Sat Nav

pauldavid

Due to my sense of direction being removed at birth every time I set off for a ride I ultimately end up losing my way from the route I originally planned at home prior to setting off.

From some of the comments posted on here elsewhere/previously I think it is possible to get a cycle computer that I can load a route into and which will then give me directional information to follow tht route.

Firstly, is this correct??

Secondly, can anyone recommend a low/medium priced unit that is reasonably good.

Alternatively, if anyone is selling a trained guide dog that wouldn't mind running for 3 hours every sunday morning, please get in touch.

Thank you in advance for any help!

aripallaris

get a garmin 800 when one of the bigger retailers are doing a 20% sale on them mate. I have one and don't regret it. yes slighty expensive but the peace of mind is wonderful. don't plan a route just press start. go get lost for 20miles then tell the little thing to navigate you home. really cool device and it's tiny

pauldavid

Thanks, just had a look online and I think this is what I need.

May have to look for a second hand one though at those prices :oops:

carl_p

I guess if you live and ride in North London then you are not too bothered which route your Sat Nav recommends. Not for me though, I prefer quieter roads.

Most Garmins allow you to upload a route which you choose and then give you a warning plus direction instruction as you approach a waypoint.

I ripped a page out of an old road atlas for my local area, covered it in sticky back plastic and fold it up nice and small in my saddle bag. Bit of added reassurance if required.

plowmar

Only prob. with maps I found when walking is that you need to know where you are in the first place, after that it is easy.

At least with SAtNavs they tell you where you are and, as said, with Garmins you press the 'Home' option and of you go, or you could just go back the way you came.

Antway isn't that the fun of riding getting lost?

ollyridesfirst

For those who have the Garmin 800 (I don't but i'll be saving after my wheel upgrade)...

I have a ride partner who loves his, but he's tried doing a 70+ mile route with his on normal stats showing and then the last 20 miles or so (he got lost) with turn by turn directions and the battery died about 4 miles from home. It was fully charged and i'd say it was on for about 6 hours - maybe 2 of which were on turn by turn navigation.....anyone else have anything to add on the battery life of the 800???

aripallaris

battery life is about 5hours or there abouts... on longer rides id imagine you'd need to turn the screen brightness right down to preserve some juice too.

so have ive not got lost with the navigation. interesting comments though.

plowmar

There's the argument for the 705 as I'm able to get closer to 15 hours from mine.

ollyridesfirst

Garmin claim the battery life is up to 18 hours though (i presume just on stats and not navigation, but still! you shouldn't expect it to be dead after 6 hours!)

chiark

I've got a second hand 705 from someone upgrading to the 800 - more than happy with it so far!

Stiff_Orange

OllyRidesFirst wrote:

For those who have the Garmin 800 (I don't but i'll be saving after my wheel upgrade)...

I have a ride partner who loves his, but he's tried doing a 70+ mile route with his on normal stats showing and then the last 20 miles or so (he got lost) with turn by turn directions and the battery died about 4 miles from home. It was fully charged and i'd say it was on for about 6 hours - maybe 2 of which were on turn by turn navigation.....anyone else have anything to add on the battery life of the 800???

aripallaris wrote:

battery life is about 5hours or there abouts... on longer rides id imagine you'd need to turn the screen brightness right down to preserve some juice too.

Check the Backlight Timeout (found under Menu-->Settings-->Display ), for riding during the day turn it off, otherwise the backlight will be on constantly because of all the navigational messages or when you touch the screen.
The screen is plenty bright enough in even overcast light. Without the back light I've had over 20 hrs out of a single charge. With the backlight switched on it lasts about 6 hrs.

Erudin

pauldavid wrote:

....Secondly, can anyone recommend a low/medium priced unit that is reasonably good....

Just got a Bryton Rider 50, have navigated a few short trips I planned using it and it works great so far, the Bryton Sport website is still beta but improving all the time.

Bikehawk

Had a similar issue with battery life on a handheld GPS unit. Getting 4-5hrs max, turned the backlight way down and now getting much nearer the manufacturers claimed 13hrs.