BIKE COMPUTER VS YOUR PHONE! Which is right for YOU?

When you watch YouTube and someone is talking to the camera, it’s the most natural thing to see. When you see someone randomly talking into the phone on the side of road is quite an unnatural thing to see! So funny seeing you get busted! Great to include the footage to give the audience a clue about how difficult it can be making content. Thanks Katie 💰

My current setup: An iPhone 12 and Apple Watch SE, both running the Cyclemeter app. These plus a Wahoo cadence sensor. The watch feeds heart rate data to the phone app and the cadence sensor feeds cadence data. That's all I need. I never ride more than 2-3 hours, and the phone has more than enough battery life for that. If this kind of repeated use shortens overall battery lifespan, I can replace that battery multiple times before I've approached the cost of a decent cycling computer. My 67-year-old eyes need the largest possible display, which is my primary reason for sticking with the phone.

Great vid, thanks for your advice, hope you are getting better regarding the injury, and your having a lovely weekend.

I use a crow, excellent battery life and occasionally he brings me shiny trinkets

I’ve just got back from three days bikepacking in North Yorkshire, I use garmin on out front mount and iPhone on quad lock on stem with power pack in toptube bag connected whenever needed, great for navigation and no need to worry about battery life,also charge garmin with two inlets.👍🚴🏽‍♂️.

I tend to use both , if I am working out a new route I google map it and use it to guide my garmin! I also use quad lock. It’s a bit steep but it’s a game changer! After I’ve worked out my route I mainly use my phone for a phone call/music for my capacitive 🎧. Good video agent, thanks!

For navigation only, I prefer the larger screen on my smartphone. There are many bike-dedicated apps available. Naviki is one of my favorites. If I don't need navigation I use my Sigma Rox 12, it does everything a Garmin does but for a friendlier price.

The phone is significantly better for navigation but the head unit gives you all the metrics you want in a tiny screen. I always have my phone and head unit on a ride. Another benefit is if your head unit battery dies you can switch over to Strava on your phone and then join the two GPX files after the ride so you can view the whole ride - and finally, I have not worked out how to use tap’n’go payments on my Garmin so my phone is essential if I want to buy something to eat.

iPhone, with OS mapping app so you never get lost if no GPS signal, can use without if needed. When bikepacking I just use a son28 Dynamo hub to a sinewave revolution USB adapter and then plug my phone in and it keeps it topped up on long rides. Only use batter bank when camping at site. Also use a quad lock mount. 👍👍

Another excellent video! I have used several bike computers and currently have the Wahoo Element Roam...my favorite so far and likely the one I will be using for a long time. I also carry my phone with me for a number of reasons (most of which you mentioned). Your video was very timely because I have been looking at mounting systems for my phone and I like the Quad Lock. Many thanks and well done my friend. Have a great weekend!

Thanks for sharing this with us. Very informative and interesting.

Bar mounting a phone can cause vibration damage to the optical image stabilisation for the camera. This issue has been reported from both motorcycles and MTBs. Quadlock claims to reduce vibration by 90% with the optional vibration dampener and reviews seem to agree that damage is avoided. I wouldn't use any mount without dampening though.

Some apps are capable of connecting sensors such as HR, cadence and speed, There are two that I've tried. Cadence and Supercycle. Cadence has a free and a premium version. Supercycle is completely free (the author just asks to pay him a coffee if you want). Like someone said, I use a Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 and it works great. If you consider to buy a second hand phone, try to buy with a barometric sensor. Thus the gradient is accurate.

I started mountainbiking six months ago, and got me a second hand teasy one for 65 €. Rugged thing, free maps, happy with it. Very good mount as well. Battery life is defenitly a bonus.

That climb from Bury road up to Ashworth moor Res is a long tough one but I love the views at the top, know it well as I live in Norden. I found that my Garmin always lost GPS signal under the trees in the first section just after Bury road.

I have only ever had cheap wireless 'Cateye ' computer and have had Memory Map digital OS maps for whole country for many years, and have used on a rugged android phone with multiple Quadlock mounts, for hiking, biking and in the car, so never really seen the need for Garmin for bike. I don't use data connection on phone as on cheap pay as you go,so battery life is good. But I guess I tend to ride for fun mainly using a Brompton for touring around. You can get a few metrics out of the tracks created. Good to compare,max speed total time, etc for a route on my different bikes.

Thanks for the vid. I did Norway to Spain with a phone and was thinking to invest in a Garmin for my next trip. I think I’ll take your advice with the quad lock. I never even knew they existed to be fair. Happy cycling 👍

Quadlock does excellent products! I use them and I am very satisfied. The only thing that can become an issue when using a phone as a bike computer is the battery life. If you use it for navigation and have a couple of external sensors hooked to it, the battery can drain pretty fast. I am often carrying around a small power bank that I use specifically for that purpose.

I've been using navigation in smartphones since 2008. Yes, back then it was Windows Mobile 5 or 6. Ozi Explorer app worked quite good. Then, having switched to Android, Osmand app works just fine and shows elevation gains, provides offline navigation and routing. If I needed cadense and speed, I would install Garmin sensors on a bike and the corresponding app in a smartphone. Maybe even arrange split screen, when Garmin and Osmand are displayed simulteneously. No need to use main smartphone for that, old one will do just fine.

always carry my phone, but I record my routes in both Strava and Komoot and the battery suffers a lot, sometimes I found out that the phone has just automatically switched off. So I decided to buy my first ever bike computer, the SIGMA ROX 11.1 EVO, as I love its intuitiveness and simplicity, and I also can save my phone now. It's also compatible with Garmin Varia