Originally Posted by
tarwheel
Both Cyclometer and my bike computers are set to count time while actually cycling, rather than stopped time. As John V stated, Cyclemeter reports riding time (while you are actually moving) and stopped time. My bike computers are set to only record time while my bikes are moving -- so the timer quits when you are at red lights, coffee shops breaks, etc.
Obviously, the two systems are using a different means to record moving time. However, I suspect that the bike computers are more accurate than Cyclometer. I watch the timer function on bike computers while I am riding and see them stop recording at red lights, although sometimes a few seconds might tick off before stopping. I can't actually watch Cyclometer while riding, but when I compare times after rides, Cyclometer records less time -- ranging from a few minutes on shorter rides to 5-10-20 minutes on longer rides. I presume that Cyclometer is set to stop recording time when you speed drops below a certain mph, but not sure if that's the case.
I have tried other cycling apps such as Strava and MapMyRide, but prefer the functionality of Cyclemeter. However, perhaps I should try some of these other apps to see if I get the discrepancies in time compared by my bike computers.
After reading your post, it got me thinking about when Cyclemeter actually starts and stops the timers. On today's ride, I displayed my RFLKT screen page to the one I have set up for time; it display's ride time, stopped time and total time. As I came to a stop, I did notice a slight lag in time between the time I stopped and the time that Cyclemeter started the stopped time clock but hardly no lag between the time I started back on the ride and the ride time clock starting back up. I stopped about 6 times on a 50 mile ride so the extra time it took between lag time and the stopped time clock kicking in couldn't have been more than a minute.
What I think is happening here is the speed/cadence sensor is not sending a signal to Cyclemeter, which then goes into sensor fail mode and starts using GPS, which now has a lag between the time it starts reading the GPS data and the time the GPS data shows that you are not moving. When you start up again, the speed/cadence sensor sends a signal and starts the ride time timer. I have Stop Detection turned ON so I think that if it were off, even if you have a speed sensor, it would keep the ride timer going because it is using the time from the GPS data.
Anyway, that's my observation. I don't know how much that matters to others, but had I not tried it today, I would never have known about the slight lag time when stopping. I guess that for me, it's not a big issue.