Anyone tried the Wahoo bike computer that works with an iPhone? Looks pretty good. Any feedback either way on this?

Yep..both types, they work pretty well, do tend to drop sensors (ant+ and bluetooth) sometimes, and cyclemeter maybe records 1% to 1.5% more distance than garmin..r

Had a Garmin Edge (older one), and went to iPhone with Wahoo App. I carry my phone with me at all times anyway, and it has a bigger color screen, and Internet to upload rides. I have the Wahoo Blue SC, and Blue HR. I also have the wahoo case, but I quit using it after I got a Lifeproof case with the bicycle mount. That way I don't have to take my phone out of my case (Nuud) to use it for my cycle computer. It's really the perfect setup.

So here's what I have:

iPhone 5S with Wahoo Fitness App
Lifeproof Nuud Case
Lifeproof bicycle mount
Wahoo Blue HR
Wahoo Blue SC

I really love this setup. Mine has never dropped the sensors. The only con I see is battery life will be good for roughly 4 hours. After about 3:15 I have roughly 50% battery life. The only way I could get that time out of it was to turn the brightness down as low as I could barely read the screen, which was ok. But I just ordered a 6000mAh portable battery charger... Amazon.com: AnkerŪ 2nd Gen Astro 6000mAh (2A Output) Portable Charger External Battery Pack with PowerIQ™ Technology for iPhone 5S, 5C, 5, 4S, iPad Air, mini, Galaxy S5, S4, S3, Note 3, Galaxy Tab 3, 2, Nexus 4, 5, 7, 10, HTC One, One 2 (M8),

To each his own but I think it will be the perfect setup for me.

Thanks - this is really useful info!

I've done similar with endomondo and an android phone. Battery is always the limiter. Even with an external charger getting 12 hours plus is a challenge. I switched to a garmin etrex and battery problems are no more (aa).

My old Garmin Edge would only last about 8 hours with a full charge, so I had to have an external battery with it also.

With the 6000mAh, which will charge the iPhone 5S 3 times, so I could get 12 hrs pretty easy. And the 6000mAh is a smaller one. It would add a few more ounces but one could easily get a 12000mAh external charger. I myself have never been on the bike for more than 8.5 hours so this def meets my needs.

To add further based on my experience, I started out with an iPhone 4S with the Wahoo ANT+ case and extra Wahoo battery. It worked fine, but it was aggravating to take the iPhone out of my Otterbox Defender case and put in the Wahoo. The Wahoo also made the touch screen less sensitive. When I bought my iPhone 5S, I decided then to not use the Wahoo case and go with the Life Proof case with bicycle mount. With this setup I had to buy bluetooth sensors for HR, Cadence, Speed.

One reason I went with ANT+ at first is I already had a HR sensor from my old Garmin that was ANT+. Hindsight being 20/20 and all that jazz, I should have went with bluetooth sensors in the beginning and the lifeproof case and mount. But that's ok, I'm glad to share my experiences to help others.

I've solved the battery problem. I use this: iBattz battery case. This is a battery case that you can swap in a new battery and take out the old one. I use this with the quad lock stem mounting system to mount this case. All you do is stick their universal adaptor on the back of the iBattz case and you're good with about 225% of the iPhone battery. You can bring as many of the extra batteries as you want - they are about the size of half a business card and about pretty thin - you could bring several easily in a jersey pocket and not even know you have them.

I use Cyclemeter as my bike computer. I used to use a Garmin but since I'd have to bring my phone anyhow, and because the display is so much better on the iPhone I ditched the Garmin. With the quad lock system I also don't have to put it in my jersey pocket either. This works just great and you can set yourself up with (essentially) infinite battery power.

J.

If you turn the iPhone screen off entirely, the battery will last much longer. That's the point of the Wahoo RFLKT.

I think it helps, but I don't think it's hours and hours of help. I think you might get an hour more or so. The GPS sucks down a lot of power as well and that still continues to run even if the display is off.

The RFLKT+ also provides barometric altitude, temperature and ANT+ to BT translation. And you can leave your phone in your jersey pocket.

J.

From my experience the screen is what sucks the most of the battery. Next is the GPS but it's not as much as the screen. On the same distance/time ride, using a lower brightness setting the battery was at 53% after 3 hrs 20 minutes. The ride before where the brightness was not adjusted lower, it was at 32% at the 3 hrs 20 minutes mark...

I could only imagine how long it would last with the screen turned off. But I'd rather carry a mobile battery charger with the brightness down low to go all day, and have full maps, etc. But that's just me.

I'll be able to give you a better estimate in a couple of weeks. I just replaced the battery in my iPhone 5 and the battery monitor is still recalibrating. Before the battery change, I'd see it dropping about 30% in an hour. But that's where the new battery comes in, once I hit about 40%, the battery would just crash down to almost zero very quickly. So, it will likely be better here after the recalibration takes. With the battery pack, I've gone 10 hours or more.

j.

So the only issue with Wahoo is swapping cases? I only use a thin silicone case. Would it fit in the Wahoo? I don't want a bulky case for my phone when it's off the bike.

I'm not sure why you are worried about swapping cases.

J.

The screen touch sensitivity got on my nerves too.

It shouldn't be an issue with just a silicone case since it should just slide right off. It will not fit in the Wahoo with any case on it.

To me the lifeproof case isn't bulky at all compared to the Defender. It's must faster and less trouble to just pop it in the lifeproof bicycle mount. But again that's just my preference. You may be fine with loading it in the Wahoo each ride.

I also consider getting off the bike and taking my phone with me, etc. There's other advantages as well like being able to use the Blue HR while not in the Wahoo case, but may not apply to you.

I have both the Wahoo blue tooth heart rate monitor and the speed and cadence sensor. I have an Iphone 5 and use an Otterbox Defender case. I took the holster that comes with the Otterbox and used two zip ties to secure it to the stem. Works perfect and looks good. I have an external battery pack that I keep in a pack that is mounted on the top tube behind the stem. Makes everything very easy. Pop the phone in the mount, plug it in and I am off.

If I have to take off the case I have on my iPhone for everyday use, and swap it with a different case to mount on my bike, I'd find that really annoying. I bike to work everyday.

Thanks for the info. Could I use the wahoo as an everyday case? Or is it bulky? I think otter boxes are bulky as a point of comparison

I have this one for my old iPhone 4S with extra battery and it's WAY to bulky for using everyday for a case, even without the extra battery. Part of the bulkiness is that it integrates ANT+.

Wahoo Bike Case for iPhone 4/4S (ANT+)

I also have the PROTKT for my iPhone 5S but I've never opened it so I'm not sure. It looks more bulky than my old defender case. It's shock proof and waterproof and has headphone access. It comes with a hand band and no other mount. You'd also need the bag-o-mounts to mount it to your bike. There's no ANT+ in the PROTKT. Without being on sale you'd have $80 in it. The lifeproof is $79 - $89 (Fre & Nuud), and $39 for the bicycle mount, but as I stated above they run sales often...

If you can live with the bulkiness and lack of accessories that lifeproof has you may be ok with the PROTKT for every day use, but that's not what it's designed for so I wouldn't recommend it.

PROTKT Bike Mount & Case for iPhone 5/5S

PROTKT BAG-O-MOUNTS

Thanks for the great info. I currently have this...

VDO MC 2.0 WL Wireless Cycling Computer - Mountain Equipment Co-op. Free Shipping Available

But I'm not happy with it. It takes 5-7 secs to calculate when I first start off. I want temp and grade and have been experimenting with Mapmyride and Cyclemeter on my iPhone. If I get rid of the VDO and go the app route I definitely want to see the stats as I ride. And as I ride everday even if it's raining I want to protect my phone. But I don't want the hassle of swapping cases all the time.

I'm also not fond of re-calibrating the altitude on the VDO everyday due to changing barometric pressure.

Yeah, I know. I'm picky and marginally (marginally? ) OCD

With this setup I was able to get 17 hours, 13 minutes with my first test, way more time than I need:, here's my results if you're interested:

Test 1: This test was off the bike, with the phone's screen on 100% of the time and at 100% brightness, and the Wahoo fitness app on with bicycle workout started, and wifi and bluetooth on with bluetooth connected to headset streaming music. This test was not actually on the bike. The ext batt claims 3 full charges for iPhone 5S. I was able to get 2 full charges and a piece, but that's because for the 2 hours the unit was charging, the ext battery was also supplying current for the phone which was high with the screen on and at 100%, gps running, bluetooth, etc.

0:00hr 100%, just taken off wall 1amp charge
1:00hr 84%
2:00hr 59%
3:00hr 32%
3:28hr 20%
3:52hr 10% plugged in ext battery

4:00hr 15%
5:00hr 71%
5:55hr 100%
6:00hr 100% removed ext batt, 60% left on ext batt
7:00hr 83%
8:00hr 56%
9:21hr 20%
9:44hr 10% plugged in ext batt

10:00hr 24%
11:54hr 100% removed ext batt, 20% left on ext batt
13:00hrs 82%
14:00hrs 54%
15:00hrs 23%
15:07hrs 20%
15:28hrs 10% plugged in ext batt

15:56hrs 36% ext batt dead
16:21hrs 20%
16:45hrs 10%
17:13hrs dead, iPhone turned off

Test 2: This test was on the bike during an actual workout, with Blue HR and Blue SC sensors. The Wahoo fitness app on with bicycle workout, and wifi and bluetooth on with bluetooth connected to headset streaming music. The phone's screen was on 100% of the time and at varied brightness, mostly low to medium. The first 30 minutes was at the lowest brightness setting because it was before dawn. After I increased brightness to only what was neccesary to see speed, distance, etc. A few times I had to reduce the brightness manually I think because auto-brightness would raise it automatically. Next time I'll try it with auto-brightness off.

0:00hr 100%, just taken off wall 1amp charge
4:00hr 29%, ride complete, ext battery not needed

I recently got a Wahoo RFLKT+ and BT Cadence sensor. I haven't gotten to use it that many times yet, but my initial impression has been very positive.

I tried using my iPhone itself as a bike computer before, but the screen being on all the time really drained the battery, much worse then the GPS with the screen off, so for a while I had my phone running STrava with the screen off in a pocket and then a plain old bike computer so I could see my current speed, distance, time, cadence.

With my new bike I decided I wanted to try the Wahoo route so I could get more data in to my phone and not buy an expensive Garman I need to worry about charging, etc. The Wahoo RFLKT+ lets me get info on a display without running down the battery too much.

So far my only complaint was since I got the cadency only BT sensor, not cadence and speed, the RFLKT+ shows the last received speed from the phone for a bit when you stop, instead of showing 0. Minor annoyance, but if I could do it again I would get the speed and cadence sensor.

If this works well I will probably not use a regular bike computer on this bike. If not I may get a computer and use Strava separately on my phone.

You can get an ant+ speed sensor, that is the set up I use, works well