Bike GPS - Help!

pjm-84

I've just returned my top of the range handheld GPS for a full refund and currently looking for a replacement.

Just wondering if anyone had any personal recommendations / experiences for GPSs that work well on road bikes and not plagued by the dreaded switching themselves off at the first sign of an English road?


Paul

AcademicX

Garmin Edge305. Fantastic bit of kit. Had mine for nearly 2 years now and its been faultless. Not the cheapest bit of kit but worth the money, have a look around and you'll get it at a lower price than Garmin offer.

rickwiggans

I use a Geko 201 - basic, but cheap and reliable. Battery life not brilliant though. I also use a GPS 76CSx with Topo GB mapping. Bigger than a Geko, but really excellent for touring.

Rick

cougie

You can get Route 66 for Nokia phones now. If you have a compatible phone then its only another œ50 or so for receiver and software.

pjm-84

Can you navigate with the 305 by pre-plumbing in a track from MM or similar?


Paul

AcademicX

IMO navigation isn't the strong-point of the Edge305. You can load-in way-points using MM and navigate to the way-point using an on-screen compass. AFAIK there are no base maps on the Edge305.

I tend to use the Edge to log my routes (and related statistics) and then download the data into Training Centre. I also create Google Earth KML files from the track data (I use another application, GPSUtility, to do this).

GeorgeShaw

AcademicX is right. The 305 is more a training device, for recording the rides you've done, and checking HRM stats, etc.

You can download routes, or courses, but as there are no maps, then you only have rudimentary navigation facilities. If you check on the MotionBased forums, you can find advice on how to add more bells and whistles to this, but I would have thought that it's only useful for telling you that you are off-course, not how to get back on-course.

But then I don't want to be looking at the GPS all day, there are nicer things to do when you're out for a ride.

BTW, MotionBased is a much better way of looking at the stats. And base registration is free.

woody-som

I have used an etrex yellow for over 2 years now, both on road and with the MTB off road, never had any problems, except it lost the signal once, but this was under very dense tree cover.

pjm-84

I have to dust my old yellow Etrex off. This one seems to go for around 3hrs before switching itself off.

I use the GPS to plot routes and lead rides for fellow club members. So on a recent Memorial ride I had around 16 guys relying on my GPS for direction to and from Gloucester on a 190km route on roads I've crossed before but never traveled on. I plot the route using Memory Map and send this across to the GPS to follow.

I treated myself to a 60CSx but this didn't like the bumps. I used it on the GF last week to record ride information with "special" batteries but it still switched itself off around 30 times which starts to becoming annoying.[:(!]

I'm off to the Alps next Friday and I'm looking for a replacement. I have the Memory Map for the area and was going to pre-plumb in routes to follow.



Paul

redfox

pjm try putting some the foam packing behind the battery contacts of you 60CSx; my 60CS used to switch itself off all the time until I did this. Garmin admitted it was a design fault on early models (mine is three years old), so I am concerned to hear it is still a problem on the 60CSx.

www.endtoend.info

piedwagtail91

swithching off seems to be a problem with a lot of garmin gps.i had a vista c stsrt to switch off at the slightest hint of a bump, tried all the fixes but non worked long term so i sent it back and got a replacement.that was six months ago and the unit was only 10 months old.
i'm not too sure if i want to wreck this by using it on the bike all the time but that defeats the purpose of it really.
garmin should fix the problem so that they will work long term on a bike.

pjm-84

I had a modified case cover with weather stripping / draught excluder applied inside and special batteries provided by the manufacturer(slightly fatter).

The mods to the battery terminals have already been carried out with this model. I bought it in Feb 2007 and had it replaced under warranty with no significant improvement. I finally gave up with this item after doing the GF with it last weekend, when, with all the mods it still managed to switch itself off about 30 times!



Paul

andrew_s

Try mounting it so it's dead horizontal rather than angled up. My 60CSx did turn itself off a few times early on, but hasn't for the last 6 months whilst mounted flat. No battery compartment padding or anything.

pjm-84

Very interesting

I did the memorial ride mentioned and a couple of the lanes were so rough(made the cobbles in Flanders look smooth) that I ended up breaking the GPS mount but it didn't switch itself off.

Same setup on the GF and it goes off.

The 60CSx is no more but I give that a go with the Etrex I have prior to sourcing a replacement

Paul

AndyGates

My yellow eTrex goes for ages, well-behaved little bit of kit. Okay, the Dun Run requires a change of batteries halfway, but you can't have everything... [:)]

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<b>No longer looking for a pennyfarthing as I've got some powerbocks instead. Casualty here I come!</b>
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