i-fone for daily bike computer use?

[adamx]

Good morning;

Have a new i-fone 4s. both bikes need new computers. ToPeak bike mount is on sale at REI. Computers are on sale all over.

Is it effective to use the i-fone for daily use as bike computer? Is it effective to use i-fone for longer rides? REI guy suggests that battery draw is higher with GPS use and could risk being drained if I need the fone in case of emergency.

Thoughts?

Adam X

Topic

[Amalitza]

What’s a long ride to you? Two hours? (you’ll be fine with the phone) Fifteen hours? (you won’t)

I use cyclemeter on my iphone. It does drain the battery. It’s not too bad with the display off, but it really sucks the life down if you keep the screen on. With the screen mostly off, I’ve ridden for probably 5 hours and come back with the battery a little under half life remaining. With the display mostly on (when I’m using it for navigation, not just to record the ride), I’ve ridden for 3 and had not much more than a quarter life left.

I don’t have ancillaries like HRM, power meter, etc, so can’t speak to how that would affect battery life.

It meets my purpose, but wouldn’t meet everyone’s.

[JustinW]

The iPhone can work depending on the length of the ride and the location / signal availability. Turning off the wifi search increases battery life. I used an iPhone on metric centuries and a full century and it worked in all cases ( tho for the full century it pooped out with about 4 miles to go, and after going through some low coverage areas). Many useful apps exist. If the rides are not oh-so lo and you are in areas with decent signal coverage, you should be fine.

An exception is that, as with many biking related issues, using the phone as a computer deprives you of the chance to but more toys. Everyone wants more toys, yes? Tradeoffs…

[Author]

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