Hello Everybody! My name is Ryan and I’m an MBA student at Washington University in St. Louis. I am doing a research project on GPS Tracking devices for cyclists, and I was hoping the contributors on this forum could aid me in my research. I’ve put together a very short survey that you can take to give your feedback about what features and systems you would like to see in the GPS Market.

The survey can be found here - https://olinbusiness.qualtrics.com/SE...bZIx90OM5IkMyU - and I would be very grateful for 1 minute of you time. Thank you so much. If you have any other feedback, please post to this thread too! Thanks!

Ryan
Washington University in St. Louis
Olin Business School – 2011

Smartphones are nice and I have used mine before, but they seem to be often inacurrate and ways to make them more accurate seem to be more expensive. I would rather have a dedicated device that was smaller and did everything I needed much more accuratley; even it it costs a few more dollars.

I think any info you take from this site and survey needs to be tempered with more hand-on data. To start, search the threads here and in the commuter, touring, and long-distance forums for opinions on real-life uses of GPS on bikes. Consider narrowing your requirements to focus on a particular need- is the device intended to provide the bike equivalent of a car navigation system with on-demand routing; play back turn-by-turn directions (electronic cue sheet), display ETA/miles to go, and provide assistance to get back on track; record data from a ride for post-ride playback and analysis, or all of the above? (or something else). how much do you want to leverage other systems and sites (google maps for example), vs. creating a more integrated but proprietary solution. In the case of using a smart phone with display and GPS, consider mounting, power consumption, and device protection (a bike is a high vibration environment).

I'm trying an Android with the Google MyTracks app and Google Maps and ridewithgps.com for display/analysis. If I just want a recording, start the app, turn off wifi/phone (airplane mode) and stuff it in a baggie in a jersey pocket works. If I need occasional display, I can probably cobble a mount using a RAM Mounts bike mount and their "Universal" HT (radio) holder but I still need weather protection (which limits screen access) and power consumption becomes a problem if I want full-time display. I think Trimble sells an app that does turn-by-turn playback, haven't researched that one fully yet. At the other extreme, a pack-of-gum-size Holux GPS receiver coupled with ANYTHING that can record and store the GPS NMEA string (via bluetooth or optional USB cable) is sufficient for post-ride playback.

Thanks for the reply! I'm definitely doing some more research as I go along, but the tips certainly help!

I filled out your survey.

For what it's worth, I use a Garmin Oregon 550t dedicated unit on my bike and in my kayak. I'm really not interested in "turn left here" navigation; I want a data recorder with the ability to check where I am when I get lost. Most of the mapping I do involves sending "this is what I did today" emails to friends of mine in other parts of the country.

I've got a heart-rate monitor for mine, which is something your survey hints at, but tip toes around. I find this a lot more useful than having icons on the map showing where other cyclists are...