Hi all
Thinking about getting a Garmin Edge, do a bit of road but mostly want to be able to follow routes off-road with a decent map guidance and turn-by-turn instructions.
I want to be able to create my own routes as well as follow those provided by others.
How easy is that with an Edge ? I know some give better functionality than others, what is the map quality like ? Ideally I would want something like OS quality.
Do I have to buy and download the maps I want or do they come built-in ? Is there an additional cost for that ?
Cheers

I imagine, but don’t know that if you’re following marked / named bridleways then turn by turn may work… If no one else knows then I’ll test this at the weekend for you.

As for maps, the standard maps aren’t the best, but they do work, however I find the OSM maps better. You can of course buy the OS maps.. I think DC Rainmaker explains how to download and install them here
It’s really quite easy once you get the hang of it.

Map wise, DO NOT but the Garmin branded maps, they are a massive rip off. Get yourself an SD card and follow these instructions.

I use Ride with GPS for route planning, and it’s perfectly good, although you do have to be prepared to click along the route to follow bridleways and singletrack, as it won’t follow them like it will on roads (easier to do than explain). Warning – the blue lines on the Open Street bike maps mean some kind of bike related path, but this could be a town cycle path, trail centre, or full on downhill track.

^ Beat me to the DC Rainmaker link

Wait time on the openstreetmap site was 3 days the last time I used it!

Beware if you’re going somewhere new at the weekend and are trying to sort out maps on the Thursday before*

* This has never happened to me, no sir, not at all. **

** It has.

Took aa couple of minutes when i did it last year, its very good. If you make the route a garmin course file it works pretty well in my experience. But you can follow GPX files too, found some of the local stuff in FoD earlier in the year with a from russyh. What makes it trickier is when the route loops or reuses the same track. It is not sat nav drection especially when you are on unlisted trails, but it is serviceable. Ive got an 810 which replaced a 705, but i used courses to do the coast to coast a few years back on a 205, which didnt have mapping to speak of just a line to follow. All good and gpsies.com is great for converting files, tick the box for elevation data too and you can see how far youve got left to climb too!

the OSM maps are ok for road navigation and some bridleways but if you want OS 1:50k kind of detail with contours and surface detail then I guess that’s what you’ll have to pay for. Annual subscription of £20 from OS seems reasonable as long as there’s a way to get the maps you want onto the device.

Edge Touring here. Cheap and works in the rain, but dodgy software. Turn-by-turn with routing works off-road but it doesn’t necessarily know the difference between a footpath and a bridleway, although it usually does.

Following GPXs though isn’t as good – it works, and you get TBT on the GPX, but it’ll randomly stop giving you TBT after anywhere between 2 and 10 hours. You can still follow the line though.

I’ve used an 800 with OS maps and currently have an 820 Explore.

I actually prefer the preloaded maps on the 820, the OS maps where cluttered and when zooming in the detail just ended up blurred, something to do with the type of file used I think.

Anyway, I’ve used them both loads of times for following routes I don’t know in the Peak, Lakes and Wales and have always been great. I don’t tend to use TBT and just have a look at junctions etc. plus it tells you if you’ve gone wrong.

Do always carry a paper map as well just in case.

i have an garmin 810 and for mountain biking i use the free talky toaster maps cant fault them they are brilliant . i have garmin European road maps for the road bike but havent used them at all since installing the talky toaster ones

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Do you want to create your own routes while you’re out? FOr multi day touring type stuff? Or changing your plans from the ones your started out with?

For planning routes in advance, you’re much better off doing on a laptop before you leave. bikehike is the simplest, you just carry on adding points on the map to draw your route, and you can switch between Open Source cycling maps, satellite photo and Ordnance Survey maps.

Garmin basecamp is more flexible and easier if you’re familiar with it, but I don’t use it often enough and have to relearn when I do use it.

When you’ve finished the route, save it as gpx file and it goes on the device just like anyone else’s route and then you can follow TBT or line on the screen, however you prefer.

For mapping on the device, I use openmtbmaps. Contours, zoomable, turn-by-turnable, clear to view.

I’ve an Edge 800 with OSM maps from talkytoaster, and if I want to follow a route then I’ll plot it on ridewithgps.com and download the TCX, which gives me turn by turn directions. Works well!

Thank for your input everyone, much appreciated.

found some of the local stuff in FoD earlier in the year with a from russyh

Funnily enough, that’s exactly what I want to do too !

One thing worth noting is that it’s possible* to restyle the maps on a Garmin device. For instance here’s my customised version of OpenFietsMap, which is mainly intended for road use (I find the default styles too visually cluttered) but shows off-road “cycling permitted” paths (ie mostly bridleways, Boats etc) in pink. It’d be easy enough to do an off-road oriented one where the off-road routes were much higher contrast and the roads were much less.

* Possible but not fun. You need to spend a few quid on someone’s home-brewed software which is fairly painful to use, you have to do a lot of guesswork and trial-and-error jumping between three tools including previewing it in Basecamp, and it’s just generally a tedious process. At some point I might finish the custom maps and upload them to avoid anyone having to go through the same guff. If it’s of use, anyway… (?)

Can I ask a stupid question about this Turn By Turn navigation malarkey : does it talk to you or just direct you by means of arrows on the map ?

It beeps at you when it’s time for you to play attention. Then does a different beep as you get closer. There’s also info on the screen for you to follow

legend – Member
It beeps at you when it’s time for you to play attention. Then does a different beep as you get closer. There’s also info on the screen for you to follow

So you can’t make it say ‘A left turn, you must make‘ in a Yoda voice?
😀

You’ll have to talk to yourself I’m afraid