vandarye

On my ride today, Strava captured less than a third of my ride. I am running it on a Droid X so I am thinking that the GPS on the phone is to blame. Does anyone else have issues with logging rides on smart phones with Strava... is it better if you are using a Garmin Edge instead? Just curious... It's about time to upgrade my phone, but I was considering keeping my phone and upgrading my bike computer instead

Pilky

I have the exact same phone (although now I'm running CyanogenMod on it) and I'v only had a problem twice. One time it said i road three hundred some odd miles and the other time it just wouldn't pick up a signal.

Other then those two instances it's worked great.

Steve530

I've only been using Strava for about a month, but it has worked perfectly on my Droid2.

fishymamba

I use the Droid Incredible(1st Gen) with an extended battery($7 on amazon) and I have recorded a couple of centuries with it(on airplane mode) and tons of normal rides. Works flawlessly for me, I actually kinda like it better because I can upload rides right when I finish. Some phones use triangulation to get your position which is not very accurate or reliable, get a phone that has an actual GPS. Also check online to see if the phone you want has a cheap extended battery that you can buy to record long rides.

There have been a few rides when the phone turned off or the strava app closed, but most of the times it's because a button gets pressed in my pocket.
My phone did crash on me once on a 113 miles ride. I took out my phone to see if I had gotten a text message, and when I took the phone out of airplane mode, it froze and I had to restart it, thankfully one of the guys I was riding with sent me his GPS file, so I still got credit for the ride.

Pilky

Van, where do you store the phone when riding?

vandarye

I put it in a zip lock bag so it won't get soaked in sweat and put it in one of my jersey pockets

Pilky

Oh ok. I asked because the two times I had an issue, it was in my bike shorts. Not sure if it was a coincidence or if the up and down motion had something to do with it.

X-LinkedRider

+1 exactly what I do. With my 10 dollar bill. However, I use MapMyRide and have tried EndoModo once or twice. I can easily grab 60+ on my Samsung Galaxy S in full operation mode. Never thought about Airplane mode. I didn't think the GPS would work in Airplane mode. Guess I should give it a shot. The texts and calls on the ride get so annoying anyhow.

fishymamba

Airplane mode with GPS only works on some phones. Works on my Incredible, but it does not work on my dad's Iphone

X-LinkedRider

Guess I can test it tomorrow. It was something that never occurred to me. It would be great to get an extra 2 hours out of a battery. That would easily give me a century worth of recording. Plus it makes MUCH more sense for touring. If it works, that is.

DGlenday

I've ridden a few dozen rides with that phone and Strava - never had a problem yet. It's more accurate than my Garmin.

Caveat - if you ride out of cell phone coverage area, Strava will stop working until you get back into a coverage area. 'Course, Garmin does not have that problem.

vandarye

So today I rode in the Katy Flatlands Century and it was a great ride. Once again I loaded up Strava on my Droid X and got some bizarre results. According to Strava I rode my bike pretty far out into the Gulf of Mexico and back. I'm guessing the problem is the GPS on my phone? This is the actual route I rode.

Below is what Strava recorded.

tcwayne

I had problems when I solely used apps on my iPhone. I switched to a Garmin 500 and not one issue.

vandarye

I am considering a Garmin now. Does the 500 do turn by turn directions also, or is that feature only on the 705 and 800? I think the 500 is probably the best bang for the buck though.

fishymamba

I also got tired of the app crashes on my Droid Incredible. I can't afford to get the Garmin 500 so I ordered this today: https://www.gs-sport.com/products.php?en_product_id=10

I got it for $120(cadence/speed sensor included). Hopefully it will work OK. I know that I will have to modify the file that this GPS produces for it to work on Strava, but that should take less than a minute.

The 500 does do turn by turn, but according to a couple people I ride with(they use the 500) it's not very reliable and it's easy to miss turns because the GPS reacts kinda slowly.

ENEMY

"Is that a Strava segment?"

TrojanHorse

I had no problems with two droid Xs and a galaxy nexus, but a friend of mine had a nexus and couldn't get a reliable GPS signal to save his life. Are you using the stock ROM on the phone?

I use a garmin 500 now, which is a superior solution IMO because you are much more likely to have your phone available in case you get lost or need to make a call. The battery also lasts a lot longer. As for turn by turn, when I do a long ride over unfamiliar roads, I'll load it in - it's usually great at telling me I just missed a turn, but it's better than getting completely lost. You can tell when you have a turn coming up, which is a plus, but it's not the fastest reacting computer.

JustinNY

I have the same phone and let me give you a tip that I've noticed (you may have noticed as well); When you start strava, wait for the status at the top of the recording screen to read "GPS Signal OK"

Whats happened to me is I turn on GPS, hit the record button, pocket the phone and go. But the GPS can take a couple minutes or more to find a signal, so I was cutting off the first few miles of my ride. What I've found is that once it finds the signal, its pretty reliable in keeping the signal

vandarye

What I've experienced is that once I start Strava, it will record the first few miles fine typically, then it goes heywire and records some strange things. My phone is the way it came out of the box when purchased a few years ago, I have not jail broken it or anything like that.

mprelaw

I use my droid with Strava too. Here's what I've found after a couple of months:

If you're losing part of the ride, shut the phone display off a couple of seconds after you acquire GPS signal and the clock on the app starts registering seconds passing. This seems to have ended that problem.

Elevation stats often don't even come close.

"Max speed" can be all over the place.

I live near the ocean too, and I regularly ride across bodies of water. At least according to Strava.

My wife and I went on the same ride on Saturday. She's slower than I am. I waited for her on the top of several hills. But our elapsed time, and ride distance, should have been the same. She rode a mile farther, climbed 1200 more feet, and averaged a full mph faster---according to Strava. Using the same brand/model of android phone.

Stopped time--at least for the brief stops at red lights, and the occasional "dash into the weeds to water the bushes" stop, is often logged at moving time at low mph. Something like 0.5 mph to 1.5 mph. Not that I care, because IMO average speed for a ride should take this into account anyway. But why have an "elapsed time" vs "moving time" feature if it often doesn't work with android?

Long story short---go with Garmin if you care about accuracy. I'm not that concerned with it, but I have a birthday coming up in a month and may hint to the bride.

X-LinkedRider

I have heard nothing but issues from Strava. But what is wrong with using MapmyRide, Motion-X GPS (For I Phones) or Endomodo? They all seem to work fine. I use a Galaxy S, so I can't use Motion X, but both MMR and ENDMo.. work just fine.

vandarye

I am going to try switching apps and see if it is any better. I am not sure if the Strava app or the phone is the problem.

NSpooner

My wife's did the same thing a couple weeks ago and she had a Galaxy SII. All the people I ride with that have android phones have some sort of issues running strava. I have no problems running it on my iphone and the other people I know running iphone's it works flawlessly. I think a lot of it is due to the 500 different android phones and them not being able to optimize it for everyone.

DevinL

Stava is to always blame. Im using the Galaxy Nexus and sometimes it's spot on others its not. The one thing to fix the GPS is to download MapMyRide and start that app... then open Strava and GPS signal is always perfect. Got me.