Smartphone GPS apps have come a long way in just a few short years – but don’t count out the dedicated GPS unit for mountain biking just yet. This year at CES, manufacturers announced new devices and form factors that you’ll want to know about if you’re thinking of getting a GPS for mountain biking.

Magellan Switch and Switch Up

Many manufacturers have pulled back from offering GPS units with all the bells and whistles, instead focusing on durability and even wearability, something smartphones can’t compete with. Magellan has always been an also-ran compared to Garmin in the fitness GPS category but this year the company is releasing the Switch, a wristwatch GPS unit that can also be mounted to your handlebars.

The Switch Up features a “quick release” mount, making it easy to transition from wrist brand to handlebar.

The Switch packs a high sensitivity GPS chip set and eight hours of battery life plus it’s water resistant enough for triathletes to use while swimming. The “Switch Up” adds a barometric altimeter for more accurate elevation readings plus a thermometer. Of course you can also pair the device with a heart rate monitor or other ANT+ devices for even more fitness data collection. Pricing will start at $249.99 for the base model.

At Outdoor Retailer, Magellan was also showing the new Explorist series and while the top of the line models suffer a bit of smartphone envy (touch screen, integrated camera), the company is offering an entry level model for just $129 MSRP. The Explorist 110 features a color screen and integrated world map basemaps with roads, water features, and parks included. I previewed some of the basemaps at Outdoor Retailer last week and they appear to be almost as detailed as a basic Google Map.

Motorola MOTOACTV

Pat Basuel again? I’m trying to mountain bike. Ignore.

Magellan isn’t the only company getting into the fitness GPS market – Motorola wants a piece too. The MOTOACTV combines a Bluetooth and ANT+ compatible GPS with an MP3 player for one of the most fully featured wrist devices we’ve seen. With a touchscreen color display, the MOTOACTV is sorta like a mini smartphone you can wear on your wrist – with Bluetooth it even lets you answer phone calls while you’re riding!

Unlike the other wearable GPS units we’ve seen, the MOTOACTV appears to offer decent mapping on the trail. And with ANT+ compatibility, you can sync power meters, cadence sensors, and heart rate monitors for detailed data collection during your ride. The MOTOACTV starts at $249.99 (wrist strap not included).

AMOD AGL3080

Talk about a lack of bells and whistles – the AGL3080 doesn’t even have a display screen! This unit is designed to be a GPS photo logger but you can also use it to map your MTB rides. Just turn it on and the LEDs let you know when it’s got a satellite fix. Step 2: ride.

Sure, the AGL3080 can’t help you when you’re lost but it is great for mapping and for adding location data to the photos you snap on the trail. Because it doesn’t have a screen, the AGL3080 can run for at least 20 hours on its AAA batteries and can store up to 1 million track points (as a point of comparison, the entire 1,500+ map singletracks database has just over 2 million track points). Perhaps the best part is you can usually find the AGL3080 online for less than $80.

These wearable and simple GPS units may not be for everyone but it’s definitely a category for mountain bikers to watch this year. What kind of GPS / cycling computer are you using these days?

Logging GPS tracks of your rides can be fun and informative. You can compare your times from previous rides, use the data to make full-blown maps for yourself or others, and you can even use those maps to earn a free, lifetime pro membership here at Singletracks!

Just a couple of years ago, tracking your ride required a dedicated GPS device, some retail or other proprietary software on your PC, and usually a paid membership to some website to upload all the tracks to. The evolution of GPS-enabled smartphones has changed all of that for the casual user. There are still excellent dedicated units on the market, and they usually come with bundled software and special websites, but for this article, we will focus instead on doing it for free with the smartphone you already have and some free software tools. Please note, this is about creating logs of your rides, NOT navigating via pre-existing GPS data. I will cover that in another article.

This article assumes you have access to a smartphone with built-in GPS. The first step will be to select an app to log your GPS position to a file every few seconds while you ride.

Android

For Android phones, MyTracks is a free app that works with your phone’s internal GPS to generate a track of your trip which can then be exported as a GPX, KML, TCX or CSV file (more on these formats in a bit.) In addition to GPS data tracking and display, if your phone happens to be ANT+ compatible, MyTracks can also interface with a Polar heart rate monitor or SRM power meter. This basically turns your phone into a Garmin Edge 800!

I have played with this app a little on my wife’s Evo 4G and it is fairly straightforward to use and seems to be accurate. Tracks are exported to the SD card, or can be uploaded to Google Maps, Facebook or Twitter. There is not an export via email feature.

iPhone

iPhone users also have a number of free and paid apps for GPS. GPS Tuner was reviewed by trek7k here on the blog, and it comes in a free ‘lite’ version, or you can gain access to the full feature set for $6.99. The lite version supports saving and exporting GPX tracks as per this post. You can read trek7k’s review of the full version here.

Blackberry

For my Blackberry I use and highly recommend the shareware app GPSLogger II. This app can log your progress at a set time interval and can be set to log track points at or above a preset speed (so that it doesn’t log your bathroom or snack breaks.) In addition to the basic logging functions, it also has a track-back feature to retrace your steps, a multi-panel display to show various stats while you ride, a ‘bike computer’ display mode, an audible alert for pre-defined distance markers, and an emergency alert mode if you stop moving for a set amount of time (that last feature requires cell service.)

Working With The Track Data

Okay, you’ve downloaded a GPS app to your smartphone, you’ve been on a ride and captured a track. … Now what?

First, about those file types…

The ‘standard’ format for GPS data files is .gpx, which is a form of XML. You can open one of these files in Wordpad to get an idea of how they work. TCX is a proprietary format created by Garmin. For regular old GPS data it is not needed, but if you also track heart rate data during your ride you will need this format. KML is a format specific to Google Earth. CSV is the same XML format as GPX, but formatted to open in a spreadsheet. GPX is the common denominator that works in all scenarios, so we’ll stick with that for the purposes of this post.

Using whatever method is appropriate to your phone, get the .gpx file to your computer. If you need to edit out any extraneous data from wandering around the parking lot, or even from the drive home, you can do so quickly and easily with a program called GPX Editor. Open the program, browse to and open your .gpx file, and it will be displayed graphically. You can then select and delete sections or segments, and save the trimmed version for uploading.

The next step is to find a place to upload the file.

First, there are a number of trails here on Singletracks.com that are lacking solid map data. If you record and upload three new or updated tracks, you will earn a free lifetime Pro membership to Singletracks.com. How cool is that! To upload here, look up the trail page for which you have GPS data. Under the ‘Dashboard’ section in the upper right, click the Add GPS Data link. Browse to the .gpx file on your hard drive, write a brief description and then click ‘Finish’ The submitted data will be reviewed and added to the map page for that trail.

Several websites allow for uploading and long-term tracking of your ride data. I have tried a bunch and have settled on Strava.com. The site allows you to upload and store your GPS tracks and then easily view charts and stats over the course of a number of rides, a specific time frame, etc. You can even tag rides to a specific bike and view stats per bike. (Handy for us reviewers.)

My second favorite site is Trimble Outdoors. Two of my favorite features on their site are the ability to ‘draw’ missing or extra sections by hand, for example if your GPS device misses a section, and the ability to embed geo-tagged photos. The latter is handy for creating a trail guide with pics of major intersections like this.

And finally, there is GPS App (beta) from the creators of Singletracks.com. GPS App has basic track management features, and also allows online editing of your track without the need for a standalone program.

Speaking of using your GPS data for geotagging photos, if your digital camera includes EXIF data in the digital image files (most do) then you can ‘geotag’ your photo by adding the GPS coordinates of each photo to the EXIF data. There is a free program for this called GPS Correlate. It comes in both Windows and Linux versions and I have used it pretty extensively. It works by loading up a .gpx file and a folder of digital pictures. It reads the timestamps of the photos and matches them up with corresponding track points on your GPX track. Once a match is made, the GPS coordinates are written permanently to the digital picture file. Sites like Flickr and Trimble Outdoors can understand this EXIF data, including the Geotag, and use it to place your pics on a map.

This is a lot of technical info, so here is a summary of the steps we’ve covered:

1. It’s assumed that you have a smartphone with built-in GPS.
2. Grab an app for your particular phone and spend a few minutes familiarizing yourself with the basic operation.
3. Bring your phone, start the GPS logger app and go for a ride. Don’t forget to stop logging when you finish!
4. Export the resulting .gpx data file to your PC via USB or email.
5. If needed, edit your file with GPX Editor or GPS App.
6. Upload your file to Singletracks, Strava, Trimble Outdoors, or open it in Google Earth.
7. Enjoy looking at your ride all mapped out, and check out your stats such as climbing, average speed, etc.
8. Optionally, Geotag the photos you took along the way.

It seems like there’s no shortage of GPS applications for the iPhone these days but honestly most of them suck. Confusing interfaces, limited functionality, and poor reliability are par for the course, leaving us wondering why no one has tried to mimic successful interface designs from real GPS companies like Garmin. Then we tried an iPhone app called GPS Tuner that does pretty much everything our Garmin does – and more.

Interface

The GPS Tuner interface is mostly black and white which makes it easy to read and navigate. The trip computer screen is completely customizable and you can choose a layout with 2, 4, or 6 data fields. I found even the 6-field layout was easy to read on the bike and changing the data within each field was a cinch.

Mapping

Clearly any GPS app for the iPhone should place an emphasis on mapping and this is where GPS Tuner shines. You can choose from Google or one of several flavors of OpenStreet Maps (including a cycling-specific version) for the basemaps which are downloaded as needed. There’s also an option to download OpenStreet Map tiles before you head out of cell data range, helpful for forays into the backcountry.

GPS Tuner allows you to measure distances on the map by drawing a line with your finger which works well for estimating distances. There’s also a routing tool called SmartRoute Off-Road that claims to find the best route between two points, even through roadless areas. Routing is completed server-side meaning you need a data connection to do it but once the route is complete you can save it to your phone for later use. One complaint I have about the map screen is that it doesn’t orient the map in the direction of travel and I found myself twisting my head to get a better idea of what was coming up.

The elevation chart in GPS Tuner shows you a 2-dimensional plot of your altitude vs. time and the zoom feature makes it easy to see more detail. I’ve personally been disappointed to find that many entry level fitness GPS units omit this feature despite its usefulness on the trail.

Track and Data Recording

Just like the other GPS apps out there, GPS Tuner allows you to record tracks, routes, and waypoints during your ride. I love how easy it is to start – just hit the record button and go! There’s also a pause and stop button which is a great analogy that I hope other manufacturers latch onto. Since the iPhone doesn’t have a file system per se, you’ll need to email saved tracks to yourself in either GPX or KML format. Oddly enough, the GPX track export function actually saves the data in route format which isn’t the same thing at all. Luckily there are utilities that will convert route data to track data but it’s annoying to have the do the extra step (there may be a setting to fix this in the app but I found the online help to be somewhat incomplete).

In terms of track recording accuracy, you’re really at the mercy of the iPhone hardware and on tight singletrack my track data came out looking like a plate of spaghetti. The trackpoint polling interval can’t be changed either which makes detailed, accurate trail mapping difficult.

GPS Tuner presents a set of summary data for saved tracks and I found some of the stats from a recent ride pretty interesting. We’ve all been on rides where we think, “that seemed like way more climbing than descending,” and GPS Tuner can tell you if it’s true with a display of the overall % climbing/descending/flat. On a 20 mile ride last night I clocked 45% descending, 47% climbing, and 7% flat which actually sounds pretty accurate. The app also said my max acceleration was 42 ft/s^2 which is a little suspect considering that free fall is only 32 ft/s^2.

this trail is actually a loop that doesn’t cross over itself but you’d never know it from this track data

Other Functions

The GPS Tuner app includes some bells and whistles the average mountain biker may or may not find useful. There’s a bubble level (which I used to check the angle of my seat, 2-degrees) and a camera for taking geo-tagged photos (the iPhone’s built-in camera can do this too).

GPS Tuner features an emergency function that, when activated, sends an email to a list of pre-defined contacts with your last recorded location. Just remember – you need data access and this feature won’t notify emergency responders directly (for that, call 911 on your phone!).

Limitations

Despite all the great features GPS Tuner has to offer, the biggest limitation to using the app on the trail is the iPhone hardware itself. I found my phone’s touchscreen is worthless when I’m wearing gloves and mounting the phone to my handlebars requires an extreme act of faith. In playing around with the app I also found there’s no easy way to “quit” which keeps the app running in the background even when you’re not recording a track, draining the battery in a little under 2 hours. The solution: when you’re done, double tap the home button on your main app screen, then hold down your finger over the row of icons at the bottom until you see the minus sign for quitting the app.

GPS Tuner is our choice for the best GPS iPhone app thanks to its clean interface, solid feature list, and ease of use. And while it won’t replace our Garmin units for serious mountain biking trips, it’s a good choice for those who aren’t ready to commit to a standalone GPS unit for mountain biking. Check out the free version in the iPhone app store or buy the full version for just $6.99.

Thanks to the folks at GPS Tuner for providing a review copy of the app.

the Mac version of Garmin Training Center adds comparisons, GPX import, and a smoother interface.

Garmin released the latest version of their free Training Center software for the Mac a few weeks ago and we have to say we’re pretty impressed so far. Some of the features we found in the Mac version aren’t even available in the PC version yet (last updated in February) – but perhaps this will serve as a preview of what’s to come. Here are some highlights mountain bikers will find useful:

Export single ride/workout: In previous versions of Garmin Training Center the only option was to export your entire history which didn’t make data super portable. The latest versions (both Mac and PC) allow you to export a single ride to share in either TCX or GPX format. You can still export your entire training database – though we’re guessing you’ll rarely (if ever) want to do that.

Import GPX files: The Mac version now includes the ability to import GPX files directly into Garmin Training Center – no external conversions necessary. Honestly it’s about time – the GPX standard has been around for years and is the most widely adopted format for sharing GPS data. Unfortunately the PC version can only import TCX data for now (though as mentioned above you can export courses in GPX format).

Ride comparisons: The comparison feature included in the latest Mac version takes Garmin Training Center to the next level as a fitness training tool. The software allows you to select two rides and compare them side to side – speed, elevation, etc. This is perfect for comparing your performance on a regular course or even seeing how two different trails stack up against one another.

viewing Garmin Topo basemaps in Garmin Training Center (PC version)

Basemap integration: The PC version of Garmin Training Center has had the ability to view detailed Garmin basemaps but now the Mac version gets the ability as well. As always, Garmin basemaps are sold separately.

Smoother looking graphs: Both the PC and Mac versions of Garmin Training Center have always looked a little clunky but the newest Mac version is definitely more Mac-like. You can even use built in-tools to smooth the displayed graphs to remove spikes caused by bad data. The PC version, on the other hand, still features chunky graphs.

If you use a Garmin Edge or Forerunner for mountain biking, make sure you’re running the latest version of Garmin Training Center to get the most out of these new features. Sharing and loading GPS data for mountain bike trails has never been so easy!

If you followed our coverage of the Durango to Moab hut-to-hut trip this summer you know we used a SPOT GPS transmitter to plot our position along the route. The SPOT was great – easy to use, reliable, and only sipped battery juice – but it was just one part of the GPS puzzle. Since the SPOT doesn’t include a display screen, we needed another unit on the trail for actual navigation.

Enter the Delorme Earthmate PN-60w handheld GPS. A friend actually mentioned this unit before we left for the trip but at first glance I wasn’t impressed – from the ads it just looks like a SPOT transmitter plus a regular handheld GPS which is exactly what I ended up bringing anyway. But here’s the difference: a standalone SPOT transmitter allows you to send ‘OK’ and ‘Help’ messages with canned responses set up before the trip but the PN-60w allows you to customize each message you send via satellite. It’s like one-way text messaging without cell coverage!

So, instead of the seeing the same OK message I sent each morning (Biking trip is going well, having a blast!), the PN-60w could send a message like “We saw a bear yesterday. Cloudy skies today, hope the rain holds out.” To the wives and girlfriends (and singletracks members) who were glued to the coverage, that makes things much more interesting and helpful.

Help messages work the same way. The SPOT has two levels of help messages – those that are sent to a pre-selected list of recipients and those that are sent to emergency personnel (these are called “911″ messages). With the PN-60w you can use the handheld unit to type out details about your emergency and send them through the SPOT.

The handheld also addresses one of my initial gripes about the SPOT – it’s not always obvious what “mode” you’re in. It took me a lot of trial and error at home before I was confident that the unit was transmitting track points and OK messages. By pairing the SPOT with a handheld GPS you can actually control the SPOT graphically using menus and see detailed feedback right on the device.

Of course one of the only drawbacks at this point is that you’re still stuck carrying around two units but I imagine it’s only a matter of time before they integrate the two into a single unit. Now if they could just add an XM radio and Dish Network into one of these things I’d probably never get off the trail. More info at delorme.com.

I’ve always been a fan of the Garmin Edge series of GPS devices for mountain biking but to be honest the color screen units (605 and 705) always seemed overpriced for the feature set. This year the company is planning to release the Garmin Edge 800 and at an MSRP of $449 (sans basemaps) it sits right between the Edge 605 and 705 – but adds a color touchscreen to the mix.

Unless you live under a rock, you’ve probably interacted with maps on your computer or even your phone where you can drag and zoom maps using a mouse or even your finger. In my opinion this is the most intuitive (and quickest) way to understand a map so I’m stoked to see the touchscreen make its way into a cycling GPS. At Interbike I got a chance to play with the Edge 800 a bit and found that it does a decent job, though the screen resolution looked a little chunkier than the 705. According to Garmin, the Edge 800 screen resolution is 160×240 while the Edge 705 has a 176×220 pixel screen – but the Edge 800 screen is more than 30% larger which means the pixels are indeed fatter.

The Edge 800 basically has just two buttons as opposed to the 705 which has 7 buttons and a joystick. Menus on the Edge 800 are navigated using on-screen buttons which could be a problem for gloved hands or sweaty fingers (though we need field tests to see if this is indeed the case). To drag the map screen to preview upcoming terrain you need to click a button on the map screen to “unlock” it.

Overall the Edge 800 is a good bit smaller than the Edge 705 and the screen essentially takes up most of the face of the unit. Like the Edge 705, the Edge 800 is ANT+ compatible with Garmin and third party accessories like power meters, heart rate monitors, etc. Images at garmin.com also show what appears to be a new connector mechanism – let’s hope it lasts longer than the bar clips the Edge series currently uses.

Garmin says the Edge 800 should ship sometime in Q4 of this year though don’t hold your breath – anyone remember how long it took for the Edge 705 to arrive after it was announced? And while the base unit is $449 you’ll need to pony up another $200 ($649 total) to get the “Navigation Bundle” which basically contains all the basemaps you need (it looks like there will be a separate version that includes topo data and trails). We’re stoked to find out more about the Edge 800 so we’ll do our best to keep you posted on the latest!

Here’s a quick one for the GPS geeks like me out there. For 2011 Timex is introducing its first GPS-enabled Ironman watch, the Global Trainer, and it’s chock full of features.

Beyond the typical GPS functions you’d expect – speed, time, distance, elevation – the Timex Global Trainer is ANT+ compatible with dozens of third party heart rate monitors, cadence sensors, and power meters.  The screens are fully customizable so you can view key stats at a glance and you can even program each screen based on the sport (speed for cycling, pace for running, etc.). Timex bills this device as easy to use but let’s just say the jury is still out on that one, especially given the overwhelming array of buttons and menus on this gadget.

With a claimed 15-hour battery life, the Global Trainer was designed with epic rides and marathon training sessions in mind. And unlike some of the other wrist-mounted GPS devices we’ve used, the round body on the Global Trainer shouldn’t impede wrist motion any more than a regular watch. No matter though – Timex even includes a simple bike mount in the box.

While we can’t imagine riders getting much use out of this device for navigation on the trail, it certainly seems like it’s well suited to multi-sport athletes (trail running anyone?). For fitness tracking and training, the Timex Ironman Global Trainer looks to be a great partner.

In case you hadn’t noticed, here at singletracks we’re pretty serious about documenting mountain bike trails around the world with photos, videos, maps, and reviews. So we were pretty excited when we heard about the newest helmet camera from Contour, the ContourGPS. It’s the first wearable action sports video camera to integrate a GPS which makes documenting mountain bike trails pretty much a done deal. Talk about a virtual reality trail experience!

Here’s one of the first videos the Contour folks created using the new camera. Beyond the cool tech, I gotta know what trail this is – looks sick!

One of the things I like about tying GPS data to video is that it means you can’t speed up the tape to make yourself look faster (your actual speed is recorded by the GPS). Admittedly it’s a little tough to watch the map and the video at the same time but still, it’s pretty interesting from a tech perspective.

I’ve always wondered why more digital (still) cameras don’t include GPS for easy geo-tagging, though I never really thought about adding GPS to a video camera. Perhaps someone will come up with a slick iPhone app to do the same, though they’ll need to ship an innovative helmet mount along with the app. Thankfully the ContourGPS sticks with the same versatile design as the original ContourHD and the whole unit weighs in just under 5 ounces.

Of course the video is still high def and we can tell you the ContourHD was already one of the best video cameras for mountain biking. No word on when exactly the ContourGPS will be shipping but you can pre-order it at Amazon.com for $349.99. How would you use a GPS-enabled helmet cam?

Garmin MapSource is a popular software tool for transferring maps and trail data to Garmin GPS units but it can be confusing for first time users, particularly when it comes to loading singletracks trail data. Here’s a quick guide for getting the most out of Garmin MapSource and your singletracks membership.

Load the appropriate basemaps

Most Garmin GPS units don’t have enough memory to store topographic maps for the entire US so MapSource makes it possible to transfer just the maps you need for your trip. Use the “Map Tool” to select the grids you need before heading out or even better, load up topographic data for the areas you use the most (your state, region, etc.) so you can skip this step for local trips. The map tool can be found in the toolbar below the main menu and the icon looks like a polygon.

Once the map grids are selected, click the “Send to Device” icon (looks like an arrow pointing down toward a GPS) and choose to send the Maps. Depending on the size of the area you selected this may take a while.

Loading GPX data

Singletracks offers GPS in a data format called GPX. After downloading a particular GPX trail file, choose “Open” from the “File” menu in MapSource and change the “Files of Type” menu at the bottom of the dialog to “GPS eXchange Format.” Find the appropriate file and click the “Open” button.

To view the track data, click the “Track” tab on the left side of the program, then right click on the track name and choose “Show Selected Track on Map.” The track will be highlighted in yellow and should show all the trackpoints and waypoints in the file.

Next, right click on the track again and choose “Track Properties.” Many popular Garmin GPS units, including the GPSMap 60 series, can’t handle tracks with more than 500 data points so unfortunately you’ll need to eliminate some of the track detail before transferring to your device (otherwise Garmin simply truncates the file after 500 points). Click the “Filter” button and choose to “Filter by” the “Maximum Points.” Set this value to 500, then click OK. Click OK again to return to the map (see below).

To transfer the modified track and associated waypoints to your device, click the “Transfer to GPS” button and be sure to check both the “Tracks” and “Waypoints” buttons. Once the transfer is complete trail maps will be available under “Saved Tracks” on your device (GPS menu navigation and actual title may vary by GPS device).

Some Garmin GPS devices may limit the number of saved tracks (the GPSMap 60 only stores up to 20 tracks at a time) so at times you’ll need to delete tracks before transferring to your device. It’s always a good idea to preview the trail map on your GPS before you leave the house to make sure everything looks good.

Transferring GPX-formatted trail data to your GPS may seem a bit confusing at first but it definitely gets easier each time you do it. Make the most out of your GPS and singletracks membership – get out and explore!

image courtesy Patently Apple.

MacRumors reports on a recent patent application filed by Apple Computer related to a bike “super-computer” that could run on the iPhone and/or iPod. While many of the features mentioned aren’t groundbreaking (speed, cadence, heart rate, GPS routing, among others), there are a few interesting ideas worth mentioning.

Derailleur Settings

We don’t know of an existing sensor that records bike derailleur settings but it’s not too hard to imagine placing a transmitter in the shifters to keep track of gear ratios. Like the Nike+iPod system for running shoes, the sensor would need to be purchased separately or integrated into the shifters before purchase.

Communication Functions

This feature set has the potential to be a game changer, particularly in the world of competitive road cycling where team members are in constant communication with one another. One of the drawings submitted with the patent application shows a map with pins for each rider in a group, along with speed and cadence information for each rider. An obvious extension of this would be to show an estimate of how long it will take to catch a leading rider or to route lost riders back to their group.

Many of the communication functions discussed in the Apple patent seem geared toward the recreational rider including the ability to rate and recommend routes. Riders could also share their ride characteristics (i.e. how fast they are) to assist in forming group rides. In some ways it seems like this might be overkill but remember, this is just a patent application and not necessarily an actual product being developed.

Environmental Condition Tracking

The Apple patent also mentions the potential to track things like wind speed and weather which is interesting but seems useful for only the most serious riders. Besides, we’re imagining one of those spinning weather vanes with cup paddles on the handlebars – not very aero. Perhaps Apple has a more elegant solution involving pulling data from the National Weather Service based on time and location data along the ride. Of course there is such a thing as too much data and the real challenge will be building an interface that makes sense of all the information.

What About Mountain Bikes?

Most of the features listed here sound pretty roadie-centric which is probably a good idea since cyclists are more likely to have cell service on the pavement than on the dirt. And mounting a pricey iPhone on mountain bike handlebars is a risk many riders aren’t willing to take (stuffing the phone in a jersey pocket works but then you can’t see the screen to make use of all the cool features).

Assuming these hurdles could be overcome, we’d love to see a resurrection of our “virtual mountain bike race” concept from several years back. Basically the idea is to use the GPS features to conduct a time trial on a set course and to track the best times online. Then there’s also the whole mapping component – take track data from dozens of riders on a trail network and average the data to produce accurate trail maps. Hey Apple, if you wanna add this stuff to your patent app, let’s talk.

Ok, so we don’t do a lot of product “previews” like this but two MTB products caught our attention this week and we wanted to share. Hopefully within the next few months we’ll get an opportunity to go hands-on to give you the deets.

NiteRider DIY Software

Maximizing existing mountain bike light systems involves trading off light output (lumens) with battery life and until now riders were forced to accept pre-packaged settings from the manufacturers. In the latest Pro models from NiteRider, engineers have added a software layer to the lighting hardware so riders can customize output and run-time to fit the trails and conditions they’re riding. Riders can even come up with their own flash modes and can store up to 4 custom lighting programs for quick access on the trail! Read more at NiteRiderServices.com.

Magellan ToughCase for iPhone

We recently wrote about a handlebar mount for the iPhone and while it works pretty well we’re still a little sketched out about crunching our phone on the trail. Enter the ToughCase from Magellan. At first we thought this was just a really beefy case but it also incorporates a high accuracy GPS chipset to augment the phone’s GPS capabilities PLUS a built-in power supply to keep you juiced on epic rides.

The case is waterproof yet all the phone’s touch screen capabilities are still available while the phone is inside its case. Magellan offers multiple mounting solutions, including a handlebar mount, though there’s no word on whether it comes with an iPhone replacement guarantee.

Just a quick shout for those of you considering a GPS for mountain biking this spring: the DeLorme PN-40 GPS is Amazon’s Deal of the Day today (March 18, 2010). At $219 it’s almost 50% off which ain’t bad. Read our detailed review here.