pwcfan

Good day to all.
Noob here.......
I currently have my Iphone6 mounted to my bars and use Strava.
My phone is LARGE & bulky on my bars.
I'm considering buying a bike computer to track my data. I'm NOT competitive, just a commuter and weekend fun guy. 100 mi per week prox.
I want to spend less the $50.
I'm assuming a wired computer will be more reliable than a wireless one at this price point ?
Do the wired computers give me similar data as Strava ?
I just want time, mileage, top speed, avg speed & elevation change.
Should I consider a computer or just stick with my phone, and put it in my pocket, instead of the bars ?
Thank you all in advance for your input.

noglider 

If you don't need tracks (exact route you traveled), then a cheap wired computer is fine. I've used some as cheap as $6. They work perfectly well.

pdlamb

Elevation change is the killer for an inexpensive cyclocomputer from OP's list. Without that, a $15-25 wired computer would work.

Seattle Forrest

By reliable do you mean accurate? Any decent bike computer is going to work as long as you have it set up correctly and the battery is good. If you mean accuracy, how much do you really need? A computer that counts wheel rotations is going to be more accurate than GPS but if your ride is 21.3 vs 21.4 miles is that going to ruin your day? Probably not, right? Either one is good enough?

You said you want elevation change, and a cheap but quality bike computer won't do that in your price range. Personally I think elevation gain is more important (as data) than distance; it's easier to ride a flat mile than an uphill one. The elevation data adds context to the rest of what you have.

I'd recommend keeping your phone, maybe in your pocket. If you really want to spend $50 get a Polar H7 chest strap (HRM) and pair it with your phone and then have Strava record that, too.

dr_lha

For $10 more than your budget you can have a Wahoo RFLKT that pairs with your phone and will display time, mileage, top speed, avg speed & elevation change that you want, and you can keep your phone in your pocket.

https://www.amazon.com/Wahoo-RFLKT-Co...keywords=rflkt

limbot

Be aware too, that using your phone or GPS elevation can be a bit precarious depending on where you live and ride. When you log a ride with say Strava it uses elevation maps to work out your elevation and these are sometimes a little off, especially where you're on the side of a mountain or similar.

A trail ride down here shows 1300m elevation gain while the "real" elevation gain is really only about 200 metres.

Only reason I purchased a Garmin 500 with barometric sensor. For pure distance and time my Android phone was good but I live in a hilly part so wanted more accurate elevation figures.

dr_lha

Many phones now have barometric altimeters. iPhone 6 does for example. Of course, that doesn't stop Strava correcting them.

Seattle Forrest

How do the barometers in phones calibrate?

Cliff Mass Weather Blog: The iPhone 6 has a barometer!

pwcfan

wow...........all great info !!!
Thank you all for your input !!!

dr_lha

You mean calibrate to an absolute altitude value? Depends on the app I guess, but honestly I usually don't care about the absolute values, only the elevation changes.

Besides, even with a "calibrated" Garmin, a their barometeric altimeters have issues. I did a ride on Sunday with 5 other guys, me with an iPhone 6 and them with various Garmins, and our elevation changes varied from 623ft to 1565ft. My phone read 1319ft (utilizing the barometer) and Strava's "corrected" value was 1236ft. Who knows which one was right?

EDIT: Updated the numbers from Strava rather than memory. BTW 623ft was definitely not right!

noglider 

I disagree that an altimeter is important. While a hilly ride does take more energy than a flat ride, for a given number of miles, most of us are not really out to find out how many joules we spend on a ride. Comparing your time from one day to the next on a given route is interesting. Comparing your distance from one day to the next is also interesting. Watching your average speed increase as your conditioning improves is interesting and useful. You can do all of these with a cheap computer. For that matter, you can do them with a watch and some paper and pen, but the computer makes it easier.

Looigi

What is your definition of "real elevation gain"?

Seattle Forrest

A barometer is a sensor for air pressure/weight/density. It measures that one thing, and tells you two different things (sea-level air pressure, and elevation above MSL) from that. One dial, two sets of numbers. For that to work properly, it needs to know what the current conditions are. Telling it either the current altitude or the sea-level pressure gives it the information it needs to work properly. This is something that has to be done from time to time (after conditions have changed) for an altimeter to work the way it's supposed to.

Any altimeter can have issues in certain conditions. Especially if the air pressure changes while you're moving, that will get you wrong relative numbers, not just wrong absolute ones. That's why Suunto and Garmin developed systems to continuously re-calibrate a barometer from GPS data during an activity. Calibrating when necessary reduces or eliminates those issues.

Seattle Forrest

But the OP - the person who's in the market for a new computer and asking for advice - thinks altitude is important. And that's the person who's going to use the thing.

dr_lha

I have no insight as to how the altimeter in a iPhone calibrates. However, I have plenty of experience in comparing "elevation change" numbers on group rides. My experience is that everyone's computer gives a different number, with those variances over a 30 mile ride being usually around 500ft different min to max. The Sunday ride was worse than this mainly because it was raining.

Regardless I see no evidence that the Garmins do a better job than my iPhone's app at estimating elevation changes. None at all. All my evidence tells me is that barometric altimeters mostly suck at calculating consistent elevations changes between units.

noglider 

Right. I'm not saying it's unimportant to all. It's unimportant to me, and seeing that, @pwcfan (the OP) might find it useful, and as a result, he might be happy with an altimeterless computer.

iphones have no altimeters. I believe smartphone apps and Garmins use knowledge of elevation built into the map data. This knowledge is not very accurate yet. I might be wrong, and perhaps some Garmins have altimeters, but not all of them.

dr_lha

You are incorrect. The iPhone 6 and 6s have a barometic altimeter, as do most Garmins Edge units (like the very popular Edge 500).

For my iPhone I use Cyclemeter, which has an option to use the Barometer for elevation over GPS, and I turn this on. Unfortunately Strava corrects all elevation readings from Phones, regardless of the presence of the alitmeter, so my Strava elevation changes do not match my Cyclemeter calculation (although they are usually close). In the case of Garmins, Strava "trusts" the elevation data, leading to rides with vastely different elevations from different riders who road together. They have the option of correcting to Strava's built in elevation maps if they want.

noglider 

@dr_lha, waddya know! I've had an iphone 6S for a couple of months. I imagine there's a lot in there that I haven't yet explored.

Seattle Forrest

Read this, it was written by a local meteorology professor about how the barometers in modern smart-phones can revolutionize weather forecasting.

Cliff Mass Weather Blog: The iPhone 6 has a barometer!

It's not terribly relevant to this thread (beyond proving that modern iPhones do have barometers) but it's interesting.

Also I'll point out that my Garmin watch has a hole on the side to let air into the altimeter. If I get water into that hole it will report the wrong altitude until it dries.

dr_lha

Yep, hence my point about my Sunday ride being in the rain. The guy who registered only 623ft obviously had some issues relating to water, and his altitude profile looks totally screwy.

Seattle Forrest

My Garmin (the bike one anyway) is a touch screen. I keep it on the stem. So a fair amount of sweat drips onto it. And then it can be, um, somewhat gross. It's also waterproof, so I'll rinse it under the sink for a few seconds to get rid of the sweat after a hard ride. Sometimes I forget and then rinse it before I leave for a ride, then it's completely screwy for a while.

I've heard people complain that the storm alarm goes off after they swim with an alti watch, for the same reason. They get out of the pool and the pressure drops suddenly and sharply!