I've decided to get a sat nav for my bike. I've decided on the Satmap Active 10 as it seems to gets good reviews.
Before I part with my hard earned can anyone who has one offer their opinions of it? How sturdy is the handlebar mount? Can I load third party mapping software as the area that I need is going to cost me an extra £170? etc, etc. All opinions good or bad greatly appriciated.
Thanks all, MM 😀

i am just about to order a couple. mail me if you want a (legit of course) deal.

Like mine – the handlebar mount works well. Its a little bulky on the bars but very secure and convenient. I got the UK 1:50K map with it and have not needed any more detail. Don't know about 3rd party maps. Recent upgrades to the software have made it much better to transfer tracks to. I use 'walkhighlands GPS', online OS mapping to construct routes.

It's a good bit of kit – beefy, well thought-out and easy to use. The scaling on the zoom in/out is good but can be a tad slow, charging via USB port can be a bit hit and miss (as the unit stays switched on if you turn the computer off) and there are no third party maps availble for it as far as I know, which makes the entire bundle a bit dear. A second hand PDA running a "borrowed" copy of Memory Map will cost 1/10 of the price but be much less useful and a lot more fragile.

The pain in the arse for me is that I live on the Hants/ Wilts/ Berks border so mapping will prove expensive. I phoned satmaps today and they will consolidate maps onto one sd card which will be 1:25k scale.
From the research that I've done it seems all the units available have good and bad points but this one has more favourable good points from what I can gather.
Can you record tracks as you go?

I was an early adopter, mine has never really locked onto satellites properly, despite discussions with Satmap. One day I'll get around to sending it in. When it works, it works well.

Just brought the unit on Tuesday direct from Satmap, as they were dishing out a vouncher code @ Mayhem for free whole of UK 1:50000 mapping ( £200 worth!) So went for the bike option kit @340quid.
Whoever the voucher code was only valid until Tuesday night..
You could call them tomorrow and try the stupidity angle, ie I forgot..
code is SM-MM-06-10, call them on 0845 873 0101.

Next best deal I seen was online with Uttingsoutdoors, £310 for the active10 plus and uk national parks 1:50 K.

linky…

Hope this is of some use..

Maximus, yes you can record tracks as you go.

Cheers all.
I couldn't wait and I've just ordered one off Amazon. £299.99 for the active 10 plus. Will be at my door Saturday Morning. 😀
MicArms, I spoke to them direct today and they wouldn't sell me one direct. They recommended amazon for the best price. Will phone them again tomorrow to order the maps.
Can't wait to try and get myself lost now. There's so much I haven't explored around my area.

Good bit of kit, I went for the whole UK 50k maps. The polymer battery lasts ages and mine locks on to the satellites easily. Regular firmware updates also (one released this week) so all good 🙂

Whats the 1:50k scale like? is it easy to read and follow?

The bike mount is excellent and can be angled for stem or bar mounting (I've got mine on the stem)

The 1:50k mapping is good and works well for the majority of rides. I managed to get the North of England and Southern Scotland cards for only £70 for the pair one from Ebay and the other from Sport Direct on sale.

I've also got one 1:25k card for an area where a lot of the rides are on moorland where the extra detail of the Explorer mapping is of benefit to check field boundary positions is of use. Satmap have 30% off the 1:25k maps online in their store until mid July. I think I'll take up the offer for my locality.

It's worth keeping an eye on ebay as a fair few cards come up for sale on there.

The Satmap is a good device though I found it slow to fix and the scrolling through the maps was not fast. It isn't fully waterproof (only splashproof) so if you are planning to use it when raining I wouldnt take it out fixed to the handlebars. I was at a conference the other week and saw Mapyx had a device out which you can get a mount for clicky here.
I use their digital mapping softwear and thats pretty good.

I considered waiting for the release of the Lowrance Endura that Mapyx sell but given that pretty much all mapping satnavs have plenty of teething problems when launched decided to pass on it.

Might switch to the Lowrance model in a years time.

my mate has a satmap (not sure what version) – it's superb IMO (but then I get the best of all worlds; he navigates with it & I just follow along like a fat labrador (that can ride a bike).

We ride at night mostly and in quite dense forest sometimes. He often says stuff like "should be a path about 10 feet to our left" – almost always ded right (though he's good/careful when he plots routes and checks that the OS "paths" are real by looking on a satellite view)

we've ridden in pissing rain for 2-3 hrs loads of times and I'm certain it's never failed (in about 18 months or so)

I have been using a SatMap Active 10 for a while now and haven’t had any problems so far. It can be a little slow to fix sometimes and the battery life isn’t great for ling distance cycling but the stats that are reported seem pretty accurate.

Full SatMap Active 10 Review on my blog

The pain in the arse for me is that I live on the Hants/ Wilts/ Berks border so mapping will prove expensive. I phoned satmaps today and they will consolidate maps onto one sd card which will be 1:25k scale.

You can buy site-centred mapping from satmap which will get past the need to have three counties worth of cards. When I bought my satmap there was a voucher in the case for a discount on this.

I centred my 1:25k map on guildford and it covers up to nearly central london, nearly down to the coast, and pulls in Swinley/Tunnel Hill overs to Redhill. Think the discounted price was something 80 quid. And an extra 10 to get 1:50k toggleable mapping, which is worth it.

check here:

http://www.satmap.co.uk/ukstore/index.php?cPath=172_187_80

I also have 1:50k for the UK which was being bundled with the satmap, and is sufficient for a lot of stuff.

It is on Amazon saying it has the 1:50k bundle:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0049A2S70/ref=asc_df_B0049A2S703688324?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B0049A2S70