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c/privacy · by lemonbrain@lemmy.world · 130d

Privacy-conscious cycling computer / activity trackers?

I'm looking for privacy-conscious options for a cycling computer or possibly a wearable fitness tracker.

Recording activities has become sort of a journal for me. I like being able to look up when I did a particular ride/hike, or how long it took, where I hit a max speed, whether or how often I've taken a certain road, etc. I also like seeing basic metrics like average speed/distance/time YTD, year over year, or for specific date ranges.

I do track heart rate and time in zones, but would be willing to let that go. I never wear a wearable 24/7 and don't track sleep/hydration/stationary workouts.

I've been using Garmin devices for years, and really like them for ease of use - getting all of my data into one place "just happens automatically" and is available for further analysis. But, I don't like that that one place is, well, Garmin, not to mention that their supporting and data visualization apps are completely enshittified at this point.

Three alternatives spring to mind:

  • go back to a "dumb" computer (maybe not such a bad thing!)
  • keep my Garmin devices but take them offline - mount them as USB and copy the files locally
  • use a phone-based app like CoMaps

Are there any good alternatives out there? Maybe even an all-in-one platform like Garmin, but where the company really puts privacy front-and-center... or platforms that facilitate storing data locally?

Thanks!

46 points · 14 comments · view on lemmy.world

14 Comments

girsaysdoom@sh.itjust.works · 19 pts · 130d (2 replies)

You might be interested in GadgetBridge.

skarn@discuss.tchncs.de · 2 pts · 130d

This! If you have good hardware that works, it's good to keep it if possible.

My smartwatch/activity tracker is indeed a Garmin Instinct 2s with Gadgetbridge. It really does most of what the proprietary app does, and gives you near absolute control over your data.

sic_semper_tyrannis@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 129d

I haven't looked at this is some time but now it supports my watch. This is awesome!

deegeese@sopuli.xyz · 8 pts · 130d (1 reply)

They still sell plain dumb bike computers. Look at Cateye brand.

lemonbrain@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 128d

Still have a few Cateyes laying around. Good stuff.

ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 pts · 130d (1 reply)

I've been using a combination of Opentracks for GPS/map and gadgetbridge+PAIesque with an amazfit neo and Decathlon HRM band for metrics and analysis for about a week now, and it's honestly just inferior in every single way compared to my Coros Pace 2.

So there are solutions, but they all kind of suck a little and you have to be willing to accept that.

lemonbrain@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 128d

This is definitely a "choose any x-1 of x" type of problem.

jlow@slrpnk.net · 4 pts · 130d

I use FitoTrack for this, another option is Opentracks and as the other person mentioned maybe Gadetbridge, but my Pebble only does step counting so not useful in my case.

fluffy@feddit.org · 3 pts · 129d (2 replies)

Sigma is a german Brand, they make modern cycling computers and you don’t need an account to use these devices as far as I know.

lemonbrain@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 128d (1 reply)

Very interesting. They say:

All your activity data is stored exclusively within the SIGMA RIDE app and remains private. You can decide for yourself whether you want to upload it to the SIGMA Cloud. You can save it there permanently so that you can access it if you lose your smartphone, for example.

I wonder if the data could be moved to a laptop/desktop without using Sigma cloud, or if there's a proprietary lock-in to their phone app.

fluffy@feddit.org · 2 pts · 128d

You can use a USB Connection to your computer to access the files on the Sigma without using the Sigma App. The files are stored as .fit files.

I have tested this with the Rox 11.1 Evo. I can’t verify this for other Sigma Computers but it’s probably the same for all of them I guess.

utopiah@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 130d

CoMaps can export a GPS Exchange Format (GPX) route. See https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/GPX and that can be used to get most of the data your need. I imagine you could write a spreadsheet or online to do your visualization. I also bet others already did it.

I've done something like that for hikes to plot the path in 3D for WebXR.

As others points out GadgetBridge if you want additional data, typically biosensors for heart rate monitoring, is great to see which hardware is supported.

Stopwatch1986@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 130d

Jepster on Google Play was good but from v8.0 it won't start if, like me, you have Google Play Store disabled. Presumably, they need that for the optional in-app purchases but they never replied to my email so I don't know.

From FLOSS, I am experimenting with FitoTrack which looks promising. Another one is AAT.

Colota is great for general self-tracking.

lemonbrain@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 128d

Thanks for all the ideas. Just stumbled on GoldenCheetah, which might be useful for analysis/visualization if I decide to keep the Garmin devices and grab the activity files by USB.