GPS or ? as a personal travel assistant

ive tried using a GPS for this purpose. It's a Garmin one although not
sure which model. It is pretty good out in the open but as soon as you
go into any woods or shelter it loses satelite reception and is pretty
useless which can be quite frustrating. Other GPS units may be better,
I have fairly limited experience of them.

As for an alternative device i'm not too sure... but i'm sure someone
will come up with a better solution than me.

--
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You have to consider the cost if you did buy separate cycle-computers
for each and every cycle you own, I bet the total would be close to the
single GPS unit that you can easily use between cycles without having
to muck about with calibrating every single one. Plus, a standard
magnet on the spoke cycle computer could be a bit difficult to fit on
scooters...

lowlight said:

It is pretty good out in the open but as soon as you go into any woods
or shelter it loses satelite reception and is pretty useless which can
be quite frustrating. Other GPS units may be better, I have fairly
limited experience of them.

Any of the Garmin x05 units; they have the latest GPS chipset which
apparently never lose reception even in the woods. The only ones so far
are the Forerunner and Edge units; they are more like cycle-computers
that use GPS for measurement instead of a magnet on the spoke and will
suit your purpose for speed and distance measurements.

Erin said:

And a GPS sounds like its kind of overkill to use just as a portable
mileage gauge.

...which is why when you complete your journey, you can upload your
routes and overlay them onto Google Maps/Earth, seeing exactly where
you've been. It sounds like a novelty, but try it once and you'll be
hooked!

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I recently was in a similar situation. I bought a Garmin forerunner 305
wrist gps unit. I also bought a bike speed/cadance transmitter for
it. I was fairly skeptical about how the reception was going to do. I
took it around the neighborhood and it did much better than my previous
handheld GPS unit (garmin gecko 201). Then I took it on a mtb ride in
a heavily wooded area where my old unit barely worked... It did GREAT!
It actually did so well that I don't even use the bike speed
transmitter unit. It also has a heart rate monitor. Now no matter
what sport I do I just grab it strap it on my wrist and go. Very
satisfied with it. If you are into downloading it to a pc you can do
that as well, you can graph any of the data it collects (like
elevation, heartrate, speed...) I'm normally a pretty tough customer
for these kinds of things, but am very satisfied. It is pretty easy to
use and not much setup is required, but at the same time you can setup
alot if you want to (depending on which sport profile you use it
displays different info on the unit ( up to 4 fields of your liking).

--
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Thanks guys, that's really helpful information!

I'm going to be looking into the Garmin GPS units that you mentioned.

--
Erin

"If you have no goals, you can accomplish almost anything!" Slugbath
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Ohh, the 'edge 205' would definitely be the unit to have on a
bike....but pricy new and hard to find used. I wonder if there are
some other units that do a similar thing but are cheaper (is there such
a thing as a garmin knock off? :eek: ). Or perhaps another older
garmin that would work with a bit of adapting...any ideas?

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You will get the Garmin foretrex or ForeRunner 101s(AA batteries) and
201s(built in batteries) or even the ForeRunner 301 (Built in battery
with usb and heart rate) cheaper than the Edge and ForeRunner 205s and
305s and they work pretty well if you are out in the open. However they
take much longer to aquire satellites and do not cope well with being
in low receptions areas (under trees, built up areas, etc)

For convenience the new ForeRunners are better as you can strap it to
your wrist as it comes. I have an Edge and for using on my Uni's I have
an mp3 case that straps to my wrist. This works but is more bulky. The
bigger screen of the Edge is better when used for navigating and
displaying lots of fields.

If you do get a GPS make sure you check out Sporttracks - it's a
donation ware logging application that uses google maps - definitely
recomended.

--
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Does wearing wrist guards effect the strapping to the wrist aspect of
the forerunner?

--
cathwood

Cathy
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cathwood said:

Does wearing wrist guards effect the strapping to the wrist aspect of
the forerunner?

Yes, my red KH pulse wristguards/gloves do affect it.

I have to loosen the strap so it can go further up my arm, so loose
that it would usually slide down my wrist if it weren't for the
wristguard stopping it.

If you have thick arms, the Forerunner 205 (and 305) has a longer strap
supplied in the box, along with a tool to change it over.

--
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gkmac said:

Yes, my red KH pulse wristguards/gloves do affect it.

I have to loosen the strap so it can go further up my arm, so loose
that it would usually slide down my wrist if it weren't for the
wristguard stopping it.

If you have thick arms, the Forerunner 205 (and 305) has a longer strap
supplied in the box, along with a tool to change it over.

Does it still work ok though?

I don't think I've got particularly thick arms.

--
cathwood

Cathy
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yup, I have HUGE arms 😉 and use the large strap (kind of impressed it
came with it, actually) I use the same gloves as gkmac, and also have
to loosen and slide it up my arm a bit. It is a bit annoying,
sometimes it rotates on my arm so I have to spin it back to see the
display, but not everything is perfect. I thought it would be cool to
have velcro on it and just slap it onto the glove itself.

--
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cathwood said:

Does it still work ok though?

I don't think I've got particularly thick arms.

It does seem to work OK. It can rotate slightly, but then it also seems
to cope fairly well with how I swing my arms on a semi-technical muni
ride.

What I meant about thick arms; everyone's arms get thicker from the
wrist to the elbow. Secure your watch to your wrist so it doesn't
rotate, and try to slide it up your arm, and you may see what I mean.

My arms are like matchsticks and most watches buckle to the second to
last hole on the strap. The Forerunner's strap seems to be designed for
slightly thinner arms.

--
gkmac

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"As it only hurts when you walk, will you be riding everywhere now?" -
mikepenton
"Well, not everything is as practical as making your cranks flip around
I guess." - Brian MacKenzie
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wriggy said:

I have an Edge and for using on my Uni's I have an mp3 case that straps
to my wrist. This works but is more bulky. The bigger screen of the
Edge is better when used for navigating and displaying lots of fields.

If you do get a GPS make sure you check out Sporttracks - it's a
donation ware logging application that uses google maps - definitely
recomended.

Likewise I use an Edge in an MP3 case, although I have mine mounted on
my upper arm. Also useful when fitted to a bike - commuting 😉

Equally I agree http://www.zonefivesoftware.com/SportTracks/ is a very
good product, can't wait for the new version.

Forerunner users the wrist guard question has been answered but if your
wearing waterproofs can you see the screen?

Keith

--
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