GPS Hire
UKScooby
Posts: 41
I am looking at doing JoGLE later this year, probably solo, so want to keep the weight down.
My route will also be a bit more scenic than normal as I would want to cross to North Yorkshire to include home on the way (maximise publicity for fund-raising purposes) so the route will be a bit longer than others.
I am planning the route online, at present saving the BikeHike file to my PC - given the new restrictions on saving online.
Given the use may be a one off I am reluctant to shell out £300 - give or take - on my own GPS. The costs on other bits will be enough. I also have enough toys around - and cables / chargers that get lost.
I have found satnav2go online who rent out the Garmin Colorado 300 at £75 for three weeks. Does anyone know of others, or do you have other thoughts on the best / cheapest product.
I am keen to be able to access both a planned route and record 'actual route'. I have a habit of following things I see that look interesting - so all it will take is a sign post and I will be 5 miles out of my way, but hopefully not too often on such a long ride. I like the heart rate feature of the Edge 705, but see varying reports on its reliability - but we are at the top end of things here - and can it be rented ? I will be taking a tiny netbook to be able to download data daily and try and do a blog or diary - if I'm not asleep anyway at the end of the day.
My route will also be a bit more scenic than normal as I would want to cross to North Yorkshire to include home on the way (maximise publicity for fund-raising purposes) so the route will be a bit longer than others.
I am planning the route online, at present saving the BikeHike file to my PC - given the new restrictions on saving online.
Given the use may be a one off I am reluctant to shell out £300 - give or take - on my own GPS. The costs on other bits will be enough. I also have enough toys around - and cables / chargers that get lost.
I have found satnav2go online who rent out the Garmin Colorado 300 at £75 for three weeks. Does anyone know of others, or do you have other thoughts on the best / cheapest product.
I am keen to be able to access both a planned route and record 'actual route'. I have a habit of following things I see that look interesting - so all it will take is a sign post and I will be 5 miles out of my way, but hopefully not too often on such a long ride. I like the heart rate feature of the Edge 705, but see varying reports on its reliability - but we are at the top end of things here - and can it be rented ? I will be taking a tiny netbook to be able to download data daily and try and do a blog or diary - if I'm not asleep anyway at the end of the day.
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Comments
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You could buy one of Garmin's cheapest GPS's (Garmin eTrex - £58) which will guide you with an arrow (no maps) but with waypoints at junctions it could probably work.0
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You don't need to pay £300 for a GPS. You could get a Garmin Legend HCx which will do everything you want/need for £130 plus £12 or so for the handlebar mount. You could probably get a secondhand monochrome Legend on eBay for a lot less than that. If you want to record your actual route then both of these will be a better bet than an Edge (which is designed as a training aid so will only store a limited number of trackpoints). They also have the advantage of running on AA batteries.
You can get a decent HRM for £20 or so.
The Edge 705 and SatNav are nice pieces of kit, but if you're paying a fair wedge of cash for them. If you're not sure you actually 'need'/want them then go for something cheaper. You could probably get most of what you pay back if you sell on eBay. I'd have thought buying secondhand and selling on would be cheaper than hiring at £75 a pop.
EDIT: I wouldn't recommend buying the basic yellow monochrome eTrex as you can't change the intervals at which between trackpoints - so probably not suitable recording a long route. The Legend does offer this facility and is better value. But if you can get a yellow eTrex secondhand then go for it.0 -
