smartphones on handlebars

[Alex321]

My bike computer was £25. Speed, distance and the time.

If that is all you want, that is fine, and worth the cost.

But most who use their phone also want navigation, or at least location tracking for things such as Strava.
Many don't find that necessary of course.

 

[PaulSB]

Many people already have a smartphone but not a bike computer.

A decent bike computer can easily cost £200 plus and can be hard to justify when the phone can already do most of what the computer will.

My point is only that damage to a smart phone is very likely to be significantly more expensive than £200. IME both Garmin and Wahoo will replace damaged units for low cost or free. Phone companies won't.

Not really correct as a Wahoo bolt is around £180 and does far, far more than a smart phone.

 

[Daninplymouth]

Funny enough this just popped up on my news feed

 

[fair weather cyclist]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-58507764

If a company like Apple themselves come out and say "guys, it's not safe to use our phone as a gps navigation tool" this to me says one thing and one thing only: Apple will soon launch their own gps navigation tool or at least a new phone that is "now safe to use on a bike!!!".

Classic Apple business model if you ask me: they're exploiting a problem that may or may not even exist in order to create a need for a new product. And yes, all the apple fanclub chumps will jump to the opportunity to buy this new thing.

 

[Alex321]

If a company like Apple themselves come out and say "guys, it's not safe to use our phone as a gps navigation tool" this to me says one thing and one thing only: Apple will soon launch their own gps navigation tool or at least a new phone that is "now safe to use on a bike!!!".

They aren't saying that at all though.

They are saying not to mount their phones on large motorbikes. The vibrations from those will be as much from the engine as from any road effects, and will be a completely different frequency.

 

[Alex321]

My point is only that damage to a smart phone is very likely to be significantly more expensive than £200. IME both Garmin and Wahoo will replace damaged units for low cost or free. Phone companies won't.

Not really correct as a Wahoo bolt is around £180 and does far, far more than a smart phone.

The latest version of the bolt is more like £230 (if you can find it in stock). I bought a Roam at the same time as my new bike, and would have preferred the new bolt but couldn't find one.

I'm not sure what they do that is "far, far more" than a smartphone though.

They certainly display the things you want better than my smartphone ever did, but the only thing I'm aware of that it does that the smartphone couldn't do at all is using barometric pressure to detect altitude changes. Everything else, there are smartphone apps that will do it. Some smarpthones will only connect to bluetooth sensors, not Ant+, but many do both, and mine happily connected to both.

Don't get me wrong, I far prefer the Roam to the phone, although I used the phone without any real issues for well over a year, doing over2500 miles according to Strava. And I personally think the cost of changing to the Roam was justified (not sure my wife would, which is why I bought it along with the bike, and she just sees one bill to Cycle Revolution for £2400, rather than one for the bike of £2100 and somewhere else for £300 ).

But for those who can't afford £200+, or who can't justify it to their OH, a phone is generally perfectly adequate.

 

[Blue Hills]

I understand the points regarding using a suitable mount and modern phones being robust but think both miss a key point.

A few years back I hit a pothole with the result my Garmin 810 flew off and hit the tarmac. The rider behind me rode straight over it. The screen smashed and the unit a write-off. No doubt either I hadn't attached it correctly or the mount was worn.

I contacted Garmin who replaced the unit for £85. Has anyone tried similar with Apple, Samsung, Motorola?

I've a friend whose six month old £800 Samsung has developed a screen fault. The shop says it's physical damage, her insurers don't want to know and Samsung say send it to us and we'll think about it. Its never been close to a bike!

Aside from issues such as battery life mounting a decent phone on the bars is asking for a trouble.

My gamin mount is very good but it once bounced off on a very bad bit of road. It bounced along and the tough beast initially looked ok but something had happened to a button internal mech. Garmin sent me another, no questions asked, for £65 or something including return courier. A reconditioned one but good as new and i still use it. Excellent service. I now always use a lanyard.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I now always use a lanyard.

Different GPS have different mounts. I think the quarter turn ones are quite good, but there are various mounts for the heavier AA powered ones and they can be a bit flakier (esp given the extra weight of the GPS).

Hence ... always use a lanyard. It takes 2 seconds to loop it round the stem or bars or whatever.

 

[Blue Hills]

Next your be telling us that they can also take pictures as well , which opens up a whole new aspect to my cycling

My el cheapo (free) smartphone is mostly used for taking snappy pics*
I meant of course that many DO use them for navigation, unwisely in my view see above.
* That and seeing whether there is anything tempting at a spoons, tho navigation to that delight will be by garmin offline - i have them stored on the garmin and my tab's Osmand

 

[Blue Hills]

I aim to buy a cycle computer one day (horses for courses, etc) but at the moment my budget just doesn't stretch that much and it's just not a priority to be spending £200+ on a gadget for the bike which I'd be using maybe 1-2 times a week. On the other hand, most people (myself included) already have a smart phone they carry around everyday which does the job of a cycle computer (and more) rather well, with a few caveats.

So, on longer rides I tend to have my smart phone on the handlebars for navigation, quick stats, etc. I just can't justify the cost of a cycle computer when I already have something else with a similar set of functions.

I understand that if I was to have a serious fall and damage my phone, the cost of replacing it would potentially be £400+ compared to say £200+ of the CC but that's a risk I'm willing to take in order not to buy something a don't need and save a few quid now...

Check out garmin etrex models, can be had for well under £200, handheld, can be used for lots of other things, great for walking round london so you would doubtless use more. And less snatchable than your phone.
Edit, i see dogtrousers made a similar point, diving in midthread sat in a spoons after a 4 hour ride to a train, garmin got me here faultlessly.

 

[fatjel]

I had an etrex. It jumped off the bars on 1st outing and never worked again.
Smart Phones are not exactly long lasting so why not use them as much as poss
I still use the garmin 200 I bought in 2014

 

[Blue Hills]

I had an etrex. It jumped off the bars on 1st outing and never worked again.
Smart Phones are not exactly long lasting so why not use them as much as poss
I still use the garmin 200 I bought in 2014

Did you get in touch with garmin about that? See comments from me and paul above. Plus lanyard stuff. I actually think the garmin etrex mount is remarkably good, but belt and braces lanyard still a good idea.

 

[fatjel]

I had read about lanyarding but it seemed stable enough. It fell off on a relatively smooth bit of tarmac at modest speed. Kinda thought it was my idiocy caused the problem so left garmin alone. Anything I can destroy that easily ain’t worth having even for free. Which actually made me remember the sad demise of my iPhone 7 which fell out of my pocket while cycling.
i shouldn’t be allowed stuff

 

[fatjel]

I double posted

 

[BoldonLad]

Someone may have already point this out, but, the article is about Motorbikes not bicycles. Also, it is the Camera systems which are supposedly "at risk". I doubt Apple (or Samsung etc etc) make their own Camera systems for their phones, so, the problem, if it exists, is likely applicable to all, or most high end mobile phones.

"
The affected systems are designed to improve picture quality by counteracting movement, vibrations, and the effects of gravity.
But high-power or high-volume motorcycle engines generate "intense high-amplitude vibrations", the support page says, which can be transmitted through the frame and handlebars.
"Direct exposure to high-amplitude vibrations within certain frequency ranges may degrade the performance of these systems and lead to reduced image quality for photos and videos," it says.
The solution is to refrain from attaching iPhones to the bike in the first place - something commonly done for navigation."