gps

[rikgrimsby]

whats the best garmin gps for mountain biking/touring?

 

[redfox]

Opinions vary, but the Vista HCx seemed to fair best in this thread.

 

[davidwalton]

Opinions vary, but the Vista HCx seemed to fair best in this thread.

I like my Vista with the maps I purchased. It gets used every bike ride, ie. following one of the dozen or so routes I have pre-planned on the PC, then transfered to the Vista unit. You don't have to watch it all the time as it beeps at you when getting close to a turn, and beeps again once within a few hundred feet.

I wanted a unit that used standard batteries, rather than having to buy anything special, and the Vista uses AA type with life of over 24 hours. I use rechargeable 2900AMh.

If you want to do off-road stuff as well, get the Topo maps. The MapSource City Navigator Europe NT does not include tracks or terrain info.

 

[rikgrimsby]

thanks i was looking at that satmap actvie 10,but its a bit pricey

 

[rikgrimsby]

http://www.satmap.com/ukstore/

 

[davidwalton]

thanks i was looking at that satmap actvie 10,but its a bit pricey

You haven't seen the price of the Vista and maps then The 2 together will set you back over £300 (assuming buying Topo GB maps).

 

[rikgrimsby]

you can get the vista for £176 brand new.....

 

[davidwalton]

you can get the vista for £176 brand new.....

then you need the maps. Topo GB maps is around £130.

 

[rikgrimsby]

still its cheaper then the satmap tho,but saying that the satmap has got os mapping

 

[davidwalton]

anything like this is going to be horses for courses. I would make your mind up based on the features each have. Battery life is important to me, along with the use of standard AA batteries.

Do a Cons/Pros sheet, and decide from that.

BTW- I paid £220 for my Vista less than 2 months ago, so £176 is an extremely good price. Best price at that time was £215, but none in stock.

 

[rikgrimsby]

true i think the vista is the way forwad.at lest if i do break the garmin its not a great deal of cash(still a lot tho)but if i got the satmap and broke that its £300 just for the unit.thats one big pro and con there

 

[davidwalton]

true i think the vista is the way forwad.at lest if i do break the garmin its not a great deal of cash(still a lot tho)but if i got the satmap and broke that its £300 just for the unit.thats one big pro and con there

Best not to break either unless money is no object, at all

You would however probably have to prove to Garmin that a unit is broken before they would allow the maps to be unlocked for any replacement.

 

[CopperBrompton]

Garmin are very accommodating. They have even replaced broken units free-of-charge when out of warranty.

I have the Vista HCx and highly recommend it.

Ben

 

[osteopath]

John O'Groats to Lands End - Advice

Hi,
New to the site but need some advice. A friend and I are doing a charity ride the length of the country but I'm having alot of difficulty planning the route as i don't have access to a GPS system and we were trying to keep our costs down and didn't want to go to the expense of buying the GPS system and the PC maps that in total would cost us around £400. Any ideas anyone???

 

[domtyler]

Hi,
New to the site but need some advice. A friend and I are doing a charity ride the length of the country but I'm having alot of difficulty planning the route as i don't have access to a GPS system and we were trying to keep our costs down and didn't want to go to the expense of buying the GPS system and the PC maps that in total would cost us around £400. Any ideas anyone???

Er, paper maps and a compass?