ARGUS – Another Useful iPhone Application for Your Bike

Argus

An updated review of Argus.  I continue to test iPhone applications that help you measure and track your physical activity.  There are a number of applications you can use – some more robust and useful then others.  I have a number of them reviewed at least to some extent in the summary round up found here. Over the last 1 year! I have been using two of them specifically – ARGUS (I am using the free version of the application) and Runtastic Mountain Bike Pro (I paid for this one)

The good news is that these two applications – both of which I find useful and good to use – are measuring the bike riding activities I do in a relatively similar way!  This is good.  I have tried both the road bike and mountain bike functions.  And surprisingly – the two applications do well as they measured close enough the distance, speed, and calories for the rides

I like the Argus application – it is well done with a good linkage between keeping track of your various forms of exercise and ability to see it all on one screen.  One issue I see – the notion of entering the food you consume is very tedious – and I do not understand what is up with the option to take a photo of your food…. WHY?  So if Argus can fix that – I will like this up even more 🙂

Side note:  a link to some good bike trail photos…Enjoy!

 

 

iPhone 6/6S Plus Mounting on a Bike

iPhone 6/6S Plus

iPhone 6 6S Plus Mountcase with Armor Guard TigraiPhone 6/6S Plus options for mounting on a bicycle…

I have been using my iPhones with a mountain bike ever since my iPhone 4.  Needless to say I value two key factors in figuring out options for how to mount the phone on my bicycle:

  • How sturdy, protective and safe is the mount for the phone
  • How easy is it to operate the phone – to attach it to the bike when you are ready for a ride and using the phone while riding

With those in mind, I have tried several options over the years.  You can read about those in previous postings. For the last year or so I have been using the Tigra MountCase Magnum   – the setup on my mountain bike is seen in the photo below – my iPhone 6/6S Plus.

Mountain Bike iPhone 6/6S Plus Case and Mounting Bracket

One specific item that made it a preferred choice for me (at least) is the ease of attaching the iPhone once you are ready to go biking..The phone has a good solid back in its mounting case due to the metal frame — see below

iPhone 6 6S Plus Mountcase with Armor guard Tigra

When the phone is assembled you are ready to just clip it into the bike mount.  The bike mount is actually installed in the stem of your bike so is very solid and provides a good stable attachment for your phone.   The whole setup is shown in the image below.

iPhone 6 6S Plus Mountcase with Armor Guard TigraNow, I have noticed some small quirks with the Tigra mount case – the one that you may to try for yourself is how your headphones attach to the headphone jack on the iPhone once it is in the Tigra case.  I have some headphones which are no problem, but others with shorter jacks have a looser connection which tends to disconnect from the iPhone if you are going on a rough trail.

Overall the setup of the Tigra MountCase Magnum is good – I like the convenience of how quickly you can attach and disconnect the phone from the mounting point.

Next posting I will review the Tigra with Rubberized Rain Guard that also attaches in the same setup on your bike…

Bontrager Mustang 29 Tubeless Wheels

Bontrager Mustang 29

Trek Bontrager Mustang Mountain Bike 29-inch Tubeless WheelsWhat is the issue with Bontrager Tubeless Mountain bike wheels?

I have been riding on my Trek X-Caliber 29er mountain bike for a couple of years now (I bought the bike in July 2014).  I have a review of the bike in a couple of postings here.  Since then I have had some interesting (not so pleasant) experience with the wheels and inner tubes on the bike.

After one year of riding, I started getting flats / tube punctures on a regular basis.  I even reached a point at time when I was getting one per week (mostly weekend riding).  That was rather unusual, but I decided that I need to learn to patch tubes fast as I would discover the flat as the Murphy Law goes, always right before a bike ride on a Saturday morning….

So after several months, both my front a rear tubes were a like a quilt 🙂 – not a happy situation for real.  Then things escalated.  A month ago, I reached a point where on a Saturday morning I patched both the front and rear tubes of my bike, and assembled the wheels.  I was really displeased when the front wheel started losing air before I even put it back on the bike.

Trek Bontrager Mustang Mountain Bike 29-inch Tubeless WheelsThat was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back – I knew something was wrong with the rims as after I carefully inspected the insides of the tires, I could not find any sharp object that may have act as something that would puncture the tires.

At that point in time, I jumped in my SUV with the wheels of the Trek bike in my trunk and drove off to the Bike Shop.

To give credit where it is due, the maintenance person at the Austin Bicycle Sport Shop immediately identified the problem – the spokes of the wheels were sticking too much into the rim of the wheels.  Based on his assessment the wheels needed some additional tape to cover the ends of the spokes so they do not poke on the inner tube.



Lessons learned:  If you are buying tubeless ready wheels, and you are planning to use inner tubes, make sure you have enough coverage over the spoke ends on the rims to make sure they are not going to be puncturing the inner tubes…!