GPS / Sat Nav Systems

eskeydog

Hi

I am about to do a cycle tour from holland to austria. I have never done a any cycling away from area I already know, I am thinking about investing in a GPS/Sat nav for the trip rather than stopping every 5 mins to check the map.

Every GPS system I have come accross seems to require me 'uploading' route etc. Is there something out there, much like a car tomtom, where I just put the street name etc in and away we go?

Please help!!

chill123

hi eskeydog.

sounds like you need a Garmin Edge 800 in your life. You can either upload routes beforehand or punch in post codes/street names etc and the unit will navigate you there like a tom tom. it'll even avoid major roads which is handy if cycling.

here's my review:

http://www.bicyclecenturytraining.com/b ... 00-review/

you'll need the right maps to go with it as the base maps are pretty limited. go for the Europe City Navigator maps either on a micro sd card or a DVD.

eskeydog

Spot on, cheers chilli!

paulbox

If you get a smartphone of some kind (HTC, iPhone etc.) they normally come with some kind of navigation software & if not, you can download something.

amaferanga

eskeydog wrote:

Hi

I am about to do a cycle tour from holland to austria. I have never done a any cycling away from area I already know, I am thinking about investing in a GPS/Sat nav for the trip rather than stopping every 5 mins to check the map.

Every GPS system I have come accross seems to require me 'uploading' route etc. Is there something out there, much like a car tomtom, where I just put the street name etc in and away we go?

Please help!!

This simply doesn't work that well in cycling. In the car you probably don't care which roads you take, just which route is either quickest or shortest. My experience with Garmin cycling GPS systems is that you invariably either get a horrible route on busy main roads or a ridiculously indirect route avoiding every main road.

Basically if you want to pre-plan a route then a GPS is ideal. If you want to improvise your route as you go along then take a map and a GPS - navigate with the map using the GPS to pinpoint your location.

Also, save yourself some pennies and get a Garmin Vista HCx instead of the very expensive Edge 800. The Vista has the same navigation features as the Edge 705 and the same maps, but only costs around £150. The big bonus for touring though is that it runs on standard AA batteries so you won't have to worry about finding somewhere to plug it in each day as is the case with most Garmins. You'll get about 20 hours from a pair of AA's.

And forget about smartphones unless you only plan to cycle for a few hours a day when its not raining.

rando

[/quote]

This simply doesn't work that well in cycling. In the car you probably don't care which roads you take, just which route is either quickest or shortest. My experience with Garmin cycling GPS systems is that you invariably either get a horrible route on busy main roads or a ridiculously indirect route avoiding every main road.

Basically if you want to pre-plan a route then a GPS is ideal. If you want to improvise your route as you go along then take a map and a GPS - navigate with the map using the GPS to pinpoint your location.

Also, save yourself some pennies and get a Garmin Vista HCx instead of the very expensive Edge 800. The Vista has the same navigation features as the Edge 705 and the same maps, but only costs around £150. The big bonus for touring though is that it runs on standard AA batteries so you won't have to worry about finding somewhere to plug it in each day as is the case with most Garmins. You'll get about 20 hours from a pair of AA's.

[/quote]

Have been looking at GPS for the bike and had only really considered the Garmin Edge 500 or 700 and the new Bryton Roder 30 or 50.
Would the Garmin Vista or Legend HCx series be just as good as the specific bike ones ?
They are certainly cheaper and as long as they can tell me my average speed and miles covered and along with the other GPS functions then they seem good value. Be interested in anyone who uses the Garmin Vista or Legend on their bikes.

barney69

Hi,
I've used the Garmin eTrex Venture HC for the past couple of years, plotting route on Memory Map then transferring it over then away you go.
I've used it successfully on a C2C in a day and HCW in a day challenge and it works fine.
Comes with base map which is useless so you can't replot the route on the go. I've just found a site recently that had free downloadable maps for HCx version http://www.talkytoaster.info/ukmaps.htm.
I'm planning on attempting LeJog this year so will buy the Garmin 800 with all the maps so I can reroute easily if I need to.
good luck

alistaird

As an alternative, I got one of these recently:

http://www.satsportsgps.com/sportslog/satsportgps.html

You can get a memory card with full navigation as well so it works like a car sat nav. Also, managed to find it much cheaper that advertised on the web site.

Alistair

rando

AlistairD wrote:

As an alternative, I got one of these recently:

http://www.satsportsgps.com/sportslog/satsportgps.html

You can get a memory card with full navigation as well so it works like a car sat nav. Also, managed to find it much cheaper that advertised on the web site.

Alistair

Have you found it cheaper than £239 ? If so you would care to share with us as I cannot find it any cheaper and most places that actually sell it are much more expensive than the website you link to.

alistaird

rando wrote:

AlistairD wrote:

As an alternative, I got one of these recently:

http://www.satsportsgps.com/sportslog/satsportgps.html

You can get a memory card with full navigation as well so it works like a car sat nav. Also, managed to find it much cheaper that advertised on the web site.

Alistair

Have you found it cheaper than £239 ? If so you would care to share with us as I cannot find it any cheaper and most places that actually sell it are much more expensive than the website you link to.

This is where I got it from:

http://www.thesatnavwarehouse.com/products/categories/outdoor_gps/skiing/handheld-gps/index.html

Alistair

rando

AlistairD wrote:

rando wrote:

AlistairD wrote:

As an alternative, I got one of these recently:

http://www.satsportsgps.com/sportslog/satsportgps.html

You can get a memory card with full navigation as well so it works like a car sat nav. Also, managed to find it much cheaper that advertised on the web site.

Alistair

Have you found it cheaper than £239 ? If so you would care to share with us as I cannot find it any cheaper and most places that actually sell it are much more expensive than the website you link to.

This is where I got it from:

http://www.thesatnavwarehouse.com/products/categories/outdoor_gps/skiing/handheld-gps/index.html

Alistair

Cheers Alistair.

mzm70

Seems to be £150 here:

http://www.onebelowzero.com/satsports-gps

alistaird

mzm70 wrote:

Seems to be £150 here:

http://www.onebelowzero.com/satsports-gps

Even better price, shame I didn't see that a few months ago... :-(

rando

At £150 it seems a decent buy. Have looked at the spec on the satsports site and the battery life is 8-10 hours which for normal use wuld be fine but i do intend to do some 100 mile rides this summer so would want it to last for those. Also does anyone know if you can download gpx files onto it so that you can follow a pre determined route from an event.
Have searched for reviews on the unit but very little out there.