Creating Routes for a Garmin 705

Shezzer

Hi there

I'd really appreciate some advice from anyone that uses a Garmin 705. I'm seriously considering 'investing' in a 705 which comes bundled with some decent mapping >>

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Garmi ... 360040221/

I've read lots of reviews that say it's easy to create your own routes on a PC and then download them to the 705 but lots of other reviews that say it's a nightmare and the best way to plot a route is to ride it first and record it as you go (not ideal).

I want to be able to download routes (eg from mapmyride.com etc) that I've never ridden before and get satnav-type guidance as I ride. Does anyone have experience of how easy / difficult this is? If people have had bad experiences of this then I'll probably stick with using my Forerunner 305 for recording my rides and use the trusty fold away paper map for directions.

Thanks in advance for any help.

ps
Apologies if this duplicates another thread. Although there are lots of discussions around the 705 I didn't see one that specifically discussed the ease of downloading maps.

pete600

Hi it is easy to plot a route on your 705 with a PC just use map source which you get when you buy the maps.
You can all so just type in a place name/road on the 705 and it will direct you there.
I have tried to use mapmyride but could never get it to detect my 705.
There is one other web site that i have used which is similar to map my ride but for the life of me i cant remember the name.

Pete

amaferanga

I can't see why anyone would think its a huge hassle plotting routes on the PC. Where were these reviews? If someone can't master plotting routes on a PC and transfering them to a GPS then they really shouldn't be allowed out alone.

Bikehike.co.uk is one of the best for creating routes and tracks as you get follow roads option and OS mapping.

Have you considered a Garmin Legend or Vista HCx? Much cheaper (I got my Legend for £120 plus £40 for City Navigator UK/Ireland) and every bit as good for navigating. I had an Edge 205 already so I use that as my normal bike computer and the Legend for navigating. The real advantage of the Legend and Vista over the Edge is that they take normal AA batteries, unlike the Edge which needs recharging. Also up to 25 hours battery life on the Legend/Vista from one set of AAs.

pete600

Its only easy when you know how :?

magliaceleste

I use Tracklogs (tracklogs.co.uk) without any problems with the 705 equipped with a City Navigator SD card. Always have used Tracklogs since the days of the 305. Good for road or offroad. You can directly export GPX for routes or Garmin TCX for courses.

Personally I can't stand that stupid prompt telling you which way to go all the time.

barrybaines

As previously mentioned bikehike or another one is bikeroutetoaster.com both very easy to use and both very easy to upload to or from

Shezzer

Thanks to everyone who posted.

You've given me some great mapping websites and I guess the message is it's not difficult to create and download your own routes after all.

I'm seriously thinking of saving a few quid and going with the Garmin Legend for mapping and using my existing Forerunner 305 as my cycling computer. Does anyone know how good the Garmin Legend is on a bike (eg can it cope with bike speeds, are directions received well enough in advance, is the screen viewable in sunlight etc)? I see you can get bike mounts for them so guessing Garmin feel they're good enough to use on a bike.

amaferanga

The Legend and Vista HCx models are every bit as good as the Edge 705 for navigating. You can still display data fields with the map view if you want as well. I use it only for navigating though and have my Edge 205 set up on a 6 data field view. I haven't had my Legend for long and haven't actually followed a route in it, but once a route is properly plotted then you'll get instructions well in advance of junctions with a countdown to the junction. I use tracks and the 'trackback' function instead which gives a breadcrumb trail to follow. The Legend/Vista and Edge 705 all take time to learn how to use and programme properly if you want to follow an exact route - using them satnav style to take the quickest route from A to B apparently doesn't often give the 'best' route, but is as easy to do as on a satnav.

bianchi51

Hi there,

I have a Garmin 705 and I use the Garmin mapping software. The street mapping is OK but I think the topographic detail could be better. I live in Australia and will be in the UK in May and June. I will bring the Garmin for on road use (drivingand cycling) but thought it may be also be useful when walking the Coast to Coast route. (St.Bees to Robin Hood Bay)

Obviously, I need to buy the appropriate mapping software for the UK. Has anyone used Memory-Map with their Garmin?

If so, what's your opinion?

Cheers,

pj

a_n_t

amaferanga wrote:

using them satnav style to take the quickest route from A to B apparently doesn't often give the 'best' route, but is as easy to do as on a satnav.

the 705 is pretty useless when you let it auto-route tbh, hopefully a firmware update will sort it.

amaferanga

bianchi51 wrote:

....Obviously, I need to buy the appropriate mapping software for the UK. Has anyone used Memory-Map with their Garmin?

If so, what's your opinion?

Cheers,

pj

If you mean loading OS maps onto the 705 - you can't.

You can plot routes in Memory Map on a PC and then upload the route to the GPS - this is the way I do all my route planning and it works well. In fact I navigated the offroad C2C (St Bees to Robin Hoods Bay) on my bike using a basic Garmin Etrex with tracks plotted in Memory Map. The best maps you'll find for the 705 for this use would be the topo maps. I don't have them, but I hear they're not the best and certainly nowhere near OS maps.

Shezzer

Folks

Once again thanks for all your advice ... you really took the stress out of what was (for me at least) a big purchase. I went for the 705 in the end and it came today. I'm pleased to say that the test route I created in mapmyride.com downloaded easily and the on-road directions were accurate and easy to follow when I went out on the bike. Having used the Forerunner 305 for a couple of years I found the 705's menu paths fairly easy ... although I remember how unintuitive (is that a word??) they were when I first got my 305.

One funny though was when I asked the 705 to calculate a route from home to work (44 miles away). It managed to come up with a route that was 71 miles!! Think I'll rely more on creating my own routes and downloading them.

Anyhows, thanks again all and happy cycling.

a_n_t

Shezzer wrote:

when I asked the 705 to calculate a route from home to work (44 miles away). It managed to come up with a route that was 71 miles!!

Exactly my point above!

sampras38

barrybaines wrote:

As previously mentioned bikehike or another one is bikeroutetoaster.com both very easy to use and both very easy to upload to or from

Another vote here for Bikeroutetoaster. I've been a recent convert and it's really easy to plot a route and transfer to the Garmin. Mine's a 705 and it drops into the courses folder by default. I've tried others but seem to get on better with this.

sampras38

amaferanga wrote:

I can't see why anyone would think its a huge hassle plotting routes on the PC. Where were these reviews? If someone can't master plotting routes on a PC and transfering them to a GPS then they really shouldn't be allowed out alone.

Bikehike.co.uk is one of the best for creating routes and tracks as you get follow roads option and OS mapping.

Have you considered a Garmin Legend or Vista HCx? Much cheaper (I got my Legend for £120 plus £40 for City Navigator UK/Ireland) and every bit as good for navigating. I had an Edge 205 already so I use that as my normal bike computer and the Legend for navigating. The real advantage of the Legend and Vista over the Edge is that they take normal AA batteries, unlike the Edge which needs recharging. Also up to 25 hours battery life on the Legend/Vista from one set of AAs.

BikeHike is OK, but it doesn't really like Windows Explorer very much. As a freebee piece of software its' ok, but there are other free ones I find far better, such as Routetoaster. And it works very well with the Garmin. Just plot your route and save to Garmin. i use it all the time.

amaferanga

Bikehike works fine with Firefox.

sampras38

amaferanga wrote:

I can't see why anyone would think its a huge hassle plotting routes on the PC. Where were these reviews? If someone can't master plotting routes on a PC and transfering them to a GPS then they really shouldn't be allowed out alone.

Bikehike.co.uk is one of the best for creating routes and tracks as you get follow roads option and OS mapping.

Have you considered a Garmin Legend or Vista HCx? Much cheaper (I got my Legend for £120 plus £40 for City Navigator UK/Ireland) and every bit as good for navigating. I had an Edge 205 already so I use that as my normal bike computer and the Legend for navigating. The real advantage of the Legend and Vista over the Edge is that they take normal AA batteries, unlike the Edge which needs recharging. Also up to 25 hours battery life on the Legend/Vista from one set of AAs.

Only problem with BikeHike is is doesn't seem to like Windows Explorer. It says on it's own website there are other free applications that do a better job if you're using Explorer, such as RouteToaster which I use.