iPhone as your cycling computer???

[americancyclo]

I think a lot of this depends on what you want when you say ‘dashboard’
Have you tried all the big name apps?

Depending on your iPhone model, you can either go with an ANT+ adapter or the newer bluetooth HR and cadence. A extended battery might be a good idea if you’re thinking of going for longer rides.

I think most of the folks that love their Garmin (like me) enjoy having a dedicated device on the handlebars that will also load up and navigate a cue sheet. They also have pretty great battery life, unless you go on 200+ mile rides, then you’ll need battery backup for that too.

Something you might consider if battery life is becoming an issue:
Putting the phone in Airplane Mode will allow tracking by GPS, but you’ll save battery power on your wireless and data signal. This helped out a lot when I was using my Android and the Strava app for longer rides. I did a 5 hour ride with the app running in airplane mode and just enabled data when I was done with the ride and wanted to upload.

Let us know what you go with and why!

It looks like all the Wahoo fitness goodies (HR, Speed/Cadence, Waterproof case, and battery) come out to about $260, which is still less than the garmins with those features, coming in at:
Edge 500: $370
Edge 705: $429
Edge 800: $600

[GuyContinental]

Yup- I do. About 6K miles on the set-up

iPhone4 with the Wahoo ANT+ case/mount/extended battery and Cyclemeter as tracking app (quick tcx uplaods to Strava).

Pluses:
1. It’s always in my pocket
2. Cyclemeter app has a great audio performance feature (whispers your comparative stats on a ride)
3. If you do this sort of thing, you can listen to Pandora at the same time (one ear please…)
4. Power meter compatibility
5. Observed 8+ hours of battery life with battery extender case and screen on (~3 or so without). No screen (announcement only) = ~5 hours or 10+ with extender. Also rechargeable using any iPhone recharger.
6. Customizable interface and all the data you could ever want
7. ANT+ gear is cross compatible with lots of apps and Garmin
8. Case is strong- I lost it at 30 mph (pinging off a wall no less) and although the case was scratched the phone was snug as a bug
9. Highly water resistant

Minuses:
1. No barometer so elevation… sucks
2. Case is huge, like a flippin’ wing on my bar. I toss it in my jersey most of the time and rely on announcements for performance
3. Expensive- Bike pack $120; HR $50; extended battery $60; extra S&C for second bike $40 (still less than a higher end Garmin)
4. Wahoo case is really robust but screen cover scratches easily
5. No turn by turn (although you *can* upload a .tcx and follow your progress on the map

If you have a new iPhone (5) you have some cool options- ANT+ is replaced by BT4 and you can use the new RFLKT display while keeping your phone safe and warm in a pocket. http://www.wahoofitness.com/RFLKT/?returnFull=1

I’m a bit torn- the elevation is the biggest bummer for me but the ease of use wins out in the end. I know myself and I know that I won’t get around to uploading from a Garmin, especially on little rides.

[bobco85]

I currently use an iPhone 4S (Strava app) for my rides. I just throw it either in my jersey pocket or in a plastic bag in my bike bag (during rainy weather). I use my Cateye wireless speedometer (high tech stuff, I know) for checking my average speed and distance traveled. I do have to check the phone after passing through tunnels because I have had it happen that I’ve gone through a tunnel on a ride and when I finished, the Strava app had stopped because it was on a “Error: could not determine position” message and stopped tracking (grr).

For a cue sheet, I’ll keep the directions as a note on my phone and use the NavFree USA app for a map because it’s free, and you can look at the maps offline. They use OpenStreetMap for their data, but you have to download the maps beforehand and each state needs to be downloaded separately (each are usually around 100 MB, so space might become an issue).

@americancyclo 38844 wrote:

Putting the phone in Airplane Mode will allow tracking by GPS, but you’ll save battery power on your wireless and data signal.

I never knew that Airplane Mode allows for GPS tracking! That’s going to save me a lot of battery life!

[Certifried]

I was in your same boat for a while. I wanted a Garmin, but wasn’t sure the expense made much sense. Ultimately, one major feature I wanted was turn-by-turn navigation, so I bought the Garmin 800. A week later, Google released bicycle turn-by-turn nav. A few weeks later, I tried to use my Garmin to navigate me to a happy hour. Let’s just say, it wasn’t pretty. A complete failure on Garmin’s part.

In the end, I am glad I have my Garmin, it’s nice and compact and came with 2 mounts. It’s very easy to swap between my bikes, and holds different bike profiles. I have different sensors on my bikes, and the Garmin handles it very well. It is easy to create a route, upload it, then follow it. Of course, there are apps for that. I do have a Droid RAZR MAXX, which has absolutely amazing battery life, and could probably handle even super long rides. So that’s not a factor for me, but with my old Samsung Galaxy Nexus, I’d kill my phone with Strava and no sensors in about 2 hours. I also do like having the comfort of knowing the Garmin is pretty rugged and waterproof. I got a little bit of water on my original Droid RAZR and ended up having to send it back because it screwed something up in the touchscreen. I also know that (knock on wood) if I were to wreck, the Garmin would probably fair better than a phone. Reading GuyContinental’s post about the case protecting it at 30mph fly-off, however, it sounds like the case is pretty good! So, either option is definitely valid, it just depends on which features/pros/cons are most important to you.

[Certifried]

@bobco85 38847 wrote:

I never knew that Airplane Mode allows for GPS tracking! That’s going to save me a lot of battery life!

I’ve actually got an old verizon droid Incredible that I’ve upgraded to my Droid RAZR MAXX. So, the Incredible will no longer connect to the “network”, but I can still use it for Strava to track my rides, then connect via wi-fi and upload the data. So, even an old phone without service would work.

[Jason B]

@GuyContinental 38845 wrote:

Yup- I do.

If you have a new iPhone (5) you have some cool options- ANT+ is replaced by BT4 and you can use the new RFLKT display while keeping your phone safe and warm in a pocket. http://www.wahoofitness.com/RFLKT/?returnFull=1

I’m a bit torn- the elevation is the biggest bummer for me but the ease of use wins out in the end. I know myself and I know that I won’t get around to uploading from a Garmin, especially on little rides.

Thanks for the great advice. I would like to say my garmin 305 is more than adequate with a couple key exceptions. Although the maps of the more advanced Garmin are impressive, I can honestly say I don’t use the maps much. I found my my wrong turns are easier solved by my phone GPS.
My gripe with my garmin is basically two fold, the lettering is too small for my old eyes, and I am already caring my phone. I was most concerned with battery life for a 2-3 hour ride, which it is sounds like a wahoo solves. Does the wahoo ANT support the Gamin heart and cadence sensors, which I already have? When using a Wahoo, is there a specific app I have to use, or will any work?
I also hear you on that a mounted iPhone is a wing, but honestly I would be carrying it anyway, and that head wind is going to hit my body anyway, so that is something I will need to get over. I think my biggest hurdle will be getting over funny looks from weight weenies on group rides who will be most likely making jokes of a coffee cup holder.

As for uploading, I too never upload my garmin. I used to bring my iPhone as back up for my garmin, now it is the reverse.
As for elevation, are you referring to elevation during a ride or the total at the end?
Thanks again all,

[Tim Kelley]

In regards to Strava, the data that comes off the Garmin will be more precise than from a phone based App. So, if you really want to make sure you get your best efforts on some of those KOMs, you might want to take the 305 along. (and turn off “smart-recording” too)

[GuyContinental]

@Jason B 38865 wrote:

My gripe with my garmin is basically two fold, the lettering is too small for my old eyes, and I am already caring my phone. I was most concerned with battery life for a 2-3 hour ride, which it is sounds like a wahoo solves. Does the wahoo ANT support the Gamin heart and cadence sensors, which I already have? When using a Wahoo, is there a specific app I have to use, or will any work?

As for elevation, are you referring to elevation during a ride or the total at the end?
Thanks again all,

I use Cyclemeter (I’m actually a beta tester for them) great folks, slick app, maybe the best $5 I’ve ever spent on my phone. A plus for your old eyes is that you can make the display simple and HUGE or complex and tiny and swipe back and forth between the two.

On the sensors- as long as you have ANT+, they should work.

Elevation is calculated based on map information as opposed to Barometric pressure (as it is in the 500+(?) series Garmins) so your elevation during a ride is almost always going to be wrong- in my case, my 25miles WB to work on the WOD reads as only 600′ on the app and nearly 1500′ on a Garmin.

As for KOMs… bah…

I’ve been meaning to “accidentally” leave mine on and “accidentally” drive just under 27mph up Kirkwood…

[Tim Kelley]

@GuyContinental 38870 wrote:

I use Cyclemeter (I’m actually a beta tester for them) great folks, slick app, maybe the best $5 I’ve ever spent on my phone. A plus for your old eyes is that you can make the display simple and HUGE or complex and tiny and swipe back and forth between the two.

On the sensors- as long as you have ANT+, they should work.

Elevation is calculated based on map information as opposed to Barometric pressure (as it is in the 500+(?) series Garmins) so your elevation during a ride is almost always going to be wrong- in my case, my 25miles WB to work on the WOD reads as only 600′ on the app and nearly 1500′ on a Garmin.

As for KOMs… bah…

I’ve been meaning to “accidentally” leave mine on and “accidentally” drive just under 27mph up Kirkwood…

Correct, 500, 800, and 910xt have barometric calculations.

And I was going to correct you on the Kirkwood segment, but I’m glad you edited your comment for speed. You’d be surprised how frequently “Two Sisters” has to be flagged as “driven in a car” since it picks up traffic on 66…

[Author]

Posts