Racing Dan

Imo, a phone can work very well as a bike computer. It wont have the endless (mostly useless?) functions as a dedicated computer usually has, but the processor is much faster, the screen is bigger and has better resolution and its connected to the internet so no additional up or downloading of routes and data. This means quick route planning directly on the device, on the fly rerouting and routes planned in say Komoot on a PC is "just there" when you open the Komoot app on the phone. Of course it doesn't work well if you keep it in the pocket or you ride epic rides and don't bring a small power brick.

Calsun

A dedicated GPS is going to be more accurate and be more responsive than a smartphone. I prefer the Garmin Edge models with a touch screen that makes it very easy to make changes and deviate from a route. As mentioned these are great for downloading routes from Ridewithgps.com and adding them.

The Garmin can be linked to a cadence device or to a heart rate monitor or to a Garmin wrist watch. With the watch one gets a vibration when approaching a spot where one needs to make a turn and while it is not perfect it does allow for paying more attention to the road ahead and any potential hazards and not looking at the GPS/smartphone.

When people insist on using their smartphone for everything I am reminded of the Japanese saying "he has many knives, none sharp"

Steve B.

I’ve watched a number of YT’s for a cycling couple, went cross the U.S in ‘21 I believe, as well as a circle route, 800 miles or so, across France in ‘22. The husband did the navigating, used Kamoots on a Google smartphone on the h-bar, connected to a battery in the front bag. Yes, this can work.

SpedFast

I get more than 10hrs constant use with my smartphone running a cycling app, gps, bt sensors, bt tunes and the screen on all the time with notifications enabled. I also have a 10000ma battery in my light that can be used as a power brick, but I've never needed to. It's a $200. Samsung A14 in a tough case mounted with a Ram mount and has a 5000ma internal battery. For a cheap phone it's awesome and you don't have to worry about it's replacement cost. I use the Supercycle app that can upload to Wahoo or Strava if desired. This works for me and it's a cheap way to stay connected. I've gone down 3 times with this setup and never damaged the phone. Of course, I haven't been run over by a cage yet either, so there is that, knock on wood.

njkayaker

It's not clear that the GPS of the typical handheld dedicated GPS unit is better than that in phones. Either way, the GPS in phones is good enough.

Dedicated GPS units have much slower processors than smartphones.

The big difference of a dedicated GPS is better battery life and, maybe, smaller size. The dedicated GPS might handle sensors better.

The phone they already have gives them most of what a dedicated GPS device provides.

PeteHski

I just find dedicated units like the Garmin Edge range more focused in their design and functionality than a phone.

jadmt

Pretty close

njkayaker

I expect that isn’t unusual.

(There isn’t really any reason a phone can’t get close to the same thing.)

john m flores 

Question for folks that travel/tour with Garmin and other dedicated computers/GPS...how do you find and navigate to places not on your route, i.e., you are going through a small town and want to stop at a cafe or restaurant or bike shop? Does your Garmin/other offer that kind of searching? Does it have Google Maps style restaurant ratings/reviews?

Genuinely curious because that's my use case.

njkayaker

There are some of these sorts of POIs on the Garmin devices. But, honestly, using a phone is going to be easier to use and have better results.

If you are going to look at and review maps, the phone is better for that too.

spelger

are you absolutely sure that the GPS is more accurate and more responsive? i'm not convinced, here is my anecdotal evidence that a smart phone is just as accurate and responsive as a bike computer when comparing GPS positions...when i drive (or my wife does) i can see my little blue dot (that would be me) on a map moving through traffic, i can see the dot move right through an intersection on the map and when i look out the window i am in that intersection as well, and that is moving at over 30 mph.

why do people insist on using a dedicated computer when a smartphone can do the job just as well? one could say that "many knives" represents many devices.

jadmt

. I have a stand alone garmin and a smart phone speedo app and when I zero them both out when I am traveling in my car they read exactly the same after several hundred miles...

SJX426 

I had the same viewpoint but never found a mount for my phone that was stable. I would go over a bump, and it would move. Battery life was an issue too along with keeping the display visible required going through the setup before and after a ride.
I picked the ROAM because it is bigger display than the bolt and has most of the functionality, including GPS, built in as a standalone unit, not to mention the color that the bolt didn't have at the time.

The functionality between Garmen and Wahoo as decreased over time so much of what is touted as unique functionality of a Garmin is matched on the Wahoo.

PeteHski

For me it's mainly the form factor, battery life, sensor connectivity (how many phones have ANT+?), weatherproofing (including heat, which often kills exposed phones), dedicated cycling functionality (is there a phone app similar to Garmin ClimbPro?) and simply knowing that it's always ready to go on the bike. I carry my phone too, which pairs with it for crash notifications etc.

I'm sure I could make do with just a phone, but I don't really want such a large, expensive brick out front when I can pair up a relatively inexpensive Garmin head unit for display and ride logging.

pepperbelly

Mine came today. I figured out how to set it to mph and to display distance in miles. The user manual isn’t super helpful but it’s not hard to figure out.
I attached mine to the stem. I am glad I mounted it in my garage. One of the o-rings that attach it to my bike slipped and hit the ceiling. If I had tried that outside I wouldn’t have been able to find it. They do give 2 extras in the box.
The display is easy to see and it’s easy to toggle through the different displays.

indyfabz

Personally, I sometimes tour in places where I don’t have access to electricity for up to 4 days at a time, and I like to save my external battery to charge the phone for photos and communication. A bike computer costs peanuts.

njkayaker

Not many. Samsung used to have support on many of their phones but less so now (it appears). But there are BT sensors. (Though ANT+ sensors might be less fussy to pair.)

john m flores 

That's it - we should all choose the solution that works for us. There's always a tenor in these discussions that there's a right way and wrong way to do things when reality is more nuanced and we all make different choices..

PeteHski

Exactly. Pretty much everyone carries a smartphone these days and yet many cyclists still choose to use a dedicated bike GPS head unit for good reasons.

indyfabz

And when I do get access to power, it is often in a situation where I have to leave the device in somewhere like a restroom in camp, creating a risk of theft. One upside of the external battery (swag from a company meeting) is that if it ever goes missing, I won't be nearly as pissed if the phone were to.

indyfabz

And when I do get access to power, it is often in a situation where I have to leave the device in somewhere like a restroom in camp, creating a risk of theft. One upside of the external battery (swag from a company meeting) is that if it ever goes missing, I won't be nearly as pissed if the phone were to go missing.

tFUnK

Four pages of discussion so I hope the OP has it figured out.

As someone who went thru different tools (wheel magnet cyclometer, Garmin GPS, Fitbit watch, modern head unit with GPS/ANT+/BLE), as well as a significant period of going back to "no data", I'll contribute the following:

1. If you just need speed and distance then any wheel magnet or GPS bike computer will do. You don't need to spend a lot of money on this.
2. Smartphone: battery life, display timeout, susceptibility to damage following crashes are valid concerns. Also, notifications and other background activity can affect the functionally - ever try to close something or switch between camera and other apps and accidentally kill your RWGPS app in the middle of the ride?
3. A Garmin or Fitbit watch does the job but glancing at the wrist every time you want to see something can be distracting. Also Fitbit is terrible with respect to losing GPS connectivity and if it's on my wrist I might not notice it until much later (not that there's any corrective action to take if the recording has already started).
4. I rode many years without having access to real-time ride data. There are benefits to this, especially if coming off of a period of being data-obsessed - it can be more relaxing or allow you to be more present on the ride. But overall having data can be quite beneficial/enjoyable as well.
5. The only reason I got a modern head unit is to use my radar light. I really would have been happy if the radar light could give me audible alerts without the need for a head unit, but now that I have a head unit, I use it for the following: radar (obviously), cadence and HR (requires additional sensors), real-time metrics on gradient, time of day, ride duration (moving time), temperature - those are the on-ride metrics I find to be helpful to have, even if they're not essential. So in a way, getting a head unit was like a gateway drug into ride data (and sensors) that I didn't really need for many years prior.

spelger

i don't really care what anyone uses. my comment was only in response to the demand to use a dedicated bike computer instead of a phone. i use the phone because that is what i have and it suits my purposes. i'm using CycleMeter on it and pay $11/Year so that i can get my HRM and Cadence connected. all over bluetooth but my phone does have ANT+. if i had a PM i'm sure it would be able to connect via Bluetooth as well. my phone is eitehr in my jersy pocket or in the bike bag, depends on if i want access to it while riding or not. a bike computer mounted on my bars would be great though.

pepperbelly

Have you looked into one of the backpacking small solar panel chargers?

genejockey 

Same. I don't know how other folks' minds work, but I build maps in my head, so after riding around here for >25 years, I have all the roads I like to ride that I can easily get to in my head. BUT we're planning to move across the country in 3-4 years, and all the roads will be new to me! I'll have to build the map afresh.

Speed and HR are the most critical to me, because I know how fast I should be going in any particular place for a given HR.