Issue with Strava app/Considering a dedicated GPS device (need advice)

[-cK-]

Hi everyone

 

I'm new to this forum and hope that I'm posting this in the right place. If not feel free to move to the correct location and excuse the long winded post, thanks.

 

First of I've been riding again since Sep '12 (casual/fitness). I do Mountain biking and ride a Giant Anthem X3 29er. I've been using my Smartphone (Galaxy S3) to keep track of my riding on Strava. I then also upload my rides to Endomondo. I find the challenges that both sites run helps motivate me as I'm currently entered in some of them for the fun of it.

 

I've also got a Zephyr HRM that connects via Bluetooth.

 

The issue I've been having is that my Smartphone app would sometimes not record the entire ride. I had a 25km ride only record the first 6.6km a day or so later again the app bugged out and did not record the last 5.4km of about 30km and today again it dropped the last 1.6km of a 62.2km ride.

 

I've not had this problem in the past besides the one or two times way back the app crashed when someone called me or something but I've had people call me and it just kept going. Even in today’s ride I got sms'e, replied to them and it kept recording and then silently on its own it stopped recording just before I finished the ride.

 

For a while now I've been running Strava and Endomondo simultaneously that should the one app fail the other would be a backup. Unfortunately I can't record the HRM data with both at once so I decided to let Strava get the HR data and then just import the data afterwards to Endomondo and delete the recorded ride.

 

The odd thing thou is that the 3 malfunctions took place over the span of my last 6 rides (6 days) and both apps would stop recording at the exact same spot in the ride but there are no similarity of where the app stops recording between the rides. One would be in town the other in the middle of an open field on top of a hill.

 

Frankly I'm fed up with this, especially as the one challenge is the Base mile challenge of Strava and now I have to go enter the duration of the ride manually via drawing the route in Endomondo and importing it to Strava, it is a work around but a hassle and not ideal.

 

So firstly has anyone else had a similar problem perhaps or should I just bite the bullet and get a dedicated GPS device?

[EDIT] Never mind the phone issue anymore found out what the problem was last night. The phone died!

 

I've been doing some reading on the Garmin Edge units in particular.

 

My requirements aren't much more than the info you would get on the free Strava app but HR is a must since I've gotten accustomed to the info on my ride reports. Of course the data must be able to be exported to tcx or similar file to import to Strava and Endomondo. Cadence isn't a must have as for mountain biking there is not much relevance in that data apparently (got that from several forums I read researching the edge) but if the unit has it I'll use it. Furthermore it must be durable for the off road conditions mostly gravel roads and jeep track many of the gravel roads have some vicious "sink plaat" humps, sorry the English for that eludes me. An added bonus of this type of unit would of course be the data is available in ride especially distance as I did a fun ride once and wanted to find out how far from the end we were and trying to pull out the phone mid ride just ain't happening so I ended up asking a fellow rider

 

The other thing I read was that the Edge 500 is for roadies as it is something to do with the algorithm that the unit us as it only do 1 second GPS recording (or something like that) if a power meter is attached regardless if you set it to it, but from all my reading the 500 does not seem like the ideal unit for mountain biking thou. I'll consider a GPS watch too, should it fit the bill, but I mostly do riding no running or other sports and I'm not accustomed to wearing a watch either, I have them but it irritates me to much lol.

 

If I missed any info you all need just give a shout otherwise I'll appreciate your input and wisdom.

 

Thanks

Edited January 13, 2013 by -cK-

[jannosmit]

Garmin Edge 500 is the answer. No problems with mountainbiking

[Bianchi]

+1 on the Edge 500. Only thing that it cannot do, from what I've heard and been told and googled, is to create and follow a route. (The Bryton 40 does this, but eew, not too well in my experience).

[scotty]

Edge 500 should fit. See link below for review

 

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2009/12/garmin-edge-500-in-depth-review.html

[-cK-]

Okay so I've went back and reread some of those forums regarding the one second recording and complaints of the accuracy to realize they are a bit dated (2010).

 

Seems the best bet is to go with the bundled kit for the Edge 500 that have the can/speed & HRM unit as the can/speed augments the GPS data to be more accurate. Also I now see that issue about 1 second recording is no more since firmware ver 2.70 added in that setting, so no need for a powermeter anymore to enable it.

[Flatdog7]

I use a Samsung S3 with Endomondo loaded to track my rides. My riding buddy uses a Garmin. The Garmin is the correct tool for tracking a ride. I find the GPS on the phone does not update as quickly or accurately as the Garmin. Typically a ride at the Cycle Park will see me doing an average of 2km's less than him as the routes are so tight that you need something updating really quickly if you want any kind of accuracy.

 

Just on a side note, I don't think you should run more than one GPS tracking software program at a time on the phone as I am sure it will cause a conflict with which program controls or "grabs" the GPS.

 

As soon as I am big I will get a Garmin.