IPhone GPS Lap Timer

[Cornfed]

So Bueller turn me on to a GPS lap timer he downloaded through his phone App store. I think he has a Droid or something because I couldnt find the same App that he had. I did search on my IPhone App store and found a GPS Lap timer that learns the track as you ride it so there is no searching and downloading the track map to make it work. It works pretty fricken good. The only thing I dont like, or havent got used to is that it doesnt give you a start/finish time. Once it has learned the track, (it takes about a lap and half), it displays your real time pace, i.e. your running a 1min 10 second pace in the case of IMI, rather than duration of the lap starting at 0:00. Once you stop you can then review each lap time, mph, braking/neutral/acceleration points, fastest lap and highest mph. Im sure it does more but Im still tryin to figure it out.

The app is called "Lapping Coach Lap Timer" Its a $30 app which seems like a lot until you figure a new lap timer and beacon runs almost $300.

Hope this is of use to someone.

[Vellos]

Thanks. Were you running 1:10?

[Clovis]

Does it require that you have cell phone service to use? (like the GPS on the phone).

[Cornfed]

Does it require that you have cell phone service to use? (like the GPS on the phone).

I dont know.

I spent some time looking through the App Store and I have found 3-4 more that are cheaper, around $15. Based on the description it looks like they work like a regular lap timer, counting up from 0:00 at a start finish line. Kinda wish I would have done more research before I spent the $30.
Anyone else have any experience using any of these IPhone GPS lap timers?

[gsxrscott]

Does it require that you have cell phone service to use? (like the GPS on the phone).

The Iphone 3g and 3gs have built in GPS recivers and therefore dont need cell service for the gps to work. Your phone may vary.

[Cornfed]

Id also take some advice on mounting the phone over the speedo area. It needs to be solid but not permanent so I can take it right back off for street rides. I plan on buying a belt snap in holder thing so it is easy to put on and off between secessions. Just not sure how Im going to mount it yet. Anybody have any creative ideas.

[Graphite675]

While these are great toys, they are not replacements for a real laptimer or transponder. The GPS accuracy of a cell phone is just not that great, especially for a fast moving application like a laptimer. The refresh frequency is pretty low for most phones.

Better then nothing but don't think your record breaking lap time will hold up in court using one of these.

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[Vellos]

I have the built-in one. I like seeing my time for each lap so I know where I was improving or where I need to improve. Might be able to get an aftermarket one put in? Push a button for start/stop and push another for each lap. It'll hold your past lap on the screen for a while, but starts the new lap timer immediately in the background.

[Titus]

Supposedly Pirelli has a free iphone app that does all this...I saw it on their site but can't find it in the app store.

[Bueller]

While these are great toys, they are not replacements for a real laptimer or transponder. The GPS accuracy of a cell phone is just not that great, especially for a fast moving application like a laptimer. The refresh frequency is pretty low for most phones.

Better then nothing but don't think your record breaking lap time will hold up in court using one of these.

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I don't really care how nats ass accurate they are when talking free (android) compared to $400+ for a "real" one.
I don't use them enough or really care enough to spend that kind of $, my race laptimes will be the fastest and I can get those @ the races if I am not lazy or I can wait for results. IMO people concentrate too much on lap times and stop concentrating on riding. My improvements have come from working on corners rather than chasing fast lap times.

[OUTLAWD]

IMO people concentrate too much on lap times and stop concentrating on riding. My improvements have come from working on corners rather than chasing fast lap times.

werd.

I have a hard wired lap timer on my bike that I never use...lol
unless you pony up for a gps model that plugs into the ECU, then your laptime is just a number with no other helpful info

my biggest improvments have come by just trying to be smooth and consistent

[Graphite675]

I don't really care how nats ass accurate they are when talking free (android) compared to $400+ for a "real" one.
I don't use them enough or really care enough to spend that kind of $, my race laptimes will be the fastest and I can get those @ the races if I am not lazy or I can wait for results. IMO people concentrate too much on lap times and stop concentrating on riding. My improvements have come from working on corners rather than chasing fast lap times.

I was just pointing out that this is not a replacement for a real laptimer as far as accuracy. A phone GPS has a refreash rate of about 1.5Hz. Great for finding starbucks but for a laptimer you could have inconsistancies in the seconds range, certainly in the 10ths of seconds. If your ok with that then fine.


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[Cornfed]

I was just pointing out that this is not a replacement for a real laptimer as far as accuracy. A phone GPS has a refreash rate of about 1.5Hz. Great for finding starbucks but for a laptimer you could have inconsistancies in the seconds range, certainly in the 10ths of seconds. If your ok with that then fine.


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My lap times aren't consistent enough that at this point a 1/10 won't matter to me. So my question is this, do u think they r accurate to a 0.5 second?

[Bueller]

I was just pointing out that this is not a replacement for a real laptimer as far as accuracy. A phone GPS has a refreash rate of about 1.5Hz. Great for finding starbucks but for a laptimer you could have inconsistancies in the seconds range, certainly in the 10ths of seconds. If your ok with that then fine.


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I am fine with that. Like I said I really don't care enough turn the thing on most of the time anyway
I will spend my $ on track time rather than something that tells me how slow I am

[rforsythe]

I got the Harry's Laptimer iPhone app, I think it was $16.99 or something. Does GPS timing, track mapping, accel/decel recording, shows your speed around the track for each lap, it'll even record video on an iPhone4 and overlay the data on it (I have not tried that feature, not sure how best to mount it to get a good shot). I think in addition to using the phone's GPS, it also uses the accelerometer data to get better positional information, but I'm not 100% sure of that. There is also a companion iPad app I haven't tried yet, that supposedly lets you analyze your laps in better detail on the bigger screen - it'll even sync your laps between phone and pad via bluetooth at the track.

I ended up getting an Otterbox Defender case online for fairly cheap. It's about as bulletproof as I can make it, and the bright red color should make it easier to find if it goes flying. The holster holds the phone tight, which I have safety wired to the bike.

All in all I'm happy with the combo.

[Cornfed]

I was just pointing out that this is not a replacement for a real laptimer as far as accuracy. A phone GPS has a refreash rate of about 1.5Hz. Great for finding starbucks but for a laptimer you could have inconsistancies in the seconds range, certainly in the 10ths of seconds. If your ok with that then fine.


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Just reread this post again. I guess u already answered my question
Thanks man!