Biking for weight loss.

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mthuber
mthuber Posts: 9 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I just started biking and bought a new bike this week, first in 20 some odd years.

Anyone out there biking for their exercise. What if any apps have you downloaded to track the exercise?

I downloaded mapmyride , cyclometer, and road bike. Want recommendations for anyone who's used them for a bit or others. Trying to stay with free apps :).

Replies

  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    Strava is what I use.
  • SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage
    SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage Posts: 2,671 Member
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    Garmin with a heart rate monitor for me.
  • spingirl605
    spingirl605 Posts: 181 Member
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    Runkeeper...I use it for all my outdoor activities...Syncs with MFP
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
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    The apps can tell how far and elevation gain/loss but they have no idea how hard you are pedaling. I saw one from Runtastic that counts your speed and pedal cadence but have stayed with the Runtastic pro app without the added hardware. For the most part I run and use the bike to cross train and warmer day after the sun comes up. My first bike in 20 years too and am really enjoying it.
  • scratchdesk
    scratchdesk Posts: 18 Member
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    I use Strava and just picked up the QuadLock case for my phone (to attach to the bike) so I can keep an eye on where I'm going (or how to get back). I don't particularly use it for tracking exercise so much as mapping and general movement statistics.

    Only recommendations I have for you is make sure the bike is fitted to you and you adjust it as needed as you get started. The previous time I tried bicycling I quit after I could barely walk the next day because I thought I could do far more than I really could. I'm still working myself up to longer and more adventurous rides. There's a good reddit community dedicated to bicycling that can be helpful to read through.
  • smittybobitty917
    smittybobitty917 Posts: 19 Member
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    +1 for Strava. It's conservative on its calorie calculations (probably underestimates), and it's low on battery usage.

    I used MapMyRide for a while but found it had a heavy drain on my phone battery.
  • BasicGreatGuy
    BasicGreatGuy Posts: 868 Member
    edited August 2015
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    I highly recommend getting some padded bicycle shorts. Otherwise, you may find yourself chaffed and sore in some sensitive areas, especially if you ride more than 3 - 4 miles at a time.
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
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    I loaded my bike up with a Topeak rack with a slide on bag with side fold out pannier bags. Handlebar phone mount & bag and some LED lights for when I get an early start. I have all the storage I need for the farmers market, grocery store or wine shop. My favorite is the 64 Oz. stainless steel insulated beer growler for my rides to the brewery, yes it does have the bike mounting clip.
  • MostlyWater
    MostlyWater Posts: 4,294 Member
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    I take Spin classes in an air conditioned gym. I guess I'm no help, sorry.
  • beemerphile1
    beemerphile1 Posts: 1,710 Member
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    I've tried three, RunKeeper, MapMyFitness, and Strava.

    After thoroughly checking them all over various activities, weeks and distances, I only use Strava for bike rides now.
  • KittensMaster
    KittensMaster Posts: 748 Member
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    MMR is high on calorie burn for sure

    It does put the smack down on your battery
  • kcjchang
    kcjchang Posts: 709 Member
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    IpBike, does what Garmin can do for next to nothing. You can run it on GPS mode or add sensors for more accuracy (either BLE or Ant+; count yourself blessed if your phone has an Ant+ radio as BLE sensors are next to... caca). The good thing with IpBike is that you can use Open Street Map (OSM) and not run up your data usage for routing.

    Endomondo (owned by same folks that run this service, UnderArmor). You can run it without data service on but no mapping.

    GPS vertical accuracy, elevation gain, is all over the place and I have very bad luck with Strava. Ride with GPS closely match the gains I get with from my phone's barometer reading. GPS based apps also perform poorly with respect to horizontal distances but for short rides the errors are negligible. It's inherit with the technology although some apps have better algorithm (and uses better base maps and/or local benchmarks) for correction, and it also depends on where you live/ride. My experience with Strava is that they don't care that much about accuracy. Strava's calorie count is more conservative if combined with heart rate data but HIGH without it. It's much more conservative than MFP and Endomondo. IpBike's estimate is also good with HRM but you can further tweak the estimate by adjusting the efficiency factor (the only program I know off that allow this). If you want better ESTIMATES, you'll need a power meter and pay for lab testing to determine your efficiency.

    If you want turn-by-turn, be ready to pay.

    Be careful with moisture. My sweat ruined my phone's digitizer (HTC One M7). I picked up a refurnished Sony Experia Active as a dedicated cycling computer. Battery life is poor at 3-4 hours. I rarely go longer than 4 hours and if I do I bring a portable charger.
  • scrittrice
    scrittrice Posts: 345 Member
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    KittensMaster wrote: »
    MMR is high on calorie burn for sure

    It does put the smack down on your battery

    Agreed on both counts. I use the website to keep track of my mileage, but I took the app off of my phone. While everyone complains that MFP calorie counts are off, they seem to be very accurate for me for biking, or at least when I eat back MFP biking calories I maintain. Eating back Map My Ride calories I started to gain, which is weird, because you can adjust a lot more things with Map My Ride, and MFP is just a general speed range, so you'd think it would be more accurate.
  • Pinnacle_IAO
    Pinnacle_IAO Posts: 608 Member
    edited August 2015
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    Map.My.Ride
    LOVE IT!
    km6768mwjidf.jpg
  • hamptontom
    hamptontom Posts: 536 Member
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    welcome aboard. I use Cyclemeter (premium version), and it works for me, in terms of interfacing with MFP, keeping track of average MPH, distance, etc. - I'm gonna be looking into some form of padding, too. being an old, fat guy kinda puts you at a disadvantage for long rides. :)

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