cyber.snow

While I can use my Iphone to track a lot of statistics, I am looking for a simple way to monitor the speed/distance info as well as heart rate and cadence. I have heard a lot about the RFLK+ (I think that is what it is) but the closest I have been to one is on Amazon.com. I did go into my LBS and they had a Bontrager 2.1 Node that came with a heart strap and for about $60 more you could buy the cadence/speed sensor and it would display them on your bike in near real time. Not sure if the IPhone will talk to them though, but the basic bike programs would still give me my ride info in terms of a map and route. I have owned a Garmin 500 (I think it was...was about 6 years ago) but not sure I want to go there again....the 810 is up around $600 with sensors right now. Is there a system that I can start putting together and build up over time? I prolly will not ever be doing a lot of statistical analysis on my rides...just want to ride and know the basics and keep in my HR zone to continue to lose weight.

fietsbob

Very Simple : Turn it off, Put it in your pocket and just enjoy riding your Bike for it's own Pleasure .

Just Ride More ..

WheresWaldo

Hard to say where you are going with this conversation, there are so many facts that are just wrong, I am chalking it up to bad memory and lack of research. Garmin 500 is 4 years old, the 510 is 2 years old. Anything you had 6 years ago couldn't have been a 500. The 810 with sensors is only $600 MSRP if you buy the performance and navigation bundle. Maps can be had for free so why would you pay for them. Everyone has the 810 for less even with the HR strap and Speed an Cadence sensors. If you don't need navigation but still want to have some data, the 510 is a better choice for most people. You might even try looking at something like the Wahoo Bike Case if you have an iPhone 4/4s or the Wahoo PROTKT if you own an iPhone 5/5s. Both are cheaper then the RFLKT and work the same way but use your existing iPhone. The Wahoo app will keep track of all you want to keep track of.

RoadTire 

Taking everything else out of you original post, staying within the title theme of "simple," you can get wrist-only HR monitors, including a FitBit with both HR and GPS. My daughter is trying out a HR monitoring FitBit in her kickboxing sessions and it's working well so far.

One step farther are lots of bike computers, probably like the Bontrager, with a more reliable chest strap, speed, time, cadence, no GPS. Note even the chest strap can get slapped around a little at high speed or wind gusts and give erroneous sporadic HR spikes. I would go with wireless speed, and wireless cadence. Some bike computers combine both into the same module which is nice. My setup has wired cadence and it's kind of a pain and unsightly.

My cell phone w/Strava or Endomondo tracks all other stats from my seat bag.

cyber.snow

First off, about means I don't remember exactly...but I did have the 500 in around 2008 or 2009, you do the math. Second, why would you buy the Garmin 810 without the sensors or maps? I understand that you can get the maps for free on another site, but you still need the sensors. Is the 810 really that great?

I did look at the Catseye CC-RD430DW and it seemed to have everything included and you can get it on Amazon for around $105. Does anyone have any experience with that one?

I like the idea of not using a chest strap, who makes the wrist band and which one do you need to buy in order to sync with either the IPhone or a bike computer? I really don't know a lot about the units, so sorry for asking such knucklehead questions. What specs do I need to be looking for when considering linking it to my bike? ANT+, some frequency? not sure here....is there a place to go that can educate me a little on it?

Thanks

ahultin

Standalone 810 shows 399.99 or the 510 is 329.99 from performancebike.com and if you are a member you would earn an additional 10% store credit. You could then use the store credit to buy the speed cadence sensor which is 69.99 or the older version of the speed cadence sensor is 47 at amazon. The garmin HRM3 which is the newest soft strap Heart rate monitor is also 47 from amazon.

WheresWaldo

I'm just trying to help you here, but you got bent out of shape because your memory is faulty. Garmin announced the 500 on Sept 1, 2009 and was release in December of the same year. So unless you were a product tester or were the first to get one likely it was 2010 before you got your Edge 500. Before that was the Edge 205, 305, 605, 705, maybe you had one of those. So here now I am going to "do the math": since it is month one of 2015 that makes the Edge 500 five years and one month old, sorry that I was off a year, but lets move on from that.

To your question about HR straps. If you don't want to use a heart rate chest strap, there are very limited options. Please note that all these alternative sensors cost more than a chest strap. There is the MIO Heart Rate Wrist Band. It is optical so you don't need to sweat or use gel for it to function. It has both ANT+ and Bluetooth Smart, which allows a greater range of devices it can connect to. Works with Garmins and Smartphones. Sells for about $100. That's about it for wrist HR monitors that are not standalone devices. One other option is the Lifebeam Smart Helmet. Its also an optical sensor, it is ANT+ and Bluetooth Low Energy compatible and has its sensor integrated into the headband. But it does require buying a new helmet. It is only available direct at a cost of $225.

So, what to buy. If you are looking at something like the Cateye, or any of a myriad of self contained units from the likes of Bontrager, Sigma or Polar, most all use proprietary transmission protocols to communicate with their various sensors. This is all good if you really just want to see the data live. But if you want something you can grow with, if you want to track the data over time, you can't start here. Either ANT+, Bluetooth Smart or Bluetooth LE is where you need to look for connection to individual sensors.

About your maps comment, from your posts its hard to say what side of the navigation fence you're on. So I will ask this plainly; Do you need navigation or not? If the answer is yes, then why even bother looking at the Cateye or any of their ilk. If its no, then why pay for a map when you can get better maps for free? Or if you decide to connect to your smartphone, maps and navigation are free there too.

Whether the 810 is everything and a kite, that is for you to decide. There are issues with the 810 that did not exist with the 605/705, 800 and 1000. There are also features that only the newest Garmin's possess. I suggested the 510 in my earlier post, uses the same sensors but no navigation (other than pre-configured routes), allows downloading the data to a PC or the cloud for later analysis or general tracking. The 810 can connect to your iPhone and supports live tracking. If enabled, this is a way for your family to know precisely where you are while you are on your ride. You just have to decide what features are important. If you want help with a decision, then layout all your requirements here not just one at a time.

BTW, there are no knucklehead questions, just knucklehead answers.

bgav

Get a 4iiiii Viiiiva HR strap, Garmin ANT+ speed and cadence sensor, and use the ANT+ to BTLE bridge in the Viiiiva to get the ANT+ sensor data to your iPhone (assuming it is an iPhone 5 or newer) and use an app like Strava, Ride with GPS, Wahoo Fitness, which will use GPS in your iPhone to map your ride as well as collect speed, distance, cadence and HR data.

https://www.amazon.com/4iiii-Innovati.../dp/B00BHZQ6OG $80

Amazon.com: Garmin Speed/Cadence Sensor (GSC 10): Sports & Outdoors $41

Frequently Asked Questions - 4iiii Innovations

cyber.snow

Let me try again. I realize that you are trying to help and appreciate the advice.

I just bought a new bike and am trying to get back into shape and riding on a regular basis. After spending a lot of money on a bike, my budget for electronics is about $200. I realize that is not enough to buy a good set up, but the budget is what it is....maybe I can reach up a little, but not a whole lot. I would like to ensure that whatever I buy, I can upgrade later to get to a decent set up like the Garmin 810 or whatever is there at the time. I realize that the budget will drive tradeoffs and I am willing to use my Iphone for navigation and capturing statistics...I have been using map my run for a long time and have no problem initiating an app at the beginning of a ride. My concern is if I go to a Iphone based system, can I later change it to Garmin? If I go to a Bontrager or Catseye system can I change it later? Or should I just go with a Garmin lower capability system to begin with and upgrade in a few months (perfect birthday gift for wife? LOL). Right now I see three possibilities...a RFLK+ (I think there is another letter there), a Garmin basic set up, or a bike computer like Bontrager or Catseye.

With growth in mind and the sensors being able to talk to the bike computer and the Iphone (I hope they can do both at the same time). Any advice?

dr_lha

Here's my advice. If you want a HR strap, buy a Wahoo TICKR. If you want speed and cadence buy a Wahoo Blue SC v2. Both are dual BLE/ANT+, so will work with your iPhone and will work with a Garmin, if you decide to buy one.

cyber.snow

I am now down to two choices...

Choice #1 : Buy a Garmin 510 Performance Package for $399.99

Choice #2 : Buy a RFLKT+ ($129.99), Wahoo Speed/cadence sensor ANT+& BT4.0 (59.99) and MIO Link HR wrist monitor ($83.79)..total ~$280. from Amazon.

The only reservation that I still have about the second choice is the sense that it is not real time data and I am not sure what that means....is there a latency in the data? is it milliseconds or seconds?

It seems that second choice is more flexible and allows for future growth...as long as they don't pop out a BT 5.0 in the near future. LOL I have downloaded 4 cycle apps to the IPhone and am playing with them now. But still worried about what kind of delay I can expect....I did have a Garmin in 2008 or 2009 and the data seemed to be kept pretty current and I couldn't really see much latency in the display.

Can anyone speak to the RFLKT+ delay? Would really like to hear what it is really like.

noglider 

Do you visit a wine aficionado site and tell people that life is better without wine? A car forum and tell people to stop driving?

fietsbob

I did several seasons of Crush at wineries , worked Nights .. agnostic on the 'aficionado culture' that priced me Out of living in the 'wine country'.

I like Maps .. I can navigate with a compass, and in spite of the stereotype, I can stop and ask questions.. directions..



Though the British army kid in [London]Derry, ( by no choice of his own, holding a big firearm,)
may not have had an answer . as he was not A native, resident..

You sell GPS gear in your shop Tom?

noglider 

@Fiestbob, I'm not a bike mechanic any more. I'm back to being an IT person. I work at Manhattan College in the Bronx. I'm not particularly pro GPS. It's just that this is the electronics section where people learn how to use electronics, and your answer is not to use electronics. Your idea has merit elsewhere but not here. Once someone comes here, he is unlikely to care to hear that his question is wrong.

Don't emphasize my use of the word aficionado. I mean fan. If you're seeking wine, you don't want to be told not to seek wine. Telling someone not to seek wine (or water or coffee), when that's what they're seeking, is rude. It's certainly not going to be heard even if you don't annoy others.

JohnJ80

Pretty easy. There are a number of apps that will do this for you. One of the most complete, that I use, is Cyclometer from Abvio. I use Cyclometer for all my athletic logging - cycling, walking, skiing, snowshoeing etc... It's a great app. Not only does it keep the data and have a nice display, it also has pretty nice logging and summary screens plus it's easily customizable.

If you have an iPhone that Bluetooth LE (i.e. iPhone 4S onwards), you are good to go with using bluetooth sensors for speed, cadence, heart rate. A great source for these is Wahoo Fitness. I have their sensors on all my bikes and they have worked flawlessly.

You can speed/distance straight from the GPS on the phone. Start the app, and let it go and you have speed/distance from the GPS in the iPhone. If you add the heart rate strap (bluetooth compatible version) from Wahoo Fitness (there are other sources too), then you have heart rate. You can also use most if not all of the BT wrist band sensors too. So that would be your minimum system to get your information.

If you wanted to add cadence, then Wahoo Fitness has a speed/cadence or just a cadence sensor. You can add them individually as you go.

The RFLKT and RFKLT+ are simply displays that repeat the information that Cyclometer (or another capable app) have already collected and display them. They also communicate with the iPhone using BT LE. The RFLKT+ is also an ANT+ network bridge so that you can have ANT+ sensors on your bike (i.e. power meters, Garmin stuff, other ANT+ speed/cadence sensors etc..) on get that data into the iPhone app since the iPhone does not directly have native ANT+ support.

The other advantage to the RFKT units is that they allow you to turn off the iPhone display and therefore reduce battery consumption on the iPhone. The iPhone will use about 10% of the battery per hour with the RFLKT units running and about double that using the iPhone display. You can do a lot with USB batteries and short cables to alleviate this if need be.

Hope that helps. I find the iPhone to be the best bike computer I have used. I use mine with the RFLKT+ which I really like. I also have a wahoo speed/cadence sensor. For two years, I used the iPhone with just the speed/cadence sensor by itself with no issues.

J.

bgav

If you get the 4iiiii Viiiiva and Garmin Speed/cadence sensor to use with your iPhone, you can use them with a Garmin Edge. Total cost about $121.