Is the ionic any good for cycling?

[Zxid]

I'm considering switching from a bike-mounted GPS to the ionic. I do fairly long rides (between 50 and 100km). Will it be able to track rides like that? 

[sh211]

It was untill it died after 15 mo. 

[Zxid]

15 mo? 

[sh211]

Yep, worked great until it just died without warning or issue. In reading the forums, apparently mine lasting 15 months made me a lucky one. Many people are saying theirs died in a shorter period of time.

[Stu_B]

It would be interesting if there are any metrics on actual failures or not. 

With my previous fitbit (Blaze) I had no issues for 2 years, but the forums were full of people stating it was awful.

I have had my Ionic for around a year now with no real issues - the only one that sometimes niggles is synching with android, but seems to have been improved recently.  I have used it for running, cycling, football (soccer), swimming (pool and sea), workouts etc.

Yet these forums are full of people with failures and problems - its difficult to know if I am lucky and these forums are typical, or whether I am typical and most users are ok and these forums are a the unlucky ones.  I would suggest that typically unhappy people make more noise than happy people 🙂

In respect of the original cycling question - I have only used it on 10km rides so far, so can't really comment on the longer rides.  I may be trying some 20km rides to work soon, if I remember I will report back.

[Baltoscott]

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@Zxid wrote:

I'm considering switching from a bike-mounted GPS to the ionic. I do fairly long rides (between 50 and 100km). Will it be able to track rides like that? 

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Hi @Zxid.  I have an Ionic and some Garmin bike mounted GPSs.  I've used the Ionic a few times in the 50K range, and once for 75 miles.  On the 75 mile ride I think I ran out of battery before I finished.  But I'm kind of slow.  

I like having both devices.  In general, I prefer a bike mounted GPS because it is easier to review while you are riding.  Don't have to take your hands off the handlebars as much and you can switch screens with one hand while keeping the other on the bars.  So when I'm using one of my bikes at home, I'm usually using the bike mounted GPS.  However, I also use bikeshare bikes to get around in the city I work in (I commute from Baltimore to DC).  When I use those, it is really cool to be able to record the ride with wrist-based GPS because it is always 'right there' on my wrist. And I send all the rides (both Fitbit and Garmin) to Strava so it doesn't matter that much that I am using two different platforms to record rides. 

Of course, having a wrist-based GPS solution lets you record activities beyond bike rides, so that is a big plus for an Ionic if you decide you only want one device or platform.  I just think a handlebar mounted GPS is usually a better bike solution so that's why I like having both.