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Dork Logging

Da Peach

Da Peach

Outwitted by a rodent
Jul 2, 2002
13,683
4,912
North Van
My Olympian sister in law just handed over her old Polar M400 GPS watch with a heart rate monitor and everything. It's kinda neat.

I already use Strava with my iPhone 6, and have had my doubts towards its accuracy and just assumed my M400 would be far superior in terms of GPS accuracy. When I looked into it, I found this:

http://fellrnr.com/wiki/GPS_Accuracy

Turns out the M400 is about as bad as it gets.

However, I like the HR monitor feature that the watch has added.

Any other dork logger users out there how have decided that a dedicated GPS watch was worth the upgrade from a smartphone?

What did decide to get?
 
Serial Midget

Serial Midget

Al Bundy
Jun 25, 2002
13,053
1,896
Fort of Rio Grande
I've used a heart rate monitor for years, it's good for endurance training; knowing your HR helps identify a pace or effort level that you can sustain for the long haul. As for GPS - the shorter the distance or tighter the course the less accurate they tend to be, at least in my day - things may have improved recently. To test: run around a football field for a mile and see what you tracker has to say about the distance covered.
 
canadmos

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,451
19,450
Canaderp
You can draw fairly accurate parking lot dickbutts with a smart phone. Compare with a dickbutt drawing on the dedicated device.

That's really the only way.

On a less serious note, both my Android and iPhone seem to be pretty accurate in terms of GPS. I once mowed my lawn with Strava turned on and the track stayed within my property lines.
 
Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,407
20,195
Sleazattle
canadmos said:
You can draw fairly accurate parking lot dickbutts with a smart phone. Compare with a dickbutt drawing on the dedicated device.

That's really the only way.

On a less serious note, both my Android and iPhone seem to be pretty accurate in terms of GPS. I once mowed my lawn with Strava turned on and the track stayed within my property lines.
Click to expand...
KOM that shit.
 
Da Peach

Da Peach

Outwitted by a rodent
Jul 2, 2002
13,683
4,912
North Van
yeah. I think the speed one travels has a pretty big effect.

It's just funny when one of my crew gets a crazy fast segment when we were all riding together at roughly the same pace. Times like that are a funny reminder that the KOMs are pretty suspect at best. Faster riders are faster, for sure, but probably not necessarily by the huge margins Strava might have you believe.

It doesn't make a huge difference to me, but I was hoping wearing my dorky M400 watch would come with the benefit of added accuracy. Bummed it doesn't. However, I'm liking the heart rate monitor.

I'll troll craigslist and see if I can pick up a more accurate dork device for cheap.
 
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