GPS devices

suzyb

I believe the Garmin Edge 705 and 605 allow you to download maps from your PC to them.

But do any of the cheaper Garmins allow you to do that. Or are there any other devices that will allow you to download (off road) maps to follow.

prj45

suzyb

That requires being able to read a map and be able to use a compass and whatever other device plots your position though.

daviesee

suzyb wrote:

That requires being able to read a map and be able to use a compass and whatever other device plots your position though.

Bless your little cotton socks.

Nice stereotype

suzyb

daviesee wrote:

suzyb wrote:

That requires being able to read a map and be able to use a compass and whatever other device plots your position though.

Bless your little cotton socks.

Nice stereotype

Are you saying you don't need to be able to read a map etc to find out where in a forest you are.

daviesee

suzyb wrote:

daviesee wrote:

suzyb wrote:

That requires being able to read a map and be able to use a compass and whatever other device plots your position though.

Bless your little cotton socks.

Nice stereotype

Are you saying you don't need to be able to read a map etc to find out where in a forest you are.

No. I am saying that men will read maps and women will ask for directions.
Both sets of stereotypes will get where they are going. Not a serious post.

suzyb

oh. Needless to say I didn't get what you meant

davis

Depends on your area and your device. If you've got a smartphone then you might be able to get somewhere with OpenStreetMap's maps, but Scotland is pretty bare for off-road stuff at the moment I'm afraid (you can always add your own data though...)

There are products that allow you to get Ordnance Survey maps on your phone too (ViewRanger being one, apparently), but they're usually expensive.

In all honesty, you want some decent off-road geographical data. I'm going to guess that there's only the OS, or the option of OSM (which I bet you'd have to add to). I doubt that anyone else has surveyed Scotland well enough to provide the off-road data, because it'd be a smaller market, and surveying's expensive. The OS do it 'cos they're more or less government-sponsored.

wgwarburton

davis wrote:

Depends on your area and your device. If you've got a smartphone then you might be able to get somewhere with OpenStreetMap's maps, but Scotland is pretty bare for off-road stuff at the moment I'm afraid (you can always add your own data though...)

There are products that allow you to get Ordnance Survey maps on your phone too (ViewRanger being one, apparently), but they're usually expensive.

In all honesty, you want some decent off-road geographical data. I'm going to guess that there's only the OS, or the option of OSM (which I bet you'd have to add to). I doubt that anyone else has surveyed Scotland well enough to provide the off-road data, because it'd be a smaller market, and surveying's expensive. The OS do it 'cos they're more or less government-sponsored.

http://www.harveymaps.co.uk/ might cover your area... I don't see anything for Lanarkshire, though.. and I don't know if they do GPS.

Cheers,
W.

alfablue

You can get a Garmin Dakota 20 for £189 from Handtec (I ordered one this morning).

with a handlebar mount for £11.89

and get full GB discoverer mapping (that is OS 150k mapping) for £99.

(The Edge 605 and 705 models can't use OS mapping, the Dakota can, it also uses AA batteries rather than inbuilt lithium, which makes it preferable for multi-day tours)

You can download tracks from all sorts of sources, like GPSies.com

Anonymous

I have a Garmin Edge 705 and love it, it's a fantastic bit of kit and dose everything.

But, although you can use it as a GPS device and can store maps on it (I use OSM free maps, I think they are better than the Garmin ones you can buy) as said you can't for example set out a route in say Memory Map and download the OS map to the device, you can only download the route to overlay and follow on the maps stored in the device.

If you want it purely as a navigation device it might not be the best option, though as all round cycling computer there is no better.

dcurzon

could you use a gps smartphone and googlemaps?

alfablue

dcurzon wrote:

could you use a gps smartphone and googlemaps?

Smart phones lack battery life, but I can get 4 hours out of mine.

Google maps may not contain accurate details of bridlepaths, and I am not sure if it could navigate such a route.

I understand you can buy Viewranger mapping (which are OS maps) to go with smart phones, it is quite pricey but you can buy small areas fairly cheaply.

I still find these a compromise, particularly with the battery life and waterproofing/robustness/use with gloves on issues, so that's why I just bought the Dakota. I spent a few months trying to decide between the 705 and the Dakota, mapping and battery issues swung it, though I would have preferred the buttons of the 705 rather than the touch screen of the Dakota.

The Dakota will record heart rate and cadence data if you buy the relevant accessories.

roger_merriman

dcurzon wrote:

could you use a gps smartphone and googlemaps?

for road yes, off road it's waste of time just a blue blob in green....

openstreetmap is better but even around the surrey hills/swinley it's far from perfect.

off road you need tracks and trails which means digital Ordnance Survey.

prj45

suzyb wrote:

That requires being able to read a map and be able to use a compass and whatever other device plots your position though.

I'd strongly recommend that if you're going to ride into the middle of a forest that you have a satnav AND a map/compass that you know how to use, with one system acting as a backup for the other.

Map reading is an important skill.

suzyb

I was really just wondering whether, say you had the GPS route someone else rode. Were there any devices that you could download that route to so you could follow it.

Headhuunter

alfablue wrote:

dcurzon wrote:

could you use a gps smartphone and googlemaps?

Smart phones lack battery life, but I can get 4 hours out of mine.

Google maps may not contain accurate details of bridlepaths, and I am not sure if it could navigate such a route.

I understand you can buy Viewranger mapping (which are OS maps) to go with smart phones, it is quite pricey but you can buy small areas fairly cheaply.

I still find these a compromise, particularly with the battery life and waterproofing/robustness/use with gloves on issues, so that's why I just bought the Dakota. I spent a few months trying to decide between the 705 and the Dakota, mapping and battery issues swung it, though I would have preferred the buttons of the 705 rather than the touch screen of the Dakota.

The Dakota will record heart rate and cadence data if you buy the relevant accessories.

The Dakota looks very interesting. Is it a new model? How does the mapping appear on the screen? Looks like it's quite detailed and in colour. I was put off the lower Garmin models like the 205, 305 etc because I heard the screen only shows a little black line and is not that easy to follow. What else does the 705 do that the Dakota doesn't? I've been looking at GPS for my bike for ages and have been put by the sheer choice and whether or not I could just manage with my mobile....

lost_in_thought

suzyb wrote:

I was really just wondering whether, say you had the GPS route someone else rode. Were there any devices that you could download that route to so you could follow it.

I know you can do that with a 705... but I don't know if you can with anything else.

Big Wib

Headhuunter wrote:

The Dakota looks very interesting. Is it a new model? How does the mapping appear on the screen? Looks like it's quite detailed and in colour. I was put off the lower Garmin models like the 205, 305 etc because I heard the screen only shows a little black line and is not that easy to follow. What else does the 705 do that the Dakota doesn't? I've been looking at GPS for my bike for ages and have been put by the sheer choice and whether or not I could just manage with my mobile....

+1

someone on the club run on sunday had a nice looking android ap which he was using to record the route.

i would need something that could also be used for hiking to justify the expense to Mrs BW as I've just got myself a new sunday best bike.

Headhuunter

Big Wib wrote:

Headhuunter wrote:

The Dakota looks very interesting. Is it a new model? How does the mapping appear on the screen? Looks like it's quite detailed and in colour. I was put off the lower Garmin models like the 205, 305 etc because I heard the screen only shows a little black line and is not that easy to follow. What else does the 705 do that the Dakota doesn't? I've been looking at GPS for my bike for ages and have been put by the sheer choice and whether or not I could just manage with my mobile....

+1

someone on the club run on sunday had a nice looking android ap which he was using to record the route.

i would need something that could also be used for hiking to justify the expense to Mrs BW as I've just got myself a new sunday best bike.

The Dakota looks like it's aimed at the hiking or general outdorr market, it doesn't seem to register speed, avg speed, max speed etc etc

alfablue

Headhuunter wrote:

The Dakota looks very interesting. Is it a new model? How does the mapping appear on the screen? Looks like it's quite detailed and in colour. I was put off the lower Garmin models like the 205, 305 etc because I heard the screen only shows a little black line and is not that easy to follow. What else does the 705 do that the Dakota doesn't? I've been looking at GPS for my bike for ages and have been put by the sheer choice and whether or not I could just manage with my mobile....

It has been out a while, its a smaller version of the Oregon. The OS mapping should look like this on the screen:

I have read that because it is a touchscreen the display is not super bright, but the other features swayed me from the705 to this.

The 705 is neater, more expensive, has buttons, is a dedicated bike gps, can download tracks to follow, but no OS mapping, comes with handlebar mounts, has internal Li battery (maybe last 2 years?), some reports of water ingress.

The Dakota is chunkier, no buttons (apart from power), touch screen, cheaper, takes AA's (big plus), seems to be able to record much the same data as the 705 (or all the same if using accessory cadence and hr monitor, but trip distance is likely measured via gps not wheel sensor) but may not offer the same bike computer display (may do, not sure, should display trip stats), can use OS mapping or Open Street Maps etc, can download tracks to follow, handlebar mounts £12.

As my priorities are routes and mapping rather than stats, the Dakota makes sense to me. I gather that depending on your area, the Open Street Map for which there is a cycle version, can be pretty good without needing OS. I am touring the Netherlands in September and I have found that the entire cycle network appears on OSM so aim to use this following pre-planned routes made on www.gpsies.com, like this one:

http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=nvzvlmcriljfzhpq

(switch from Terrain to OSM Cycle, top right of screen, and zoom in, you can see all the long distance cycle routes (LF routes) and the shorter numbered routes)

The UK OSM Cycle map contains a lot of the NCN routes.

alfablue

Headhuunter wrote:

Big Wib wrote:

Headhuunter wrote:

The Dakota looks very interesting. Is it a new model? How does the mapping appear on the screen? Looks like it's quite detailed and in colour. I was put off the lower Garmin models like the 205, 305 etc because I heard the screen only shows a little black line and is not that easy to follow. What else does the 705 do that the Dakota doesn't? I've been looking at GPS for my bike for ages and have been put by the sheer choice and whether or not I could just manage with my mobile....

+1

someone on the club run on sunday had a nice looking android ap which he was using to record the route.

i would need something that could also be used for hiking to justify the expense to Mrs BW as I've just got myself a new sunday best bike.

The Dakota looks like it's aimed at the hiking or general outdorr market, it doesn't seem to register speed, avg speed, max speed etc etc

Here is a screenshot from the Dakota manual


the manual is here:

http://www8.garmin.com/manuals/Dakota10 ... Manual.pdf

spark303

lost_in_thought wrote:

suzyb wrote:

I was really just wondering whether, say you had the GPS route someone else rode. Were there any devices that you could download that route to so you could follow it.

I know you can do that with a 705... but I don't know if you can with anything else.

I think pretty much any GPS can do this. My £30 Garmini Gelo 201 certainly can. Obviously you need one of the higher end models if you want to see the route on a map rather than just a dotted line to follow though...

rich_e

I've got an Edge 705 back at Xmas and was wondering myself what to go for at the time.
I've got the free Streetmap maps on it, as well as the Garmin Topological map which I bought with it.

I'd say what you need is really down to how you currently ride your bike. With my Mountain Bike, I always took an OS map out with me, trying to follow a route I'd decided on beforehand, usually taking something from the internet or making a small print out of the route that I could then look at the OS map just to be sure I was in the right place.

The only reason I needed to consult my OS map was if I got lost. With the 705, I can create a route before I go out, much how I'd find one and try and follow it on my map the old fashioned way. So with the Edge, I can go out and follow the route easily, without having to stop and look at a map all the time.

The Garmin Topological map still gives you all the contour information, so you know how steep an area is. Admittedly, it doesn't always show every single small trail that an OS Map does, but then I've realized I don't really need it to.

What I'm trying to say, is that if you've always decided on roughly what route you are going to take before your ride, then the Edge is fine. If you are just going out on a ride and making it up as you go along, something with full OS maps may be better, but then it's still possible with the Garmin Topological map to do similar.

The other things that put me off the Oregon/Dakota range is that they seem to be aimed more at walkers, though you can get bike mounts. Plus, I wasn't keen on a touch screen device for using when cycling, I think the tactile buttons of the Edge are much better.

FeynmanC

Can the Dakota do "on the fly" route calculations...I believe the 705 can (with the road map package). E.g. Route me from here to this address, without the need to preplan the route on PC and then upload it?

choirboy

alfablue wrote:

The Dakota is chunkier, no buttons (apart from power), touch screen, cheaper, takes AA's (big plus), seems to be able to record much the same data as the 705 (or all the same if using accessory cadence and hr monitor, but trip distance is likely measured via gps not wheel sensor) but may not offer the same bike computer display (may do, not sure, should display trip stats), can use OS mapping or Open Street Maps etc, can download tracks to follow, handlebar mounts £12.

I've got the Oregon which I use both for hiking and bike - assume that the Dakota has similar capabilities. It's quite chunky so I wouldn't use it instead of a bike computer (use a Strada Dual Wireless for day-to-day bike use) but for following a route it's perfect. I use bikehike and a couple of GPX editing utilities to get the routes I need onto it for free and it will then do turn-by-turn routing for you. I bought the version with 1:50k OS maps of all the UK National Parks which are very readable on screen.

Screen isn't hugely bright but it's good enough and 2 re-chargeable AAs will last more than 8 hours even with fairly frequent map views. If you want to go the whole hog it is compatible with the Garmin cadence sensor and HRM but I would have thought the 705 would be better for that.

alfablue

FeynmanC wrote:

Can the Dakota do "on the fly" route calculations...I believe the 705 can (with the road map package). E.g. Route me from here to this address, without the need to preplan the route on PC and then upload it?

Yes, it can navigate to a destination you select and the mapping (inc. GB Discoverer) is "routable". See pages 5 and 6 in the owners manual (pp 11-12 as per pdf file).
http://www8.garmin.com/manuals/Dakota10 ... Manual.pdf

alfablue

Yes, choirboy, I think it should do for me, I think it is a smaller version of the Oregon but with most features.

TimeEventParadox

I have the forerunner 205, and use that in conjunction with

Bikehike.co.uk

You can create a route using OS or Google maps, and then download it directly to your GPS (requires the Garmin plugin for Firefox or Internet Exploder).

Rick_huggins

I'm using my trusty garmin 60csx

asprilla

TimeEventParadox wrote:

I have the forerunner 205, and use that in conjunction with

Bikehike.co.uk

You can create a route using OS or Google maps, and then download it directly to your GPS (requires the Garmin plugin for Firefox or Internet Exploder).

What sort of display does that give on the device?