Bike satnavs

fletch8928

I toyed with getting a gps thingy last year but stopped getting lost (trying new routes). Now its something i may look at as i am looking at linking routes, a set of moors to another. The only thing that has stopped me is the outlay for a satman, memory map or garmin thing. Once I have done the links i know where I am going!

I got a nokia5800 for the viewranger maps but i dont fancy having it on my bars so if I have to stop and look whats the difference of checking a paper map? if your off course its probably too late with either.

I do like the function of the take a pic and 3d it on the oregon?? I should also check out the nokia gps free mapping to see if its possible to correctly map a ride off road and turn the volume up so I can hear if I need to turn left or right. That does sound like a chore tho.

ANTFLY Am I being really thick or not, but can you plan a route and put it on your 305 and follow the arrow? if so thats the way to go for me.

antfly

Hi, you can indeed plan a route for the 305, I do it with garmin city navigator on the pc which my dad got with an old car sat nav. I transfer it to the device and I follow a thick black line, it beeps at turns and waypoints and an arrow comes up and a compass direction telling me which way to go. It also has some street names. It can get a bit tricky at roundabouts but if you go wrong you can see you`re not on the line anymore.You can also ride out with no plan and set it to take you home the way you came.

fletch8928

I shall look into that. No reason why it souldnt work on a black line when on the trails either?

antfly

No, if it was for the trails I would use memory map to plan a route. It only takes 100 waypoints though, I think.

chiefgrooveguru

I'm using an Edge 205 to navigate and plotting the routes beforehand using Marengo which lets you use google maps/satellite images. You'll need a real map as well in case you get totally lost. It tracks where you've been and how fast you were going etc, which is interesting to look at afterwards. Rather neat.

paulrockliffe

antfly wrote:

No, if it was for the trails I would use memory map to plan a route. It only takes 100 waypoints though, I think.

For the Garmin you need to do it as a 'Course' rather than an route, you get 17,000 waypoints then. As I haven't got one yet (today Mr postman?) I dont' know how you go about doing that, but there is some good forum space devoted to this issue if you google and I'm pretty sure there was a converter to get a Memory Map or whatever Route into a Garmin Course.

Seems like a stupid pain in the arse deliberate bug to me.

antfly

Well you can do it as a course or a route. I used to convert to courses, this sotware is useful though I use GPX2CRS but I don`t know where I got it now.
http://www.routeconverter.de/downloads/en

ExeterSimon

CraigXXL wrote:

Does anyone use a Garmin Dakoto 20 and what are your opinions of it?

I have the Oregon 300 which is basically the Dakota's big brother.

I spent ages looking for a decent GPS and plumped for the Oregon after lots of research (I didn't just want a bike oriented GPS). It's awesome both on and off road, it quick to update and so far I've had no problems.

And I've said this countless times on loads of GPS threads but why are people buying maps when there are several websites available with free and legal maps to be had?

I use openstreetmap and the maps are brilliant, have POIs in abundance and you can update them as and when you need. I downloaded their Europe map (you'll need at least a 4gb microSD card) and the detail is very impressive. Not as good as OS but for the price difference it's a simple decision to make!

paulrockliffe

I chose the edge because it has the heart rate and cadence etc so is a better tool than the oregon for my riding, I have Memory Map on a HTC Touch HD2 as well that I can use if I'm ever in the situation where I need to know exactly where I am on an OS Map, which is rare. If I'm going somewhere new, then I'll plot the route and follow the arrow on my edge. If the postman hurries up!

Downloaded the OSM maps for the UK already, will look for the Europe ones now, just in case.

I got GPX2CRS via the powers of Google, thanks.

paulrockliffe

How did you download the OpenStreetMap map? Did you use the export facility with the area set to be massive? Does that then inlcude all the detail for the whole lot?

I presume you mean here;

http://www.openstreetmap.org

Thanks

ExeterSimon

paulrockliffe wrote:

I chose the edge because it has the heart rate and cadence etc so is a better tool than the oregon for my riding, I have Memory Map on a HTC Touch HD2 as well that I can use if I'm ever in the situation where I need to know exactly where I am on an OS Map, which is rare. If I'm going somewhere new, then I'll plot the route and follow the arrow on my edge. If the postman hurries up!

Downloaded the OSM maps for the UK already, will look for the Europe ones now, just in case.

I got GPX2CRS via the powers of Google, thanks.

The Oregon also has cadence and HR functions.

ExeterSimon

paulrockliffe wrote:

How did you download the OpenStreetMap map? Did you use the export facility with the area set to be massive? Does that then inlcude all the detail for the whole lot?

I presume you mean here;

http://www.openstreetmap.org

Thanks

Yep...select the map you want, download, unzip and place in the relevant folder on your device.

You may need to download a few apps (like the suggested zip program) but other than that it's quite straightforward. It just takes quite a while to download!

Try this link:

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OSM_ ... n/Download

paulrockliffe

ExeterSimon wrote:

The Oregon also has cadence and HR functions.

Yes, sorry my mistake. I can't remember why I chose one over the other, but I did have a reason. I think the edge has better on screen-display when cycling, or maybe I'm wrong?

Will have a look at that map now....

Cunobelin

paulrockliffe wrote:

How did you download the OpenStreetMap map? Did you use the export facility with the area set to be massive? Does that then inlcude all the detail for the whole lot?

I presume you mean here;

http://www.openstreetmap.org

Thanks

The instructions are here

ploeb

I got a Garmin eTrex back in 2008 as a present. I didnt really want it and so it took me a long time to get around to learn to use it!
Now ive taken the time, first to download the routes ive taken after I ride, then later to plan routes before I ride and its been really useful.

Last summer I did 2 big rides (Swindon to London and Swindon to Stonehenge) which id never have attempted without my eTrex. And I actually enjoyed spending time with Memory map on my PC planning my route before I left!

eTrex works great for me because, it takes 2 AA batteries which last about 10 hours and I can easily carry a spare pair and its very durable, it has fallen off my bike and hit the road at speed, but still works great.

I also used Open Street Map especially for downloading maps of Europe for holidays etc...

paulrockliffe

Got my Garmin, just trying to install a map. Found this via the link above, which looks good (?) for Mountain Biking:

http://openmtbmap.org/tutorials/install ... tall-maps/

Has anyone else used this? I've managed to build the UK Map, but when I've built the contour one it has put the line numbers on the map, but not the actual lines. The only thing I can think is that the lines are underneath the main map, but the labels are above. But the .img fiels are named in the right order.

Anyone know where I'm going wrong?

Cheers.