ok, agree to disagree!
Guys I’m not attacking computer users, there’s really no need to take offense at the point I’m trying to make and firing back passive aggressive insults.
I stand by my original post, I believe there is some merit to what I have to say and I hope it will be of use to someone searching the topic in future, if not today.
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The example you gave isn’t a diss either, especially if it’s factually correct.
I agree. Although I’d modify your argument as follows:
If you don’t have the need to be able to see the screen at any/every point, then a smartphone works fine.
Reasoning still comes back to battery life - and the the inability to rely on your phone for occasional long rides eg 5-6+ hours (most phones at the brightness required to see in sunlight will be close to out of juice by then).
An always-on and always-visible bike computer is helpful for people who need it for pacing using power, and if you are riding a new route with lots of turns.
If you don’t need either of these, just pop your phone in your pocket an you can record your ride for 10+ hours.
I use an app that gives me audio announcements of stats I need/want to hear (distance, time, heart rate), and another app that alerts me via an audible warning if I’m off route.
Plus I do a lot of mountain biking where you don’t have very many opportunities to look down at a screen anyway.
As a result, I have no need for a traditional bike computer, and using my phone means just having to bring a single device with me that has everything I need.
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With respect, the OP has tested and proven that riding under these conditions listed, with the battery life of his phone, is perfectly achievable
How about this. if you like using your phone, use your phone. If you like using a dedicated bike computer, use that. I’ve used both and started with a phone. Worked like a charm. I now have a Element Bolt and really like how it’s less bulky looking while also doing exactly what i want from it. Personal preference. Don’t really care what everyone else wants to use but for me this is my personal favorite.
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Cheeky headlines are good for a boring Monday thread… Up to 50 posts now before the cousins come on board… So chapeau from me. Never took it as more than bantz, would be downright perverse on a power based trainer forum to be a luddite. Others seem to have emotions. Just glad we all get out there even in the rain…
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SO GOOD THO 
He rode a little over 3 hrs and had a little over half charge left. 6 hours would be about 25% left for him on his device. And on my iphone, after 6 hrs with the screen on it would probably be dead.
My main point is about longer rides of the duration that might kill a phone battery if the screen is left on.
But if you don’t need to see the screen (I fall in this camp), this constraint is not an issue and a phone works fine.
I appreciate the OP’s argument and they way he laid it out, but it seems a little tilting at windmills. Great that it works for you and many others, and great that we have options/choices in this world. I don’t think it is a myth or some conspiracy.
I used my phone when I started riding. My rides got longer, my phones got bigger (aging eyes!), and I started measuring more data. I got an elemnt bolt a few years ago. It has failed exactly one time, never ran out of battery, never has glare issues, always recognizes my sensors, never drops out mid-ride. None of which is true about my phone. And I can use my phone as intended.
Life is pretty grand.
And my quadlock lives on my trainer bike, bc indoors is a great application of putting your phone on handlebars! Except for the sweat drops!
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A few points:
- Most phones are not really waterproof. Some are not even splash proof, which seriously limits their utility. Moreover, touch screens don’t work well when they are wet.
- Cheaper bike computers are way cheaper than even mid-range smart phones. And they are smaller, so less can go wrong.
- Aerodynamic differences due to your phone or a bike computer being mounted to your handle bars do not matter if you are a casual rider.
- What data you need depends on your needs. But if you are out and about, distance, time and ride time are indeed important metrics. Add to that power, perhaps.
You can get a cheap bike computer that couples to your phone for about $100 (although those usually do not display power).
Another option would be to do what I do: I don’t have a bike computer either, but I have coupled my smartphone to my power meter and I use my iPhone to record data and peruse maps should I ever get lost.
This is really interesting.
I used my old iPhone 8 for quite a while on a quad-lock mount and found a few (admittedly relatively minor) frustrations with operability - mainly related to the following issues I encountered:
- battery life on rides longer than 3 hours when using the ant+ dongle to connect to HR monitor and power meter was poor
- using the touchscreen when moving / in the rain / wearing gloves was hard
- daytime screen visibility with anything below 75% brightness setting (which oddly seemed to eat up battery life more than I imagined) was not good
Also I found sometimes (maybe 30% of the time approx?) the ant+ dongle would get caught or pulled out which was quite annoying.
I bought a Wahoo Bolt and have found it to be robust and usable and has addressed all the aforementioned issues. The battery life is an order of magnitude better than my old phone but I haven’t used a ‘new-ish’ smartphone with the strava app to be able to do a like for like comparison so wonder if the gap may be smaller than previously experienced due to advancement on phone battery life.
I particularly like that the Bolt app (ironically on my phone) allows a high degree of personal configuration but the device itself is very simple and easy to operate when out on a ride.
Obviously the downside has been the expenditure outlay and the fact I now have two devices on me when riding as opposed to one.
On the event of a crash I’m not certain having the phone in my jersey would mean it was any more / or less protected than if it was on mount as I’m pretty heavy and if I landed on it I assume I’d squash the screen quite badly.
Overall I’d say I’m happy with the Wahoo. The iPhone was ok though and if I couldn’t have afforded the Wahoo then in no way would it have been an unbearable burden to keep on using the Strava app on my phone.
I now have a newer iPhone X now so wonder whether as technology has moved one it may actually have resolved some of the issues I’d encountered with the 8 model.
I have no understanding of the benefits from an aero perspective of the competing setups - I expect the difference (for an average Joe novice rider like myself) is pretty small and I’d probably make more significant improvements through focusing on the basics like body position?
Only other (unexpected but obvious once I’d thought about it) benefit is that when riding if I want to take an impromptu photo my phone is close to hand in my jersey pocket and I don’t have to try and faff about with the quad lock.
Final (subjective) observation - I feel less nervous about banging the Wahoo head unit than I do with my phone, not just in a crash but more generally either dropping it or knocking it around accidentally. I guess this is a psychological thing as I probably view my phone as being more fragile (due to the screen etc) and it’s certainly has a greater financial value. I have no evidence that it IS more fragile through - it’s just a presumption on my part …
Thanks to the OP for actually conducting some testing and reporting back 
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Phones are for emergencies, so if you’re unfortunate enough to have a crash and wreck your phone in the process, good luck calling for a ride home or worse yet, calling for emergency help if you’re injured. Yes this can happen if the phone is in your pocket as well, but IMO its more likely to break if its sitting on the front of your bike than on your back. I have taken many spills MTBing with my phone in my back pocket and its lived, but I’ve also seen plenty of guys with broken tabs on their garmins/wahoos when they have accidents. No thanks
Like I said, the OPs combination of phone and circumstances meant it worked well for him. He’s not saying “everyone should use a phone” or “everyones phone will last 6 hours” but simply "I’ve tested this particular phone under this particular set of circumstances (which would be a fairly typical arrangement for the average rider) and these were my findings.
Yep - would not want to ride with a phone on the bars Mtn biking! But I think during mountain biking a bike computer on the bars isn’t super useful either as most of the time it’s eyes on the trail!. So I just use my phone in my pocket for tracking.
Even for road stuff if you have a wreck your front end will usually hit first. I’d rather break my wahoo than break my phone and have no way to call for help
How would the phone make contact with something in a crash?
The bars protect it from the side. The wheel protects it from the front. The drops of the bars protect it from below. The hoods most likely protect it if the bike is upside down.
Unless the phone flies off its mount, or you have a particularly extravagant crash with something like a lamp post that fits between your handlebars and the front wheel, damaging the phone in a crash seems unlikely
Actually there is a point in there that is worth dwelling on. The connectivity of the phone. My experiences run counter to @cowboyjons. I ran out of juice on several notable occasions. In fairness this was in the early iterations of the smartphones or else epic rides (the BT streaming death was an 11 hour ride). Since my computer pre-dates any of my smartphones in my case the point is moot. What I have noticed though is that my connectivity on my smartphones is not great. This is with both Iphones and Androids. I have noticed that BT drop outs are frequent on the bike, almost never off it when sat quietly. I think that the vibration breaks the lock. Never had this problem with my bike computer. Is this an issue? Well not really as such, more of an irritant. To the point where I have stopped BT streaming on the bike. Would I stop using my phone if it kept breaking lock. Yeah. But that’s just me. The rain thing is a bit more important. Iphones and most new androids are IP45 so they should be good. Although you may struggle swiping in the rain.
The primary argument for me is robustness. My phone is way too fragile and I am way too klutzy. I would argue that a low TSS rider could do fine with a phone but those of us that go long or are not blessed with handling skills are SOL.
You know in a crash, bars and a wheel and hoods can break right? Its one of those “what ifs” I’d rather not test, but I’d feel bad for someone if they had a bad accident on a solo ride in the middle of nowhere and had no way to get emergency assistance.
You cannot judge how any accident will play out. Transmitted shock loads can cause major damage to components without the need for direct impact. In most of the crashes I have had my garmin detached. 
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