What are people using for ride logging? Bosch Flow app, Strava or Garmin?

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Rockhopper70

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I have just bought my first e-bike, and it’s running a Bosch SX motor. I’ve got the flow app which seems to be pushed as the way to log rides. I’ve got a Garmin head unit that I used on my previous bike that fed to Garmin Connect then to Strava and sometimes I would use the Apple Fitness/Workout app to record a ride.

On the first ride yesterday, I set Strava running on my Apple Watch but the Flow app seems to have started up midway round so the watch went from displaying Strava details to then just showing my HR per the Flow app. But Strava was still running.

Also a few thoughts, does the flow app have the privacy boundary around your home address such as Strava does?

Is the flow app good enough to rely on for rides, and then sync to Strava or can it be flaky.

Has anyone used the dynamic range function with a preloaded route, and did it work OK?

Thanks
 
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I may not be the right person for this because my need and use for navigation and personal data is limited.

I use Strava %99.9 of the time, however I have 8 different map apps on my iPhone. My daily ride starts with activating Strava for the Beacon feature and route travel memory. I don’t need or want the route planning, heart rate, personal wattage etc, but others may find that data useful or interesting.

Strava will link to your watch, Bosch app, Kamoot, Trail Forks etc …my use of Strava is mainly for Beacon. The other map apps are for hidden trails.
 
Garmin watch for me when I can be arsed.
I found the flow app pretty crap for my non smart Gen 4 motor so I binned it years ago.
The kiox works without it and does basic gpx routes, pretty much the same as the Garmin fenix 6 does.
The Garmin is basically used to record routes that I'm going to put on YouTube.
 
Strava......why involve double round trips to servers when you can go straight to pro system for recording rides?
 
Rockhopper70 said:
well, I’ve found that my dedicated Garmin device seems to track GPS better than my phone, and also doesn’t deplete the phone battery. That’s two reasons.
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Maybe change your phone then! You can use strava for free, already have a phone which most riders take on a ride.....v paying silly money for another device. OK Garmin may have (should have for the price) a faster GPS chip than some phones but do you really need the difference between say 1 metre and 2 metre location accuracy to track a bike ride??.
 
My phone is fine. I already have a Garmin handlebar device. The query really was which app to use, as Flow seemed to take over. I know I can delete copies of rides, but if I use the Garmin, which is also used for following GPX routes, will that mess with the Flow app, or vice-versa?
 
The bigger question is why use the Flow App at all! You have a dedicated GPX device so no need. I typically use the Flow App once.....to set tuning. After that it only really has any value in my book if you get a fault....albeit most of the time the Flow App tells you nothing useful. If you are running Flow when riding it is running your battery down and using memory!!
 
Mikerb said:
The bigger question is why use the Flow App at all!
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Until recently this was the only way to record all the data coming from a Bosch motor during your rides. For those who are interested in these statistics you needed the Flow App to get rider power, cadence and a few other data points that Bosch still refuses to share with the outside world.
 
The day Bosch integrates with Garmin will be the day I buy a Bosch bike. Not before. Why? Because all my fitness activity is there; running, hiking, etc.
 
Shark58 said:
Until recently this was the only way to record all the data coming from a Bosch motor during your rides. For those who are interested in these statistics you needed the Flow App to get rider power, cadence and a few other data points that Bosch still refuses to share with the outside world.
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?
20250404_193058.jpg
 
Mikerb said:
?
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As I said, this is only recorded in the Flow App. You can see it live during a ride on any connected Bosch Display, but if you want to analyze your data at a later point in time it's gone unless recorded with Flow.
 
Shark58 said:
As I said, this is only recorded in the Flow App. You can see it live during a ride on any connected Bosch Display, but if you want to analyze your data at a later point in time it's gone unless recorded with Flow.
Click to expand...
no....screen 4 on the Kiox 300 gives that data live.....the photo is the summary screen on shutdown.
 
Mikerb said:
the photo is the summary screen on shutdown
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Until you end the next ride and the summary screen shows the data from that one. You can't go back and see older rides, compare them or have a summary over any time period on the Bosch Display.
 
Forget Bosch App, it is crap for recording (and Routing). But it depends from your usecase. May bee you tell us a bit more.
For my usage is Garmin watch at Wrist and Mobilephone on Handlebar with Komoot the best Solution for Recording Healthdata and Routing. But as mentioned before...... Cheers..... and sorry for my poor English.
 
The OP asked what folks are using; I'm using both the Flow app and a Garmin Fenix 8. Both are auto-uploaded to Strava and I typically only keep the activity from my Garmin. Why both? Why not? It hardly impacts my mobile battery and is easy enough to click "delete" on the Flow-captured activity within Strava. I _prefer_ keeping everything with Garmin as that is my primary aggregator for health-related activities.

I'm riding a Trek Rail (Gen4) with the system controller so there is no on-bike display. This doesn't bother me but I realize it does others. If there was a good option (available in U.S. -- the bulcan noted above is not last time I looked), I'd add a Garmin head unit. Since Bosch is Bosch, though, this is not something that they'll likely ever participate in.

Edit:
Should have mentioned that I capture speed/distance from an attached Garmin speed sensor 2 (hub-mount). I don't capture cadence but could via another Garmin sensor if that was important.
 
Rockhopper70 said:
does the flow app have the privacy boundary around your home address such as Strava does?
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The Flow App doesn't share your ride with other users, so that wouldn't make sense. If you choose to use Flow to upload the data to Strava, then you would use Strava to obscure your home... or the pub... or your girlfriend's home...

Rockhopper70 said:
Is the flow app good enough to rely on for rides, and then sync to Strava or can it be flaky.
Click to expand...

No, Flow is not "good enough." It's better. When compared side-by-side, Flow and Strava seem to record equal distances. When comparing elevations, Flow seems better. My assumption is that it has a higher sampling rate, but it could be something else. In regards to "flakiness," I think Flow is better. Strava would occasionally blow up a ride, but Flow doesn't.

All my rides are recorded on Flow, and then automatically uploaded to Strava. One minor difficulty with having it automated is if I do a short test ride on my street, it can be uploaded to Strava. If I'm doing a ride and don't want to bring my phone, then I record the ride on my watch using Strava. I have no need for cadence recording, route planning, or Garmin.
 
I'm like this close to cancelling my Bosch bike order and ordering a Specialized Levo 4 just to get this Garmin integration working easy. I want my rider power, cadence and speed to my Garmin workout. What are your thoughts?
 
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Finbiker said:
I'm like this close to cancelling my Bosch bike order and ordering a Specialized Levo 4 just to get this Garmin integration working easy. I want my rider power, cadence and speed to my Garmin workout. What are your thoughts?
Click to expand...

Do it! Cancel your order! Get the Levo!
 
Mike O said:
But I'm not looking for a third party app
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It's not an app but a piece of hardware. In essence it is an aftermarket ANT+ transmitter that enables the function which Bosch in their wisdom deems unnecessary.
 
Shark58 said:
It's not an app but a piece of hardware. In essence it is an aftermarket ANT+ transmitter that enables the function which Bosch in their wisdom deems unnecessary
Click to expand...
Perhaps to be more clear - Not interested in anything third party.
 
I like the flow app used to my android phone with power pack. Longer rides I can preload gps routes for navigation which works most of the time and predicts later climbs. Perhaps better for me as I mix on and off road riding on my Cube hybrid. One snag is that the bike only has Purion 200 so the latest software update to 1.34 doesn’t seem to have any effect.
 
If it's just for ride logging, the Strava app or similar run on your phone is the best option as it's always in your pocket or pack.
I used a Garmin for many years but when riding became less serious (racing/training) I dropped to the free version of Strava and record on my phone.
 
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