Why does giant need me to be online to use the bike?

[wcndave]

Going on a trip in the mountains, get to start point, open the app to start recording trip data, says I have to sign in to my account.

However I don't have any internet access on the mounain.

Why is Giant forcing us to log in to their site, just to bluetooth connect from my phone to my bike which I paid for...

Any workarounds known for this?
Thanks!
Dave

 

[Gionnirocket]

This is why I avoid as much as possible anything proprietary.
You need to connect with their server so they can gather and share your ride information.

 

[Chargeride]

They want a login and an app so they can sell your life to the highest bidder

 

[Go-Rilla]

Sounds like the Matrix is manifesting at Giant.

 

[Chargeride]

By coincidence, the jukebox that took cash in my local has gone and been replaced by a Q code.
They want you to download an app, sign in, attach your payment system, pick a monthly payment.
The app has access to everything if you dont block it, including your microphone and gps.
No one had blocked either in the three people who were using it.

Im now at the point of giving up on humanity, off you go, the bus is here.

 

[Gionnirocket]

By coincidence, the jukebox that took cash in my local has gone and been replaced by a Q code.
They want you to download an app, sign in, attach your payment system, pick a monthly payment.
The app has access to everything if you dont block it, including your microphone and gps.
No one had blocked either in the three people who were using it.

Im now at the point of giving up on humanity, off you go, the bus is here.

It's easy enough to avoid... let the sheep enjoy the road to slaughter

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Dave, it is what it is.
You could solve the issue by buying even the least expensive Garmin Edge bike GPS computer (such as Garmin Edge Explore). The Garmin will connect to your Giant e-bike via ANT+ to deliver crucial information: the ride recording, your leg power, the battery percent, your speed, your distance and your cadence as well as the battery range. You can then upload the ride data to Strava or whatever cycling sports tracking service you like.

All autonomous, so you don't need the mobile coverage en route. You can navigate by Garmin satnav as well. Do not rely on the Giant app except of fine tuning the motor.

I used to own a Giant e-bike and know Garmin computers work perfectly with the brand's e-bikes. (But I know Wahoo -- which I love -- might not be perfect for a Giant e-bike).

 

[PedalUma]

This should be a comedy routine.

If you do not control it, you don't own it. Oh he's my dog but someone else gives it commands and the dog does not listen to me.

 

[Gionnirocket]

Crucial information?

 

[PedalUma]

Specialized batteries are designed to be replaced every two years at $700. And you are essentially renting the bike until it is no longer supported in a planned 10 years.. Last August I rode a really nice chromo analog bike that was perfectly tuned. It was faster, much lighter to handle, and more fun than most high-end eBikes. That bike will still be a bike in 30-years.

 

[Chargeride]

Unfortunately you will be worn out

 

[PedalUma]

Unfortunately you will be worn out

Yes, I will be gone by then, but the bike will not need to go to the landfill, non-proprietary, readily available parts from multiple sources can restore it. Here is a thirty-five or fourty-year-old Stumpy I made electric. In the future the motor can be swapped with any universal motor, and the battery with any two wire external battery. Or both for less than one Trek or Specialized battery. I rode a bike with this battery today that is six-years old. It was not planned and built to fail. And it never needs to be connected to anything other than itself.

 

[Chargeride]

I think like most tech a lot will be discarded, but theres always a way with a bit cash to revive old machinery.
More than likely in thirty years time that will not be allowed as everything will need to paired with a central database before it works.

 

[PedalUma]

I think like most tech a lot will be discarded, but theres always a way with a bit cash to revive old machinery.
More than likely in thirty years time that will not be allowed as everything will need to paired with a central database before it works.

Here is an eighty-year-old meat grinder. It still works. And you can buy one for the price of a new blender at target. How many electric blenders do you go through in 40-years, seven? It also makes applesauce its real name is a food mill. I recall the first internet connected refrigerator. What a joke. You can't buy parts for it anymore. I think the Amish are onto something. But there is more profit in stuff that is planned to fail and that users do not control and that collects personal data about them to be sold, and ends up in the landfill. A new high-end eBike loses half its value in one year. Carbon bike frame warranties are five-years and that does not cover accidental damage. After five-years it is ready to crack.

 

[DaveMatthews]

I think I may have used the Ride Control app 3 or 4 times when it came out. Then I went straight to the Strava app to record, and within a year I had a Garmin 530.
Since then I've only used the app to adjust assist levels.
You don't need the app to use your bike, but it's your choice mate.

 

[Bicyclista]

Going on a trip in the mountains, get to start point, open the app to start recording trip data, says I have to sign in to my account.

However I don't have any internet access on the mounain.

Why is Giant forcing us to log in to their site, just to bluetooth connect from my phone to my bike which I paid for...

Any workarounds known for this?
Thanks!
Dave

Others have suggested getting a Garmin, Strava, blah, blah, blah. But really, the best workround is to not worry about recording your ride and just ride and enjoy. Embrace the analog world. It is real, and much more satisfying than anything digital.

This requirement of being connected is worse than you have experienced. I went to a local bike shop to test ride a Segway ebike. It would not turn on. After half an hour they determined that Segway's server was down and the bike could not wake up because it could not connect. Needless to say, I did not buy such a hobbled bike.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Embrace the analog world.

Yes. Ride a pedal bike.
Do you realise that a Giant e-bike might even don't have a display to show you the battery charge %?
Also, I am not sure whether you really understand the difference between Garmin (a device) and Strava (software).

The OP needs a tool to be able to determine the e-bike status. Normally, the Giant app would give him the necessary information if it worked without the network coverage. A Garmin gives this information in any area. (Perhaps you don't know even this but a big deal of traditional cyclists also use Garmins).

I think I may have used the Ride Control app 3 or 4 times when it came out. Then I went straight to the Strava app to record, and within a year I had a Garmin 530.
Since then I've only used the app to adjust assist levels.
You don't need the app to use your bike, but it's your choice mate.

Dave Matthews rides a Giant e-bike, and he knows it best. A Garmin, and Bob is your uncle.

Two examples of using a Garmin Edge on a Giant e-bike as an e-bike display. Multiple data screens are allowed and are fully configurable.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Others have suggested getting a Garmin, Strava, blah, blah, blah. But really, the best workround is to not worry about recording your ride and just ride and enjoy. Embrace the analog world. It is real, and much more satisfying than anything digital.

As long as folks ride responsibly, I think they should ride however they like — with or without numbers.

I like the middle ground here. I record my rides strictly for my own enlightenment and entertainment. After the ride, I look over what I did — especially WRT rider power — and try to correlate it with perceived exertion.

No formal training here, just a genuine interest in the quanitative aspects of cycling and in general trends in my own performance.

Can't emphasize enough: Nothing about this detracts in any way from my riding experience in the saddle. Every ride includes pleasure and harder fitness segments, and I thoroughly enjoy both.

A Wahoo ACE head unit provides all the GPS and mapping services I want on the bars, including gradient. The bike displays all real-time bike data — especially cadence, rider power, and remaining battery.

The Specialized app running on my phone in a pocket does the recording, as it does the most thorough job. At home, I transfer the ride data to RideWithGPS for viewing. Takes all of 30-45 seconds.

The RideWithGPS app uploads the ride data it receives to their servers, but I make no use of their added online services. I believe the Wahoo does the same, but since it's not paired to the bike, it uploads only GPS data. In both cases, I keep all rides private. Zero desire to share and compare.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

A Wahoo ACE head unit

The only issue is Wahoo does not work well with Giant e-bikes. (Garmin does).

 

[Chargeride]

We had a drunk pub argument because Im keen to visit Dyfi trail centre, which is bigboy stuff next to the Redbull hardline course.
The lads are not keen, as in never going to happen, shut up.
It slowly dawned on me that they dont want to because they would be by far the worst riders there and would be right off the Strava leader board.

Every ride with them at their default trail centre is followed by pouring over strava achievements, I get it, the banter is fun, but were all in our 60s..get a grip.

I love the idea if having a go at something well out of our comfort zone and they used to be the same, but now I feel they are putting imaginary internet points before reality.

Am I guilty of the same by filming rides doing silly stuff?