I’m thinking more all the time that I’d like the convenience of one of these little computers. One thing I will miss, however, is knowing how many miles/hours I’ve spent upon each bike. I have a basic cyclometer on two of my bikes presently, and it’s nice to know how many miles I get. I have an Apple Note for each bike and I write down info like how many miles I had on the chain before I replaced it, etc. I think there’s a crummy workaround but need to look into that further.
I’ll prob get this at my bike shop because I so rarely buy anything from them but service (though we did get an e-bike this year). The College Clem is getting some work done, so I’ll ask about the computer when I pick that bike up.
I'm new to the GPS bike computer party, but I had mag-sensor ones for years. I just got so irritated with using my phone as the actual navigation device that I started looking around at GPS units.
And it ended up that I bought one, and started using it, and, as I climb the learning curve, which gets pretty steep pretty quickly if you're the kind of user who tweaks the hell out of their devices, I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Out of the box, it works just fine... you could own the thing for years and never feel the need to change anything. Adding the RideWithGPS integration is easy enough, and while it's a bit awkward in use at first, it's not hard to learn and it always works the same way.
Or, you can dive down the customization rodent warren, like I have. After a couple of days of ownership, I've already added a bunch of 3rd-party functions. There's kind of a "shareware community" around these things. They're Turing-complete, general-purpose touchscreen computers with a task-specific OS. The manufacturers very smartly released SDKs for them, so that anyone with the skill set who thought "wouldn't it be awesome if it could do <$COOL_THING>?" could actually make it happen. As is always the case, good things followed from this decision.
Of course, many bad things also followed, like the infestation of social media features and Strava and all the rest of that rot. But it hasn't been hard so far to avoid stepping in any of it... just the occasional annoyance of "Would you like to share this ride with social media?" and not much else.
My big tip:
Craigslist.
GPS units are the kind of things that decline in value like a peregrine falcon going after a baby duckling. The top-of-the-line model from a generation or two back can usually be had for less than entry-level money. I got my Garmin Edge 1030, so two gens old, (1030 --> 1030+ --> 1040,) for $120 bucks. These things are typically bracket-priced, so the 1040 is the $799 Garmin now, and the 1030 was then.
And, while the thing's about as far away from the "fly low and slow, with proven solutions and high-quality simplicity" ethos that shapes so much of how we do what we do, and why we do it that way as it can be, it shows all the signs of being useful enough and good enough to live nearly full-time on my bike...
And that's enough.
--Shannon (Plus, if I end up hating it, I can probably sell it and almost break even.) Hey folks! I just used it today for the first time and loved it. It’s still at 98% and I was out for 3 hours.
Was able to listen to music on my ride which I loved without my phone draining.
I’ve done the airplane mode but it still drained an awful lot. ESP listening to music.
Cheers! Lucia Lucia Matioli Sr Creative Consultant
I also agree a wahoo is a good bit of kit in regards to routes and battery power. I am a bit of a gadget fanatic though.
There is so much foolishness, James. My good advice that he should cut his hair is also being ignored! Actual words from him: Mom. What is the POINT of practicing first? If we get stuck, we get stuck. What’s the difference?”
Gee, kid. How about getting stuck without a necessity for just the one overnight and realizing it before we set out for 215 miles and 6 days?!
Good tips about airplane mode! I didn’t know Ride with GPS would still work! Thanks!
Leah
I would agree with others that a back up battery is a good idea for your phone, especially if you are camping since you might be challenged to find outlets at all your stops. I try to grab power where I can along the route.
Another thing that I have found to be hugely helpful is to put your phone is 'Airplane Mode' while riding. The gps will work fine while in this mode but your phone won't be wasting battery trying to find a cell phone tower/signal. Ride with GPS will still work fine. You just won't be able to receive phone calls, text or random notices.
Good luck and have a great time with your son.
Boy Scouts would have been a cure of his 'no planning' planning, but too late for that. Hopefully experience and maturity will cure him of that foolishness.:-)
James P MO On Saturday, June 28, 2025 at 1:46:26 PM UTC-5 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote:
Hi Friends,
I’m a week away from my mother-son bikecamping trip. I’ve been practicing pitching my tent in the backyard and breaking it down, trying to perfect and speed up the process. I’m pretty good!
I’ve been sitting down to really plan my route, and it’s been frustrating. I have an iPad with a keyboard that I do everything with, and it seems like maybe Ride with GPS was meant for laptops. It’s awkward. It doesn’t feel intuitive. I feel like I’m always losing where I’m at and what I’m looking for. But it seems to be the universal favorite app for route planning, so I’m sure it’s me that’s the problem.
Meanwhile, everyone in my bike club has a bike computer. The club plans routes on Ride with GPS. And at the ride start they say things like “Does everyone have the route?” I paid for the Ride with GPS membership so I could have the route on my phone, but it drains the phone. So I never use it. Thus, I never “have the route.”
This mattered less in the club because SOMEONE always has the route, but when I set off on my tour with my son, we will be in charge of navigation. It might be nice to have turn-by-turn without running down our phone batteries.
I don’t know. I really liked just having my iPhone on my bars, but maybe with the amount of miles I ride, I should reconsider. Who has opinions about bike computers and Ride with GPS?
Thanks! Leah
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