Garmin mapping

[Jonathing]

I'm about to move to Sheffield and I'm a little worried about getting irretrievably lost in the peaks. Which Garmin would be best for general sat-nav duties? I don't need to know that my cadence has dropped to minus numbers or that my heart rate is now well over three times it's theoretical maximum. I would just like to make it home before it gets dark and wolves eat me. I know the 500 doesn't do 'proper mapping' but would I be able to load a route into it and follow directions? Or do I need a 705/800 for that?

 

[HLaB]

If you create a tcx file, its a bread crumb trail with course points at turns you can follow with the 305 (www.ridewithgps.com, is good for creating them), I believe the 500 is the same; it took me 4 years to realise you could do this . There's no base map but its cheaper and probably better for the long term than just blindly following sat nav.

 

[marinyork]

Sheffield isn't hard to navigate. If you live in the west of the city where most of the cyclists do it's only a few roads go out that way, fairly hard to get lost.

Mapping is perfectly good on the etrex (old range) and etrex 20/30 and Dakota 10/20. They range from 50 to several hundred quid for the 800/oregon etc.

 

[ianrauk]

if you don't need cadence or HRM then either the Edge 200, 205 or 305 will do you, they are much cheaper then the 500.
As HLab says, you can preload a route and follow it as a breadcrumb trail ie a black line.
For turn by turn mapping you need either an Edge 605, 705 or 800

 

[400bhp]

And the 605 is the 705 without the HRM and cadence.

 

[HLaB]

The 305 does have HRM and a cadence sensor but I hardly ever use them, can't be bothered with the faff of the HRMstrap and the cadence monitor is fitted to my best bike, which is put away till spring.

 

[400bhp]

I have the 705 and have lost 2 of the magnets that attach to the crank. Utter PITA.

 

[HLaB]

I have the 705 and have lost 2 of the magnets that attach to the crank. Utter PITA.

I still have the one on my crank but I've lost the one on the rear wheel

 

[400bhp]

I still have the one on my crank but I've lost the one on the rear wheel

I have a spare for the rear wheel-I [stupidly] bought one of the Garmin replacement crank magnets, trouble is they come in a pack with both magnet types.

Fancy a swap?

 

[HLaB]

I have a spare for the rear wheel-I [stupidly] bought one of the Garmin replacement crank magnets, trouble is they come in a pack with both magnet types.

Fancy a swap?

Thanks, but I can live without the wheel one just now (GPS measures speed) but the one on the crank is needed for cadence

 

[User269]

The 800 will give you full directions like a car GPS. You can create your own routes, or just ask it to take you back to the start, the nearest pub or whatever. If you don't want to know your HR etc. etc. have a look at something like the memory map adventurer GPS, although it's still expensive and I prefer all the functions of the Garmin. Let us know what you decide!

 

[PpPete]

I use an Etrex Legend HCx, cheap, bulky compared with the Edge models, but great for navigation and fantastic battery life.

 

[HaloJ]

I use the 705 with a GPX created on www.ridewithgps.com

Personally I like having the turn by turn navigation with the addition of a base map to navigate with if all else fails. Although for speed I tend to whip out the mobile phone and use google if I'm in a situation where a road closure causes a reroute. One thing I did discover early on, don't let the Garmin navigate for you as you'll end up on all sorts of roads that you'd likely not take if you navigated manually. Cycle navigation will have you riding on the pavement the wrong way up a one way street and car navigation will attempt to take you on every major trunk road.

 

[400bhp]

One thing I did discover early on, don't let the Garmin navigate for you as you'll end up on all sorts of roads that you'd likely not take if you navigated manually.

God yeah, it's pretty shocking.

And turn off the auto-route thingy if you happen to venture off a pre-loaded route. That thing drove me bonkers for the 1st 3 months of ownership.

 

[fossyant]

Crank magnets - many folk use those rare earth magnets - get one big enough so it 'sticks' to the back of your pedal axel (provided you aren't using ti-axels) - very neat, but will require a screwdriver to prise it off should you be removing pedals.