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Mapping your ride....what does everyone use?
Hoping to find out what devices/apps/programs etc etc people are using to map their mountain bike rides. So would like to know:
1. What are you using?
2. Why did you choose it?
3. Can it be easily loaded onto google to be shared?
I'm not too fussed on things like cadence, heartrates etc etc included into the program/app/device - am just after a good product that will map the trail i just rode and then be able to put it into google...
Not sure whether to go for an expensive device or run with a basic app from itunes?
Any help/advice is appreciated... Thanks
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Strava is pretty good, I and all my mates use it, makes a ride alot more competitive however. It's a free app and can be uploaded to the strava website
I have a garmin watch with HR which I used to upload to strava but now just use the iPhone app all of the time. Perfect for tracking your rides, comparing it to your other times on the same ride and also with other riders. Free. Nuff said
I owned a Garmin Edge 500 before Strava came out.
I still use my Garmin and upload onto Garmin Connect and Strava.
I have the Strava App on my phone as a backup.
I have used the runkeeper in the past. Not a bad phone app, but Strava topped it.
I have my Samsung galaxy fixed on stem for tracking my rides. The free version is great but it's worth getting the pro version for a couple of dollars as this unlocks the 'beat yourself' feature which tells you how far ahead or behind you are compared to the last time you did that route. It also has an interval training mode which you can personalise. I've just started using this and seem to be getting good results. Having a large screen on your stem also makes it easy to see speed, distance, duration, etc. without taking your eyes off the road for long.
i use strava too , free iphone app , has enough info for what i need , and every ride is a race to get pb times and climb up the leader board.. goal is to beat that davo hind dude .(i got no chance he must be a robot ) . he seems to have the fastest times on almost every section of Kala circuit !
example
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y3/slylux/IMG_0...
I use Motion X for tracking new trails, sharing routes, personal stats & to make sure that I don't get lost but I also use Strava as it makes every commonly ridden ride a challenge/race.
T
Strava is good, WKO+ gives heaps more data though, although really only useful if you train with power.
I switched from Garmin Connect to Strava a few months ago. I find strava much better and like being able to compare my riding to others.
The Garmin Training Center program that you install on your a computer is good it you program and store workouts with Garmin devices. It allows you to look at the data offline but the maps are terrible.
All the phone aps are pretty good, most of them are free, strava is really popular....I started out using an iPhone with map my ride and then strava, for recording and google earth for finding out where I was.
it also allows you to race yourself etc.
I found as I started going further and further off any beaten tracks I couldn't guarantee phone reception.
Got a Garmin and now I use that. It's an edge 800 and its awesome, doesn't matter if it gets wet, I've dropped it etc etc and its fine. Uploads to Garmin connect but you can change file extensions and upload to google, map my ride, strava etc. It uses the gpx which is fairly universal anyway.
I have added topo maps and it is most satisfactory
The feature that I really love is being able to load other peoples rides and turn by turn ride them.
I found doing this by phone lacked a lot of flow, ie resulted in lots of stopping and starting.
The only complaint I have is that it has a rechargeable li-on battery and the battery only last 17 hours or so, I think if I was buying again I would get something with changeable batteries as that would make rides that were longer than 17 hours much easier (hahahhah...) Seriously though i want to use it for bike packing and the battery life is short in that sense.
Using a Garmin Edge 800 too, for the same reason as above. Couldn't rely on my iPhone, the GPS is using too much battery!
Google Earth to map the ride – does (well) the job and nothing else is as good (on mac)
Google Maps (MyMaps) to store the ride map – easy to access from home, work, or my iPhone (using MyMaps App)
Garmin Connect to analyse my ride – works well with my computer, logical… but after so many people liking Strave, I might have a closer look now:)
I've just discovered that an excellent map for iPhones is the app MapsWithMe. it shows all the detailed stuff that a MTB rider or bushwalker needs.
For the record, I use a Garmin Edge 305, and Strava. I use the Garmin Edge for canoeing too.
They use the OpenStreetMap data.
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/MapsWithMe
I use SportsTracker http://www.sports-tracker.com/ The sync feature is good if you use more than one phone or get a new phone.
On occasion I upload something to Strava to be sociable.
It's the best rendering of the OSM map I've seen.
cheap garmin with recording and playback. Works for me and my mountain biking
I've been using an iPhone app called Cyclemeter for a couple years now. I think it's really well featured, everything's in app so you can analyze without uploading, it's a one off $5 instead of monthly subscriptions, it uses Google Maps, it exports/imports, you can chase your previous rides, it can announce your choice of stats at chosen intervals so your phone can live safe tucked away, it can send your family regular emails and social media updates so that they know where to find you in an emergency, and it supports ANT+ sensors for improved accuracy and training, it can even direct your intervals.
Recently I started uploading my GPX from Cyclemeter to Strava just to see how I compare, but Strava is pretty lacking for me to actually track my ride with it. You could even email Strava to upload it for you as you drive home from the ride.
I have been using MapMyTracks but might need to change as I love the idea of being able to compete against your best time and it tells you how far ahead or behind you are. Can Stravo do this? Or just cyclemeter?
With Strava you can compete with other people and see the leader board on your PC.
You can even create your own segments of your own preferred loops, hill climbs, down hills, sprints, etc and then see how you compared on the leader board with others who have road the same segment in the past & future.
There is a segment explore so you can find other segments and have a crack at their leader board and maybe even take out the KOM.
I use WKO+ 3.0, Strava, Sportstracks and Garmin Connect. They all have something the other doesn't have so it's a bit of a pain uploading to all of them
I could be wrong as a recent user but I don't think Strava paces you against competitors while you are actually riding like Cyclemeter does. It might be a Strava Premium option, but that involves paying a monthly subscription.
With Cyclemeter you can pace against your previous rides, with a huge choice of stats that can be announced at your choice of time and distance intervals. If you ridden a track several times it'll pace against your nearest best, median, or worst pace. Due to the ride edit, competitor, duplicate, and import functions I'm pretty sure you could set up to pace against a Strava segment rather than just reviewing post ride.
Strava does have one fundamental difference to almost every other bike app, GPS, or computer, which is that it doesn't use a traditional autostop/start because you're competing between 2 points for the best time so people could cheat if they sprint, rest, sprint, rest, etc. Apparently this means if you import into Strava you should turn autopause off on your source app. I reckon the alternative though would be to ensure you don't stop on a Strava segment since you don't compare over whole rides.
I had been keen to compete in some Gravity XC races - but this post has been a revelation!
As a result, did my first Strava ride yesterday - already I can see that there is a virtual competition there (who is Davo Dinkum?).
So, no need for tedious race organisation? Why would one bother?
I've used cycle meter for a couple of years and it is pretty good. I have mapped a heap of MTB trails and it is reasonably accurate.
I've recently started with Strava as well though, and I wonder what the protocol is re standing starts and drafting for road rides?
I have done a fair bit of (slow) time trialling over the years with ATTA, and the strava times showing for many of my local roads (bull creek and rossmoyne) would place alarge number of people in the top echelon of time trialers in Perth (eg 52 kph for the rossmoyne to shelley foreshore ride)
Are these generally expected to be standing start non draft times?
It's an "honour" system. What's to stop you recording a bike climb in your car?
Fastest times on a popular segment will be deliberate attempts on KOM. drafting, and or following wind conditions, rolling starts, starting at resting HR etc.
car stravas are common and a flag system exists for them, they do gte removed, without fuss.
Pfft, it might be nice to be KOM on some leader board in cyber space, even it has to be by car???!!! -but how can that compare to totally annihilating someone in real life. Duh.... Certainly it could never replace the opportunity to commiserate with the annihilated. ("never mind we can't all ride like girls")
I wonder how they would pick up a motorized KOM if someone fakes it realistically though.
I would need a motocross bike to get a KC KOM!
Come to think of it you do hear them about sometimes and see some massive rocks pulled onto the trail. Joke!
cheating could be possible .. eg run a dirt bike around the section or loop. but your only cheating yourself,and most ppl know the name that should be near the top ..
its a good gauge to show improvement and strive for better .
eg ive only been riding mtb since april ( never riddin a road bike b4 ) anyway i belted out the fastest kc loop my body/legs would let me .. 1hr 25min odd . now i can already do it in under 1hr 9mins .. just shows the improvements made in times ..all been done in runners , just moved to cleats this week .. see if there is any improvements .
i still feel buggered after a ride , but prob sitting on better ave speed for longer b4 the legs melt.
yea who is davo dinkum he seems to lay down some fast times too
happy riding , add me on strava ( martin costa ) , good to follow other riders progress to push harder.
I see he is laying down some fast times at Whistler right now and doing great credit to the local mtb community.
Go Davo (whoever you are)!
Strava - what a great app.
M
sorry off topic , but is davo nairn ( davo dinkum )
if so . 13th overall ..!!!!
Ive been using strava now for about 4 months and there are about 4 riders in the local area who hold just about all of the KOM's. It's been an awesome why to train and we're all improving. The ride comment and the follower feature can be great fun as the week progresses and you just manage to knock someone off their KOM by a few seconds for them to come back a day later and reclaim it by 1 second. Kudos to all the strava users for fair play.
I use strava and as long as I remember to put my phone on standby the battery lasts 4 or so hrs....It is great to look at the leaderboards and see everyone's time compared to mine It's a bit like face book for cyclists
and I have once forgotten to turn my strava off at the end of a ride, hence some pretty impressive km p/h and QOM stats 
feel free to add me Marg Mc Ilroy
this is a fun addition to Strava
you can compare and track yourself with others on this over the same course - not for active on the bike but for those who would rather be on the computer thinking about riding than riding -
http://raceshape.com/
I use a Garmin 200. The things I like about are: it's simple to use, easily mounts to the handle bar, battery last a good while, not too expensive and it's easy to download data to either Garmin or Strava.
I just discovered a great app for mountain bikers, it is calles runtastic mountain bike! This app provides configurable maps and also offline maps which allow tours in areas with no GSM coverage.
I also love the ghost option and the live tracking feature.
Try it out!