iDash Review
iDash Review
The most innovative, easy to use, accurate, customizable and informational on board cycling tool available. Whether your goals are as simple as speed and heart rate or more suited to include power output (watts), cadence, slope, GPS mapping and wind the iDash has what you need in big, bold, easy to access and accurate real time screen presentation. I was a prior Gen iii Pro wireless user for over 2.5 years I loved the accuracy, price point and portability of the Gen iii Pro. When I heard news by Velocomp of the marriage of the the iphone and a cycling computer/power meter app I thought it was nirvana, but could it deliver the same or better accuracy and functionality of the Gen iii Pro? I decided to take the plunge. I mean I always carried my iPhone in my saddle bag on my rides anyway and the interface with the PhoneBooth coupled with the removal of my iBike iii Pro only added a net weight of 20 grams. I always felt the readout on the iPro was a bit small and non customized, with the iDash I can read the screen so much better and customize the screen readout to the data that is important to me. As far as accuracy this thing is dead on to the numbers when I compared it to similar rides done with my Gen iii. I could go on for pages of all the improvements this device has over the Gen iii or any cycling computer/power meter I have seen. In short, the iDash is a must have product. It is a winner.....
Re: iDash Review
I recently adjusted my "weight" by 10 pounds, did a cal ride and I now reset wind and calibrate my DFPM before each ride. In the six rides since I made those changes and began that routine I've gotten an average 98.4 % concurrence on both NP and AVG watts with my Power Tap. None of these six rides were in ideal conditions. There's been a lot of wind from all directions and some relatively rough pavement mixed in with smooth surfaces. The largest difference in AVG watts was 4.4% and the smallest .1% twice. The largest difference in NP watts was 3% and the smallest .1%. I know it's only six rides but I'm happy with those results and I'm now confident in the accuracy of the unit. And it takes maybe 10 seconds to do the wind offset and DFPM calibration.
I did a couple of 4 hour rides with the unit when I first received it. I need the screen brightness turned up full on to see when wearing my sun glasses. Battery was getting low. I'm not sure it would have made 5 hours. I'd want to carry a spare battery on any longer rides.
I rode in one rain shower and had no problem with water breaching the unit. It wasn't a hard rain which may have different results but again, I gained confidence in the unit. I did sweat all over the unit with no adverse impact.
The user interface is really amazing. I hated the home screen right away. So I built my own screen. I wanted my DFPM and iDash Power side by side. So about 6 finger touches later I've got that on a screen. I wanted speed and distance side by side so I added that and then HR and cadence, then wind and slope .... Oh yeah, I did this while taking a water break next to the road. In a couple of minutes. Given the platform I imagine there are even nicer interface components in the works.
The ability to mail iDash files from the unit is a huge improvement over attaching the iAero to a USB unit. It's so much more straight forward. No more oops, forgot to download and clear iAero ride data. I mail it, delete it, keep it .... it just doesn't matter.
I did a couple of 4 hour rides with the unit when I first received it. I need the screen brightness turned up full on to see when wearing my sun glasses. Battery was getting low. I'm not sure it would have made 5 hours. I'd want to carry a spare battery on any longer rides.
I rode in one rain shower and had no problem with water breaching the unit. It wasn't a hard rain which may have different results but again, I gained confidence in the unit. I did sweat all over the unit with no adverse impact.
The user interface is really amazing. I hated the home screen right away. So I built my own screen. I wanted my DFPM and iDash Power side by side. So about 6 finger touches later I've got that on a screen. I wanted speed and distance side by side so I added that and then HR and cadence, then wind and slope .... Oh yeah, I did this while taking a water break next to the road. In a couple of minutes. Given the platform I imagine there are even nicer interface components in the works.
The ability to mail iDash files from the unit is a huge improvement over attaching the iAero to a USB unit. It's so much more straight forward. No more oops, forgot to download and clear iAero ride data. I mail it, delete it, keep it .... it just doesn't matter.