aka Tom Reingold
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Posts: 40,503
Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem
Mentioned: 511 Post(s)
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I like ridewithgps a lot. I liked the free version, and I used it enough to get the paid version. I don't remember which feature led me to upgrade, but I'm satisfied.
There are lots of downsides to using a phone, but it's what I do. One of them is that operating the controls while riding is hard. Touch screens suck when you're pedaling or even coasting.
Also, if your battery discharges, not only can't you navigate or record your ride, you also can't call for help. So on any ride longer than around 3 miles, I connect my phone to an external battery. And at this point, we are getting complicated and not necessarily saving trouble over a bike computer. But it is probably cheaper. I used a Garmin computer for a while, and the battery lasted for several rides between charges.