Opinions please….
I would like to run a heart rate monitor and cadence meter linked to my GPS data. I would like to be able to upload directly into Strava or other online training program’s without having to link up to a laptop in between. Also buying an expensive Garmin device seems pointless when I could just put the money towards a better phone.
Thoughts:
1. Are there phone apps that allow upload of GPS routes to follow? I presume there are…
2. Phone case and bar mounting options to protect against rain and crashes?
3. Phones themselves – any particular recommendations? Not too big for bar mount, good battery life, anything else?

Or should I buy a dedicated Garmin-style device anyway?

Just bought a topeak panobike speed/cadence sensor. Quite impressed and loads less than the wahoo alternative.

Phones a phones a phone but gps designed for the job is much more convienant

Id much rather a cheap phone and a decent garmin than a flash phone strapped to my bars looking rediculous and rip for breaking.

Seems pointless

what Trail Rat says.
Garmin 510 Edge with HRM + speed/cadence sensor. Loads up via bluetooth to your phone + Garmin Connect website.

Imagine the frustration of trying to pair your devices up with the phone everytime ….

My garmin picks up all my ant plus devices ( after i paired them the first time) it was just designed to work. Most phone addons work in a fashion but esp on android are designed to work with a. Wide variety of hardwear and generally end up being unreliable

Not tried a bt 4.0 device then. Just works and If I don’t have my phone stores the info anyway…

Okay, points taken but is anyone reading this running Smartphone + Bluetooth Cadence Meter + HRM for an objective view?

I used to use iPhone + a bluetooth 4 HRM which was ok, a little awkward to keep them paired sometimes. The cost of adding BT cadance + stuff to safely put it on the handlebars was going to get pricey, so I switched to a Garmin instead.

Added bonus that the phones battery doesn’t go flat.

Imagine the frustration of trying to pair your devices up with the phone everytime ….
My garmin picks up all my ant plus devices ( after i paired them the first time) it was just designed to work.

Actually Bluetooth Smart (aka Bluetooth 4.0) works in a very similar way to ANT+ (from a users viewpoint) and has very similar power requirements.

Ultimately I can’t see how ANT+ can win that standards war. Almost every modern smartphone is BT 4.0 compatible whereas ANT+ support seems to be quite limited.

Except phone batterys suck so i fail to see many bt4.0 garmins etc so i can see how it may win.

Except phone batterys suck

Well phone batteries are really no worse than Garmin batteries – just folk ask the phones to do a lot more. But yeah battery life is an issue for some. Depends on the typical ride I guess.

From experience my phone will do about four hours of logging to Endomondo plus ViewRanger mapping and a couple of calls.

If I need more I plug in my external battery pack which I reckon should give me about 12 hours. (Never actually managed to drain it).

Horses for courses but the 18 hour battery life on the garmin was a big plus for me.

– battery life on phone will only get worse with a cadence and hrm sapping bluetooth,

I like the fuzzy feeling knowing my battery will always have power to make an emergency call if the need arrises.

Sorry to hijack the Op , but was wondering Is there any way to link a heart monitor with Strava If Im only using a Garmin 200 (I know it has no HRM). The only reason I ask Is as you can now sync Instagram and the like with Strava , will strava recognise HRM readings and link them with your ride. ?

I use a spare iPhone 4, Cyclemeter, and the Wahoo ANT+ case and sensors. Works really well for me since I’d be carrying the phone anyway, but battery life without the additional battery tops out at about 3 hours for me if you leave the screen on all the time. This will depend on how weak the phone signal is where you’re riding and whether you’re hooked into the Internet. The GPS doesn’t need the Internet, but map updates do.

Before I got my iPhone 5 the iPhone 4 was stashed in my camelback with the app announcing ride measures at the frequencies I’d selected. The one I pay most attention to is my time difference from my fastest ride over that route, which is basically racing against yourself. No problem with battery life used this way because the app can run with the screen off. Since the iPhone 4 is now a spare I’m not worried about using the bar mounted case, but I have to be careful with the settings to avoid completely draining the phone if using with the screen on.

Cheaper than a Garmin for me, but not exactly cheap either. If you don’t already have a capable phone a Garmin or such is probably a better solution as long as it provides all the features you’re after. From what I’ve seen the ability to follow maps instead of just directions means a larger colour screen which brings you to the top end of the price scale.

My view is that I tend to carry a phone around with me all the time so I may as well use that rather than having to carry two devices around (and worry about two sets of batteries running out)

My current phone is a Motorola which I specifically chose because its a little more robust and has a bigger battery (in terms of mAh capacity) than many of its rivals.

I make sure the thing is fully charged when I start the ride and switch off anything I don’t need (eg wifi). I also ride with the screen off and only switch the screen on if I nedd to check my position.

Yes, for multi-day rides in the back-country when you can’t charge your batteries a Garmin and a couple of spare AA batteries make sense…In which case Ill take my old Legend HCx, but as 90% of my riding is under 5hrs, the phone wins and Ive yet to have the phone die on me prematurely

When I looked into it about a year ago, the cost of the sensors and a decent phone mount wasn’t far off the cost of a Garmin. Garmin also less likely to break in the event of a crash (and cheaper to replace).

I want to offer another viewpoint. I have a company BlackBerry, admin have blocked installation of apps. I wanted a smartphone for general US (Strava, email, web etc), however I do not need the phone function. So I brought an android. 99% of the time it is in airplane mode with WiFi switched on, battery life is good for A few days, never had an issue with using GPS wrt battery. connecting BT HRM etc is easy.

Very happy with my choice, Crapberry for work(I must always Carry it anyway), Smartphone used as a “pocket pc” for everything else!

Also worth adding, with a data only (1gb per month) I only pay €4 per month! I mainly use it on WiFi!

battery life on phone will only get worse with a cadence and hrm sapping bluetooth,

True, but not as badly as you think. People get tied to the historic idea that Bluetooth is bad for battery life, but Bluetooth Smart is a different, low-power, short-burst, protocol very similar to ANT+

This guy knows his stuff when it comes to GPS and HRMs and has written a good article on it. (year old so a little dated now but still very relevant)

The GPS doesn’t need the Internet, but map updates do.

I’d suggest using an app that lets you pre-load areas of map onto the phone while you are still on wifi. That way you are not constantly hitting 3G for map images and you still have a map when you are out of reception.

I use ViewRanger for that purpose.

I have a company BlackBerry, admin have blocked installation of apps

Grrr, ‘Admin’ may have physically done the blocking work, but I expect it’s your company policy dictators who’ve actually asked Admin to do this for them to manage their costs / devices.

Me, work in IT, surely not….. 😉

You can get ANT+ phones, until last year the sony xperia range had ANT+ compatibility (Acro s, Xperia S, Active) You can use garmin cadence and HRM straps and it works as good as an edge using garmin app. It probably works well on strava or endomondo, but i’ve not used those apps myself. The acro s and the active are water resistant so no worries about rain (i can vouch for the acro s). Mounts are available off ebay, although they ain’t pretty.

As for battery life, i get about 3-4 days but thats with very little use.