Getting What You Need From a Cycling GPS

[fooferdoggie]

After getting a Garmin watch (not just for cycling), I took the quad lock off my handlebars.

The Garmin watch collects my biometrics, as well as better GPS data than my phone did, as well as e-bike data via ANT+ (using Steps EMTB data fields widget which can be configured to show different metrics) once I start the "bike ride" activity.

Even considering ditching the Shimano display out for their display-free junction box.

The watch even shows battery charge in PERCENTAGE!

I like the garmin watches but I already had a apple watch. the apple watch will do more but its not as good for workouts.
my garmin GPS controls the radar and Used to control a tailight and headlight now it controls the garmin radar and my new bike camera. I like how it turns them off and on and lets you know the battery level.
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[DaveMatthews]

My phone is a little bulky and does take up a lot of handle bar space.




View attachment 129582

My wife snapped this photo last week in an antique store.

I had one of those!
What peed me off though was every time I went over a bump the receiver would jump out of the cradle and hit the ground.
My kids loved it though, they said it was "off the hook"!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

After getting a Garmin watch (not just for cycling), I took the quad lock off my handlebars.

The Garmin watch collects my biometrics, as well as better GPS data than my phone did, as well as e-bike data via ANT+ (using Steps EMTB data fields widget which can be configured to show different metrics) once I start the "bike ride" activity.

Even considering ditching the Shimano display out for their display-free junction box.

The watch even shows battery charge in PERCENTAGE!

Very interesting! So you say that:

• The Garmin watch (what model?) can collect e-bike data
• The Shimano Steps is E-Bike ANT+ compatible.

Could you confirm my understanding?

 

[antboy]

Very interesting! So you say that:

• The Garmin watch (what model?) can collect e-bike data
• The Shimano Steps is E-Bike ANT+ compatible.

Could you confirm my understanding?

The watch is the Venu 2, and the app (or data fields) is Steps EMTB.

STEPS EMTB Data

A simple data field for displaying data from a Shimano STEPS ebike on your watch. Mainly useful if you use the EW-EN100 instead of a display on your bike. It is also known to work with the following displays: SC-E6100, SC-E7000, SC-EM800 (EP8), and an EP8 motor connected to the EW-EN100 (like...

apps.garmin.com

This is more of an alternative to a handlebar mounted display, and allows you to choose what data fields you want displayed.
(I was wrong in saying it was ANT+... while both the bike and watch are ANT+ compatible, Steps EMTB uses BT LE).

It doesn't sync the e-bike specific data to the Garmin site (battery, assist level) when it uploads activity data, though the developer recently added "cadence" so I'm going to reach out to see if it's possible to pass the bike's cadence data through when saving an activity.

Note in the screenshot below, I haven't reset my distance in 900km on the Shimano display, because the watch obviously ignores it like a cycling GPS would. That reminds me, I should disable the "distance" screen on my display.

 

[6zfshdb]

Although I still carry a smartphone when I ride for taking photos and emergencies, most of the time, it stays in my pocket. I gave up using it for nav purposes due to data usage,
battery consumption and poor cell service. The main reason however is, I use more than a thousand waypoints which are difficult or impossible to load into a smartphone app. I find a GPS far more flexible when used with Garmin's Basecamp PC software to upload maps, waypoints, tracks & routes. Battery consumption is minimal and there are no data limits to worry about.

Yes, some smartphone apps use off line maps and have features which conserve battery life but none I know of have the data upload capabilities of a GPS.

I ride in some fairly remote areas with little or no cell service. Mostly for safety reasons, last year I upgraded to a Garmin Montana 700i GPS with InReach service. It's a two way communication system which uses the Iridium satellite network with near global coverage.

Garmin Montana® 700i | Handheld Hiking GPS with inReach®

Montana® 700i is a handheld GPS with on/off-road navigation, two-way text messaging and interactive SOS via inReach®.

www.garmin.com

IMO, what works best largely depends on where and how you ride.

 

[Dorkyman]

We bought two Lectric ebikes for Christmas last year and love them. They are the XP 2.0 step-thru models and have been customized with an 11-34 freewheel (major improvement), seat suspension, foldylock, smartphone holder, 5v USB port, and a slick folding metal basket on the rear rack. Great bikes, and are used all the time.

I wanted a navigation function and assumed something had to exist for an Android phone. It does. We downloaded "Bike Computer Pro" and after getting familiar with the somewhat-quirky interface we were in business. Lots of customization and lots of data windows. Note: the thing sucks power with the continuous GPS pinging. Which is why we installed a 5v USB port.

It would have been nice if GoogleMaps worked for bikes, but the maps are hard to read from a distance and that application lacks all the ancillary data provided by a bike-specific utility.

One photo shows the handlebar mount, which has spring-loaded top and bottom arms, and also a rear-mounted plastic lever that really, truly locks the phone into position.

 

[Prairie Dog]

The newer Garmin Varia will also pair to an iPhone. Phones are replacing a lot of devices these days. Pretty amazing to someone that remembers party lines and rotary dials. The “gadget” that didn’t exist very long ago is now indispensable to most. I would like to hear more from phone users, good or bad.

My wife has her Google Pixel mounted to an out front Quadlock on her Creo, doesn’t use a Garmin/Wahoo head unit but instead syncs it with Ridewithgps. More importantly, she wanted to pair it with her Garmin Varia + have convenient access to the phone for taking photos.

Garmin makes a flashing light that has a radar that detects traffic coming from behind and displays it on the Garmin’s display, (Varia).

On her Cannondale Synapse, the front/rear lighting system as well as the Varia radar and display are integrated into the road bike’s frameset and are all connected to the Smartsense battery pack housed at the base of the downtube which can be either left on or removed from its cradle for charging. Once the bike starts rolling, the system automatically kicks in without any further thought.

 

[antboy]

It doesn't sync the e-bike specific data to the Garmin site (battery, assist level) when it uploads activity data, though the developer recently added "cadence" so I'm going to reach out to see if it's possible to pass the bike's cadence data through when saving an activity.

Already heard back from the developer, and it's possible to include the data, and he has the code to do so from another dev.

Just hasn't had the time to implement it yet.

 

[Djangodog]

Sometimes it’s nicer when you don’t know how steep it is. It only displayed up to 19%, then went to compass heading. It displayed a heat advisory warning at just over 11 miles this morning. It also warned me that I had a sharp turn ahead when I was going a bit fast down a steep hill. It really is much more than just a navigation device or a bike computer. It’s also a weather station and can warn you of hazards ahead.

 

[mschwett]

My wife has her Google Pixel mounted to an out front Quadlock on her Creo, doesn’t use a Garmin/Wahoo head unit but instead syncs it with Ridewithgps. More importantly, she wanted to pair it with her Garmin Varia + have convenient access to the phone for taking photos.

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On her Cannondale Synapse, the front/rear lighting system as well as the Varia radar and display are integrated into the road bike’s frameset and are all connected to the Smartsense battery pack housed at the base of the downtube which can be either left on or removed from its cradle for charging. Once the bike starts rolling, the system automatically kicks in without any further thought.

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i see that the photo above has the varia app running - in case you didn’t know, lots of cycling apps can actually overlay the varia bar onto their dashboards. rideWithGPS does, as does cadence. great feature.

i tend to think a smartphone should be mounted over the stem, for protection and best operability with hands in contact with the bars. on a road bike, it does not project forward or above the bars and hoods, greatly reducing the chance of damage! i have this exact setup (same handlebar/stem) on my creo and non-electric bike!

 

[Prairie Dog]

Agreed, your setup looks very clean indeed. She currently has her phone mounted on the stem of her Synapse but will likely switch it to the stem cap when that specific mount arrives. I believe that it’s just her personal preference to have the larger Varia display even though she does run the RWGPS app. As for me, I just went ahead and mounted my Garmin Edge on the stock out-front mount that came on my analog bike.

 

[6zfshdb]

There are many stylish smartphone & GPS mounts out there but not all articulate. IMO, a mount must be adjustable to avoid annoying (and sometimes dangerous) sun glare.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Just bought and configured a Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt v2 (it is nowhere written it is v2 but I will list the features).

Pros:

• Much smaller and slim compared to the Roam. It is fully readable, and the small size simply looks cool!
• Very sharp screen with better colours than in the Roam
• USB-C charging
• Far more memory (16 GB) compared to the Roam (4 GB)
• The Bolt v2 maps store the elevation information (sadly missing from the Roam)
• Louder beeper in the Bolt v2.
• For new users: cheaper than the Roam.

Cons:

• Up to 9 data fields in the Workout page (Roam holds up to 11 fields)
• No vertical row of LEDs in Bolt v2.

These two deficiencies are totally unimportant to me.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

An additional remark to compare the Roam to the Bolt v2. Bolt has less of advanced workout parameters available. For example, there are no options to get time-averaged rider's power: the only parameter available is just "Power". Users with poor sight should also be aware the characters on the Bolt display are just smaller than they are on the Roam.

 

[mschwett]

An additional remark to compare the Roam to the Bolt v2. Bolt has less of advanced workout parameters available. For example, there are no options to get time-averaged rider's power: the only parameter available is just "Power". Users with poor sight should also be aware the characters on the Bolt display are just smaller than they are on the Roam.

that’s very unfortunate! the desire for time-averaged power readings was the main reason I stopped using mission control on my creo!

 

[Djangodog]

This article might be useful to anyone in the market for a GPS or cycling computer.

Best Bike Computer of 2022

Looking for the best bike computer? Our testers researched nearly every model on the market before purchasing the top 12 models available today to put to...

www.outdoorgearlab.com

 

[fooferdoggie]

the karoo 2 is good but it kinda sucks for commuting if you go into stores and such. it takes way too long to boot up. its much easier to add maps too and navigate around and it uploads your rides far faster and much more reliably then my garmin 1030+ but it has its bugs that can or may not be fixed.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

that’s very unfortunate! the desire for time-averaged power readings was the main reason I stopped using mission control on my creo!

The Roam has everything you need re workout data. If Wahoo made Roam v2 then it would be just perfect.

karoo 2

Does not work with ANT+ e-bikes.

 

[fooferdoggie]

The Roam has everything you need re workout data. If Wahoo made Roam v2 then it would be just perfect.


Does not work with ANT+ e-bikes.

give it time it gets updated every couple of weeks. just depends on how many people want it.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

give it time it gets updated every couple of weeks. just depends on how many people want it.

Not until Hammerhead confirms the compatibility and will name some e-bikes. For example, Wahoo has named Giant and Specialized e-bikes as compatible with the ELEMNT computers.