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SubscribeiBike Dash
Wed, 12/01/2010 - 2:24pm by Andy Shen
I've been working on a thorough test of the iBike Dash, but I got mired in data collection with no end in sight. So I thought I'd temporarily escape that morass to address just one aspect of the Dash, the use of the iPhone as an ANT+ receiver.
Power meter computer heads used to be part of the package, a little plastic display that came with your SRM or PowerTap. Then ANT+ came along, and they became wireless and cross compatible. They also became something that could be laden with more features, and more importantly, sold separately. So now what was once a free afterthought costs an additional $200 to $950 (!). Here's where the iPhone comes in.
The idea of using an iPhone as a receiver is tantalizing because iPhone owners already own most of the hardware. You should, in theory, be able to attach a little ANT+ dongle to it and make it a computer head with very little expense. There's a plethora of options on the market, some well thought out, others half baked executions made to take advantage of the app fad. The Dash sits in the 'thought out' range of that spectrum. There are two models, a basic cyclometer for $200, and an advanced model that measures power (by calculating resistive forces) for $850 (it's on sale now for $650). Both are ANT+ compatible and work with SRM's, Powertaps, and Quarqs. The Dash fits the iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4, and iPod Touch.
Potential Issues
There are a few pitfalls with using an iPhone as a computer head. Here's how the Dash addresses them:
Battery life
The Dash's supplemental battery charges the iPhone's battery. This battery is drained before the iPhone's, so the phone remains operational for as long as possible–great if you need to make an emergency call. My iPhone 4 lasted over 4 1/2-5 hours with one battery, running GPS and with the screen on full brightness. You can buy an extra battery for longer rides.
Waterproofing
Water will kill your iPhone, so full waterproofing is a must have feature. The Dash fully encloses the phone, and it latches with some tension on its o-ring seal. The screen is touch sensitive under the plastic cover. I didn't test it in the rain, but I did drench it in sweat over a few roller sessions with no problems.
Visibility
I was surprised to find that the display was easily legible in direct sunlight. You have to set the phone to full brightness with auto brightness turned off.
Touch Controls
The iPhone's touch screen allows for infinite configurations for controls, but this is a double edged sword. Physical buttons may be limited in function, but they let you operate the computer by feel so you can keep your eyes on the road. You can't feel for the iPhone's touch buttons, and with road shock, taps can become swipes. iBike has tried to deal with this by putting the 'home' and 'maps' buttons in corners, which helps somewhat. Also, when it gets cold you'll need special gloves that work with touch screens.
Multitasking
The Dash's app works fine in the background, so you won't lose data if you get a call or text during a ride. You can turn off the display and the Dash will continue to record your data.
The Good
There's a reason why there's so many attempts at an iPhone computer head–there's many potential upsides to it. Here's a look at some:
Intuitive interface
Setting up an traditional computer head is a pain in the ass. You have to press combinations of buttons, and God help you should you lose the manual. They're even hard to use once set up–what button combination gets you into interval mode, and how do you get out?
The Dash, in contrast, is wonderfully intuitive. The instruction manual is built into the app, and complicated steps come embedded with instructional videos. Pairing sensors is dead simple, and if a connection is lost, just unplug and plug in the phone. Ride files are sent via email, no need to configure comm ports. My files are sent during the elevator ride up to my apartment, and they arrive at my desktop before me. Software updates and bug fixes route through iTunes just like any other app.
Flexibility
The Dash's display is user configurable. You can choose what and how much data to display. Swipes take you from one screen to the next. While the Dash's displays are woefully under-designed, a quick scan of the other offerings gives a sense of the potential here. Vision-challenged geezers like myself would most appreciate the option of having gigantic easy to read numbers.
GPS
The iPhone's built in GPS capabilities instantly makes the Dash a direct competitor to Garmin's computers, and puts it ahead of offerings from SRM and Powertap. You can view maps live on your display, or have the Dash record your coordinates in the background. Once uploaded, your ride is just one click away from full 3d glory on Google Earth.
Pricing
At $200 for the base model, the Dash is less than half the price of Garmin units with maps.
The Bad
Size
This is the biggest issue with the Dash. It's big, and it junks up your beautiful bike – there's just no way around it (it wouldn't protrude as much if I had a 10 degree rise stem). It could be less obtrusive in landscape mode in front of the bars a la the SRM, but Apple's Maps app only works in portrait. As it is there's no way I'd ever race with it, it's just too big and way too exposed in the event of a…
Crash Protection
If you hit the ground there's a very good chance that the Dash will take a big whack. I'm happy to report that I didn't crash the Dash, but I can say that I've cracked an iPhone screen when I crashed with it in my back pocket. So who knows, maybe the phone's safer inside the Dash.
So...
iBike CEO John Hamann is under no illusions – he knows he probably won't sell the Dash to you racers, but he tells me it's selling like hotcakes nevertheless. My guess is that the Dash appeals to touring and casual cyclists, who see it as an alternative to Garmins. Me, I'm hoping that iBike will make a $50-100 landscape version with less electronics, mounts like an SRM, has a slimmer battery, and does away with map displays. That version might prove more appealing to the racer crowd.
Please can we have a version like this? (Wow my bar tape is dirty.)
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Add a commentmy powertap wheel broke so i rented on from CCNS for very cheap and my ibike worked very well with it
Arrived at racing today and had forgoten my garmin and iAero so quickly installed the flying brick(idash)............. worked very well without any issues = ended up winning A grade with it - may have to use it more often as a good luck charm?
Biggest problem was all my mates giving me heaps over the size of the TV screen I had mounted on my road race bike................but I had the last laugh and it might now become the gadget to have?
You can go ahead and put the seat back down and the stem back up to your normal riding position.
When do we get the Droid based iteration of this? I think I'd get one, you gotta carry your phone anyway, right?
but literally saw it in half. I got my first look at the Ibike Dash last week, it is huge! Huge is an understatement, its ginormous. And it sits so high on the stem mount. Not for the cycling purist. Looks like the space shuttle hitching a ride on the rocket.
I am ***not attacking the article per se,
understood your stance, good article from the angle you tackled and wrote it. I am attacking the article per se, its more the product I have issues with and the way they market it. I wish some bike magazine does some good independent research. I will be the first in line with cash in hand to buy it, if it works!!!
From a gadget perspective I don't see a casual cyclist putting out $$$ for it, plus having to go thru all those hoops with waterproof mount, battery life etc... they will quicker buy a cheap cateye or functional Garmin 500. Worse yet if the casual user has to buy Iphone first. Narrow market. They only way they succeed as a business is by mass selling cheaper product to casual cyclist or getting a power meter that can compete with Powertap and Quarq on all levels, but mainly accuracy and price. That unfortunately they are already on the wrong road of non-DFPM systems. Be surprised if they survive as a company, especially if Garmin MetriGear come out with pedal based power meters.
The reason I didn't focus on power is twofold. First, testing takes a long time. You have to properly calibrate the thing, and I haven't done enough to confidently make a judgement (it's hard to do calibration rides when you do a lot of group rides). But what you say is generally correct. The longer the ride the more likely the numbers will match, but for intervals, it can be off, and that's a big deal.
The other reason I didn't address power is that I don't foresee the iBike cracking this market (racers), so why bother? I like its wind port for aero testing (using it with a Quarq), and that's a pretty narrow application.
So that's why I looked at it strictly as an iPhone ANT+ receiver, because I think there's potential for cheaper computer heads that do a lot of cool stuff. In fact, I'm trying out this one now:
http://www.wahoofitness.com/Fisica/Wahoo-Fitness-Fisica-Fitness-Sensor-C...
Open source, smaller, $120, so far so good.
Does that answer your question(s), not that your post was necessarily a question.
Power!!! Who cares... everyone wants and needs a full in depth review on it's power meter capabilities. Everything else written about this latest Ibike platform is a waste of web space.
I want to know how it stacks up vs Powertap and Quarq? I have not been able to find any reputable sites to give a good and honest review about it power capabilities, everything is fluff. Including this article.
To me non-DFPM powermeters are inherently less accurate, rather than measure actual power you produce the ibike measures the forces that oppose you to calculate what power your putting out (newton's law). It uses very precise mathematical functions that estimate power by calculating the forces applied against the rider will only be accurate if the data it is supplied with is accurate from ride to ride.
For me the Ibike just has to many incoming variables that can easily be distorted and cause deviation from the actual power output I am doing. My mind will always question the numbers I am seeing via a powermeter like the Ibike. For me its an estimator based on variables it is supplied with... period!
The Ibike requires many outside variables, this means that are a several instruments and functions being used to get a single answer in the form of Power in Watts. The more variables needed equals more instruments/functions and this equals more error. Each instrument will have some level of error.
Yes if both of us ride a 4 hour ride, Powertap/Quarq/Ibike readings may be close at the end, but most people I know use power for interval workouts and high intensity training where 10 watts is very important. And Ibike level of error is just too much. Just think about all the inputs its needs to derive an accurate power reading.
Until I see some smart research from someone "not hired" to write an article by Ibike Owners, refuting my concerns, this product is a waste of time for anyone serious about power. Smart people will continually question this product, and toss it over a cliff.
Ooh, look at Alexi all excitable about fit! Wheee!
Did mommy just teach you all those concepts, or did your $400 fit session just end and you're reading notes that your fitter just regurgitated from something he cut & pasted from rec.bicycles.myclientsaresuckers.com?
YES! Grewel reference FTW!
Good point about the LeMond.
As for tactics, I've been working on hiding food from teammates.
Not when you have a Lemond Revolution trainer.
your frame size is fine, your stem is 1 cm too short, the bars need to rotate down (drops base level to ground), the levers tilt up/back (so you cradle your hands and provide neutral wrists, reducing scapular elevation/extension), achieving the same "fit" but dramatically improvpng your bike handling and overall comfort/efficiency...better bike handling...now tactics, thats where you can really see dramatic results too...
There are a few ant+ apps out there now:
http://ruedatropical.com/2009/02/iphone-cycling-applications/
flip that stem up to the sky and hang some fuzzy dice from that big box of gee whiz.
The stem's already a 12. If you think it looks wrong now what would you think of a 14 with a stack of spacers under it?
i disagree. it looks to me as if the bike is too small. just look at the computer - it dwarfs the rest of the bike.
It looks like you just have a frame that's one size too big. You should get a smaller frame and a longer stem.
I can't believe none of you caught the fact that I've been riding without a rear wheel. Maybe that's why my bike fit is off.
your bottle cages are upside down.
hah, made you look!
The cables! Of course! Up 'til now I've been riding in a straight line until I ran into something, then taking the subway home. The world's really going to open up now that I can turn.
to have that computer help me find my way on the 6-mile Central Park Loop.
Your cables are too short.
How can you possibly look at the bike by iteself and determine that the fit is wrong? What the bike looks like is virtually irrelevant to what the rider looks like on it. Body position is the only thing that matters, not the asthetics of the bike. You are dumb!
Good point,that's why it ships with a waterproof cover. Works great!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_know_it_when_I_see_it
No water protection. One splash of water on the Evotek and your iPhone is a $600 brick.
How do you know it's wrong if you don't know what's right? Sarcasm is required on this site, in case you haven't noticed.
he said "nice unit"
I never claimed to provide you with adjustments, but based on that picture you can see enough to know that it's just wrong. If you are happy with it, fine. No need for the sarcasm, just trying to help you out there.
That's a nice unit but it seems a little expensive. Check out this www.evotekus.com . A well designed iPhone/iPod touch holder for under $40.
I knew which pic you were talking about, silly, I was just having fun with you. Can we start a bike fit business together, one based on partial crooked pictures of bikes and no measurements of the rider?
2 pics up.
sorry, w pics up. if it doesn't look right, it's usually not
ruins the lines of your perfectly good otterbox + gizmo.
It ruins the lines of a gorgeous bike
You should switch to black bar tape
So many questions. Let's take 'em in order
I don't bake, but if I could make gumbo on my handlebars I'd do it in a heartbeat. Now which of you chuckleheads is going to make that dream come true?
Dongle.
Dongle.
Speaker is on my head. http://www.tunebug.com/?gclid=CPuq5bq9zqUCFQWD5QodsWVgyQ
It's big. Yes it's big.
It's big, it's on my stem. Yes. Breathtaking? Can I recommend Coach L and some breathing and visualization exercises?
Craig Upton fit me, I have really short legs. How you divined that from a closeup of my stem I'll never know.
I'm not telling anyone to stare at their computers. My point is that if you're in an unfamiliar place (I imagine 'touring cyclists' often are), a GPS computer might be handy. Also, I don't have mind control powers. If I did the Schmalz residence would be TP'd daily.
It totally streams porn! Download this to stream Flash-based porn. http://www.skyfire.com/ But whatever you do don't look at it.
but does it stream porn?
There has been a huge increase in the number of crashes, especially single bike, that have been caused by cyclists watching their computers rather than the road in front of them. For racers and anyone training the data collected is valuable...to be downloaded and analysed after the ride. To encourage "tourists and casual riders" to use these computers is equivalent to promoting texting while driving a car.
who fit you? your bike fit looks kind of bad (pic 2)
I don't know what's going on in the second picture but he sheer volume of material stacked onto your poor stem is breathtaking
My feeling is that it's a little on the big side
Moved to Off Topic
Moved to Off Topic
New, more manly model coming out soon.
Where do you hang the speakers?
you said "dongle"
Looks like a stem-mounted easy bake oven. Won't you be the popular one, makin' brownies for the team while riding. You go, girl!
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