Looking for a GPS for road riding to help avoid the usual 'stop and get map out of jersey' routine at every junction. Would like someting I can upload a route from memory map if that makes any difference to the choice available. So something with a large screen would make sense and if it displayed an OS map, then even better. Weight not really as issue as will be going on tandem. Thanks

I have an Edge 705 which is very good. Maps can be updated to keep up with every changing roads. It is possible to upload from memory map however i have never done this.

The only downside is it can't display OS maps, however the road mapping is good.

Nick

Most GPS users I know have Garmins (705 mainly), though someone else has a Satmap. That thing looks amazing for on the bike mapreading – big colour screen.

I reckon the 705 has been one of the best value bits of (road) bike kit I have bought, although it was quite a bit cheaper when I bought one.

The mapping on the PC before you ride is really good. I plan loads of routes just by connecting nice looking lanes together with an occasional look on google earth for the contours. It directs you pretty much like a car satnav without the voice and auto zooms in at junctions etc. I have done some really pretty car free rides that would be a pain with just a map.

The training stuff is cool to with the HRM and cadence thingy and all the things you can probram in but I just use it more as a log of all the rides I have done.

Too late to edit my post: Link for Satmap GPS unit here. Seems to use Ordnance Survey, too.

Budget?

If it's tight the very basic Etrex will do what you want albeit no OS maps

The Memory Map gadget looks interesting for about £200 from Tredz. You can get a bike mount for it, but I'm not sure how much the maps would cost you, or if it gives cycling data like speed.

Pocket map! 😉

Ooh 705 Garmin mmm!

SatMap10 is Ok, friend of mine has one. Its a bit big, but runs MM, although, you have to buy the maps you want, again, in order to use them on the device as the maps that came with your MM wont run/load on the SatMap.

For road I use a Garmin Edge 305. No map on the display, just follow the black arrow on the line. When I get to a junction, its pretty clear which way I want to go and I just keep on going. So this is fine if you're going to follow a pre-planned route.

If however, you want the flexibility to extend or shorten your route. Then I reckon you need a map, which is where the SatMap would be useful.

Using MM and the Edge 305 requires creating .crs files from the route or track you created in MM. This is all do-able, but its a few extra minutes to covert files before uploading to the Edge 305.

My vote is for the Edge 305. Yes the SatMap is a nice thing and very useful, but when you've already got MM, its a drag paying out for the maps again, just so you can use them on the SatMap.

Another thought, something I think a few here have done, is buy a GPS equiped PDA or phone, possibly 2nd hand from ebay or somewhere.

So long as it runs Windows mobile (prefferably no later than WM6 or WM6.1), then you can run MM on that, no converting, faffing, with the MM files.

But, I don't think a phone or PDA are going to give you HR or CAD as the Edge would.

So depends on how far you want to take it. But definately know what you mean about having to stop to navigate at junctions, its a drag.

🙂

Solo.

Funnily enough I was just about to ask the same question….. I can't really be bothered with mapping out routes in advance though, I just want to glance at a map and think "oh somewhere over in that direction". The Edge 605/705 looks the obvious choice I guess, although the advantage of the Satmap would be that it could be used for off road navigation as well. Does anyone know what additional maps would be needed for road riding with either the Edge or the Satmap? Is the basemap that comes with them sufficient on it's own?

never used one, but would a garmin Dakota be suitable? it seems you can load OS maps onto it.

Explorer 1:25k OS maps on an ipod Touch!

Application – Routebuddy – free for ipod Touch or iphone.

Maps – £20 each. 1:50k are cheaper.

GPS – work it out for yourself on Touch, (but works on iphone).

The Dakota would probably work fine, albeit the Satmap seems to fare better in reviews

The Routebuddy App looks neat, not sure I fancy lashing my iPhone to my handlebars though, you'd be buggerred if it rained! Do they do 1:25k now, thought it was only 1:50k?

I just use my etrex, no need for maps, I just remember to put a waypoint at each junction I need to turn at.

They now do 1:25k Explorer maps for the entire country Chris.

I use an armoured case & keep my Touch in my pocket.

You can get an armoured, waterproof bar mount for an iphone – but they're expensive.

I've been looking at this recently too. I have a Nokia E66 which has GPS built in, so I'm thinking of…

A Boxit handlebar mount and waterproof case from CRC

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Brands.aspx?BrandID=522

Comes to about £22/£23

Then Viewranger for mapping on the phone:

http://www.viewranger.com/

Plus a spare battery for the phone.

Chris

How is the battery life on iPhone running routebuddy? Enough for an 8 hour or so day of riding? I know in some gps apps the iPhone will run out in about 3 hours, which is shocking.

On the N95 that I currently use, it lasts about 6 hours, which is a pain for long road rides, but at least I can take a spare battery with me.

Joe

From Routebuddy's site:

Battery Power whilst tracking

Tests on an iPhone 3GS which had everything switched on, including roaming as well as location based services (l.b.s. need to be on for the GPS to work) found that a “battery down to 10%” warning was shown after approximately 2hrs of use. However, the phone and tracking was still working up to 2hrs 40mins.

note: Please do not assume that every phone will be the same, this note is just for guidance!

To conserve battery power whilst tracking it can help to switch of roaming. If you are not using tracking or do note need to know your location then you can also turn location based services off.

Some customers have opted to by additional battery power packs to lengthen the time of tracking.

Buy a windows mobile phone.

It will run either Memory Map with full OS or a number of other mapping programs like Tom Tom.

I would recommend RunGPS which is a very flexible program. It works pretty much like a normal bike computer (auto start stop, mileage, speed etc etc) and does GPS mapping. Maps are free but you need a data plan to use it on the go. You can pre download the maps when the phone is connected to your PC to.

It has a route planning ability too as well as interval training.

Here are some screen shots (colour scheme is a bit pastel like but does the job):-

You can also get a Heart Rate band for it which works on bluetooth. They have website you can upload all your training data to if you are that way inclined or you can just keep it all on the phone.

As above get the Boxit case, you can still use the touch screen and it is fully waterproof.

Most Windows phones are pretty useless with battery life (ranges from 2 to 4 hours on GPS). However, eBay is your friend and with most of the HTC phones you can buy extended batteries which will give you upwards of 6 hours on GPS.

Regards

any idea when the garmin 705 is due to be superceded by a new model? fancy having one but its been out for 2 or 3 years now so a bit reluctant to commit to buying one if a newer improved one will be coming out soon!

Another happy garmin 705 user here – keep an eye on Amazon for used bargains. I paid £200 for mine complete with cadence and HR from a GP who used it about 3 times and then stopped riding!