Bike Computer vs Phone Apps like Strava, MapMyRide, etc.

ohthehumanity

Tjgoodhew wrote:

Depends on how regularly and how long you will be intending on riding. For 10 miles it will be fine but if you are looking at 40 miles i would say a bike computer is better in the long run.

Remember that a phone isnt designed to be running as a GPS device for hours at a time. iPhone in particular the battery life will suffer and you really dont want to have a dead phone when you need it for an emergency.

I have to disagree. I use my phone on all of my rides, many of them 60-70 miles long and at the end the battery is somewhere in between 48-52%, I'm talking about 4:30 to 5 hours.

The key is to keep the screen off and the apps running to the minimum; when riding I have wahoo fitness, casio+ and spotify running. gps is enabled, bluetooth is enabled and connected to my csc sensor, my hrm, my wireless speaker (the iphone speaker is another battery killer, not to mention is really bad in terms of sound) and my casio watch, which relays the information from the wahoo app and allows me to keep the screen off, lte is also enabled the whole riding, streaming music on spotify.

whoever claims that a phone is not a good enough bike computer needs to upgrade their phone, i heard the new ones even have ant+ connectivity.

the only feature that perhaps suffers a little on a phone vs a bike computer is the gps accuracy, some portions of the ride are off by 20-60-ft, sometimes placing the ride path over water or crazy stuff like that, but it's not like you're going to ride somewhere and the gps will record you riding on a different city or anything like it. Since the distance and the speed are read from the csc sensor, that is very accurate, perhaps even more than a gps from a bike computer.

IMHO bike computers are another overpriced gadget that is close to die due to the rise of smartphones, rumor has it there will be a new iphone which again will be small as the 4 used to be, if that's the case I'm getting that one right after it comes out.

But that's me, what do I know.

markhewitt1978

ohthehumanity wrote:

The key is to keep the screen off .

Stop right there . The entire point of a cycle computer is that the screen is on, for your entire ride.

I have my iPhone in my back pocket with a battery backup and it works great if I just stop and check it now and again, but the entire point is to see the data all the time.

secretsam

markhewitt1978 wrote:

As long as its a decent smartphone then that'll be fine for starting out. Don't put it on your stem, just leave it in your pocket; if you want get a cheap cycle computer for the stem. You may find battery life is your main issue but give it a try.

=1 - this is what I've always done, works just fine, although a bit of a faff remembering to turn off phone, etc

ForumNewbie

I use a Garmin Edge 500 and download rides to Strava, but don't have a Smart phone, just one for making calls and sending texts

shmooster

Since I posted on this thread back in 2014 I bought a Garmin 510. I often ride with a mate who still uses his phone. His battery dies whenever the temperature drops to near freezing, he complains constantly about auto-pause not working and when we did a 100+ mile ride he was unable to track it as the battery didn't last. I used my phone for about four years and spent quite a lot of money on bluetooth sensors, external batteries, bike mounts etc. I don't regret getting a Garmin for a second, and would never go back to using my iPhone.

iPete

You can't (yet) beat a dedicated device, end of thread really. It's good to see the people who tried have realised this and come back to share.

My phone will likely never replace my Garmin, nor will it replace my camera or personal computer.

Lossie Loon

I use both. I have Strava logging my ride directly via my smartphone's GPS, which I keep tucked in my back pocket, and then I have the Garmin 200 also recording the ride via GPS on the stem of the bike.

The benefits of doing it this way?

1. You can see your current speed/distance etc. on the Garmin easily without having big muckle phone strapped onto your stem.
2. You have your phone on you in case of emergencies.
3. Importantly for obsessive stats geeks like me, you minimise the risk of "losing" your ride. You know that occasional ride where your Garmin or phone stuffs up recording the ride (admittedly only happens about once a year for me, but I've seen it happen more often for others)? Well, you have your ride on the other device which hasn't stuffed up.

ForumNewbie

Lossie Loon wrote:

I use both. I have Strava logging my ride directly via my smartphone's GPS, which I keep tucked in my back pocket, and then I have the Garmin 200 also recording the ride via GPS on the stem of the bike.

The benefits of doing it this way?

1. You can see your current speed/distance etc. on the Garmin easily without having big muckle phone strapped onto your stem.
2. You have your phone on you in case of emergencies.
3. Importantly for obsessive stats geeks like me, you minimise the risk of "losing" your ride. You know that occasional ride where your Garmin or phone stuffs up recording the ride (admittedly only happens about once a year for me, but I've seen it happen more often for others)? Well, you have your ride on the other device which hasn't stuffed up.

Sounds reasonable as back-up. Just out of interest is the data downloaded from the phone as accurate as the Garmin?

I've always (for the last 9 years) had Garmins and never 'lost' any data, but I've heard/read smart phones can sometimes be inaccurate.

Lossie Loon

ForumNewbie wrote:

Lossie Loon wrote:

I use both. I have Strava logging my ride directly via my smartphone's GPS, which I keep tucked in my back pocket, and then I have the Garmin 200 also recording the ride via GPS on the stem of the bike.

The benefits of doing it this way?

1. You can see your current speed/distance etc. on the Garmin easily without having big muckle phone strapped onto your stem.
2. You have your phone on you in case of emergencies.
3. Importantly for obsessive stats geeks like me, you minimise the risk of "losing" your ride. You know that occasional ride where your Garmin or phone stuffs up recording the ride (admittedly only happens about once a year for me, but I've seen it happen more often for others)? Well, you have your ride on the other device which hasn't stuffed up.

Sounds reasonable as back-up. Just out of interest is the data downloaded from the phone as accurate as the Garmin?

I've always (for the last 9 years) had Garmins and never 'lost' any data, but I've heard/read smart phones can sometimes be inaccurate.

I've maybe had three or four smartphone issues over the last three years, but just one on the Garmin, which was very minor (lost signal for about 30 seconds). My old smartphone gave a relatively accurate if sometimes 'wobbly' line of route, but the smartphone I have now is as smooth and accurate as the Garmin 99% of the time.

markhewitt1978

ForumNewbie wrote:

I've always (for the last 9 years) had Garmins and never 'lost' any data, but I've heard/read smart phones can sometimes be inaccurate.

The first generations of smart phones, e.g. iPhone 1,3G etc had very poor GPS receivers. However since 2000 and the iPhone 4 that and most other smartphones have good quality GPS. But as often happens the notion of smartphone == bad GPS still hangs around because people keep repeating it.

shmooster

In theory phones could be more accurate as they have more sources to work with, typically WiFi, cell tower triangulation and 2 types of satellite positioning (GPS and Glonass). These days pretty much all modern GPS devices are very accurate, if you use both GPS and Glonass. All devices occasionally get confused by weather conditions and trees/mountains/buildings.

mkariotis

Does anyone knows an app that shows the elevation profile of an imported route while riding.

jonesey10

Anybody know of a free android app that will let you upload routes and then give step by step navigation?

mkariotis

jonesey10 wrote:

Anybody know of a free android app that will let you upload routes and then give step by step navigation?

google maps.

jonesey10

mkariotis wrote:

jonesey10 wrote:

Anybody know of a free android app that will let you upload routes and then give step by step navigation?

google maps.

Tried that already, made a 50k route around my home town, sent it to my phone, opened up google maps and it changes the directions to a 1 minute ride to a neighbours house!

mkariotis

Sorry. I use sports tracker. I upload my routes and follow the route on the app's map. But it hasnt step ny step navigation. You have to follow the blue line

StillGoing

Initialised wrote:

Carbonator wrote:

iphone, they do everything, have you not seen the advert
You will have burnt all that chicken fat (whatever that is) off in no time. Who needs gastric bands? NHS should obviously just give out iPhones.

That said, if you do get a Garmin further down the line, I bet you wished you had got one sooner ;-)

Does iPhone 5 have ANT+ and a Smartwatch you can use as a Head Unit?

High end Android Phones are well ahead here. If you have a Galaxy S5 and a Galaxy Gear you don't need a Garmin, just the GSC 10 and HRM. Mount the Gear to your bars for navigation and real-time data, connect the GSC 10 and HRM to your tracking app of choice, some even give power estimates to within 15% accuracy. Leaving your (IP67 water resistant rated) phone safely stowed in a jersey pocket. If the worst happens, three taps on the power button and it'll send you last known location to pre entered contacts.

Smart Phones are almost good enough to replace dedicated devices, iPhones, less so but I think the 6 is getting ANT+ and an iWatch. Bikes just need to get a bit better at integrating them.

Add a battery and BB with integrated generator to your bike to run your electronic shifters and you could power it, overcoming the main drawback of Smartphones which is their power consumption. The power output from the dynamo would relate directly to your power output negating the need for a £500+ powermeter while it sapped a Watt or so to keep your batteries topped up.

Hilarious.

Ascot17

jonesey10 wrote:

Anybody know of a free android app that will let you upload routes and then give step by step navigation?

Locus Map will do this.

I found it best to plan a route on Strava, export that, and then use Locus to navigate.

I have been experimenting with getting voice guidance through my bluetooth headset, but that needs another app....

sava

philthy3 wrote:

A phone is for emergencies if you need it. Risking running the battery down by using it as a navigation or performance monitoring device is asking for it. A dedicated device can be had very cheaply especially 2nd hand and when compared to the cost of replacing a phone when you drop it, or it becomes accidentally unattached or gets soaked, is well worth the investment.

I throw my old Iphone 5 into airplane mode and while using Strava and Viewranger for naviagation, I can get a full day, 8 hours no problem

StillGoing

sava wrote:

philthy3 wrote:

A phone is for emergencies if you need it. Risking running the battery down by using it as a navigation or performance monitoring device is asking for it. A dedicated device can be had very cheaply especially 2nd hand and when compared to the cost of replacing a phone when you drop it, or it becomes accidentally unattached or gets soaked, is well worth the investment.

I throw my old Iphone 5 into airplane mode and while using Strava and Viewranger for naviagation, I can get a full day, 8 hours no problem

So your emergency contact device is put in a mode where you can't receive calls? I wouldn't consider that useful. A phone is for communication, is more expensive than a cycle computer, less resistant to extreme weather, more likely to break in a crash or when being dropped and looks silly on the front of a bike.

perfectmark

philthy3 wrote:

sava wrote:

philthy3 wrote:

A phone is for emergencies if you need it. Risking running the battery down by using it as a navigation or performance monitoring device is asking for it. A dedicated device can be had very cheaply especially 2nd hand and when compared to the cost of replacing a phone when you drop it, or it becomes accidentally unattached or gets soaked, is well worth the investment.

I throw my old Iphone 5 into airplane mode and while using Strava and Viewranger for naviagation, I can get a full day, 8 hours no problem

So your emergency contact device is put in a mode where you can't receive calls? I wouldn't consider that useful. A phone is for communication, is more expensive than a cycle computer, less resistant to extreme weather, more likely to break in a crash or when being dropped and looks silly on the front of a bike.

I also use my old iPhone 5 as a cycle computer and have been off a few times and cycled in heavy rain without issue (you just need to make sure you get a decent case and bike mount). But if it was my only phone I had on me, just carry a USB battery as well For me, the most useful feature is navigation, no current cycle computer does it as well as a smartphone and until that changes, I have no interest in using a Garmin etc.

Edit: as for Apps, I would recommend people give OS Maps a try (you get basic maps with the free version, but can pay more for hi-detail versions). Can use it to search for cycle rides in your area and more useful than Google Maps when it comes to off-roading.

noodleman

perfectmark wrote:

philthy3 wrote:

sava wrote:

philthy3 wrote:

A phone is for emergencies if you need it. Risking running the battery down by using it as a navigation or performance monitoring device is asking for it. A dedicated device can be had very cheaply especially 2nd hand and when compared to the cost of replacing a phone when you drop it, or it becomes accidentally unattached or gets soaked, is well worth the investment.

I throw my old Iphone 5 into airplane mode and while using Strava and Viewranger for naviagation, I can get a full day, 8 hours no problem

So your emergency contact device is put in a mode where you can't receive calls? I wouldn't consider that useful. A phone is for communication, is more expensive than a cycle computer, less resistant to extreme weather, more likely to break in a crash or when being dropped and looks silly on the front of a bike.

I also use my old iPhone 5 as a cycle computer and have been off a few times and cycled in heavy rain without issue (you just need to make sure you get a decent case and bike mount). But if it was my only phone I had on me, just carry a USB battery as well For me, the most useful feature is navigation, no current cycle computer does it as well as a smartphone and until that changes, I have no interest in using a Garmin etc.

Edit: as for Apps, I would recommend people give OS Maps a try (you get basic maps with the free version, but can pay more for hi-detail versions). Can use it to search for cycle rides in your area and more useful than Google Maps when it comes to off-roading.

All the latest cycling computers give you tbt directions plus every other metric you could possibly ask for whilst using a fraction of the battery that a phone asks for. What more could you ask for?