heysmellthis

Really I'm sure the computer is best but will one of these apps do in the meantime and I would appreciate any recommendations for both apps and computers mind I'm very entry level commuter fitness but am diving head first into the lifestyle.

njkayaker

Look at the other thread that is asking the same question. It's just a few below this one.

corrado33

You can get a good bike computer for $30. It's not worth it to worry about the battery in your phone or breaking your phone when you fall.

I think most cateye computers are good. I have an old cateye astrale 8 (I spelled that wrong, but you'd be able to find it fine.)

Seattle Forrest

Try your phone. You already have it. Lots of people use them and are happy, you might be one. If not, you'll make a better choice when you buy a dedicated bike computer because you'll have had some experience using one and you'll know what's most important to you.

Google My Tracks is limited but free, and if you use it with one of the free workout tracking sites will get you some basic info like a map, speed (after the fact) and so on. People also like bike-specific apps like Strava, Ride with GPS, Map my Ride, and many others.

JerrySTL

Most phones run out of juice well before a century ride is over - unless you are a very fast rider. Turning off wi-fi and Bluetooth can help. There are also battery packs for charging the phone.

Many bike computers have batteries that last for a year. Even something like a Garmin Edge GPS bike computer can last 12 hours when fully charged.

nightvision

I use Strava and MapMyRide apps on my Android phone.

no1mad 

I think that you're getting My Tracks confused with Fit.

Seattle Forrest

Haven't used Google Fit, but their My Tracks app records a GPX file which has the data to build a map and your speed at every point along the way. My Tracks can pair with a couple of specific BLE HRMs but won't show you basic stuff like your current speed during an activity. But you can upload it to Garmin Connect or whatever, and get a map and charts of your ride. It's pretty limited, but, still, the price is right, and if somebody is in the market for a bike computer anyway, having some experience with a free one is probably beneficial.

Here are some screen shots from the Google app store.

Jarrettsin

I run cyclemeter and keep the phone in my pocket. But when I wanted to start getting a visual I opted for a regular bike computer. You can get mounts for the phone, sensors that feed the phone and also run map program to help with routes but with all that after a while your phone will run out of power. Now we're looking at juice packs etc. It gets to the point either just get your normal bike computer for between $39-$79 (you can get cadence and wireless for $79) or pop for the big Garmin at $500

arskemp

I've only been commuting for a 2-3 months now so I am very entry level as well. I'm currently using cyclemeter on a mount on my bike. Love how customizable it is in terms of what can be displayed on the screen.

In terms of phone vs dedicated unit, I chose the phone because of:

- Price: The basic version of the app is free and I wasn't sure how much of a dedicated bike commuter I was going to be. Also, since the phone's display is larger I am fairly certain I can display more information at once.
- Battery Life: You would think this would be a con judging by what most say but I think this highly depends on how long of a commute you have and what kind of phone. If I were you I would do some testing. I have an iPhone 6+ on a 25 minute trip one way (50 minutes a day). At the end of the day I still have > 40%. Since I charge my phone every night anyways its actually an advantage to use my phone since I don't have to worry about charging two devices.

Seattle Forrest

You can probably charge your phone during the day at work, too.

A lot of people commute to and from work by bike because they love cycling but have busy lives, and this is a way for them to get more ride time in. These same folks might go out and spend the entire day biking through the countryside on a weekend. That's why you hear so much about battery power as a downside to using a phone. But it doesn't apply to everyone; pretty soon thousands of people will set out to ride 200 miles from Seattle to Portland but a lot of other people just want to get home from work.

kbarch

That other thread is about dedicated GPS units and Phone apps, which are also GPS-based. A bike computer takes information from the bike itself - the wheels and crank, and does not have GPS. It usually has cadence, which neither GPS units nor phone apps have.

Starting out, one may be most interested in seeing speed, distance traveled, and cadence while one is riding, which computers are designed to indicate, as well as tracking mileage, averages from reset points and some other things. At some point, though, the data that a bike computer provides may not be as interesting as the data an app can present, which usually includes vertical, and is time/date stamped, sortable, etc.. The biggest difference, however, is that GPS units and apps relate to maps, which computers cannot. One could get a mount for a phone for ready display of an app that may be installed, but phones are not really designed to be mounted on bikes.

njkayaker

???

Thanks for the reply to a post I made over a month ago!

The OP was quite vague and didn't mention cadence at all. Heck, the OP hasn't made any reply in this thread except for the first vague post.

And you can get cadence (and speed) sensors that will transmit using BT that information to your phone.

That thread wasn't about just GPS anyway.

https://www.bikeforums.net/electronic...phone-app.html