JimmyFarnsworth

I'm currently using the free trial to MB but heard that there were other options available...

Any clear cut favorites?

Gibbygoo

Ascent!

gpelpel

+1

But you need a Mac.

rizz

People that don't post links suck. Argh!

Reading the requirements, I found two reasons why nobody uses this software:

Next!

johnny99

What do you want to use the software for? If you want to create routes and download them to the Garmin, then the Garmin MapSource software is probably best. If you just want to review your routes the ride, there are lots of choices. I use SportTracks, which is free and has lots of features.

not2blu

+1

ETM13

I use Ascent, and even tough a very nice program for Macs, it's very inaccurate. The algorithm needs a lot of work.There's always huge discrepancies between my GPS, MB, and Ascent. Granted, they all have different algorithms, but Ascent is the only one that indicates 155MPH Max Speed, 5000Ft climbs even in flats, etc. Best bet is to test them all.

JimmyFarnsworth

I'm interested more in the latter for now, thank you for actually answering my question

JayC

I dont know that youre going to do much better than Motionbased. I really dont see what the big deal is about SportsTracks.. it doesnt do anything Motionbased doesnt do except apparently edit courses in some vague roundabout fashion.

8Lives

+1 on ascent. Guess I am nobody...

8Lives

I did a comparison of several programs including Motion Based. I found Ascent the most accurate - haven't had any of the issues you mention. Total ascent seems to be the bggest problem to get right.. Both Garmin Training center and Ascent are very close to the total climbing shown on the Edge's barometric Altimter. MB was off significantly in my test. Here is a comparison for a 30.1 miles ride with what the Edge showed as 3185 total climbing:

Ascent - 3127
GTC - 3105
SportTracks - 1800
MotionBased - 3450
MotionBased with Gravity Correction - 4800
CycliStats - 2960

Just my .02.

ETM13

Interesting! I guess it's really hard to know which one is accurate. I'll keep trying Ascent and see if I get better results. I really want to like it. We Mac users don't get this kind of software support very often, especially in the low revenue fitness area.

WxGuesser

i use sportTracks.. to get accurate elevation with it, you have to adjust the smoothing.
Go to Settings: -> Analysis -> Track Smoothing and set it to 10 seconds.. That's what i have mine set on and it works pretty well. Where can i get ascent? is it free? let me know.. but in the mean time i'm gonna google it... FYI.. the settings i'm talking about are in the sporttracks software when you open it up... on the bottom left under the Other Tasks tab....

8Lives

Ascent - www.montebellosoftware.com

sajoka

Ascent + 1 more.

spdrcr5

I'm a windows user and have contacted Ascent to ask them about porting it to Windows. They said they have thought about it, but at this time don't plan on doing it. My friend has Ascent and it kicks ass over anything that is available for the Windows platform currently.

I use a bunch of different programs currently:

MotionBased, SportTracks, CycliStats.

None of them do everything great, they do some things decent. None of them have the full feature set that Ascent offers though. I have actually considered picking up an old iBook just to use Ascent!

As for creating courses my favorite of late has been MapMyRide, it has the new google features which AutoRoute to make course creation a breeze. Only downside is it doesn't offer enough export options so my friend with a Mac can't import without first converting.

smurf hunter

https://www.zonefivesoftware.com/SportTracks/

SportTracks owns... (for windows at least)

Cyclcist4879

Another nobody here, using Ascent.

Kurt Erlenbach

All the cool people use Ascent.

MONGO!

Did anyone mention Ascent yet?

Oh they did...

Never mind.

jmechy

I'm a windows user, currently using Cyclistats, SportTracks, Garmin Training Center and Motion Based. IMO SportTracks and Training Center are just about useless. Cyclistats has a lot of nice features, but wasn't designed to work with a GPS system so doesn't have maps or the ability to look at any piece of information (speed, HR) at a specific point of the ride. Motion Based does have these features and makes analyzing a single ride great, but isn't nearly as good at comparing to other rides. Cyclistats has lots of graphs and statistics, as well as a great maintenance log feature.

robb42

Hi, I'm the developer of Ascent. I'm very interested in any reports of inaccurate data -- I've spent a lot of time tweaking the algorithms, and any feedback from users is very useful. If you're seeing things like "155MPH Max Speed, 5000Ft climbs even in flats" there's definitely something going wrong -- perhaps related to something unique in your data, or the way you are using the GPS, etc. In any case, a bug report sent to support@montebellosoftware.com would be very useful.

Thanks
-Rob Boyer

johnny99

There are 2 types of people in this world: Macintosh fan-boys and people who think Macintosh is a type of fruit. The two groups should stay separated since they will never understand each other.

8Lives

My MacBook Pro can run windows natively or alongside OSX, and I can create a separate partition to boot to Linux. Meaning I can run all three operating systems. Can your PC do that? Of course since OSX is basically unix with a nice GUI there may not be a reason to run Linux unless you are a hard core developer. It isn't the hardware that's so great, it is the operating system.

I use windows for a couple of apps that aren't available for OSX like Visio and Project. Otherwise windows isn't a very good operating system. But it was nice to able to compare (and run) all the training software I wanted to look at, regardless of platform.

JayC

I find the program will not run on my Windows machine. Please fix this problem so us Windows users can enjoy your software