Smart phone Bicycle Apps

B.Icycle

Continuing my quest for the ultimate method of recording a ride, I have read several articles in bicycling magazines about the new low cost apps for a smart phone.

I have Samsung Charge which has 4G. It is a Verizon phone. I read an article extolling the virtues of smart phone bicycle apps and how they will replace the need for cyclocomputers and GPSs.

So you know me, I thought I would try a couple out. This time I paid for the B.Icycle app. ( Click here for an English website explaining the app. If you want to see a video of it (in German sorry) click here. You can still figure out how it works by watching it and brush up on your high school German at the same time!) It was rated the best app in Bicycle magazine so I tried it out today.

OK, you can tell I am going overboard on this. Now I have 3 things recording my ride. I have my GPS, the cyclocomputer (newly adjusted) and now my smartphone booted up with this riding app.

I rode my eastern loop in 88 degree heat and 80% humidity. H O T!!! I checked the three of them. The GPS and newly calibrated cyclometer were dead on at 16.95 miles. Then I looked at my smart phone app. Besides draining 50% of my battery :yikes: it gave me the following information.

Your Performance on the trip started on: 18.07.2012 11:00
Name: Holston Hills
Trip time: 01:18:51
TripDistance: 16.7 mi
Trip calories: 998 kcal
Average speed: 12.7 mi/h
Maximum speed: 27 mi/h
Climbed altitude: 1485 ft
Bike type: Road bike

Notice, it was 0.2 miles shorter than my other two methods. But it had total calories and climbed altitude. All three had the same riding time and all three stop when I am stopped.

Now it has a great screen you can watch on your smart phone. It shows you your speed, time and a moving map of where you are going with street names on it. Problem was, I didn't have any more room on my handlebars, so I stored it in my Brain Box and never looked at it. It would look better than the cyclocomputer, that is for sure. It also has a much better stylistic design than the utilitarian Garmin GPS screen. For looks alone, the B.Icycle app can't be beat!!! But the price is heavy battery drain!

A really cool feature is it automatically sends a Google earth file and a gpx (used in GPS format) of the ride to my email account over my smartphone. With my cyclocomputer I can't get altitude or a map of my ride. With the GPS I can but I can't import them into Google earth. The kml file is the Google Earth file. If you import it into Google Earth, you can see my ride and zoom so far down you can almost see the front doors of the houses I rode beside. WOW!!! Very incredible!

Click here to download the files.

 

Endomondo

I am on a roll. Another Smart phone bicycling app I have is Endmondo. (Name sounds cool if nothing else.) This was a free app.

First, I really didn't give this app a fair shake. Halfway through my ride today, I remembered I had two more Smartphone apps I wanted to try. The next one on my list was Endomondo. So at the half way point, I woke up my smartphone and bought up the app. Once you bring up the app it takes about 10 seconds to lock in the GPS. It let's you know when the GPS is "excellent" and you are ready.

Now this has a neat count down timer feature. There is a big green 10 on the screen. If you hit it, it counts down 10 seconds then starts. That way you can hit the button, put the phone in your pocket, mount your bent and get a flying start. For me I just hit the start button and shoved it in my bicycle jersey pocket.

Well this app has a feature B.Icycle does not have and that is it talks to you. It surprised me because all of a sudden I heard a lady talking out of my jersey pocket. What is she doing there!!! : I couldn't tell what she was saying because she was tucked in my phone case, in my bicycle jersey and I had headphone playing music in my ears. Curiosity got the better of me and I turned off my music to listen. I stopped and she said "timer stopped". I started and she said "timer started". If that bothers you, you can mute her. She could have said other things while I was riding but I couldn't tell.

When I finished back at the office I turned her off, then spent 10 minutes trying to see what I had done. I finally located a history tab and it was just a summary of my ride. That was it. I thought, "big deal".

So I decided to see if I could see anything on my computer. I went to my email box and nothing from Endomondo.

Then I had the brilliant idea of going to their website to see why I couldn't see my trip. I knew my log in name I used and password. Once I logged in, there was my trip. (See attachment.) The detail is so clear you can see my assistant's van in the driveway next to my house which is my office. WOW!!!

Now this is . Had a map of my ride; a graph of how fast and slow I went throughout the whole ride; plus I could post it for other to use to ride if they like.

I plan to give this a full workout next week and compare times and distances to my Garmin Edge 605 GPS and Nashbar wireless Tempo cyclocomputer.

 

Endomondo Part 2

Today, I remembered to start the software at the start of the ride. I wanted a comparison.

My GPS said I road 20.46 miles. Here is what Endomondo said.



Sport Cycling, sport
Start Time Jul 23, 2012 12:07 PM
Distance 20.39 miles
Duration 1h:14m:56s
Avg Speed 16.3 mph
Max Speed 27.1 mph
Calories 1305 kcal
Altitude 797 ft / 906 ft
Elevation 308 ft ↑ / 331 ft ↓

What I noticed the most is the lower mileage. My GPS and cyclometer said 20.46 and here it says 20.39. Now 7/100 of a mile off over 20 miles isn't a lot. (It is 0.34% difference.) But I want all the miles I can get.

This also shows a map but since I rode a 3 mile loop, it is not very interesting.

I really don't have anything against this app. It is free. And if you already own a smart phone, it is much cheaper than a $486 GPS. (I just ordered a Garmin 800 bundle with US maps, heart rate monitor & strap, and cadence sensor. Yeh I am getting all wired up!!! When I get it hooked up, I will review it here also. This is a color, touch screen GPS with street level maps.)

But Endomondo is a fine FREE app that will keep track of your riding and automatically share it with others you choose to share it with. It is the Facebook of Cycling apps from what I can tell. One thing I liked over the B.Icycle app is Endomondo didn't drain my phone battery in an hour!!!