I recently completed a 550 mile ride from Grand Rapids, MI to Minneapolis. This was my first tour in 30+ years. I used a Planet Bike Protege 9.0 wired computer, along with my iPhone 4s. I preplanned my route on Ridewithgps.com, and created daily cue sheets. I had also bought the proper Wisconsin bicycle maps to see what roads were considered bike friendly. I utilized a Topeak iPhone ride case that worked relatively well (more on that later). In addition I had an external battery for the iPhone.


I used the bike computer for recording mileage, speed, etc. I kept track of my distance to the next turn on the bike computer. As long as the street was there when it was supposed to be I never looked at the iPhone. However, in a couple instances it was nice to be able to take a peak on the map feature on the phone to determine the problem. Once it was a problem with my cue sheet and the other was that the road had multiple names. I only needed to use my external battery once during the seven days of riding. On this day I decided to change my route to get off a bike trail and get back on the roads so I kept the phone on most of the day!


The iPhone was an excellent tool when trying to use the wonderful bike paths in Minneapolis too! I could follow along and tell when I needed to switch to a different path. Can’t say enough about how great the biking was in Minneapolis. WOW!!!


The Topeak case worked all right but I’m not sure of it’s durability. By the end of the ride the arm that held the phone had loosened up and there was quite a bit of play in the connector. The other problem was that it holds the iPhone in a waterproof bag, which worked ok, except you couldn’t plug your external battery in while you rode.


I was touring solo, so I used the Life 360 app to allow my wife and son to follow my progress. This decreased my wife’s anxiety about me touring alone.


All in all the system worked well. I’m glad I had the iPhone with me! Googling motels to check rates was helpful. I had a bike manual app on the phone. It was a great tool to take on tour.

Here's another angle to consider. Touring abroad. Would your smart phone work abroad? How much extra would that cost you?

IMHO the technologies have not quite converged for the touring cyclist. Almost but not quite. At least not at a "cheap" price point. For now, a cheap wired bike computer, a GPS with maps, your iphone, or a throwaway in some foreign land, and maybe even a tablet computer unless you don't mind an internet cafe to work out your next segment.

The problem with smart phones is coverage. You just know that when you need it most, you won't have it. Isn't this way the world works?

Happy touring!!

I personally think a Garmin GPS unit is more accurate then a bike computer in most cases. I'll give my reasons...

1) is the fact that not all tires are the same size in diameter, even among tires that claim to be the same size, like a 700x28 tire. The pro-continential 700x28 is quite different then a Kenda slick 700x28 tire. Tire sizes don't take account for the thickness or pressure of a tread.

2) even for those who actually measure the tire out before calibrating, do you do this while sitting on the bike itself? Sitting on the bike will make the actual tire have a different rotating circumference.

3) The most accurate way is for the cyclometer to measure your REAR TIRE, not the front tire. It's your rear tire that actually follows the true path of the bike.

4) And even with that said, put on two of the exact tires on a bike, front and rear. Put the value stem equal when starting a ride on both tires. Even within 100 feet of riding, you'll notice quite a difference, as they won't match up distance wise.

Now, in places where GPS signals can be hard to get like downtown areas or very dense woods, the GPS can be inaccurate as well as it loses signals. But for most riding, the GPS will be more accurate, at least in the testing I have done.

I use a Garmin Edge 800
for two years prior I used a Garmin Edge 700.
they are accurate down to about 6ft.
I also have a Suunto Vector that I place on my handle bar.
also a cell phone that I keep on a shoulder strap.

the Garmin works 100% of the time.
of course cell phone only works when there is signal

the Suunto Vector only has altitude, barometer, temp, compass and of course watch functions.

I have a 2GB micro card in the Garmin. It holds a lot of info. really... its a lot of info.
it has every surface street in NA, hawaii, alaska and canada.

I just finished a jaunt down the west coast, and I had every topo map.
plus an array of logistical stops that I thought could be handy.
some markers for beginning of trails, etc...

I use the GPS for a million little things.
I've become somewhat addicted to it.

for instance when I go to Hawaii, maybe I want to look at a beach where the snorkeling is good.
so I look on Google Earth, to actually see a pic of the beach and the reef.
I find where there is a channel in the reef so its easy to snorkel.
I mark that spot, mark closest parking, maybe a spot on the beach to lay a towel, etc...
when I'm driving to that spot, I know exactly where I'm going.
its kind of crazy.

I also use the GPS to mark things when I'm actually at a location.
i.e. at the campground while on bike tour, I might mark where the bike camping is, then mark where the showers are.
I know it sounds kind of lame, but when its dark and foggy, having the GPS reduces one more variable.

I also have a habit of "riding by GPS", this is also kind of whacky
you can zoom in on the map enough to give you a turn by turn view of the road ahead.
I've done this a lot, especially on descents, low lighting, maybe something like coming down Haleakala in the clouds, etc...

put of course you have to realize that the GPS is simply working on an overlay, if your map is not accurate
or if you don't have an accurate grid for a location, the tool is only as good as the user.

with that said, my initial real intro to the Garmin 700 was when I used it on the Tour Divide.

I've got wireless bike computers, wired computers and an iPhone app (Cyclemeter) that I all use, depending on the bike and trip. Wired computers are most accurate, least expensive and batteries last the longest. Wireless computers look cleaner but their signals can get messed up by traffic signals, sometimes giving erroneous results (like 200 mph max speeds). My Cyclemeter app is fun to use, with cool features like a map of the route, time splits, calories burned and other info. However, I suspect that the mileage estimates are not as accurate as my bike computers as it usually undercounts by 1-2 miles/trip, probably due to losing the GPS signal at times. It doesn't use too much battery if you turn off the screen while you're riding.