which gps for touring?

[Crackle]

The other thing is, I don't think I've ever actually stuck to a route I've planned whilst touring. Apart from 'oh that's where I am' I can't see there use touring. Training, Sportives, Audax, OK but I think I'd rather keep it simple touring.

 

[johnnyh]

my Edge605 works perfectly for me, can create a route on routeyou or similar to include POI's and download it straight in, if I venture away from that route to explore then it will calculate me back on track when I want it to.

 

[yello]

Most of the best times on a tour are when you turn up somewhere unexpectedly.

Ab-so-blinking-lutely!

IF IF IF you are stuck for time and need to be somewhere by x then I can see the purpose of a GPS. But, for me at least, that's not touring. There's a whole zen-ness (sorry ) about touring that means going with the flow, and so there's no place for pre-determined routes.

Besides, maps are great things to spend time looking over at the end of the day!

 

[Pottsy]

Ab-so-blinking-lutely!

IF IF IF you are stuck for time and need to be somewhere by x then I can see the purpose of a GPS. But, for me at least, that's not touring. There's a whole zen-ness (sorry ) about touring that means going with the flow, and so there's no place for pre-determined routes.

Besides, maps are great things to spend time looking over at the end of the day!

Completely agree with this. Even though I have a Garmin 605 which I use on my road bike for day rides and training, when touring I use maps and a compass. Spreading the map out on the breakfast table and deciding where to go is one of the pleasures of touring. Plus the randomness described, the simplicity and the tactile pleasure of a map as mentioned by others above.

 

[Robert]

Ab-so-blinking-lutely!

IF IF IF you are stuck for time and need to be somewhere by x then I can see the purpose of a GPS. But, for me at least, that's not touring. There's a whole zen-ness (sorry ) about touring that means going with the flow, and so there's no place for pre-determined routes.

Besides, maps are great things to spend time looking over at the end of the day!

If you have a job, you have to be back on a certain day, so by definition you are stuck for time. One day, soon hopefully, I'll be retired.

I use an etrex vista and love it. I use paper maps to decide on the route and enter turn waypoints on the lap top. I take road atlas pages in the map holder for the bigger picture, and print out a list of the instructions.

I suppose I put quite a bit of effort into our annual trip to Sout West France and spend quite a lot of time planning the route, a lot of which I do whilst on the train to work. There's nothing nicer than looking at maps of France on the train. It cheers up a Monday morning. Ans as has been said you don't have to stick to your pre planned route if right looks better than left you can go right. Also, there's nothing worse than being on the front of a tandem with your other half when she thinks you're lost! You just know what she's going to say next - "Why don't you ask someone"

 

[Kirstie]

A lot of the pleasure of touring for me is in the planning and research. This is why I use a GPS and maps, and the internet, and spreadsheets and all kinds of things to decide what I'm going to do...I'm not very good at dealing with total randomness but I try it once in a while and it's kind of OK. Once in a while...

 

[andym]

The SatMap is a very nice piece of kit but has some disadvantages - the main one is that there is only a limited range of mapping (last time I looked IIRC it was the UK, Netherlands and Norway but they may have added other countries since then).

I have a Garmin Legend HCx. I also bought the City Navigator mapping (get the DVD direct from Garmin). This is probably the best option if you are planning on touring in Europe.

I'm with Kirstie on this one - I like to do a lot of planning and research before I go. That way I have clear idea of the places I want to see, but having a route plan doesn't stop me improvising.

I also carry a map, but the GPS makes life so much easier. I no longer have to worry about whether the turning coming up is the second or the third on the left or whatever: the Garmin peeps at me when I'm coming up to a turn and peeps again if I miss it - leaving me free to enjoy the ride, listen to the birds singing etc etc. No more wrong turns or worrying about whether I'm on the right road.

 

[yello]

If you have a job, you have to be back on a certain day, so by definition you are stuck for time.

Last day perhaps, yes I'd agree.

I always start with roughish mental map of my tour and aim to be at x or thereabouts on the day before my return home (by train, ferry, whatever). So that final route is direct - though shorter and allows for pootling and pottering. Between arrival and departure day - 1 though I make it up on the day.

You just know what she's going to say next - "Why don't you ask someone"

and blokes just don't like to ask do they!

 

[Robert]

I'm with Kirstie on this one - I like to do a lot of planning and research before I go. That way I have clear idea of the places I want to see, but having a route plan doesn't stop me improvising.

I also carry a map, but the GPS makes life so much easier. I no longer have to worry about whether the turning coming up is the second or the third on the left or whatever: the Garmin peeps at me when I'm coming up to a turn and peeps again if I miss it - leaving me free to enjoy the ride, listen to the birds singing etc etc. No more wrong turns or worrying about whether I'm on the right road.

I couldn't agree more, for me planning is half the fun, it's as much a part of the tour as the tour itself. Then the nice thing about GPS is that you've got a record of where you went. No longer do you have to look at a photo and wonder where you took it, you've got the time stamp on the photo and the time stamp on the gpx track, so you can place the photo exactly on the map. It may sound a bit anal to some, but it all makes perfect sense to me.

 

[rich p]

What's the battery life of your GPS's and how often do you have to charge them?

 

[andym]

What's the battery life of your GPS's and how often do you have to charge them?

I find my Garmin lasts a couple of days - that's with decent rechargeable AA batteries (an advantage of the Garmins that I forgot to mention is that they take AA batteries). I'm not sure what the life would be with non-rechargeable AAs or the hyper-super-powered ones.

 

[yello]

I mark where I've been on the map!

 

[Robert]

My Etrex vista HCx takes two AA batteries and they last just a little more than a day. The camera takes the same. Charging wasn't a problem, I've got a Canon charger with a French plug that weighs 93 gms, but I also take some lithiums with me, so you don't have to rely on the charger and you can always buy some more.

 

[CopperBrompton]

I use a eTrex Vista HCx with Eneloop batteries, and they last about 24 hours

 

[oysterkite]

GPS

Myself and a friend recently did a tour from Whitstable in Kent to Lourdes and planned the route using a GPS. I had used a Garmin Quest a few years ago on a motorbike and decided to use one for this trip for the following reasons

• RElatively inexpensive (£60-80 on ebay)
• Easy to use mapping software which enabled us to plan a route divided up into daily stages on the PC and download to the quest
• A very useful 'bike' function on both the mapping software and the unit which meant the route could be planned avoiding major roads (generally 'D roads the whole way)
• Robust and waterproof
• Easy to read display
• 20 hr internal lithium battery ( We recharged at campsites every three days)

Overall very impressed with the quests performance. We would generally turn it on each morning and sim ply follow instructions for the remainder of the day. Only downside was that it occasionally struggled to pick up sattelites in heavily wooded areas and some mountain valleys.

Also used carry freedom trailers and mountain bikes but thats another story....