Hi everyone. I would appreciate your thoughts on choosing a cycling app for the iPhone.

I know there are many out there, and that's the problem . . . Here are my criteria, and I hope this is of somewhat general interest.

1. Records location, speed (avg, max, current), elevation, total climb, percent grade.
2. With not-crazy-expensive sensors, also records heart rate, cadence, calories.
3. Can view those data on the iPhone (after the ride), as well as uploaded to a good website. It would be nice to click on a point on the route and see "ok, here it was a 10% grade, I was managing 12 mph and pushing at 180 bpm, my cadence was 100 rpm and I was pushing a 3.2 gain ratio", etc.
4. Adjusts for time stopped, so that you don't have to remember to pause/resume.
5. The phone is sitting in your pocket or bag, not on the handlebar, and the battery on the phone can last for a several hour ride, even a century ride.
6. Can record which bike you were on, the weather, whatever other info you care about.
7. I'm happy to pay for a good app.

Any suggestions? I'm trying Strava right now. It seems about 80% of the way there, maybe.

I'm going to ride the STP for the first time this July, so I am trying to start tracking my rides and conditioning and performance, with the app that I settle on.

Thanks.

Cyclemeter is the one I like best and I have tried a few. It’s not everything on your list maybe 80% also. Also check out Motion X GPS as a routing mapping app. It lets you download maps ahead of time for any area you will be in and in doing such speeds things up when you are in areas of poor coverage or no coverage. Has some nice features for saving routes etc also.

Cyclemeter works. So does B.iCycle. In my experience, the phone's battery is only good for 2-3 hrs running these.

That’s when I plug this in.



I also have a mophie juice pack case. Very nice product that will keep you rolling.

I'm considering cyclemeter, but was wary about the short battery life that is inherent in phone apps. However, I heard that if you turn off wifi, turn off automatic updates to social media sites, dim the brightness, and switch the screen off during the ride, you can increase battery life significantly. Unfortunately, I do not have any personal experience to validate these claims.

I haven’t seen the poor battery life that so many talkabout. But yes all the things you mentioned will make battery last longer. Whenyou first get an app like cyclemeter it is very nice to ride and watch it drawyour path and mark off the miles. After a few rides like most things you forgetabout it till you want to see something. I have mine to blank out after 1minute and if I need to see something I just touch the screen. The fun part isafter you are done it sends an email report and links to a google map that has embeddedyour route. You can take the information and look at your split times etc. I havemine set to each mile. For most people a good charge on the phone will take youthru any ride you will do. I built the battery pack for extended time away frompower. There are many USB recharge battery packs on line if you do need moreride time. The screen being on uses the most power is my guess.

Yep. Been there, done that. They all help to a degree. Switching off the screen is the most helpful, but then of course you can't use it for navigation or see any of your ride data. The best I got was a bit over 3 hrs, but that was with an iPhone 3G. I haven't tried with my current iPhone 4 as I use a Garmin 705 now.

I've used Cyclemeter on a 10 1/2 hour brevet, but I turn the display off on my iphone 4 when I'm not checking it. I did have it set to give audible updates every 5 miles though. Battery only went to 1/2 power over that time.

That is an encouraging battery life report.

Has anyone used the devices that connect an iPhone (or Android phone) to a cadence sensor or heart rate monitor? By Wahoo, etc?

I use Adidas' app for running and it covers all your bases, save for maybe an all day ride.

It can record (and in some cases voice out) pace, distance in .25 mile increments, time, elevation, maps..etc. It has an input for a heart rate monitor but I haven't bought the extension yet. I haven't seen anything in particular for cadence but its possible. It can upload to a computer or stay on your phone as well.

I use Endomondo -- it can read a bluetooth HRM tho I haven't got one. It works on my phone *and* my tablet -- since I commute to work with the tablet in my messenger bag anyway, I've found I never have to worry about battery depletion.

I have the Wahoo iPhone case that has the integrated ANT+ dongle -- it has been perfect for me using a Garmin GSC-10 for the cadence/wheel speed, and a Garmin HRM strap. The Wahoo cadence/speed sensor looks pretty good too IMHO.

I started using Cyclemeter with just the built-in GPS, and really liked it. I just put it in my seat bag (I always carry it) and used the data after I got home.

Then I bought an Edge 500 for my bike, and use the Cyclemeter app as a backup. I figure I always bring the phone so I might as well put it to use while it is in my seat bag.

Hope that helps...

-Tom in SoCal