Cadence sensor with iPhone?
 

Does anyone have any experience with a bluetooth cadence sensor linked to an iPhone app? How well do they work together? I have my iPhone mounted on the stem to give me GPS stats. Weighing getting a computer too, or getting a sensor, and linking it to an app. The Computer would be more clutter if a sensor works fine, but would rather have the clutter if the sensor/app route is flaky.

Get a Garmin Edge 500 or 510. Ditch the iphone.

The new garmin magnetless cadence and speed sensor is awesome. Get those too.

I run the Wahoo speed and cadence sensor with my Iphone 5 along with the Wahoo heart rate monitor and they work awesome. I have been using both for several months and have had no issues. I have about $220 in my setup including an external battery pack that will run the phone for ten+ hours.

I have experience using Wahoo Fitness's RFLKT system paired with their Bluetooth speed and cadence sensor on a couple of bikes and have a few friends using the same setup. All of us are using Cyclemeter in our iPhones. The system works great. As a bonus, the RFLKT is small so it takes up little space on your stem or handlebar and allows you to keep your iPhone in a jersey pocket.

You should be able to use Wahoo's speed/cadence sensor without the RFLKT but I mentioned the RFLKT as it would let you move your iPhone to a pocket.

I have run the Wahoo BluSC for a couple of months, it is fairly reliable though the cadence sensor has wacked out a couple of times 42,000 rpm, I wish.
I do not like to ride with data in my face so the phone sits in my jersey while I ride, then I upload and check after.
I too have a battery pack, I have done 9 hours and still had over 50% phone power left.
Pirk

Which battery packs are you guys using? I've been considering picking one up for longer rides.

I use the Mophie 120%, it gives plenty juice. It is a good case with battery pack built in. Feels like good protection too.

I use this one. I have it in a small camera case Velcro strapped under the top tube.

mophie Juice Pack Powerstation Gen2 4000 External Battery Black 38113BBR - Best Buy

Agree. The bluetooth HRM also has much fewer spikes than my Ant+ model.

I also use a Mophie Juice Pack on long rides if I think I'll need more power. But using the Wahoo RFLKT to display info during the ride allows me to turn off the iPhone's screen, which improves the battery's endurance.

I use the Topeak Panobike, works very well and never miss a beat. Also use a Wahoo HRM and RFLKT. Battery on my phone last quite awhile with this setup.

Will any of the sensors work with any of the apps that can use a sensor? Or does each app require a specific brand sensor?

So far they seem to work with any app as I have tried Strava, Cyclemeter, Endomodo, and the Wahoo Fitness app which is the one I use. I then upload to Strava directly from the app.

Do you have both mounted on your bike? Right now I have my phone in an inexpensive Scosche case. I can see notifications on the phone but I can't keep the screen on or the phone gets too hot. I am looking at better mounts but the Rflkt seems about the same cost and should save some phone battery.

For those of you using RFLKT, two questions:

1. How's the connectivity (i.e. have you ever had the data recording BT connection with the iPhone drop out and lose ride data)?
2. Is it possible to get turn-by-turn navigation displayed on the RFLKT (i.e. pre-loaded courses)?

It's highly unlikely that difference in accuracy has anything to do with the method of communication - the most likely culprit is strap design or sensor placement that makes it more susceptible to misinterpreting stuff, like a flapping jersey/shirt.

Several posters in this thread have said they conceal the phone as they don't want to see the results in real time. Does that mean you don't want normal bike computer results displayed like your speed, cadence, heart rate? I don't get that. If you didn't have the iphone system and were using a normal bike computer, would you not look at the common outputs from time to time? Please explain.

I can only speak for myself, obviously, but the typical display for my garmin is HR/HR zone and cadence - IOW, in-ride, I'm only interested in my effort, not so much the results.

Yeah, I understand that. But you don't put your Garmin in your pocket. That the part about the smart phone usage I didn't understand.

Wait, I get it now. I just googled RFLKT and see it is an auxiliary display that replaces the iphone for GPS and music purposes. So you can stash the phone and it still does what it needs to do while sending the display to the RFLKT. Got it.

This might be true but what I know is that I was having horrible issues w/ spikes & noise with my Garmin HRM. After reading DC Rainmaker's review, I purchased a Wahoo HRM strap. The difference was night & day. What specifically caused the change - I don't know (& don't really care) - I'm wearing the same jerseys & the receiving unit were/are both on my bike handlebars.

Quote from DC Rainmaker in his summary:

I don't like having my data in route, I find myself riding to the computer which is less enjoyable for me. YMMV
I still ride hard, but ride by feel, listening to my body, breathing, heart, and especially my knees:thumb:.
Pirk

I have an older computer, I often just leave it displaying elapsed time. I let the iPhone screen go dark to use less battery. That said I just got the wahoo HRM and tried it for the first time today, worked great, and I kept the wahoo ap open and ran Cyclemeter in the background.

Bill

The battery in the garmin edge 800 lasts forever. It works well with all my sensors including powertap sensor. I don't see the point of running the phone battery down especially when I may end up needing it mid-ride.

Only the RFLKT is mounted to the stem. I keep the iPhone in an Otterbox case in a jersey pocket. When I've used the Mophie, it's obviously also in the same jersey pocket as the iPhone. I actually put the Otterbox in a plastic bag so that it doesn't get wet from sweat.

The RFLKT really does help to save the phone's battery by allowing the screen to be shut off.

There are some nice aspects to the phone aps though. Not sure how the Garmin works, but when I finish my ride using cyclemeter it sends a link to my email, and all my data is there to view by clicking the link.

IMHO cyclecomputers are more "solid"...they just work.....so I would probably never rely on an Iphone as my ONLY device, but I have it with me anyway and running cyclemeter with the screen off really does not use much power, I did a 4 hour ride and it used something like 10% of the battery ??

Bill