I do a lot of road biking. I have a basic Catseye onboard computer for my speed and odometer. But I also use my iPhone to track and record my biking. I've tried a variety of iPhone apps, the best ones being iMapMyRide and Cyclemeter.

As I get more serious with biking though, I'm looking around at the dedicated biking computers like the Garmin Edge. I'm trying to figure out if they are worth buying or not. Rewind the clock back about 5 years and I'd say definitely yes. But these days, with really awesome GPS-capable smartphone apps, I'm not so sure...

Take for example iMapMyRide. You can buy a cheap ANT+ adapter for your iPhone and then use any ANT+ device with the software. Speedometer, cadence, heartbeat sensor, etc...

Also with these apps it does optional Live Tracking so that when you are out on your ride, your spouse (or anyone you want) can look at a webpage and see your progress on a map. You can do this with the Garmin Edge apparently but I think Garmin charges $25 a year or something for that service.

So if I already have an iPhone/Android and I already take it on rides anyways (for emergencies), then **is it worth it at all to get a dedicated biking computer?** Just about the only advantage I can think of is that the biking computers are smaller (less weight).

Are there any outstanding advantages to dedicated computers that I'm unaware of?