GPS conundrum

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I love using my android phone to track my rides, so much so that I was about to write a blog post about using Android for Audaxes: then my little phone died, just inside warranty. I've sent it off for a repair but that's going to take 5-7 business days, which means there is pretty well no chance of having it back by next weekend. Presuming that it is a warranty repair, the phones been dropped more than a few times.

And next weekend is another audax: I've gotten used to programming the route into Osmand and following the voice navigation, checking the screen as needed. I'm not sure how well I'll navigate without that help.

I've got handlebar mounts for my current phone, and an ANT+ HRM. As far as I know, there's no other handlebar mount for any phone that's as good as this http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2012/01/review-of-sportypal-sony-ericsson.html: my phone sits on the handlebar looking like a gps, albeit was a shorter battery life, but I've got around that with an external battery.

I've revived an old android to get me through until my phone comes back, but it's pretty broken: I can use strava to measure distance, but I don't think I can make Osmand work (the menu button doesn't work). Also, I don't have a great way of getting it on the handlebars.

One more bit of background; I've signed up for LEL, so I've got a lot of rides over the next 6 months.

So, what do I do for my Audax?
  1. Pop the old, faulty phone in my pocket, and rely on strava distances, the route sheets and maps (last audax finished with only 15 minutes to spare, so getting lost would be bad)
  2. Buy another Xperia Active (it's not perfect, battery is small and they haven't update the UK ones to ICS. Also, if I get another one and the warranty repair comes through, I'll be stuck with two)
  3. Buy a new model Xperia, they seem to be the only one with Ant+ but they won't fit the mount.
  4. Buy some other phone
  5. Garmin - but I don't really want one, and they are pretty pricy - I need mapping - and I'm not sure how suitable they are for LEL, as you can't use them while the battery is recharging, unlike a phone. If I go that way, it may be the 810 I want, which won't be available in time. And I'll still have a phone in my pocket, playing my podcasts on long rides, so that's two devices to keep charged.
 

Kies

Guest
Buy another phone ,sell one when the repair comes through.
Keeps you riding with the features you need/want
 

Nebulous

Guru
Location
Aberdeen
No idea what's best for you - but audaxers often seem to recommend non cycling Garmins, specifically an Etrex. Cited benefits are that it uses AA batteries and has longer battery life.
 
Thanks. The phone is discontinued, so I realise I have to decide if it's what I want to use in the ride, and if so, pick up one now anyway as a back up. If it's not going to be that phone, then I can pick up whatever I want now instead.

Thanks for the feed back
 
I too have signed up for this year's LEL (gulp!). It will be my first Audax so I'm also wondering what to do about navigation. I have done a couple of long tours last year, and found that I was constantly checking (and rechecking) my map to avoid going astray at junctions. This would waste too much time on the LEL, and nighttime map reading could be tricky and easy to miss a turning. For these reasons I'm thinking of investing in a GPS but know very little about them.

I'm also wondering if a smartphone app might be the way to go. However, smart phones and Garmin Edges (cycling-specific GPS) all need to be regularly recharged and have integral batteries. I've been researching the Garmin range and have also noted that the Etrex and Dakota models both have replaceable 2xAA batteries, and the battery life is 25 or 20 hours respectively. This offers the possibility of taking a spare set of batteries, and a couple more sets at the bag drops, which would assure non-stop usage without any need to recharge.

I have no experience of any GPS - smart phone app or dedicated device - so I welcome any comments from those who have used them. But, it seems to me at first sight that the issues for maintaining the charge in an integral battery would knock the smart app or Edge out of the running, unless one has a dynamo hub of course. A second integral battery could also be carried, but you'd need four or five batteries to last the LEL; either way you'd need to find the time - and the means - to recharge. What do others think?
 
I've got a couple of days of GPS usage from my smartphone with these and a USB cable.

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If I go the smartphone route, I'll have a second (and may third) external battery in drop bags. I think one will do to keep a garmin going, if I can resist turning my phone on.

Still in two minds about the phone. Seems crazy to buy a second one, which will be quite out of date in two years, but it's great on the handle bar.
 
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