Cellphone GPS

[Straz]

So I'm looking to simplify the number of electronics that I have in my life. I'm currently using a Garmin Forerunner 405 as my cyclocomputer and use it primarily to record my route. I want to replace it with a something that has a longer battery life (My 405 lasts barely 6 hours), can record my route (and download to my computer), displays basic info and isn't a cyclocomputer. I always carry a cell phone with me and am interested if others are using a cell phone as their primary cycling computer? If so, what model and apps are you using? How are you mounting it, if at all to your handlebars.

As a side note, I'm hoping this "device" will replace my mp3 player, camera and daily calender and thus eliminate 5 different power cords....

Tim

[SoCalSteve]

iPhone...

Lots of good apps for doing exactly what you want to do "map my ride" comes to mind.

Good luck!

[Richard]

I use a Motorola Droid (original, not 2 or x) for all those features. Calendar is synced (home, office, phone) through Google. It's not a cyclocomputer, but it does record route pretty well using Cardio Trainer app (free version). I don't trust the elevation change, but I've never checked it. It just seems generous. I just stick it in my jersey pocket and ride. Also put it in an arm band thing to run, xc ski, hike, etc. The route and statistics are automatically uploaded to a website for review, but I'm not sure if you can put these files on your computer as I never tried or wanted to try. I've used it for 3 plus hour rides and it uses about 20-30% of it's battery life start to finish.

[Straz]

I figured the Iphone would fit the bill, but am curious if people are having similar success with Android based units? Also, are people recording heart rate also? Would be cool if there was a phone that was ANT+ compatible.

Tim

[Richard]

The droid is android...in Cardio Trainer, there is a heart rate function that can be accessed if you purchase a special belt from Polar.

[Vientomas]

HTC Aria Android phone. Application "My Tracks". Downloads to Google maps.

[rice rocket]

I figured the Iphone would fit the bill, but am curious if people are having similar success with Android based units? Also, are people recording heart rate also? Would be cool if there was a phone that was ANT+ compatible.

Tim

The new Sony Xperia phones are ANT+ compatible.


Google programmers wrote a program called MyTracks that does it very well. Export to Google Maps and you can get speed and elevation charts on your computer. Problem is, there aren't many analysis tools. You won't be able to display the ANT+ data from what I gather, so no HR and power. You're free to write your own analysis tools of course. :D

[benb]

I had a Droid and have an iPhone 4 at the moment.. I also have a Garmin eTrex Vista HCx... a non cycling-specific unit that is intended for a variety of outdoor uses, it is not as nice for cycling but overall more flexible then the cycling units..

Neither the droid nor the iPhone seem to have anywhere near the same accuracy as the garmin.. they lose signal a lot more, and Android has some nasty GPS bugs. They also drain their batteries really fast.. my Garmin takes 2 AA batteries and lasts well over 30 hours.. and doesn't need it's backlight during the day.

On top of all this it is a lot easier to do useful stuff with the data for your Garmin, and many of them have real altimeters & sensors. They cost less, and their built to be used outdoors... smartphones can be easily broken and have their warranties invalidated on a bicycle ride. Most smartphones have water intrustion sensors. It's a little piece of material in the headphone jack and/or in the connectors, and a couple more inside.. if they get exposed to any water they change color and that voids the warranty. On iPhones you can easily see this in the dock connector, it looks like a little white strip below the electrical contacts.. it turns pink if it gets wet. Even a drop of sweat can do it. Compare this to real outdoor units.. most of them are rated to survive being submersed in shallow water (3 feet IIRC) and are totally unfazed by heavy rain. For this reason I keep my phones in a plastic sealed bag when I ride..

[russ46]

I used Map My Ride's iPhone app for awhile before I picked up a Garmin 500. In the app's current condition, its not useful as a standalone computer. The problem is the distance the app records during the ride has a 20 to 35% error, on the plus side. The app does record the correct route and when you upload to the Map My Ride website, the distance gets corrected. There are many user complaints logged on their website regarding this issue. They've issued 3 patches since I downloaded the app that were supposed to fix the issue, but so far they haven't. I suppose they'll get it eventually.

Regarding battery life, I wouldn't expect great battery life on the iPhone during a ride. It definitely is a drain on the battery when the app is running. Turning off WiFi helps a little.

[benb]

Regarding the Android GPS.. there is a bug that affected me a lot.. I submitted a bug report to Google, I was about the 5th person to complain about it.. I get updates on it from time to time, over 1000 people have complained and Google still has no intention to fix it..

[rice rocket]

benb, what's the bug? Is it phone specific?

Mine's been pretty good so far, the accuracy (or inaccuracy) isn't any worse than my friends' Garmin Edge 500.

[Alan]

There are ANT+ phones from Sony Erickson but not many are on the market yet w US carriers. There are Android apps that already work w these phones once they make it to market. I posted on this about a week ago.

TI is producing a chipset that allows for ANT+ connectivity which is driving the product.

You can read this and find other articles on this.

http://www.thisisant.com/pages/special/sony-ericsson-xperiatrade-arc-connects-to-14-million-ant-devices

Alan

[jasond]

Using any phone to record your ride will kill the battery pretty quick. I once tried to record my ride and the phone was dead by mile 50. Leaving me without the ability to call anyone for help if something happened.

With that said I did just download an app from Strava which will record rides and link to your Strava.com account. I also have two other apps that will record my ride. I suppose if you are doing short rides it would work just fine. Remember though when your cell phone has no service the GPS probably won't work since the GPS is technically AGPS which uses cell phone towers to trianglulate your position.

[roydyates]

I had a Droid and have an iPhone 4 at the moment.. I also have a Garmin eTrex Vista HCx... a non cycling-specific unit that is intended for a variety of outdoor uses, it is not as nice for cycling but overall more flexible then the cycling units..

Neither the droid nor the iPhone seem to have anywhere near the same accuracy as the garmin.. they lose signal a lot more, and Android has some nasty GPS bugs. They also drain their batteries really fast.. my Garmin takes 2 AA batteries and lasts well over 30 hours.. and doesn't need it's backlight during the day.

On top of all this it is a lot easier to do useful stuff with the data for your Garmin, and many of them have real altimeters & sensors. They cost less, and their built to be used outdoors... smartphones can be easily broken and have their warranties invalidated on a bicycle ride. Most smartphones have water intrustion sensors. It's a little piece of material in the headphone jack and/or in the connectors, and a couple more inside.. if they get exposed to any water they change color and that voids the warranty. On iPhones you can easily see this in the dock connector, it looks like a little white strip below the electrical contacts.. it turns pink if it gets wet. Even a drop of sweat can do it. Compare this to real outdoor units.. most of them are rated to survive being submersed in shallow water (3 feet IIRC) and are totally unfazed by heavy rain. For this reason I keep my phones in a plastic sealed bag when I ride..
+1
I have a Motorola Droid phone and its a very nice smartphone, but, for all the reasons benb cites, it's a fairly lousy GPS cyclocomputer. In addition to what benb says, the phone mapping apps generally can't produce a detailed map without 3G cellular data connection. THis can be a problem if your nice route wanders out into the sticks.

[PedlePusher6]

HTC Aria Android phone. Application "My Tracks". Downloads to Google maps.
The My Tracks app is pretty cool, graphs and all kinds of stats. :bike:

[poguemahone]

I still use a Local Positioning System (ie, a map).