Harumph

Just curious if anyone else uses this handy app? I got hooked on it about 5 years ago and use it for everything from track history, distance, elevation, calories burned, time, etc. It's a great app for cycling and is free. I upgraded to the Elite version and use it each time I ride.

Ogsarg

I use it as well but I'm not serious about tracking everything and don't have HR or Cadence sensors. Haven't even set up an online account for storing all the data. Mostly use to see how far I've gone when trying a new route or how many miles per week or YTD.

rm512

Use it, like it

John_V 

Kurt Erlenbach

Not heard of it. Tell us about it, please.

TGT1

I've been using it about 5 years too. Lots of functionality. Customizable display, and you can set up the voice prompt for intervals or to help stay in a HR range. On repeats of routes there are icons that show fastest, and slowest pace you've done on the map display so you can race yourself if you want to. If you use it on an IPhone cloud backup of the data is automatic. GPS based speed seems to be about as accurate as with a wheel based device but that's probably also dependent on which phone it's running on. It works well for hiking and other activities too.

There are two things I'd like to see them improve. Much of the time I'll leave the house with no fixed plan or change my mind and end up doing a previous route. It doesn't give you the ability to rename a "new route" to an existing route name.
it does have the capability to have multiple bikes selectable and keeps track of the mileage for each, but having a way to keep maintenance notes for each would be a handy feature.

Kurt Erlenbach

When I started cycling again last year, I started with MapMyRide. Then I dug up my old Garmin 500 and I've been using that with Garmin Connect. I didn't want to use a phone app on my bar because it rains all the time here in the summer and I've cooked a few iPhones in the Florida rain. From the reviews, I kind of wish I had started up using this app.

JohnJ80

I think it's the best of the iPhone as bike computer apps but it's not as good as a real bike computer tied into Strava. My big gripe was the calorie burn number was about 2X all the others.

So now, I use whatever device makes sense for my workout (skiing, cycling, etc...) and make sure that they upload into Apple Health and other apps that make sense (Strava for cycling). Then the apps that need that data can use it. I think there are now much better ways of doing this than an phone bike app. I used to be an evangelist for Cyclemeter too.

J.

Wheever

John_V 

On the Stopwatch page (main page), you should see a route name on the top left corner of the screen. It defaults to "New Route" if you don't have it set to use a previous route as the default route. Tap on it to display all your routes and then select the route name for the existing route you plan on doing. If you do a specific route the majority of the time, you can to into Settings>Stopwatch and set a default route of your choosing. Each time you do a route, the default route you selected will show up on the top of the Stopwatch page.

Russ1409

I have the Runmeter app, which is by the same company, and it has cycling options in it. Does anyone know if the Cyclemeter app is just the Runmeter app with a yellow skin instead of red? I'm real happy with the Runmeter app on my bike, but I would change over if there's a reason.

John_V 

I haven't seen any of the options that Runmeter has but the difference between the two apps could be the pairing of speed, cadence and power meter sensors. If you are currently connecting any of those sensors to Runmeter and you like the app, I don't see any major reason to go to Cyclemeter. Cyclemeter also allows you to connect and configure the Wahoo RFLKT(+) bike computer but those are no longer in production and probably not even available.

canklecat

I used the Cyclemeter free version for a few months in 2016 and liked it well enough to pay for the premium version throughout 2017. Lots of good features including the user customizable voice prompts.

I got busy with a family health issue from December through February and during that time my premium version of Cyclemeter lapsed. I decided to download all of my 2017 rides for the data... and couldn't. I would need to renew my subscription to access my old data.

That was annoying enough that I didn't renew my subscription. I gave the free version a try on my new Android phone but the ads are now too intrusive. One too many annoyances.

Fortunately I'd already uploaded most of my rides recorded with Cyclemeter to Strava. So I had access to Strava's version of the same rides, although Strava's data always differs slightly from other apps. It's close enough that it doesn't really matter.

I only use Strava now. The free version does most of what I need and I have full access to my own data.

boomcat

I have been using Cyclemeter for about five years now. It has a lot of very nice features. About a year ago I added a Garmin 820 Plus, which is linked to my Strava account - also very nice. I use both of them on my rides. The Garmin is on the handlebars and Cyclemeter is running on an iPhone 7 inside a ziplock bag in my jersey pocket. I particularly like having a tiny Bluetooth audio bud in my right ear so that Cyclemeter can announce my statistics every mile: current speed, average speed, distance travelled, distance still to go, time-behind-best (or median or worst), heartrate, time of day, expected time of arrival, etc. Cyclemeter even has a series of audio tones that precede each announcement in order to "wake up" the Bluetooth earbud - nice!

My issue is with the accuracy of the GPS. Cyclemeter consistently shows a GPS map of my ride that displays excursions from my actual route. Specifically, Cyclemeter's GPS map frequently shows that I left the bike trail (Pinellas Trail in Florida) and rode on a side street. Over a 30-mile ride, Cyclemeter does this dozens of times. The result is that Cyclemeter reports a greater distance travelled than the actual distance. I have mapped the distance on Google Maps and it is exactly 31.42 miles. The Garmin (and its upload to Strava) consistently report exactly 31.42 miles, plus or minus one percent, and the GPS map is an accurate representation of my route, with no excursions. Cyclemeter reports distances that are about 5% too high.

I tried adding a Wahoo speed sensor to the rear hub, paired with Cyclemeter, but this seemed to only make matters worse: Cyclemeter was calculating the wheel circumference as 2665mm when the actual circumference is only 2103mm. So I have removed that sensor from the bike and deleted it from Cyclemeter. Maybe I have too many sensors on the bike already: the Garmin is paired to a cadence sensor and to a speed sensor on the front hub - that's a lot of Bluetooth RF!

Are there any Cyclemeter users out there who have better GPS accuracy than this? Is this a function of the iPhone's GPS accuracy? Do you use "Stop Detection" (I don't)? Do you use "GPS Error Reduction" (in Settings/Advanced)? I have mine set to "On".

spelger

I used to use this in the past, as recent as May this year, and i liked it a lot. I stopped when i finally hooked into Strava. what i like about Strava is that i can see how i compare with others on segments. With the free version of cycle meter i don't see this functionality. i've been thinking of pulling the trigger on the elite version of cycle meter since it is only $10/year and it uploads to strava so i can get the best of both. Free Strava is ok but subscription Strava is overpriced in my mind.

-scott

boomcat

The Strava Segments feature is really great. I can see how I did compared to other riders (overall, this year and today) and the Live Segments feature, using the Garmin, allows me to compete with my best time on segments that I have "Starred". If Garmin had an audio announcement like Cyclemeter has, I would probably stop using Cyclemeter.

John_V 

As mentioned, I quit using Cyclemeter full time since my RFLKT died and I went to a Wahoo Bolt. However, I still use Cyclemeter in place of the Bolt's Live Tracking feature as Live Tracking kills my phone's battery in just a few hours. I have Cyclemeter set to send an email to my wife every 20 miles when I'm on 50+ mile organized rides. I recently completed a 2½ day ride from Ormond Beach to Tarpon Springs (60, 80 and 80 miles) and the difference between my Bolt and Cyclemeter was no more than .3 miles, using a Wahoo Speed sensor. The sensor is connected to my Bolt via Ant+ and to my iPhone/Cyclemeter via BTLE. My wife uses Cyclemeter with an RFLKT and when we ride together, the mileage difference isn't that much.

Stop Detection only pauses the ride time while you are not moving. Yes! I do use GPS Error Reduction with Cyclemeter.

boomcat

Thanks!

I did not realize that my Garmin 820+ connected to the Wahoo speed sensor ONLY by ANT+ and Cyclemeter can pair to the same Wahoo speed sensor (WSS) by Bluetooth concurrently. So I have paired the WSS to both the Garmin and to Cyclemeter. But on Cyclemeter I have turned off "Speed Sensor Failover to GPS" (under Settings/Bike) because I would rather have the WSS calculate the speed. The wheel circumference on both the Garmin and Cyclemeter is set to 2103mm, which usually works great on the Garmin - we'll see if that improves Cyclemeter's accuracy. The Garmin usually calculates overall distance to within 0.1% accuracy if the wheel circumference is set correctly - I set the wheel circumference manually, based on experimentation.

So we'll just have to see if this revised setup gives Cyclemeter more accurate speed and distance readings, that agree more closely with Garmin.

I live in Palm Harbor and there are mile markers on the Pinellas Trail. My usual trip is from mile marker 30 to 44 and back. The Garmin has been dead accurate in calculating distance between the mile markers, but Cyclemeter has often been off by anywhere from a hundred yards to a quarter mile.

I have a RFLKT and it worked great, but would often crash and complain that it needed a new battery, and the only way to reset it was to open it up (four tiny screws), flip the battery over for ten seconds, then reassemble. So I had to replace it with a more reliable device.

canklecat

That's odd about Cyclemeter's GPS interpolation. When I used it in 2016-'17 Cyclemeter's GPS tracking was generally more accurate than Strava. When my phone lost GPS sync Strava would show a straight line until it resynced -- the straight line would cut across fences, through open prairie, etc. But Cyclemeter was smart enough to guesstimate the most likely route and was more accurate.

I might try a Cyclemeter subscription again in 2020. It offered some customization that I liked. It'd be useful for voice prompts during training sessions.

Moishe

I've been using it for years, and I find it indispensable. I first got it because I ride on mostly unfrequented roads (about 4000 miles/yr) and the app can be set to send an email update with my postion automatically at regular intervals to one or more recipients. This way, my wife can tell the police where to search for the body.

boomcat

Cyclemeter, because it runs on a phone, can use wifi triangulation to supplement GPS, so if GPS fails, Cyclemeter is able to estimate the user's location by wifi triangulation until GPS returns.

bobwysiwyg

How does this work in rural nowhere?

Ogsarg

One thing I recently discovered with cyclemeter. In the advanced settings there is one called "Dampen Ascent/Descent" and the default is on. If you ride a lot of rolling hills, it will show much less climbing than you actually did.

boomcat

I suppose that in places where there is no wifi, that Cyclemeter will be unable to use wifi triangulation and will have to rely entirely on GPS satellites for "Location Services".

boomcat

I am getting close to dropping Cyclemeter, which I have used with great enjoyment for seven years now. And the reason is not a problem with Cyclemeter, it is with the accuracy of the GPS on my iPhone 7. The map of my path created by Cyclemeter indicates - falsely - that I leave the bike path dozens of times in a 30-mile ride and take excursions to nearby roads. This increases the total distance recorded by Cyclemeter from an eighth of a mile to half a mile in a 30-mile ride. The path drawn by the Garmin is absolutely spot-on, never varying more than one or two hundredths of a mile over a 30-mile ride.

And I have delved deeper into Garmin's features and menus and I have found a way to make it produce voice prompts every mile and every five minutes. The Garmin sends these prompts to my phone, which then sends them to a little Bluetooth ear bud in my right ear. And the Garmin app does not need to be running on my phone for this to work. And I can make the Garmin display my "distance behind/ahead" on a measured course. This is the major reason that I had for continuing to use Cyclemeter.

Cyclemeter does have a lot more customizable features for its audio prompts, and it has one really clever feature: it can send a series of musical tones to the Bluetooth headset to force it to "wake up" before the actual voice prompt audio is transmitted. The Garmin can't do that, so I play music on the iPhone during the ride, and the Garmin interrupts the music when it has a voice prompt to deliver. So the Bluetooth audio link never "goes to sleep".

One more really cool thing that Garmin does: it displays which gear is engaged on the rear derailleur of the SRAM eTap electronic shifter. And it also displays the state of charge of the shifter battery (the rear battery, I think).

I haven't used Cyclemeter for my last half dozen rides, and I will probably let it go when my subscription comes up for renewal.

Also, I made a mistake in my original post: I have the 520 Plus unit, not the 820.