Support

December 1st, 2009

Welcome to CycleMetrics support.  In order to ask a question, or get feedback from me on a suggestion, please use the getsatisfaction.com link to the left.  Otherwise, here are a few answers to commonly asked questions, or instructions if you will:

  1. Why is the top bar red sometimes?
    • The top bar is red when the GPS signal is weaker than optimal. If possible, you should wait until the bar is black to start your ride for the best accuracy.
  2. Why is the power screen showing 0 watts for everything?
    • Because there is no weight entered in the iPhone settings screen for CycleMetrics to use to estimate power generation. The best way to figure this out is to either stand on a scale holding your bike to get your weight with the bike and all of your stuff on, or weigh your bike and yourself separately and add.
  3. What happens if I answer a phone call, or exit the program to change playlists?
    • The application will quit, but it will save the state of the speed, distance, and time. The time, moving and otherwise will continue, assuming that it is a short call and you will speak through the headset. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that if you run out of battery, technically the ride will continue until you re-enter the program and press end on the time screen.
  4. Speaking of battery, how long do I have?
    • In my testing, the battery, if you turn off Notifications, 3G, Wi-Fi, Push, manual email fetch, and bluetooth, will last for about 3 hours of riding. I would recommend riding in the configuration above, if you don’t the battery will probably only last about 1 1/2 hours. I have designed the application to use as little battery as I can, but push and notifications especially are power hungry.
  5. Why does the power reading show crazy high max numbers?
    • The power meter is just an estimate of what you are doing. I am doing a number of calculations to smooth out the data, but things like hitting bumps, sudden deceleration, sudden movements, etc… make the data a bit rough at times. Occasionally you will see a spurious value. I will continue to work on this to improve my algorithms
  6. Why doesn’t CycleMetrics take meaningful readings when the phone is in my saddlebag?
    • There are a few reasons why this is, the first is that the power meter is set up to track the phone being nearly upright, landscape or portrait, it doesn’t matter, but flat won’t work very well. The next is that being in the saddlebag may cause the GPS to be less accurate, affecting moving times. The best place is really in a jersey pocket on your back, that is where I have had it while testing and designing the application.
  7. What do I need to export my data to Google Docs and Google Maps?
    • All you need is a google account, typically a gmail address and password. One thing about the spreadsheets though, if you delete the spreadsheet, it is still in “trash” and will be updated when you upload the program. A new spreadsheet will not be created. You will have to empty the trash to have it create a new spreadsheet.
  8. I have an iPhone 3G, why does it take so long to delete a ride?
    • The iPhone 3G isn’t as fast as the 3GS so some operations take a long time. Deleting a ride removes the ride as well as all of the associated GPS waypoints, of which during a ride could number in the thousands. This just takes time. If you are patient, it will complete
  9. Why does sending a ride to Google take so long?
    • Sending a ride to Google, or generating a ride for email for example, does the same thing as deleting, except with the additional overhead of the actual transmission of data. I would recommend that you wait until you have Wi-Fi or at least 3G before sending the rides to Google as over EDGE it can take a while.
  10. Why is there no metric option for units?
    • Because I’m a filthy stinking American and I only think in feet, yards, etc… No, I do intend to provide an option in settings to display metric units, it was just easier for me to test with it in “imperial” units. I am not sure when I’ll get metric in, but it is in plan.
  11. How do I lock the screen when I am riding?
    • Just switch views by pressing a different option than the time view on the metrics screen. CycleMetrics was designed to allow mostly hands-free use while riding.
  12. Why does the phone go to sleep sometimes, not recording part of my ride?
    • There is, I believe a bug with the iPhone, such that when you get a phone call, whether you answer it or not, the phone ignores the application telling it not to go to sleep. In CycleMetrics version 1.1 and below, this is a problem, in 1.1.1 it should be fixed. To workaround this problem, just go into the settings application and tell the iPhone to never go to sleep. Just remember to set it back when you are done riding!
  13. Can I change playlists from within the application?
    • At this time, no, I would recommend selecting a suitable playlist before opening the program. However, no evil should occur if you need to exit the program to choose another playlist and re-enter, but do you really want to stop your ride to do that?
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