Sat Nav for your bike. Why?

tailwindhome

Why do cyclists but Garmin Sat Nav for their bikes?

I can understand it if you are going on a long distance tour, but for everyone else what's the point?

A basic computer should cover distance and time.

Bike hike will cover route planning

What are you using it for?

whyamihere

Because when I'm going riding in an area I've never been before, if I take a wrong turning, I want to know where I am and how to get back.

cee

in case you forget your way home from work?

cee

whyamihere wrote:

Because when I'm going riding in an area I've never been before, if I take a wrong turning, I want to know where I am and how to get back.

back the way you came surely?

Eau Rouge

As I put in the other thread, but to be more specific...

What use is Bike Hike when you find yourself 40 miles into your cycle and reaslise you've gone wrong somewhere, because the junction you've just arrived at is not one thats on your route?
My cycling tends to be on single-track country lanes if possible, to avoid traffic and the like. For local rides that's fine, I know all the roads more than well enough not to get lost, but when I go further my knowledge of the roads gets worse, I could imagine doing a nice ride into the countryside nearish to Basingstoke on roads I don't know at all.
Something to tell me where I actually am would be invaluable.
Reading the HOTA reports, a few people managed to get lost on that, and that is a sportive with signs and marshals. A GPS saying "you're now here" and showing where the actual route is would have been very usefull.

DonDaddyD

To question bike Sat Nav is to question the value of Sat Nav in a car.

When I leave London on a long ride I want to know where I'm going so I don't suddenly end up on a motorway/dual carriage way (this happened in London when I found myself on an unsavory section of the North Circular) or get lost.

True I could carry a map, stop get it out and have a look but I would like the ease of knowing where I'm going while riding at the same time just like when I'm driving.

In fact if there are other alternatives to the Garmin that does what the Garmin does, let me know.

cee

Eau Rouge wrote:

Something to tell me where I actually am would be invaluable.

as in other thread....google maps on a mobile phone?

cee

DonDaddyD wrote:

To question bike Sat Nav is to question the value of Sat Nav in a car.

which of course many do.

I don't think it is ever necessary to have GPS, but I have on occasion found it quite handy...

particularly driving into unfamiliar cities...

wgwarburton

cee wrote:

Eau Rouge wrote:

Something to tell me where I actually am would be invaluable.

as in other thread....google maps on a mobile phone?

Yup- in my case Nokia sportstracker shows me where I am on the map and also does trip statistics. It's not 100% reliable, but I don't need it to be.

It's not proper sat-nav, ie no directions, but that's cool- I don't want it to be!

Cheers,
W.

Coriander

Because I don't want to have to stop every 2 minutes and get a map out and work out where to go next.

As someone who gets lost on a straight road and has road blindness coupled with an inability to relate what I understand from the map to what I see before me on the road, the reason I'd get a Garmin is so that I can enter routes and be told where to go.

Slow Downcp

So I can plan a route, upload it and then just follow the directions, rather than stopping to look at a map. It depends if you only do the same roads/routes week in week out though. I prefer to ride through small lanes and to differ where I go each week and this means I don't need to rememeber turns etc, just enjoy the ride and scenery.

Granted, I don't need one - managed for 20 years with OS map in my back pocket - but I don't need a lot of things I have.

Eau Rouge

cee wrote:

Eau Rouge wrote:

Something to tell me where I actually am would be invaluable.

as in other thread....google maps on a mobile phone?

(this cross-threading could get confusing)
You might be on to something with the smartphone. Since my main use of the GPS is to tell me where I am, I could live with stopping and checking that on a phone when I get lost, and the phone's apps would be much better at telling me where the pizzarias near Moutiers train station are, and I'm more likley to have it with me when not on the bike.
The Edge 500 does breadcrumb route mapping if you use the right software anyway...

londonlivvy

I understand the appeal of just pressing a button and then following the directions left and right, but in my experience of Garmins (owned by friends), they are fallible in a way that route cards and maps are not. They seem to crash with annoying frequency, get confused, tell you to take directions that aren't there and so on.

If you actually take the time to write a decent route card, then you know the place names you're looking for and it's actually all pretty speedy (you do all the looking at the map bit before you go out - not on the bike). Paying attention also means that you then learn the route and the next time you do it, you barely look at the route card. If you rely on a Garmin, you'll always need it because you're so busy looking down at it, you don't look at signs, village names, pub names etc. I know, I'm a luddite...

And whilst the triangulation gps on my phone works perfectly in London, it does not work out in the country (so far I've tried various parts of Kent, Wiltshire and Surrey, with no joy).

Oddjob62

londonlivvy wrote:

If you rely on a Garmin, you'll always need it because you're so busy looking down at it, you don't look at signs, village names, pub names etc. I know, I'm a luddite...

Not really... it beeps when you need to look at it (turns etc), but the rest of the time you can just enjoy the ride.

I use the garmin with google maps as a backup.

Sewinman

RE - 705 - In theory its awesome, but the navigation rarely (never) works properly in my experience for a whole ride. If I could get that right I would sleep with it, as its great in many other ways.

I bought it so i could get a train somewhere, turn it on - do a nice route and get back on the train - with zero effort or planning. I have done it a few times and it can be done, just have to factor in its occasional hissy fits.

I do like watching all the stats on the display though - it is stat-tastic.

rolf_f

I can see the appeal of satnav on a bike - somewhat depressing to drop down a steep hill and then find it wasn't the right way. Helps to keep the flow and all that.

Can't see the need for satnav in the car unless you wrack up loads of miles on unfamiliar roads. Also, of course, the problem with satnav over proper maps is you never actually know where you are - you only know that you are where you are supposed to be which isn't the same thing and is a bit of a pity really.

The Garmins seem to pricey for me to bother for now though.

Aidy

I don't have one, but I'm looking at ways of mounting a mobile phone (with GPS) on the bike somehow for navigation duties.

Reason being that I want to go for a bike ride, not for a map read.
Whilst I can remember routes to a certain extent, remembering all the roads and junctions I have to take for the odd 100 miles is a bit taxing, and stopping and fishing out maps to work out where I am and where I'm going kinda breaks the flow.

singlespeedexplosif

To question bike Sat Nav is to question the value of Sat Nav in a car.
aye. Original question should be: satnav for anything (well, anything land-based)...why? I can see the point if you're crossing the Atlantic and want a precise location but can't get a good sighting. Otherwise, it's just laziness.

roger_merriman

Coriander wrote:

Because I don't want to have to stop every 2 minutes and get a map out and work out where to go next.

As someone who gets lost on a straight road and has road blindness coupled with an inability to relate what I understand from the map to what I see before me on the road, the reason I'd get a Garmin is so that I can enter routes and be told where to go.

as someone who has very poor memory and not from here, while I can ride though london fine, stopping to check where I am etc is a pain, iphones maps are okay but I'd love a satnav for the few times a year I do venture london bound.

Sewinman

singlespeedexplosif wrote:

To question bike Sat Nav is to question the value of Sat Nav in a car.
aye. Original question should be: satnav for anything (well, anything land-based)...why? I can see the point if you're crossing the Atlantic and want a precise location but can't get a good sighting. Otherwise, it's just laziness.

Yeah, lets do it the Lancashire way and navigate by the colour of the falling leaves and bearing of the jackdaw's flight at harvest time. Maybe throw some runes in the air and see how they land.

Nothing wrong with laziness when it comes to navigation - its cycling not orienteering.

singlespeedexplosif

Yeah, lets do it the Lancashire way and navigate by the colour of the falling leaves and bearing of the jackdaw's flight at harvest time. Maybe through some runes in the air and see how they land.

round here, lad, we use maps and road signs. Don't patronise me whilst I'm making moonshine.

(you DO have a real purdy mouth, however)

Eau Rouge

singlespeedexplosif wrote:

Yeah, lets do it the Lancashire way and navigate by the colour of the falling leaves and bearing of the jackdaw's flight at harvest time. Maybe through some runes in the air and see how they land.

round here, lad, we use maps and road signs. Don't patronise me whilst I'm making moonshine.

(you DO have a real purdy mouth, however)

A map is only usefull if you know where you are...

singlespeedexplosif

A map is only usefull if you know where you are...

well, quite. OK - I admit. GPS is a good idea for the blind or intensely stupid.
I like the idea of getting accurate feedback on a ride - distance, elevation and so on. But not for navigation.

cee

Eau Rouge wrote:

singlespeedexplosif wrote:

Yeah, lets do it the Lancashire way and navigate by the colour of the falling leaves and bearing of the jackdaw's flight at harvest time. Maybe through some runes in the air and see how they land.

round here, lad, we use maps and road signs. Don't patronise me whilst I'm making moonshine.

(you DO have a real purdy mouth, however)

A map is only usefull if you know where you are...

only if you don't know how to use it properly......it is very useful to know how to use a map and compass properly.

my favourite use of GPS on a bike is to track the route. i have an app on my phone for that...and it doesn't even need to come out of my rucksack

MrChuck

Basically what Aidy, Sewninman and Slow Downcp said. When I'm out on my road bike I want to be riding, not stopping to look at a map every other junction, and I'd like to be able to do this on unfamilar rides. Sure it's a luxury- you could get round an unfamiliar route fine with a map, but if you can get round concentrating on riding rather than navigating then that's a bonus.

I'm quite capable of reading a map, and do when I'm out in the hills/mountains on foot or on my MTB, or doing an adventure race, but as somebody else said when I'm out on my road bike I'm interested in riding, not orienteering.

wgwarburton

cee wrote:

my favourite use of GPS on a bike is to track the route. i have an app on my phone for that...and it doesn't even need to come out of my rucksack

+1

This has the advantage that if you do lose your way you have a gizmo that can tell you where you are and display a map (or satellite image, handy if you're off the map) of the area around, to help you get back on track.

It also weighs nothing, since I'd be carrying the 'phone anyway, and can be used to find bike shops etc nearby, if necessary, too.

I can read a map, but would prefer not to have to carry one, especially since good maps for cycling arn't easy to find these days (RIP Bartholomews :-( ). The OS 1:50K Landrangers are expensive and each sheet covers too small an area (40Km square), whereas the 1:250K "Travel" ones lack detail.
Harvey's do some excellent maps (strongly recommended!!), but don't cover the whole country.

1:100K or half-inch is a good scale for cycling, but there's no national coverage any more, and the old Barts sheets are getting pretty out-of-date, now...

Cheers,
W.

londonlivvy

What's all this talk of getting maps out at junctions? Madness.

It's all about route cards.

A quick glance at the piece of paper in your hand, and you're off. No faffing with acres of paper. No faffing with temperamental technology.

Just riding.

Simples

cee

MrChuck wrote:

Basically what Aidy, Sewninman and Slow Downcp said. When I'm out on my road bike I want to be riding, not stopping to look at a map every other junction, and I'd like to be able to do this on unfamilar rides. Sure it's a luxury- you could get round an unfamiliar route fine with a map, but if you can get round concentrating on riding rather than navigating then that's a bonus.

I'm quite capable of reading a map, and do when I'm out in the hills/mountains on foot or on my MTB, or doing an adventure race, but as somebody else said when I'm out on my road bike I'm interested in riding, not orienteering.

every other junction?

thats 110% overexageration surely?

prj45

I mainly got it so a CAN get lost, but knowing it can find a way home if I need to.

MrChuck

cee wrote:

MrChuck wrote:

Basically what Aidy, Sewninman and Slow Downcp said. When I'm out on my road bike I want to be riding, not stopping to look at a map every other junction, and I'd like to be able to do this on unfamilar rides. Sure it's a luxury- you could get round an unfamiliar route fine with a map, but if you can get round concentrating on riding rather than navigating then that's a bonus.

I'm quite capable of reading a map, and do when I'm out in the hills/mountains on foot or on my MTB, or doing an adventure race, but as somebody else said when I'm out on my road bike I'm interested in riding, not orienteering.

every other junction?

thats 110% overexageration surely?

Well, OK, maybe a bit
But still, when I do my 40 mile loop I don't stop- part of the attraction for me is going out and getting into the rhythm. That's harder to maintain on an unfamiliar route (say, a day trip to ride in the Peak) if you're stopping to look at a map, doubling back to avoid busy roads etc etc. so if a GPS can let me avoid that and get on with a good route then I'm all for it.

Of course I don't need one, but that doesn't mean they're not useful.

rjsterry

My DIY cheapo homemade solution is to stick the relevant section of OS map on the scanner at home. Get it down to the lowest res/smallest size I can still read, then Bluetooth it on to my (pretty old and battered) phone. I also spend a good 10 minutes staring at the map before I set off to try and memorise at least an outline of how the main roads fit together.

Then it's off into the unknown with a rough idea of where I'm going and if I'm a bit unsure, I can pull the image file up on the phone and (with a bit of zoom and pan). I have the phone with me anyway, so no extra baggage. Not really suitable for checking while riding, but more effective than I thought it would be when I first tried it.