GPS unit for touring

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jobro
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GPS unit for touring

Post by jobro »

Apologies if this has been discussed in the past (I couldn't find much) but I want to buy a gps for navigational purposes and I just seem to be going round and round in circles looking at Etrex/Oregon/ Montana etc etc
The unit's prime purpose would be to navigate off of downloaded routes from sources such as Komoot. I'm doing a tour of the Dolomites this year and the King Alfred Way so thats the kind of tour I'll be doing. I have a Garmin Edge Touring that I can use for metrics but I want the best navigational aid I can get.
Would you be good enough to give me your own experiences and advise.
Thanks
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johnnystorm
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Re: GPS unit for touring

Post by johnnystorm »

If your edge touring still works just fine then I'd just take a smartphone with mapping on it for the "bigger picture" viewing.

I use my Wahoo for riding navigation and ride recording and my phone for looking at OS maps, where the shops might be, etc.
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Lazarus
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Re: GPS unit for touring

Post by Lazarus »

I want the best navigational aid I can get
I am nt really sure what this means - turn by turn ? I believe garnins can do this but i have never bothered and all the ones i have used are basically a line on a map so functonally there is no actual difference between models that am i am aware of. Given this i a assume the touring would be good for what you need though I have not used one.
Like most i take a GPS for following and OS maps on my phone [with GPS on so it shows wher ei am ] for actually navigating if lost or there is a problem or i need to re route. THis also has the route on it
Personally I find all the screens to be too small for anything other than following the line.
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Bearbonesnorm
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Re: GPS unit for touring

Post by Bearbonesnorm »

I've used a Dakota 20 for years and it's never failed me. Yes, the screen's not fantastic and it can sometimes be a bit slow but I've not known anything else. However, recently I bought a Oregon 600 from FLV. It works in a very similar fashion and is very intuitive. The screen is way better than the Dakota and much easier to read in bright light, low light and medium type light. How much there is to choose between the Oregon's, Etrex Touch and Dakota models, I don't really know but I don't think you'd go wrong with any of them given that they're all better than the Dakota 20.
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pistonbroke
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Re: GPS unit for touring

Post by pistonbroke »

The edge explore is, imo, the one that ticks all the boxes you have outlined. It's a step up regarding connectivity vs the Touring. You can upload widgets to copy routes from Komoot and Wikiloc directly and wirelessly from your phone, I use wikiloc as there's so much more choice here in Spain and I've heard that Komoot can be inaccurate, taking you along rocky singletrack on a road ride etc. At least with wikiloc you know someone has ridden it and it's been around a lot longer. The only issue with the Explore is battery life, bluetooth costs and it's not compatible with the Garmin piggy-back auxiliary battery. I run mine hooked up to a powerbank which is fed by a hub dynamo. Beware the charging port, it's a micro usb and very fragile. Nice big screen and half decent Euro base mapping as well, if you want more detail, you can upload Fietsmaps of the zone you are going to.
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PaulB2
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Re: GPS unit for touring

Post by PaulB2 »

The garmin edge explore is the update to the touring. I got mine cheaper than I could find an etrex at the time (£130). I’ve not managed to use it for a long trip yet so can’t really tell you how easy it is to actually navigate with as opposed to just following a step by step route. I tend to use my phone for that since the screen is 3-4 times as big.

Edit: pb beat me to it and in more detail.
jameso
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Re: GPS unit for touring

Post by jameso »

Never felt I needed more than the Edge 820 and Edge Touring I now have tbh, assuming you have a good base map in there. Backed up with either a paper road map on the bar bag or a phone if needed as zooming out on the Garmin for context as re-routing on the go isn't great. But for following a route I rarely need that. Used them for road and off-road trips for many years now.

I just use it as a drag-drop file upload though so connectivity needs might vary. I download as gpx files and pop them onto the Garmin w/o using Basecamp etc.
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whitestone
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Re: GPS unit for touring

Post by whitestone »

For on-road navigation pretty much any of the later Garmin models will do, probably X20 and onwards. My Edge 520 does turn by turn navigation for example but you can't zoom in and out on the map.

Off-road things get a little trickier as it mostly depends on the underlying mapping used when the route was created. There's a good chance that there are tracks on the ground that aren't on the map so there may be a junction that your route doesn't know about so whereas on a road you'd have a hint to turn left or whatever, if the mapped track does a simple left turn you won't get a warning as it thinks you are on the only track in that vicinity.

I.e. you can't turn your brain off and enter zombie mode.

For off-road I've a Garmin Oregon 600, the current version is the 700.
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Dave Barter
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Re: GPS unit for touring

Post by Dave Barter »

We need a sticky with links to gps threads 😀
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ScotRoutes
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Re: GPS unit for touring

Post by ScotRoutes »

Dave Barter wrote: Thu Feb 04, 2021 3:35 pm We need a sticky with links to gps threads 😀
So it would be easy to navigate to them?
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Moder-dye
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Re: GPS unit for touring

Post by Moder-dye »

As a long term phone navigation user I've no experience, but have been wondering about a wahoo element bolt (mtb bundle) as my birthday is coming up.

Anyone got any comments on them? They seem possibly better than the equivalent garmin option from read reviews.

Got to say I'm tempted not to bother and carry on with my phone though, Black view 5900, as it's waterproof, shock proof and has a 5500mha battery and with Maverick GPS or komoot it does the job for half the price. Maybe I'll just get new tyres!😁
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Dave Barter
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Re: GPS unit for touring

Post by Dave Barter »

Anyone got any comments on them? They seem possibly better than the equivalent garmin option from read reviews.
The problem is that the definition of better is so subjective. For every wahooligan you will find a happy Garmin user. Both makes work well enough and are feature rich. Garmin has better support for a diverse range of maps including OS. Wahoo have worked harder on their user interface. It’s just like phones, you either get on with one type (ios/android) or you are ambivalent. The best advice is to look at the pdf manuals for each and decide which seems up your street.
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Moder-dye
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Re: GPS unit for touring

Post by Moder-dye »

Cheers Dave
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Dave Barter
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Re: GPS unit for touring

Post by Dave Barter »

Oh and this place for some objective reviews

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/
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jobro
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Re: GPS unit for touring

Post by jobro »

Thanks for replies.
Tried to update my Edge Explorer to find drivers bust. Not sure I understand why but they want £50 to fix it. The unit is less than two years old!
Think I'll go down the Oregon route plus iPhone as back up.
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