Planning Courses for Garmin 800

Cuddywifter

I have just ordered a Garmin Edge 800 and have registered with Garmin Connect.

I have started planning courses on Garmin Connect ready to download to the 800 once it arrives. It seems easy enough, but is this the best way? Should I use Garmin Basecamp? Or is one of the other mapping websites better?

Also once the 800 arrives with the basemap will this be enough to get me going or will I have to download the free maps from osm or Talkytoaster?

Thanks

ddraver

No, you ll need the OSM maps. The basemap is worthless, just country shapes and Motorways.

Garmin Connect is OK, bike route toaster is maybe a bit better - none of them are user friendly at all though

It's worth searching for routes on all the sites, Garmin Connect, mapmyride, strava etc. Usually people plot some nice ones that are worth keeping. Trouble is, you don't know if they re good or not until you ride them....

fsman

another good site is ridewithgps.com
Does everything that GarminConnect does but better

OSM maps are great. The only thing missing is post code and address search. But you can search for a town etc. In practice you will want to pre-plan you route in advance.

For OSM maps I higher recommend talkytoster http://talkytoaster.com/ukmaps.htm
Or if you want UK cycle routes then I made this map https://sites.google.com/site/openstree ... cleuk/home

You will also need to setup the edge 800 too. great guide here http://www.scarletfire.co.uk/2012/11/fo ... -edge-800/

Foyzy

Another vote for ridewithgps - it's by far the best one I have found for plotting courses for the 800. Just create your course, save it as a GPS Track file and let the Garmin do the rest. For maps, the City Navigator works very well.

the_cyclist_of_catan

And a third vote for ridewithgps. Basecamp is just frustrating rubbish IME.

Gizmodo

Another vote for ridewithgps.com. And definitely Talkytoaster and OSM maps.

boogi11

Garmin connect is fine.... How simple to people want things. Click on a point to start, click somewhere else. Continue till course is completed . Upload?

ddraver

The Garmin site is fine unless you want to do some serious planning, the trouble is that unless you know where you re going then plotting courses can be a minefield, hence why I like to try and follow other peoples to do some exploring....Trouble with that obviously is that you don't know if the person who made the course knew where he was going

philwint

ddraver wrote:

The Garmin site is fine unless you want to do some serious planning, the trouble is that unless you know where you re going .....

...... or can read a map

deadhead1971

fsman wrote:

You will also need to setup the edge 800 too. great guide here http://www.scarletfire.co.uk/2012/11/fo ... -edge-800/

Thanks so much for posting a link to my site, I'm glad the guide is useful. The Edge 800 is a great little thing, but can give people problems when they're just getting used to it.

I'll definitely add my +1 for www.ridewithgps.com
It's the best route planning site I've come across.

Cuddywifter

Thanks for the replies everyone.

There seems to be a general consensus that ridewithgps is really good, so I will have a look.

Also thanks to fsman for the link to Scarletfire. The site is really helpful for the beginner and the video showing how to install maps is so easy to follow.

ddraver

philwint wrote:

ddraver wrote:

The Garmin site is fine unless you want to do some serious planning, the trouble is that unless you know where you re going .....

...... or can read a map

Doesnt actually make a difference though does it smarty pants

nferrar

Just to be different, www.bikehike.co.uk is my preference (especially good for MTB to as also displays OS mini-map)

m4ttc

I've been using Garmin Connect to create courses and found it pretty easy tbh. I will give ridewithgps.com a go though

philwint

ddraver wrote:

philwint wrote:

ddraver wrote:

The Garmin site is fine unless you want to do some serious planning, the trouble is that unless you know where you re going .....

...... or can read a map

Doesnt actually make a difference though does it smarty pants

Well yes.

I plan routes by looking at a map, deciding where i want the route to go, then popping it on the garmin site. In fact more often than not nowadays I miss off the paper map stage and just sketch the maps right on to the garmin site. Occasional reference to google maps supplies any additional information i might want.

thegodplato

I use BikeRouteToaster for the actual plotting of the ride. It might be me but BRT is the only site that gives me the Turn By Turn car SatNav type screen instrcutions - this is where the screen changes to show an enlarged arrow and junction to help the approach to a junction. Then once I have done the ride I use Strava to see how bad I've done!

Having said all this, I also use RideWithGPS to `design` a ride as BikeRouteToaster maps can't be shared on Facebook, so the RideWithGPS maps I share with my riding buddies to see if they are happy with the route, etc.

If anyone can tell me how to get Turn By Turn big arrow junction screen on other sites then please let me know.

fsman

You can do turn by turn with RWGS
You need to make sure the route is saved in the right format
http://ridewithgps.com/edge_800
GPX Track is best in my opinion