Cycle GPS solution

Hadron Quark said:

I'm having difficulty in choosing a bike mounted gps solution. Anyone
got any experience? Primarily I want a system which can show a small map
and prompt things like "turn left onto sesame street in 2.2 km" etc -
fancy graphics & colour/audio not required. cadence/hart beat not really
important either.

I've been using a GPS receiver in lieu of a regular cyclometer on my
bike for the last 7 years and about 60 kmiles. The two models I
currently use are Garmin's eMap and GPS V, which are both fairly old
(the eMap has been discontinued for awhile and the V probably will be
soon). Both can be loaded with detailed maps of the area where I'm
riding and both can provide most of the standard data of cyclometers:
current speed, max. speed, average moving and overall speeds, trip and
cumulative odometers, time of day, etc.

The maps (Garmin's MetroGuide & CitySelect) on both are quite detailed,
showing essentially all residential and rural roads as well as many
business locations of which some are particularly useful while touring
(grocery stores, restaurants/delis/etc., motels/hotels, local
attractions). The V supports automatically determining a route to a
destination and giving turn-by-turn directions whereas the older eMap
can't calculate such routes directly but can use pre-planned routes
established before the trip on a PC. The route calculation has an
option to specify the vehicle type as a bicycle so you won't be routed
on highways that prohibit bikes. But I'd note that in most cases
bicyclists have some specific road and terrain preferences that are
going to be hard for any automated routing algorithm to include.

In deciding on a particular model be sure you include consideration of
the maps that you'll also want to be using. The GPS V that I sometimes
use is still available and costs about $200 *including* detailed maps
for the US/Canada. It's main drawback is that it has limited memory so
it can only hold a limited number of maps at a time. OK for use in a
metro area (say SF, Oakland, San Jose and surroundings) but not
adequate for an extended tour. Next step up would be the Quest for
about $300 which has more memory and color but does have the issue of a
built-in battery which requires a bit of ingenuity to recharge while on
tour. The LegendCx sells for about $250 and adding the maps brings
that up to about $370. It can use microSd cards to hold very large
numbers of maps. The VistaCx is similar but costs about $40 more but
includes a barometric sensor for slightly more accurate altitude
measurements. It also provides data on things like cumulative
elevation gain. Any of the above can easily be mounted on your bicycle
handlebars and/or stem.

I've been using the Garmin Etrex Legend with the Garmin handlebar mount for
3 years now. Works very well. If you want something that routes you could
use this same setup but get the Vista or Legend CX.
"Hadron Quark" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm having difficulty in choosing a bike mounted gps solution. Anyone
got any experience? Primarily I want a system which can show a small map
and prompt things like "turn left onto sesame street in 2.2 km" etc -
fancy graphics & colour/audio not required. cadence/hart beat not really
important either.

Any info greatly appreciated.

Hadron Quark said:

I'm having difficulty in choosing a bike mounted gps solution. Anyone
got any experience? Primarily I want a system which can show a small map
and prompt things like "turn left onto sesame street in 2.2 km" etc -
fancy graphics & colour/audio not required. cadence/hart beat not really
important either.

Any info greatly appreciated.

I have used a Garmin GPSII+ and it suffered dearly from vibration.
I had it handle bar mounted and the 4 AA batteries just rattled &
the battery door will not hold them in anymore. I must use the
power/data connector on the back to get it working. So my point is
if you are looking at finding an old one, used maybe, cheap you may
consider a smaller sized one. An figure a way to keep it from
shaking to death on your bar.

Cheers,
Chris

Hadron Quark said:

I'm having difficulty in choosing a bike mounted gps solution. Anyone
got any experience? Primarily I want a system which can show a small map
and prompt things like "turn left onto sesame street in 2.2 km" etc -
fancy graphics & colour/audio not required. cadence/hart beat not really
important either.

Any info greatly appreciated.

I bought a Garmin eTrex Vista with a color screen, but have not worked
out a good mounting solution yet. Till then, I have been using my old
Magellan GPS velcroed to the handlebars of my old bike. I believe the
Magellan now comes with the newer software that gives directions, but
the most important thing to me is just knowing where I am.

catzz66 said:

Hadron Quark said:

I'm having difficulty in choosing a bike mounted gps solution. Anyone
got any experience? Primarily I want a system which can show a small map
and prompt things like "turn left onto sesame street in 2.2 km" etc -
fancy graphics & colour/audio not required. cadence/hart beat not really
important either.
Any info greatly appreciated.

I bought a Garmin eTrex Vista with a color screen, but have not worked
out a good mounting solution yet. Till then, I have been using my old
Magellan GPS velcroed to the handlebars of my old bike. I believe the
Magellan now comes with the newer software that gives directions, but
the most important thing to me is just knowing where I am.

I know where I am : cos I'm there. I want to know directions to get
somewhere else : and I dont like carrying low scale maps around - it
seems that Garmin missed a major chance to hit a HUGE market with its
edge 305 - it has all sorts of heart rate / cadence wizardry but nothing
as obvious and simple as street level routing. A real shame.

Hadron Quark said:

catzz66 said:

Hadron Quark said:

I'm having difficulty in choosing a bike mounted gps solution. Anyone
got any experience? Primarily I want a system which can show a small map
and prompt things like "turn left onto sesame street in 2.2 km" etc -
fancy graphics & colour/audio not required. cadence/hart beat not really
important either.
Any info greatly appreciated.

I bought a Garmin eTrex Vista with a color screen, but have not worked
out a good mounting solution yet. Till then, I have been using my old
Magellan GPS velcroed to the handlebars of my old bike. I believe the
Magellan now comes with the newer software that gives directions, but
the most important thing to me is just knowing where I am.

I know where I am : cos I'm there. I want to know directions to get
somewhere else : and I dont like carrying low scale maps around - it
seems that Garmin missed a major chance to hit a HUGE market with its
edge 305 - it has all sorts of heart rate / cadence wizardry but nothing
as obvious and simple as street level routing. A real shame.

I guess I just don't want to be told where to go. =] Seriously, I will
probably wind up using the Garmin in the car and the Magellan on my
bike. The Magellan display is larger and a little less trouble to
operate on the run than the Garmin.

Chris said:

Hadron Quark said:

I'm having difficulty in choosing a bike mounted gps solution. Anyone
got any experience? Primarily I want a system which can show a small map
and prompt things like "turn left onto sesame street in 2.2 km" etc -
fancy graphics & colour/audio not required. cadence/hart beat not really
important either.

Any info greatly appreciated.

I have used a Garmin GPSII+ and it suffered dearly from vibration.
I had it handle bar mounted and the 4 AA batteries just rattled &
the battery door will not hold them in anymore. I must use the
power/data connector on the back to get it working. So my point is
if you are looking at finding an old one, used maybe, cheap you may
consider a smaller sized one. An figure a way to keep it from
shaking to death on your bar.

That seems critical. I have a Dell Axim PDA with iGuidance software
and a bluetooth GPS receiver but I'm scared to try mounting the Axim
on the bar. I haven't needed it for navigating yet but it's handy for
finding a restaurant or if I get lost. So I keep it in a padded camera
case in the pack and take it out when I need it. I suppose I could
just run headhphones back to the pack so I could hear the directions
if need be. Keeping the screen dim would also save power, which is a
consideration with these things.

Because it's essentially for automotive use it doesn't have any bike
specific metrics but I have a cheap stupid computer that is adequate
for that. Plus, I keep lots of music and ebooks on it so it's useful
for other stuff.

This is the main reason I bought the magellan sportrak mapover the Garmin

The Magellan display is larger and a little less trouble to
operate on the run than the Garmin\

"catzz66" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hadron Quark said:

catzz66 said:

Hadron Quark wrote:

>I'm having difficulty in choosing a bike mounted gps solution. Anyone
>got any experience? Primarily I want a system which can show a small map
>and prompt things like "turn left onto sesame street in 2.2 km" etc -
>fancy graphics & colour/audio not required. cadence/hart beat not really
>important either.
>Any info greatly appreciated.

I bought a Garmin eTrex Vista with a color screen, but have not worked
out a good mounting solution yet. Till then, I have been using my old
Magellan GPS velcroed to the handlebars of my old bike. I believe the
Magellan now comes with the newer software that gives directions, but
the most important thing to me is just knowing where I am.

I know where I am : cos I'm there. I want to know directions to get
somewhere else : and I dont like carrying low scale maps around - it
seems that Garmin missed a major chance to hit a HUGE market with its
edge 305 - it has all sorts of heart rate / cadence wizardry but nothing
as obvious and simple as street level routing. A real shame.

I guess I just don't want to be told where to go. =] Seriously, I will
probably wind up using the Garmin in the car and the Magellan on my bike.
The Magellan display is larger and a little less trouble to operate on the
run than the Garmin.