garmin... or smart phone?

[Harv]

I use the iPhone and it works a treat. I just have it tucked in a pocket.

Also handy if I get lost as I can open up the map app.

 

[uclown2002]

For some reason my iPhone 5s just doesn't seem to work with Strava, it starts to record the ride and the. After a couple of minutes it just stops? When I had my Samsung galaxy with 3 this never happened but since changing to O2 and the iPhone it's been total rubbish. Any ideas where I'm going wrong?

Yes.
You don't have a Garmin!

 

[Nicola10]

Yes.
You don't have a Garmin!

Yes I wish I had one but Ive just spend lots of money on new cycling gear and dont really want to spend much more, maybe I should try buy a 2nd hand one as the iphone is no use

 

[uclown2002]

Yes I wish I had one but Ive just spend lots of money on new cycling gear and dont really want to spend much more, maybe I should try buy a 2nd hand one as the iphone is no use

Indeed; @Kies is selling a garmin 200 according to his post which is basic model.

 

[Kies]

I am indeed. Please check in the for sale section of the forum

 

[jefmcg]

Get a smart phone. You'll want one anyway. I've been pretty happy using android phones for 7 or 8 years. I was the only person on LEL that had voice commands on my GPS.

If later it's not enough, you can invest in a Garmin.

 

[vickster]

+1 but you'll need to check which have decent battery life and get a back up battery

 

[NormanD]

You can get some decent tough case covers / bike fitting too at a cheap price

 

[Kies]

If you are going with a smartphone ..... Check you can open the back up and buy a 2nd battery. Iphones for that reason are a no no

 

[joanna]

great advice, thanks everybody

 

[HLaB]

Its probably been said but if you can afford it go garmin, designed for the job, more accurate, more robust and better battey life etc.

 

[vickster]

But less good for calls, texts and surfing the web off the bike

 

[HLaB]

But less good for calls, texts and surfing the web off the bike

As I said it designed for the job but I should of clarrified the one of navigating/tracking all day and in all weathers

 

[vickster]

I see a garmin personally as additional to a smart phone not instead of. There are some pretty good cases that are weather proof for phones and additional battery gives more juice

If already on a contract mobile, you can pretty much get a smart phone for free, perhaps not an iPhone or the newest samsung, but most, so a smart phone may have no cost if able,to upgrade on existing contract.

 

[jefmcg]

If you are going with a smartphone ..... Check you can open the back up and buy a 2nd battery. Iphones for that reason are a no no

Don't do this. Replacing a battery is a bit of a pfaff, getting both batteries back to charge means plugging phone into wall, waiting until it if fully charged, swapping batteries and charging the other battery. If you buy a new phone, the spare battery almost certainly won't suit it. Naked li-on batteries are a fire hazard and are banned from commercial flights.

Much better to get something like this, which will charge your phone multiple times, any other small usb device you have (like a garmin!), can be used by others (I supplied enough charge to another rider on an audax so he could boot his phone, contact his riding buddy and arrange to meet at the end of the ride).

Maybe one day I'll buy a garmin and realise I was wrong, but I love using a smart phone for this. l load preplanned rides into OSMAND, track my rides using endomondo or strava. Endomondo is great if you are doing an interesting ride and have data, as people can live track you on the road. If I turn on airplane mode, and mostly keep the screen off, I can get a lot of hours recorded. And just one device, chatting gently in my ear on long rides (podcasts), keeping me in contact with family and tracking my rides. I've just bought a topeak bag for the phone and have another one for the battery, to keep it handy. So far with my new phone the longest ride I've done is 60km, so haven't come near to running out of power.