New member - recommendation on GPS Nav

[RayLavidge]

Hi all - new member to the group so please be kind.

I am a fair weather road cyclist and love creating country road routes from the PC and using a nav device to follow whilst out.

I used to use my iPhone with MapMyRide which did the job nicely but have gone to Strava and bought a Garmin Edge Touring.

Here is where the issue is - the Garmin is absolutely terrible for the following reasons (for me at least)

The route highlight is not very clear so you really have to stop and check which road you should be going on (the colours of the roads and the actual route seem too close with no option to change the colour scheme).

Also when you do deviate from the mapped route , the Edge Touring does not seem to be able to “recalculate” a new route.

All it seems to want to do is remove the route from the screen so you have to retrace your steps - so if you fancy taking a detour the whole thing is a waste of time.

Can anyone recommend a different GPS unit which is more user friendly for me?

[robgul]

I think this may be a case of RTFM - although the manual (online) isn't brilliant. The settings (little spanner icon) should deal with most of your comments.

That said, I had an Edge Touring but have subsequently graduated to an Edge 1000 which is a bit more sophisticated. Nothing wrong with the Touring - it just needs to have settings to be the way you want them.

Rob

[Ridgie]

Hi
I got an Edge Tourer about 9 months ago and am surprised at some of your problems.
When I go off route, (the route is a deep purple line) my Garmin offers me a pink line to follow which will return me to my route by the most efficient way. I find this very useful and use it all the time. It has a habit, if your route is circular, of finding the 'wrong' route and trying to send you back from whence you came, so you have to try and be aware it might do that, but in the main, I have found I'm kept on track pretty well.
Colours can be changed in the setings. I did this, but didn't find that they were any clearer and yes, it would be great if the icon which represents you, the cyclist, were not a tiny black arrow that tends to get lost on the purple route, but with more time, you get used to checking the warning on the top of the screen as to when the next turning is due.
It can be (is) an annoying device, but, with time, I suspect you'll get, if not to love it, then to admire what it does do well.

[MrsHJ]

Not much help- mine is a PITA too but sympathy vote here. I’m on tour in the USA and it’s being iffy about loading maps. I have an edge touring 1000.

[iandriver]

I'd start by setting it is as described here https://ridewithgps.com/help/garmin-edge-touring

[Cunobelin]

1. Sit down and make two lists....What you would like now (speed, distance maps) and what you may want in future (cadence, heart rate)
2. Now look at which SatNav has those features
3. Rationalise as to which features you are able to afford!

[freeflow]

Sell the Garmin, dump Strava, go back to using your phone.

[yutkoxpo]

How old is your touring unit?

I tried one out 3 years ago and I kept it less than 3 weeks. It was a disaster for me, although I believe there is a new version of it that is supposed to be better.

I don't like using a phone for navigation. too difficult to see in sun, too sensitive in wet, mounts are difficult, battery is an issue.

I got a Wahoo Elemnt and for me it is a great piece of kit for simple navigation. It only gets used for "touring" and recording my commute. I have no interest in stats.

As said above, a list is a very good place to start.

Other alternatives could be non-cycling specific units like the etrex or other Garmin units. It very much depends on your needs.