Which gps gadget?

ShelleyB

Hi all, I am not only new to this forum but I am also relatively new to road riding. As a rule I go out riding with my hubby who has an in built compass (lol) but I am At a point where I need to go out more often and thîs means going by myself. Should I purchase a gps with maps or without maps. Help I need to make a decision :?

ForumNewbie

Hi there, GPS with maps like a Garmin 800, are very expensive (£300 plus) and are probably unnecessary for a beginner. I have a Garmin 200 (approx £100) which is a GPS but not really a navigation tool. It gives you good downloadable stats and maps out where you have been - just a step up from a cheaper cycle computer, which can be anything from about £10 upwards. A cycle computer or basic GPS is definitely a good motivational tool.

I'm sure you could work out some routes in advance with a normal map, and if necessary take a map (or copy of a map page) out with you and stop and look at it if and when necessary to ensure you are on the correct route.

sirmol

I have a forerunner 405 that i bought to run with. I have now got into riding and it has a bike mode. due to the watch being gps you can ask it to take you back to a destination you have visited. However it does not come with maps built in. I would recommend this tho if you get to a stage that u would like to record your rides and see how fast/far/calories you have done.

rolf_f

Main brands are Garmin, Bryton and Holux in decreasing price order and all are worth a look. I have various Bryton units (with and without maps) and like them. But I managed for a long time with old fashioned paper things called maps. If you use a route plotting website, you can plot your route and print it off but there is still a lot to be said for having an OS map (or photocopy of one) with you - even with mapping GPS, you are just following a line rather than seeing where in the countryside you are.

Also worth bearing in mind that if when you are cycling alone, you are generally cycling in your local area, you will generally soon get to know where you are anyway.

Thebigbee

ShelleyB wrote:

Hi all, I am not only new to this forum but I am also relatively new to road riding. As a rule I go out riding with my hubby who has an in built compass (lol) but I am At a point where I need to go out more often and thîs means going by myself. Should I purchase a gps with maps or without maps. Help I need to make a decision :?

If you have a Smartphone with GPS why not just use the apps on that and save yourself a few hundred quid and just buy a bike mount for your phone?

I use cyclometer which seems to work fine in tracking my routes.

However I have never relied ( I don't like the way that looks but is apparently right !) on GPS on a bike - I just ride where I want.

HTH

slingersurf

+1 for the smartphone gps.

I have a sony ericsson xperia arc s (£220 PAYG (phones 4 u)) for shorter traianing rides (upto 5Hrs) which gives all the stats you need & it has ANT+ so my heartrate belt & cadance works with it, use the endomondo free app or any of the others talked about on the forum. Batt lasts well for a phone 2Hr ride used 25% of the juice. Waiting for my ridermount to fix it to the bars.

For endurance riding i only want to monitor my heart rate so use a forerunner 305 & download after, i get around 14-18hrs of constant use with this watch unit, the 305 is a discontinued line now so should be some good deals around.

Could not justify £400 on a bike computer to the boss, but a £200 phone + mount was ok? + the phone is insured

pete54

You don't need to spend £300+ on a Garmin Edge 800. I paid £236 for my base unit (admittedly on a deal that is no longer available) and have installed free OSM maps on a memory card which cost £4.

Gizmodo

Previous debate about mobile phone vs Garmin here
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40020&t=12833971

dabber

With regard to the battery life with mobile phones... one of our club members uses one of these with his mobile.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000NDQ92W/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=A15VB89EFO68SH

I can't vouch for it as I use a Holux but he seems to think it works very well (and he's a fairly long distance rider).

ShelleyB

Thanks for all the responses, I do appreciate it. However, it looks like I am going to splash out on on a Garmin, treat from the Hubby. I do use my iphone and it is good for recording my route etc, and i have and do use paper maps when needed (generally when i am being dragged out on the MTB) and riding across the North York Moors. Again thanks for the responses.

Chris87

i have a terrible memory for directions so I have always found google streetview a godsend.

First I use map my ride to work out a route that fits the distance I want to go then I use google street view to run through the route. This means for any turns I need to take I can use visual pointers for directions e.g knowing to turn when i see a certain landmark/building.

It works surprisingly well for me! though I do have my iphone as a backup for when i totally balls it up.......

loismustdie

Garmin 800 with Ordnance Survey mapping. Whether or not you prefer OS to European road maps is personal choice, but I've got both (the European maps are from my old 705) and much prefer the OS maps.

Omar Little

loismustdie wrote:

Garmin 800 with Ordnance Survey mapping. Whether or not you prefer OS to European road maps is personal choice, but I've got both (the European maps are from my old 705) and much prefer the OS maps.

+1 to that

iPip

I've got the Edge 500 which is a great little GPS unit. Not ideal for routing, but what I would say is that I personally can't look at it long enough or closely enough whilst riding to actually use it as a satnav anyway. It might be worth a few dummy runs on your rides with hubby to see if you could. The 800 is an overpriced 500 if you can't use the mapping.

MattC59

I love my Garmn Edge800, but appreciate that it's a lot of money and may not be necessary for your needs. That said, you can find the base unit at a reasonable price on line and then download free maps such as Velomaps (google them). The mapping is pretty good, you can stop and check the map if necessary, but it will also give you turn by turn instructions of your route with an audible prompt. This will give you full satnav functionality, with excellent battery life, but at a cost.

The other option is to use one of the many cycling navigation aps for your phone. This will give you a similar solution, but at a lower cost (assuming that you already have the phone). The downside to this option is that it is a little more fragile and you probably won't get good battery life out of your phone. You'll also need to buy a handlebar mount for your phone.

I can highly recommend the Edge800 as it has training functionality as well, you don't have to be a beginner to have one. (Plus, it's an ace gadget )

rolf_f

MattC59 wrote:

I love my Garmn Edge800, but appreciate that it's a lot of money and may not be necessary for your needs. That said, you can find the base unit at a reasonable price on line and then download free maps such as Velomaps (google them). This will give you full satnav functionality, with excellent battery life, but at a cost.

TBH, on my Bryton I have some fairly crude basemaps but, unless you are going off road, they are really all you need. As long as you can see the junctions to know which way to turn, you really don't need anything else even if it is nice having a more attractive map. In some respects though, a simpler map is often easier to read.

I actually used the Bryton in The Netherlands without any basemap and it worked almost perfectly well - I only went off track a couple of times due to the complexity of the routes in Western Holland.

Monty Dog

I've had an Edge 800 for 2 months since my Forerunner got run over :-(
Luckily, I only bought the base unit as I know enough software hackers to get me the maps for free!
As a computer it's got everything and more.
Navigation however can be quite tricky because the screen isn't too clear in bright sunlight - I'm riding across London tomorrow so it's be interesting to see how it goes.

Wirral_paul

pete54 wrote:

You don't need to spend £300+ on a Garmin Edge 800. I paid £236 for my base unit (admittedly on a deal that is no longer available) and have installed free OSM maps on a memory card which cost £4.

Could i slightly hijack the thread and ask where to get the free OS Maps? I keep looking but never seem to find them!!

MattC59

Rolf F wrote:

MattC59 wrote:

I love my Garmn Edge800, but appreciate that it's a lot of money and may not be necessary for your needs. That said, you can find the base unit at a reasonable price on line and then download free maps such as Velomaps (google them). This will give you full satnav functionality, with excellent battery life, but at a cost.

TBH, on my Bryton I have some fairly crude basemaps but, unless you are going off road, they are really all you need. As long as you can see the junctions to know which way to turn, you really don't need anything else even if it is nice having a more attractive map. In some respects though, a simpler map is often easier to read.

I actually used the Bryton in The Netherlands without any basemap and it worked almost perfectly well - I only went off track a couple of times due to the complexity of the routes in Western Holland.

Unfortunately, the basemaps on the Edge800 are sh*te, so you need to use either the city maps, OS maps or something like the velomaps. I went for the OS maps, as they're better value.

MattC59

Wirral_Paul wrote:

pete54 wrote:

You don't need to spend £300+ on a Garmin Edge 800. I paid £236 for my base unit (admittedly on a deal that is no longer available) and have installed free OSM maps on a memory card which cost £4.

Could i slightly hijack the thread and ask where to get the free OS Maps? I keep looking but never seem to find them!!

I might be wrong, but I think that the Velomaps are like the OS maps. Can't quite remember though, it's a while since I looked at them. Easy enough to find on google though.

Omar Little

Think there is a bit of confusion - OS maps are the ordinance survey ones which you need to pay for (you will be cheapest getting these with the unit because if you buy the map card seperately then it will be over a £100), OSM maps are Open Street Maps which are free.

The OS maps might be available on a torrent somewhere if you have a look but i dont know much about that.

Wirral_paul

Ahhh, that ^^ explains why I could never find any free OS Maps!! Well i am now up and running with the OSM maps of Velomaps - much better than the Garmin base map. Still feel the need to go for the full Ordnance Survey maps at some stage though - wish i'd bought them originally when i got my Edge 800 now!!

Thanks to Omar and Matt anyway 8)

pilot_pete

I have all the 1:50 OS maps on Memory Map. If I get a Garmin in future can I upload them from my home pc or is the format different? Anyone know?

Cheers

PP

napoleond

I have a fantastic Pirate GPS. It tells you where you arrr.

MattC59

Pilot Pete wrote:

I have all the 1:50 OS maps on Memory Map. If I get a Garmin in future can I upload them from my home pc or is the format different? Anyone know?

Cheers

PP

They're different maps. I've got them too, you cna plot maps on them and then transfer the route file to your GPS, but they're PC maps, not hand held GPS maps.

mav12

Pilot Pete wrote:

I have all the 1:50 OS maps on Memory Map. If I get a Garmin in future can I upload them from my home pc or is the format different? Anyone know?

Cheers

PP

memory map do a gps which uses their maps or if you have a smart phone there is an app which uses the memory map maps
you can use open street maps on garmin units but i am not sure which ones

there is also a website called walk the highlands hich has os maps which you can create a route and download it to a gps

cryocon

Omar Little wrote:

Think there is a bit of confusion - OS maps are the ordinance survey ones which you need to pay for (you will be cheapest getting these with the unit because if you buy the map card seperately then it will be over a £100), OSM maps are Open Street Maps which are free.

The OS maps might be available on a torrent somewhere if you have a look but i dont know much about that.

If you have an Android phone get an app called Back Country Navigator and select the 'Multimap UK OS Explorer' which is the Ordnance Survey maps. You can select an area and download the maps to the phone. You can also import tracks and follow routes. Another one i have is Oruxmaps, which i have offline Open Cycle Maps downloaded. I also have a Bryton Roder 50 which i don't really use the maps on now. My phone is a SE Xperia Active so it's also waterproof and has ANT+ built in. Just waiting for SportyPal to make their bike mount available for the phone and the Bryton will probably be redundant.

Paulroth

My reply to the original question "Which GPS gadget?" - I would recommend the Bryton Rider 50.
I went through the same thought process last year and settled on the Bryton Rider 50 and am very satisfied with the choice.

The price of the Garmin units - plus the additional optional extras for Maps etc put me off that brand (also saw some reliability issues on forums).

I found the price point for the Bryton unit to be OK and all-in including mapping (kind of a midway / half-way point between a top-end bike computer and the Garmin GPS range - and with the functionality of both the bike computer and the Garmin GPS).

Feedback : Great unit - but falls pretty much into the gadget category in my opinion. On the bike, I usually know where I am going (called planning in advance) so I do not use the navigation function often. I find it useful to track and analyse trips after the event. So really ends up as a super-bike computer complete with maps - on the handlebars.

Regards,
Paul

freezing77

ShelleyB wrote:

Hi all, I am not only new to this forum but I am also relatively new to road riding. As a rule I go out riding with my hubby who has an in built compass (lol) but I am At a point where I need to go out more often and thîs means going by myself. Should I purchase a gps with maps or without maps. Help I need to make a decision :?

There has been much talk of the edge series from Garmin, as an alternative the etrex series are very good for navigation but rather less so for more esoteric cycling functions such as calories used , heart rate etc.

Additionally for the same level of navigational finesse they are much more cost effective than the edge mapping versions.

For longer days/days in the saddle they use standard AA batteries as opposed to proprietary inbuilt batteries.

joshr96

If you have an android phone you can always use Google Latidtude? Im not sure if this app comes on other smart phones but you can always do a quick search.
Obviously try searching for some GPS apps if Google Latidute comes up inconclusive. 8)

deadhead1971

Lots of mapping info and comparisons here, including a video tutorial of how to install the free talkytoaster OSM to a Garmin Edge.

http://www.scarletfire.co.uk/category/cycling/garmin-edge-800