# Iphone as Cycling Computer?



## FatNoob (Aug 3, 2010)

Anyone using their Iphone as a cycling computer?

What app are you using?


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## DrHog (Nov 30, 2008)

Motion-X GPS. It's great, just download it and check it out, you won't be sorry.


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## Shmack (Aug 16, 2006)

I tried a few different ones on my roadie, all with the same result. They lose service in the trees and eat your battery! As long as you are fine with droping huge parts of your ride and not having a phone if you need it, they are fine.

It also gave me no ability to track HR, CAD, etc... I know these don't really matter in the woods, but I'm also against using a computer in the woods.

If you are really sold on the GPS function, check out a Garmin. I got the 500 a few months ago and have been very happy with it.


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## 4MooreFitness (Aug 10, 2010)

DrHog said:


> Motion-X GPS. It's great, just download it and check it out, you won't be sorry.


I use motion-x too. Have you compared it to MapMyRide? I DL MapMyRide, but I haven't used it yet.


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## Thelonius71 (Jul 23, 2007)

Shmack said:


> I tried a few different ones on my roadie, all with the same result. They lose service in the trees and eat your battery! As long as you are fine with droping huge parts of your ride and not having a phone if you need it, they are fine.
> 
> It also gave me no ability to track HR, CAD, etc... I know these don't really matter in the woods, but I'm also against using a computer in the woods.
> 
> If you are really sold on the GPS function, check out a Garmin. I got the 500 a few months ago and have been very happy with it.


There is a ANT+ dongle for the iPhone to give you the ability to track HR/CAD and power. There are an app or two for this as well. Of course it's something to suck batery oh so much faster. I've also seen a case that contains a high gain gps antenna and an extra battery, of course then yo won't be able to use the ANT+ doohickey. Not to mention the whole set up including your iWhatever will cost more than a garmin but be much less durable.


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## chris1911 (May 26, 2009)

I have been using mine during rides. It is not accurate though, no matter which program i use. The miles ridden is off by a few miles. My guess is that it is not accurate enough to detect the small elevation changes, which add up in distance over the coarse of a ride. 

Does anyone else have this problem?

Motion X is my favorite app.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

chris1911 said:


> I have been using mine during rides. It is not accurate though, no matter which program i use. The miles ridden is off by a few miles. My guess is that it is not accurate enough to detect the small elevation changes, which add up in distance over the coarse of a ride.
> 
> Does anyone else have this problem?
> 
> Motion X is my favorite app.


This has been addressed by some guys who geocache. They compared some dedicated handheld receivers with each other and with the iphone. The handhelds each had their strengths and the locations they reported were compared with the posted coordinates of geocaches. They handhelds were pretty close and ranged from 2-20ft off from the actual coordinates. The iphone was 8-56ft off and was never more accurate than the most accurate handheld.

http://geocachingpodcast.com/a-first-look-at-gpsmap-62st-and-oregon-450-accuracy/

average accuracy for the dedicated handhelds was 7-11ft, with the iphone coming in near 21ft. Those measurements are for single points. Those errors would be compounded over a track from your bike ride. Your experience matches with actual test results.


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## LightMiner (Aug 6, 2008)

I have a Garmin 705 and am testing a few apps. The two I've sort of settled on are MapMyRide and MotionX. MotionX is the best if you don't need ant+. MapMyRide is the best if you need ant+, but is annoying in other ways.

I think MotionX is going to add ant+ (although it might just be HR for a while, not sure when they'll be able to input cadence/speedsensor/power).

Overall you'll be much happier with MotionX - great user experience once you figure the app out, more stats are available on the main screens on the phone (i.e., before uploading).

Don't worry about battery at all - but you have to know how to use your phone really well. Turn off wi-fi, bluetooth, 3g, etc. Turn off everything except location services. Open the app, hit 'start' and then turn it off, and put it in your backpack. I recently did a 6.5 hr ride in this manner, and had well over 50% battery left.

But, yes, this means you can't use it while riding. There are two missions for this kind of thing. 1) use it as you ride, 2) use it to record a ride.

If you want #1, until they figure out a better handlebar mount *and* if people decide they want to put their phone there, I still really really think the Garmins are a much much better way to to. But go for it if you want. Then, screen brightness will determine battery life more than anything else.

There is also perhaps a "1.5" options. Take it out of the pack every now and then.

Note you can download maps before you go and MotionX won't be dependent on 3g or edge during ride, so you can leave them off.

I believe, but don't have scientific data to support, the fact that Motion X is more accurate.

Note with all of these you can't turn the phone off, which I find weird and annoying. And it uses more battery when there is low/no signal. The only way to turn the phone itself off is airplane mode, which turns location services off. This is an IPhone issue, not an app issue.


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## okiemtnbkr (Oct 8, 2010)

I use CycleMeter on my iPhone for the prime reason of sending an email to my wife with a google maps link that updates a track every 5 minutes with my current location. The distances & speeds acquired from the iPhone GPS are often wrong by as much as 25-30%. The tracks are roughly accurate, but they miss many of the quick twists & turns. The total ride time measure is fairly accurate. The iPhone stays in my hydropack and does its job of making sure that I will eventually be found if I am unconscious on the side of the trail somewhere, but I don't rely on the speed/distance/elevation data it provides.

My Garmin 60CSx is much more accurate, but still is only really useful if you're wanting to map a trail. The speed and distance are fairly accurate, but I still would not use them to compare to other people. If I am mapping a trail I set it up to log a track point every second to the SD card and throw it in my hydropack.

If you are willing to pay for ANT+ sensors anyway and you are looking for the cleanest setup for viewing data while riding, probably the best way to go is to get a Bontrager Node 1 and mount it on your stem.

If you are wanting to log data to analyze later you will want to go with ANT+ sensors and a either a Garmin bike GPS or an iPhone with an ANT+ transceiver attachment & whatever software you find that works best.

BTW LightMiner, with CycleMeter you can lock the phone normally (display completely off) and it will continue to log data, track with GPS & even send tracking updates. It does not support ANT+ or pre-downloading maps before the ride (in case of no data service), but I have found it to be superior to MotionX, RunKeeper, etc in just about every other way for biking. As far as I know there is no way to disable the phone only... maybe there is a jailbreak hack for that out there? My mobilesubstrate plug-in just turns on airplane mode when I disable the voice/phone, so not very helpful there.


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## Wherewolf (Jan 17, 2004)

*iBike Dash*

Just saw this new iBike Dash case. However, by the time you pay for what you need you can get a real GPS.


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## edubfromktown (Sep 7, 2010)

I've used CycleMeter for ~6 months. It does a good enough job for me. iBike looks interesting but pricey. From what I've read it still has significant bugs that are (slowly) being addressed. I prefer not paying through the nose to be a beta tester.


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