Garmin advice

[summerwastin]

I'm guessing there is plenty of chat about Garmins here already - please recommend other posts if so....

I plan to buy my first Garmin this year. Specifically I am going to do the Cairngorms loop (group start in september) and some ITT training rides as well. I plan to attempt the ht550 next year and then who knows.... So I want to buy one unit that I won't need to upgrade any time soon. I've been checking out the Etrex 20 or 30 units.

Any recommendations? I won't be running a dynamo, so using AA batteries seems a good idea. People who have done those challenges - I would especially like to hear from you? Are these units robust? Are the bar mounts decent? Do they often pack up? (thinking of Lee Craigie's Book...)

Many thanks.

[Alpinum]

From here:
http://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpBB ... f=7&t=7689

Edge 810 or 1000 for anything cycling.

Really happy with mine.

About the batteries. Think again about AA. How many have something to charge by USB with you on multiday trips? I've come away from trying to have everything running on exchangeable batteries and moved towards mini USB ports and one adequately sized battery tank. Even my head lamp can be charged by USB.

Still love my 810. It occassionally switched itself off when it was new. I updated the firmware and from there on all was good. In 2 years and many rough outings, hot and cold, it newer let me down.
I use it on a daily basis.
And I'm seriously glad it doesn't come with regular AA's. Going with the time...
Haven't used the Edge 820, but would probably go for it if I would buy a GPS now.

If you plan on using a GPS for hiking too, remember smartphones can cover that really well nowadays (multi day tracking aside).

edit: My Edge has been on HT550, Iceland double traverse of interior, Jersey to Shetlands offroad, loads of winter biking and high altitude etc.

[ScotRoutes]

I still like my Oregon.

Larger screen than the Etrex
Runs off AAs
Hasn't self-ejected
Screens are very easy to customise with preferred data fields

[johnnystorm]

My 810 has been largely ok in daily use. Overheated a couple of times on TD but otherwise ok. Almost certain to crash and loose everything if you ask it to route you over 100 miles. On a couple of occasions recently I've charged it, ridden for an hour and then found it flat the next day.

Agree re: batteries. 20,000mah pack can be had for 20 quid and you can always top it up if you have a cafe/pub stop if needs be.

If I get another gps it's likely to be a Wahoo Elemnt. Garmin have had it easy for too long and their devices aren't as good as they could/should be.

[Asposium]

I have a Garmin Montana 810.
Use it for hiking and bike packing.
Garmin make a powered mount, so should be able to run it direct from a dynamo or (in my case) a 12v battery pack [[Goal Zero Sherpa 50]].
[[hasn't arrived yet, will post when it does]]
Quite a nice unit, screen is large enough to read whilst cycling.
Very robust.

[Teetosugars]

Yup, I've an Oregon 600.
Great bit of kit that I'm yet to master.
Need to find out the optimal settings for all day route following..

[Alpinum]

Are the bar mounts decent?

Forgot that one.

The standard Edge 810 may seem flimsy and wobbly, but it's just perfect like that. When things get really dirty it takes some effort to put it in and take it out again.
What I like the most is how it gives way to impacts. When I crash the GPS mostly is twisted out of harms way thanks to the rubber bands of the mount.

[Bearbonesnorm]

If you want something for navigation rather than as a 'performance metre', I'd suggest either an eTrex, Montana or maybe track down an old stock Dakota 20. All use AA, don't tend to suffer with the crashing / freezing that Edge units can. Robust enough to deal with real world conditions.

The standard mount can be a bit hit or miss but a small piece of tape to pack out the rails makes a big difference - however, I'd always suggest using a lanyard of some sort.

[bearlymoving]

I put many hours of research into the same question back in December. I ended up concluding the eTrex 30x was the one for me. I chose it over the ones with larger screens as a set of AA batteries last longer in the 30x. I chose it over the newer (and otherwise more impressive) eTrex Touch 35 because you can press the (real) buttons in winter with thick gloves on.

This was my first GPS, so I can't compare it to others I'm afraid.

The only trouble I've had with it is when following routes, rather than tracks. Briefly, in case you're not familiar, a route is akin to providing the GPS with a few points you want to visit, and letting it work out (from your selected map) how to get from A, to B, and (if you've added more than 2 points), C, D etc. When following a route the eTrex 30 can give you turn by turn directions ("turn left in 200 yards"), and beeps to point out you need to stop daydreaming and make a turn.

On road it works pretty well, but if you wander off route more than a few yards it decides it needs to re-route you and can spend 10 minutes trying to work out which way you should now go. Meanwhile, you've no idea where to go so have to stop and wait for it. I kid you not, it's quicker to restart the bloody thing, even though that takes a few minutes. You can't disable this re-routing feature either. I resorted to breaking my road rides up into 20 mile sections, which meant it could recalculate the route more quickly.

I spent hours trying to work out how to fix this, thinking that following routes was how everybody used them. Then I tried creating a route off road, and failed. Maps don't tend to have the necessary info for using the bridleways and tracks you want to ride down.

I now realise that what most bikepackers do is follow tracks, instead of routes. You can think of a track as being like placing a piece of tracing paper over a map and tracing a line over the path you want to take. Once you've traced your line, the GPS only needs to overlay the line over the map. As you ride you can look at the map on screen and see which way the line goes, but you do have to remember to look at it (there aren't any beeps). So a bit like an actual map, only with a magic line.

I suspect (but am not 100% sure) that some of the Garmins with bigger screens can give you turn by turn navigation prompts from a track.

But back to the eTrex 30x – I've not had any trouble at all from it when following tracks. It works great, and hasn't yet missed a beat.

The handlebar mounts are £10 a piece, and are attached with zip ties. They're pretty solid. Having heard stories of Garmins ejecting themselves from the mounts on impact, I've followed Stu's advice and secure it to the bars with a small lanyard.

The only other thing I'd say about the eTrex 30x is that the chip in it is dog slow compared to the kind of technology we're used to these days. There's a lag when you ask it to redraw the map, so it's painful to use it for checking out the wider area. But then I don't really think it's for that, and a slower chip means better battery life.

[Asposium]

I suspect (but am not 100% sure) that some of the Garmins with bigger screens can give you turn by turn navigation prompts from a track.

For the Montana I create a track in basecamp and upload.
((A GPX may also be used))
The GPS doesn't navigate, merely shows a line

[Bearbonesnorm]

Aye, always use 'tracks' - it saves a lot of grief.

[Mariner]

Etrex 30X here. Never had it crash on me – yet – even though its been in a few of mine. Battery style was main reason as I can change them myself and recharge overnight from storage device.
To be honest I don’t think I have ever loaded a track and followed it. I have always treated tracks as the result of a ride ie where I actually went plus stats of speed times and heights. If I want to follow a particular path I use a route, created from a track, as I find it more interactive when I have a machine ‘was macht ping’ at junctions or off route and every way point which does get a bit wearing after a while. Then you get a long gap between points which keeps you glancing at the screen wondering why it hasn’t gone ping?

[Bearbonesnorm]

To be honest I don’t think I have ever loaded a track and followed it. I have always treated tracks as the result of a ride ie where I actually went plus stats of speed times and heights. If I want to follow a particular path I use a route, created from a track, as I find it more interactive when I have a machine ‘was macht ping’ at junctions or off route and every way point which does get a bit wearing after a while. Then you get a long gap between points which keeps you glancing at the screen wondering why it hasn’t gone ping?

Never felt the need to have a machine tell me that I'm off course - I simply make sure my pointer is on the line of the track I'm following. You soon notice if you're wondering off line.

[bearlymoving]

If I want to follow a particular path I use a route, created from a track…

Interesting – how do you do that?

Do you (on some computer software) add waypoints yourself, retracing the line on the track, or is there some software that'll just do it all for you?

[Asposium]

If I want to follow a particular path I use a route, created from a track…

Interesting – how do you do that?

Do you (on some computer software) add waypoints yourself, retracing the line on the track, or is there some software that'll just do it all for you?

I use garmin basecamp.
Rubbish software, but does the job

[Mariner]

^Wot he said^

[Alpinum]

To be honest I don’t think I have ever loaded a track and followed it. I have always treated tracks as the result of a ride ie where I actually went plus stats of speed times and heights. If I want to follow a particular path I use a route, created from a track, as I find it more interactive when I have a machine ‘was macht ping’ at junctions or off route and every way point which does get a bit wearing after a while. Then you get a long gap between points which keeps you glancing at the screen wondering why it hasn’t gone ping?

Never felt the need to have a machine tell me that I'm off course - I simply make sure my pointer is on the line of the track I'm following. You soon notice if you're wondering off line.

I love the route option on my device. The screen illuminates, a big arrow shows me the up coming turns and on I ride, it's really useful as it zooms in the crucial area automatically. When I rode with tracks on an old Etrex (which struggled with routes) I spent much more time checking if I was en route than I do today.
The brightening of the screen is noticable in daylight too.
I don't like sounds coming from my device, so it stays nice and quiet.
The battery life likely will be less, but in real life I can't really see a difference when riding by route from my device or sans route but off heart.

I've spent hours and hours on a trip seeing the device tell me I was off course due to the nature of rubbish maps and sat imagery beeing off by some meters. It was fun though, as I, deep into solitude, sung to myself the famous mister Ed song... ...is a horse of course...


The track didn't have junctions for many hours worth of riding, so switching the navigation off would've been an option.

[bearlymoving]

If I want to follow a particular path I use a route, created from a track…

Interesting – how do you do that?

Do you (on some computer software) add waypoints yourself, retracing the line on the track, or is there some software that'll just do it all for you?

I use garmin basecamp.

Thanks (I do too).

What I meant though was whether there's a magic "convert route to track" button, or if you make the route by adding waypoints in the usual (manual) way, using the track as a visual guide?

[Mariner]

magic "convert route to track" button

Load the track and in the lower window right click 'convert selected track to route' - magic!
Choose auto for the waypoints as you get less cluter and dont forget to choose points not flags - you will see why if you forget.

ps just re read your post. If you are trying to go the other way route to track its the same just choose route to track.

[simon72]

I can't decide whether to get a Garmin for the WRT. I have a modern iPhone with all the OS maps and associated cycling apps but the main issue as far as I can tell is battery life. (I've got external battery packs though).

Can anyone comment on the reliability of an iPhone to acquire a GPS signal in Wales relative to a Garmin? Can I get away with using my iPhoen for the WRT if I can resolve the battery issue?

[Asposium]

I can't decide whether to get a Garmin for the WRT. I have a modern iPhone with all the OS maps and associated cycling apps but the main issue as far as I can tell is battery life. (I've got external battery packs though).

Can anyone comment on the reliability of an iPhone to acquire a GPS signal in Wales relative to a Garmin? Can I get away with using my iPhoen for the WRT if I can resolve the battery issue?

Can not help with battery life of a phone, though the Garmin GPs's are generally very good.

My reason for using a Garmin is robustness. Would be very annoying if I broke my phone. Even more so if I broke the phone In a crash and then unable to call for help.

I have abused my Garmin Montana in all weathers whilst walking and it still works fine. The screen is plastic, old skool I know, but it won't break so easy. They are simply built to be used, not to be a fashion accessory like most modern phones.

[johnnystorm]

They are simply built to be used, not to be a fashion accessory like most modern phones.

More like they have little competition so can get away with slow processors and poor resolution screens.

It's a shame that someone like Samsung doesn't get involved and make a nice oled screen gps device. Having said that for the cost of a Garmin 1000 you could probably buy a decent smartphone purely for bike nav use for a similar outlay.

[simon72]

Agree. Having spent £££ on iPhone device with GPS I'm reluctant to fork out another few hundred for a Garnin unless there is a solid reason. Anyone got a view on the reliability of iPhones to get a gps in remote Wales?

[johnnystorm]

Agree. Having spent £££ on iPhone device with GPS I'm reluctant to fork out another few hundred for a Garnin unless there is a solid reason. Anyone got a view on the reliability of iPhones to get a gps in remote Wales?

Haven't had an iPhone for a good while now but I'd be very surprised if it didn't get signal in Wales as well as anywhere else. Just make sure your maps & gpx are stored locally.

[MarkW]

GPS signal isn't a problem on a mobile. Its battery life and availability of maps - most are downloaded on the fly. Which isn't much use out in the sticks where you can't get a mobile data signal (3g, 4g etc). Though as johnnystorm says this can be overcome by storing things on your device (sometimes known as offline)