GPS

[Phil66]

I want to get myself a GPS but not sure where to start. I want it for touring, here and abroad. I also want it for local tours and maybe a bit of off road. I was recommended the Garmin 800 by somebody I know who used is Asia and S. America and was very happy with it. I can’t seem to find it though, but I notice the 810 is widely available, is that like the 800 but better?. Also, I’m getting a lot of prompts from Evans Cycles for the Garmin Edge Touring Plus, reduced to £189.99, is that any good? I’ve not much idea what I should be looking for in these devices. Pointers, tips anyone?

[freeflow]

Have you considered an android smartphone and an app such a Locus maps pro. I've been using my phone in a handlebar mount since Oct 2013 for Audax and occasional trail riding.

[lingy]

I think the Garmin Edge Touring is Spot on for touring cyclists...especially if you want a small neat unit without the battery hassle of trying to use your phone etc. I think the 800/810 adds a lot of race/sport/training functionality and the mapping would normally be extra. With the Edge Touring you can either get the Plus version with pre installed (and easily updatable) maps or buy without and install your own free maps...see DC Rainmaker site for good reviews and info on how to install maps.


I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my wobbly bog brush using hovercraft full of eels

[matt2matt2002]

I was just about to pose this question.
A guy on crazyguy has just done 3 months in Ethiopia with a Garmin GPS map 62s
He tracked his route everyday and put them up in the site with loads if stats.

Anyone any experience of this unit?

EBay £170+
Look heavy duty and run on rechargeable AA batteries.

[Sweep]

Doesn't the garmin edge touring have a built in battery?

I'd no more buy a device with a built in battery than a pair of pants with an integrated toilet roll.

Evans are promoting it because, er, they think it is in their interest.

For similar negative reasons they do not stock the garmin etrex 20 - reduced profit.

If your primary interest is a simple functional gps rather than evans's profit margins i would get an etrex 20, now the 20x.

[Toeclip]

Personally I use SatMap Active 12. Expensive, yes, but it came with a full set of GB Landranger Maps which I prefer. Tough cases, cycle mounts etc are exta. Oh! it has a nice big screen too. As always it is personal preference.

[lowrider]

I would go for the Etrex 20 or similar with replaceable AA batteries, it takes downloadable maps (some free) but is also now availiable with uk Topo map installed similar to that on the 800 Tour. It can also be used with OS 1:50,000 maps from Garmin but at a cost.

This unit has the advantage of being suitable for other uses such as hill walking where the alternatives such as smartphones are unsuitable and potentailly dangerous because of power issues. The power issues for a smartphone can be solved for cycling but only by the use of external batteries dynamo etc which is far too much bother IMO though perhaps if you already have a dynamo it might be ok but you need a regulator which is even more expense.

[Barrenfluffit]

I've used a smartphone and Maps.me. If tree's (or anything) blocks the GPS signal it makes junctions rather difficult. A rarely encountered but quite awkward problem. Likewise I found it hard to see in direct sun. The battery problem was easily managed (power-packs / spare batteries) but did need access to mains electricity every couple of days. Also the maps need to download over wifi as you get close to the edges.

[Sweep]

+1 to all of lowrider's post which admirably covered the key issues.
I can recommend the free openfietsmap OP which is based open street map.
With those maps I think you will be able to avoid paying for any maps.
I can also give a big thumbs up to Garmin's service - when mine bounced off the bike (I thought this not possible due to the generally excellent mount) and broke they sorted it in a matter of days for a little over £60 from memory.

If you do go looking for a 20 OP, get the updated 20x - some of the earlier models, like mine, may still be on sale.

If you need any more help with stuff about the 20/x or openfietsmap, just get in touch.

all the best.

[PH]

Also, I’m getting a lot of prompts from Evans Cycles for the Garmin Edge Touring Plus, reduced to £189.99, is that any good? I’ve not much idea what I should be looking for in these devices. Pointers, tips anyone?

IMO Evans is rarely the cheapest place to buy anything. Mine come from Handtec, who have decent prices, though not always in stock and the warranty issue I had was dealt with promptly.
http://www.handtec.co.uk/satnav-gps.html?p=1

I have an Etrex20 and a Touring Plus, and I have also had an Edge 500.
Etrex Vs Touring comes down largely to personal choice. The touring’s touch screen and larger display against the battery question and extra features of the Etrex. The availability of cheap USB power packs IMO makes the battery question pretty redundant, it'd be pretty easy to run a Touring for a week between charges. I use GPX Tracks rather than routes, so the function of both is pretty much the same with a better display on the Touring. I like being able to swipe between screens, but it isn't a deal breaker. For day to day use, I much prefer the Touring, for a longer trip I’m undecided, either would be fine.
Try and have a play with both and see which you prefer. There's also the new option of the Etrex touch, which I know nothing about but have just seen in Handtec. If money is no object there's also the top of the range Edge Explore 1000 though I haven't seen one. What other cycling do you do? We're talking about devices for touring, but you might also want the cycle training features.

[andymiller]

Go with the cheapest GPS that does the job for you.

The Garmin Edge series have lots of features that might be useful if you are training (eg say you want to compare speed, cadence and hear-rate all in one place) but if you don't need/want these features then really there's no point spending the extra money (and it's a lot of extra money).

The Garmin Edge Touring is neat and very petite. If you aren't camping and you are fairly sure that you can recharge at the end of the day then I'm not sure that not having the ability to change the battery is such a big deal. Put it this way I've never heard of anyone posting to say the battery didn't last them a day. It's a nice size that will fit OK on your stem (unless you already have a bike computer there). Whether its neatness and petiteness justifies the extra money is going to depend on you.

I've just bought a GPS64 on the basis that that bloody great thing that sticks out of the top has got to be a big eff-off aerial. But then again it might just be for decoration. I'm hoping that in conditions of poor reception it will have the edge on my eTrex 20 in producing a more accurate gps track. The claimed accuracy in good conditions is about 3 metres - the same as the eTrex 20. (I should say that I use my gps tracks to produce route maps for my website, so I spend a fair amount of time tweaking the track files - so I'm a lot fussier than most people would be). So far I'm not sure it justifies the extra weight and bulk (but in fairness yesterday was my first day using it in earnest).

The GPS 64 has a push-button interface rather than the joystick of the eTrex series. It's just as irritating — but in its own way. (The touchscreen may be another advantage for the Edge Touring.

You may want to consider the eTrex 30 as it has a barometric altimeter. It may produce more accurate altitude profiles than the GPS system on its own. The GPS has an accuracy of plus/minus 3 metres: this may not matter too much if you are above 1000 metres altitude, but if you are cycling at say around 100 metres altitude it may matter a bit more. But if really your only interest is in knowing how much further you have to climb to the top of the hill then the eTrex 20 is going to be fine.

In defence of Evans, they do have a price match guarantee and IME they will honour it (obviously there are T&Cs). This is worth using if you'd prefer to buy from a shop, and have a certain amount of backup. So check on Amazon or search around.

EDIT - I've no experience of the Garmin touch-screen devices (eg the Oregon) but I wouldn't rule them out.

There are good-quality, free, maps out there (eg openfietsmap.nl). So I wouldn't base my choice of GPS on the mapping.

[Ignoramus]

I've battled to make a Garmin 62S work properly for a couple of years now. It's fine for walking and OK for plotting off-road tracks, but has only worked intermittently for cycle touring on-road. We've done some fairly complicated routes which I've plotted on Basecamp. Basecamp isn't great, but I've managed it. The problem has been that the route has only very rarely downloaded correctly onto the device - it doesn't stick to the roads and has just gone in a straight line from one via point to the next, in the same way as when you plot a track. When I've tried to use the GPS on tour, the device has often just turned itself off. Once in a blue moon, it has worked correctly, downloaded the route correctly and given turn by turn instructions. The device does record the route taken, elevation etc perfectly well - it's just hopeless for route planning and navigating. the problems have been the same whether I've used the OS map or OSM.

It hasn't been fit for purpose. Garmin support have been quite helpful but unfortunately, I let the problems persist over the guarantee period so to get it replaced will cost £82.50. So I don't know what to do, either - to get a replacement and keep returning it if it fails to work or try to get an Etrex20 for not very much more. But I hope my tale of woe is helpful to you!

[DaveP]

I have a 62s and it has been brilliant. I wanted rugged and accurate and was impressed by the claims for excellent reception. It has survived a day in heavy rain. Compared with my mates Edge it has consistently done a better job of showing our location on a map and has suffered lost signal under trees and near high buildings less often. This is when we have both been using the same gpx file. I have never seriously tried to use the on board routing, and have no plans to do so with the exception that in a city, if I was looking for a postal address and had a City Navigator map installed I would give it a try on the grounds that these maps seem to support this type of task well and "know" about one way systems etc. (also if it doesn't work the distances involved are relatively small!).
The biggest downsides in my eyes are the relatively small screen, which I accepted when I chose pushbuttons over touchscreen, and a finite limit on the number of route waypoints that can be stored. The Edges seem to have no such limit.

I've battled to make a Garmin 62S work properly for a couple of years now.... ... The problem has been that the route has only very rarely downloaded correctly onto the device - it doesn't stick to the roads and has just gone in a straight line from one via point to the next

It occurs to me that your device might be seeing your routes as corrupted files. If you spend time refining routes in Basecamp, which I do, as I like to produce the most accurate track that the map will allow, making changes, putting in an extra way point to pin it more closely to the road, making sure that you are on the track on the appropriate side of dual carriageways, going round roundabouts in the correct direction etc. etc. then the timestamps associated with the list of waypoints that constitute your .gpx file will almost certainly not be in sequence.
I was very lucky when I started to create my own routes because I used an online resource that automatically sorted this problem out without being asked. IIRC the one I used is now defunct. I didn't even suspect that waypoints had timestamps until someone casually mentioned it. Basecamp still doesn't, as far as I know, address the problem.
I was recommended to use GPX Track Editor which is a free download. Browse to your .gpx file, tell it which end is the start and it will produce a copy of your file with everything in order. I would strongly recommend making some change to the file name before exporting it! If you then load the copy into Basecamp it should now have directional arrows - and it should display on a Garmin device
Cost you nothing but a bit of time - give it a try! HTH

[pq]

I've had an Edge 800 since they first came out, and I can't say I'd especially recommend it. (I think it's broadly similar to the 810)

Good points: Good battery life and very visible screen. Lots of useful features. Good mount.

Bad points:

Generally very buggy. A firmware upgrade a few years back means that if I want to do a circular route, it just plots the most direct route from the start to the finish, ignoring the route I've actually uploaded. After maybe 4 years, Garmin still haven't fixed it. Plenty of other annoying glitches too.

Feeble processor, which means the unit struggles to resolve maps quickly enough. Fine when you're riding, but if you want to zoom out and pan around to make route decisions, it can't cope. It's especially bad if you're using OS mapping - velomaps work a bit better.

Routing is laughably bad. I have a free app on my phone which does a much better job.

When I bought it, I couldn't believe how bad it was for the very hefty price tag, but at the time everything else was even worse or didn't have the features I wanted. I get the impression that things haven't changed much, but at least they're much cheaper than they used to be. I must say that despite it's ridiculous faults, I do find it very useful and I never ride without it.

[Mick F]

Garmin Montana.
Huge screen, takes Li or AA rechargable or alkaline. Tough as old boots. Waterproof, solid, rugged, drop proof, chunky, works with gloves.
http://www.burrowsgps.co.uk/hiking/garm ... a-650.html
http://www.tramsoft.ch/gps/garmin_montana600_en.html
http://garminmontanagpsr.wikispaces.com

'nuff said.