightness relatively high given that you're outside - the battery is good but it aint that good!

enduro-hound

Cheers for the feedback.

I'll reduce the screen brightness as I'd not thought about that.

I'm also going to just run the Wahoo app rather than that and Strava and upload afterwards - thanks for the email tip!

Since I posted I also found the battery pack that Topeak do..but if this works hopefully I won't have to shell out £50 for it.

T

Primus84

Running Wahoo and strava shouldn't make much difference, bluetooth and GPS are already on for one of them so the other running won't use that much CPU so the difference should be negligible

Gazzer1230

You don't need to be running strava as well once you've finished your ride wahoo will upload straight onto strava without messing about with files giving you all the normal strava segments and whatever else you have on there , with the added benefit that the wahoo app is much better on the iphone than strava app giving you a better view of your speed and cadence , allso a fully charged iphone will give you a 3 + hours no problem without the need for spare battery's