Smartphone apps versus Garmins and such
 

Do you think smartphones and their apps are replacing the need or use of a dedicated bike computer?

I keep thinking about eventually getting something like a Garmin 500, but then I already have a phone with a few apps on it that work for my needs. Only problem is with battery life on the phone, the touchscreen and background programs like gps enabled apps really drain the battery way too fast.

Just curious about people's thoughts on this.

Mike

I've used a cateye strada cadence wired bike computer, an old garmin 301 forerunner (wrist GPS w/ HRM), my smartphone (in a pocket or saddlebag), and just got an edge 500. You could use a basic bike computer like the cateye for info during your ride then get GPS from the phone and put it in a bag with the screen off. I did this for a little while and it was ok, but didn't provide HR info, difficult to start/stop when it was going into a saddle bag, etc. I like the 500, everything is in one place and I can use it with full-finger gloves on (unlike the touch screen).

For what I use a bike computer for, it would be kind of silly to use my phone for it. All I really want is to keep track of miles on the bike, give me a clock I can look at sometimes, and maybe ride time and distance.
To get that out of the phone, I would have to take the phone with me on every ride including in the rain, and I would either not be able to look at the phone in the rain or I'd have to buy some kind of rain case for the phone. It would have to rely on GPS for sensor.

Also if mounted on the bars I'd run the risk of destroying the phone in case of an accident, much more so than if it's in my bag on the back. I have an HTC One X, and I believe replacement cost on it is about $700.

To save the $20 for a cheap bike computer, it doesn't really make sense.

I was thinking of the gps functionality, sharing routes with friends and family, uploading ride or commute reports, stuff like that.

But, yep, for just speed/distance/current time/elapsed time, it is hard to beat a basic bike computer for $2-$25.

For route uploads and tracking, a smartphone app just makes things so convenient.
But an Edge 500 or similar would save the phone for phone stuff and allow the phone to be kept safe and out of the weather.

My current Samsung Galaxy cost us 1-penny, but replacement cost is way up there.

I think I'll start shopping around and wait for the next REI coupon deal.

You said the big flaw that keeps smartphones out of the conversation for me: Battery. Aside from that, they are also rather large in comparison to something like an Edge 500, even the relatively small iPhone. Plus there is the fragility issue, and the fact that a touchscreen is not an ideal situation on a bike where you really should be paying attention to the road. There are mounts that provide solutions to many of these complaints, but then you make an already big device even bigger.

Now, if you do not want to see the info as it happens, then a phone tuck safely in your jersey or a saddle bag can get the job done. The battery should last quite some time with the screen off. Then you defeat part of the reason for having a computer in the first place, instant info.

I have a wireless Bell computer on my handle bars so I can check my current speed. The odometer function lets me keep track of total miles on the bike. I use Endomondo on my smartphone for total workout distance, calories burned, average pace, etc. It's nice having all my rides in a database on their web site so I can see my statistics from week to week. I just start the application, press the button to turn off and lock the screen, and toss it in my handle bar bag and forget about it. I carry a plastic zip lock bag in case I run into rain.

I have the auto pause feature active so it stops recording when I stop for a break and auto starts when I start moving again. I never have to touch it during my ride. It also announces the total miles and lap time every mile. When I hit stop at the end of the ride, it automatically uploads the data to the server. I can also press a button and have the run posted to my Facebook page. I don't see the point of having a Garmin since I can do the same thing with my smartphone. Granted, the GPS uses more battery power, but I usually don't ride for more than 3 or 4 hours which still leaves me about half a charge on my Samsung. If I ever start riding from sun up to sun down, I will just take my portable charger that uses AA batteries to recharge my phone.

My thought is: http://www.mugen-power-batteries.com/

My phone, a T-Mobile MyTouch 4G Slide, is now a little heaver and thicker and has almost 3x the battery life.

No qualms about the GPS running all day. This company has excellent customer service. I dropped my phone so many times I the special cover that came with the battery became damaged and would not stay on. Their policy is free replacement, not even postage.

Don in Austin

Exactly what I do, but I use it in "beat your own time mode" and put in a place where I can here the pace announements. When it says "1km in 1:30 seconds" it always make me smile. When it says "1km in 3:xx seconds" then its time to ride harder. I also run a basic cateye enduro 8 (wired) so I can monitor time, distance, speed and it gives me a pace arrow to motivate me to ride harder. Combined with my smart phone running endomondo I get all the info I need. I agree that battery life is sad, but thats easy enough to counter with a few extra batteries stashed in the Jersey pocket.

+1 on that and everything else dennismont said. Makes a good backup to my bike computer because I keep resetting it by accident and losing my ride data. Use it to calibrate my computer. Computer is now at -1%, -1%, -1%, -1.4%, just in case you wanted to know. Heh.

I would like to have a large screen GPS though so I could map a route and the GPS would guide me back to it if I had to veer off the path, just the way car GPS works.

If you turn off your wifi and 4g service you can extend your battery life quite a bit. Some of the apps I like are cardiotrainer and endomondo.. I was using runkeeper for a while but if you stop for an extended period instead of pausing like the other app do it will time out and finalize your ride without asking you.

I personally keep my Galaxy S2 phone in a neoprene pouch in my jersey pocket.

The nice thing about most current android phones is that the battery is user replaceable which is nice for long rides our tours..

Not for me. I much prefer my Garmin Edge 800 and having the information easily available to me. Also being able to use it all weather, having reasonable battery life, good range of data and ease of upload to Strava are selling points in its favour for me.

Andrew

My results may be atypical but I use the Strava app on an adroid phone. I've found that if I go on a route that has lots of trees on a segment that that part will not show up as part of my ride. My last ride was an out and back 21 mile ride and Strava only showed 23km.

You are like me krobinson103. My smartphone speaks the 1 mile lap times and when I hear it say "Lap time 6 min xx sec", I tend to dig down to get it back into the 3 minute range. Sometimes I just slow down to enjoy the scenery and forget what I am doing. Socalrider makes a good point. The quickest way to eat battery life on a smartphone is to leave the WIFI turned on. I always keep it off until I need to use it, primarily when I am downloading or uploading app or pictures.

I ran into an issue the other day where it was a real dark, overcast morning. Endomondo worked great out to my 15 mile turn around point. When I started back, it kept saying "time stopped" "time resumed" "time stopped" "time resumed". It did this for about three miles before regaining it's senses and worked the rest of the way home. I lost about three miles on this run. Endomondo allows me to edit a ride on the web site, so I just went in and edited the workout to add the three miles back in and it recalculated all the other stats. I don't know if any of the Garmin users experience technical hiccups occasionally, but I have been able to correct a few, after the fact, on my Endomondo web page.

I like using my iPhone, mounted to the handle bars using a Wahoo Fitness case as my computer. Displays distance, speed, HR, cadence, etc. With extended battery, I can ride 6 hours+, display on and music playing over my Bluetooth headphones. I added a Superplug USB charger, powered by a dynamo hub as well, so now I can charge the phone while I ride and have basically unlimited ride time.

I'm thinking about getting a 500 myself. Currently I have a Node 2.1, and then I bought the Wahoo key for my iPhone. I put it in a plastic bag and in my back jersey pocket, although I do miss out on some of the HR data. (I get cadence just fine.)

My problems are twofold:

1) Dealing with the phone in a plastic bag is a PITA. I love using Strava, but the phone app is kinda a bummer to deal with. I don't want the phone on the handlebars because then I have to deal with things like texts and stuff.
2) My iPhone 4 battery is not what it used to be. A 4 hour ride takes it down lower than I'd like it to. I want to keep my phone fresh for using as a phone if I need to. And I want to be able to longer rides when needed.

So it works in theory, but it more has made me want to upgrade to a Garmin 500. The only reason I haven't is because I'm wondering if the next version of the 500 is coming out in a month or so.

Next version... I got mine on sale, so hopefully prices don't tank too much :) But I have everything I need now. You could wait for the iPhone 5 and see if that improves battery life? Wifi and bluetooth suck down power, so I'm guessing the wahoo is similar.

I tried using a phone and was not pleased. The garmin is smaller, has better battery life, is easier to read, and the controls are easier to use with wet/sweaty hands.

I know phone life is getting better, but that doesn't help much if I want to go on ride at the end of the day when my phone is already low. Instead of worrying about charging my phone at work (some days I am very mobile) I can come hometown a charged garmin.

Edit:
The garmin also seems more accurate in more remote areas. It uses true gps instead of the less accurate a-gps in most phones.

I want to read up on and look at the base map for the Edge 800 to see how accurate it is. I've got a GARMIN GPSMap76c (might have the model name wrong) which allows me to update maps for different regions (I haven't used it in so long now that I forget how to load and unload the mapping). If the Edge 800 has that level of street maps, and does not lock you onto the road by default, then it might be good. The price is the biggest barrier right now though.

I've played with all of the smartphone apps and IMO Runkeeper is the best one available. At least it is functionally. Their support sucks. I use that and my iPhone in a LifeProof case which is 100% waterproof and it really is a nice setup. The only downside is battery life of around 5 hours with display turned off and listening to music. I carry a little Duracell USB charger backup battery and cable with me to charge up the battery some at rest stops on longer rides. Works for me!

I use Strava with my Google Nexus S (Android 4.1), as well as Google Maps. Battery life with just the builtin battery would be around 5 hours of GPS logging, but I use it with a USB battery that holds up to four 18650 cells, which would last well over 24 hours (I have not yet run them down on any of my tours). I protect the phone in a buffer and mount it on a Minoura smartphone holder on the handlebar. If there's rain or drizzle I either pack it away or wrap it into a bit of cellophane. Replacement cost, if I were to destroy the phone (unlocked import from HK) is about $300. I'm very happy with this setup, except that GPS precision is not very good in urban areas with flyovers or entering and exiting tunnels.

I use my Droid X2 running Endomondo and Google Music attached to my bike covered in a Otter Box and i've yet to have problems. I get time, distance, speed, miles, music and my route among other things. I've yet to have it go dead on a ride or have issues when i've dropped it. I just cant see how a Garmin is any better. I know they are big with alot of cyclist, I just can't justify the cost to myself. If my rides ever get to the point that I might need to worry about power i'll pick up a USB battery as a back up.

That only deals with half the problem. The other half is that I don't want to be interacting with my phone while I'm riding.

The iPhone + Wahoo key was a pretty cheap way for me to see if I wanted to get into GPS logging, since I already had the ANT+ sensors on my bike and body. However, the experience has shown me that I want the data I just don't want to be dealing with the phone.

The Garmin 500 for me is the right tool for the right job. I just would hate to buy one and then have it replaced 1 month later. On the other hand Garmin doesn't really seem to be into rapid product cycles. I dunno. I *could* wait for Interbike but I've got a big ride coming up that it would be handy for.

I use the strava app. Turn it on, ride, stop riding, turn it off, not much to deal with.
If you want to see all the info use the wahoo fitness app though that one seems to stay on for the entire ride.

No, it's "turn on through plastic bag, pause at first stop, pause at second stop, battery dead at 3rd stop". No thanks. Like I said, I've been using the Strava app for a month or so and I like the data enough to get a proper tool for collecting it.

Endomondo isn't bad. Turn it on, run the music player (adds the playlist to the ride profile for some reason) and let it run. With the pro version set to low power I can get about 6 hours of constant monitoring. The audio coach tells me how fast I'm going every km/m and I can set interval or comparison programs as well. Stick it in my pocket and forget about it. If I want to ride 10 hours then I just take battery number 2. Its also nice to have the interactive map if I choose to wander around and get lost. One thing that annoys me a little is that you have to shut down the app to get to the camera application so if you take a bunch of photos the ride gets broken up in the archive.