In your opinion, Which gps do you consider the best for mountain biking and why.

Thanks.

Probably now its an I-Phone, it’ll measure everything and have 1:25000 OS mapping.

Everyone will disagree but the old Garmin Edge 205 & 305. The current ones are either too roadie/fitness centred (500) or too big/expensive (800).

I also find an iPhone is great for 1:25,000 off-line OS mapping, but you really, really don’t want to be strapping one to your bars.

I’ve used an iPhone as a GPS on the bike and it worked well enough to persuade me that I wanted a proper GPS. It’s useful if you’ve got one anyway but the battery life is very short when used as a GPS and it’s rather fragile.

Satmap for its larger screen and 1:25000 OS mapping or Garmin 800 with its smaller screen but better training indicators.

Satmap is better for exploring new stuff, Garmin fine if you know where you are going roughly, according to singletrack a few months ago.

I have a Satmap and it’s excellent.

Phones a bit fragile to strap on your handlebars, and battery will not be as good. Imagine crashing at the end of your ride and not being able to phone emergency services ‘cos the GPS ate all your battery!

adenturer 2800 hard to to grips with, for me anyways,
all the features you need.
particuly like the pc software, where you can track your point on the map, 3D veiuw and elivation all at the same time.

would prefere the 3500 becouse of waterproof rating and exchangable batteries,

Mate just use a simple e-trex H and a 1:25,000 map (OS in UK; IGN in France; Swisstopo in Switzerland (obviously); IGC in Italy.

You need the maps anyway as GPS reception fails surprisingly often, even on the e-trex H which it’s generally agreed has the best reception.

What do you want a gps for?

Is it to download where you have been after the ride?

Is it be able to stop and work out where you are and want to go next?

Is it to help you navigate on the move?

If the first two something like memory map on an Iphone is great. If its navigating on the move imo map based screens are too fiddly. Something old school like a Garmin Geko 301 work much better. These can also record routes for downloading later too and with the aid of a real paper map can be used for proper navigation.

Garmin 605

I might have a Garmin 605 with 2gb sd card,ac charger and 3 bike mounts for sale, email in profile if interested, it’s a couple of months old, don’t really use it as a navigation aid so just an expensive bike computer for me. Has mtbstreetmaps loaded on it at the moment too. I’ve used it on a couple of off road rides and the rest of the use has been road miles.

imo map based screens are too fiddly

you’d be wrong then…

Satmap with 1:25k zoomed to 1:4k res and orientate to ride direction is fine, can ride full speed and know where the next left or right turn is going to be.

The smaller Garmins might well be too fiddly…

Take a good look at view ranger on iPhone. Pay for map tiles as you go along. Got us across wales fantastically and imports gpx files. Great

sat map for me. big screen, long battery life, replaceable screen, good maps, & riding stats.

you’d be wrong then…

you’ll be too slow then! 😉

I want to be able to navigate at 25mph on a rocky downhill with my eyeballs rattling around my skull & a simple arrow and metres to run is as much info as I can assimilate in a fleeting glance at those speeds on that terrain.

Having said that, technology moves on and it would be good to see if map based screened stuff has improved enough.

I want to be able to navigate at 25mph on a rocky downhill with my eyeballs rattling around my skull

but you can do that with a Garmin Geko 301 and a paper map??

and faster than I can by looking at the Satmap??

Plus I think you can set the Satmap to a simple direction display (mine is discharged atm so I can’t check).

Plus witht he normal display on the satmap I can grok what the trail is like up ahead, which you can’t do with just a pointer.

but you can do that with a Garmin Geko 301 and a paper map??

100% yes – but the paper map would be in my back pocket.

Let me explain. I plan a route on memory map and put a waymark on each significant navigational spot. Download to the geko, turn it on and put it in waymark mode. I then set off in full on training mode. Screen tells me direction to go with a dirty big arrow and distance to run (in a straight line admittedly). I then ride with my lungs hanging out and follow the arrows to help me navigate. I’ve studied the map thoroughly before I leave so I’ve a pretty good idea of what’s coming up anyway and just use the gps to confirm what I’ve memorised (it helps that I have a near photographic memory for visual imagery). If it goes wrong or I need to change my route I’ll stop or slow down to walking pace and whip my paper map out of my pocket. Rarely happens though but when it does the size of the paper is bigger than any screen which makes planning much easier. Works for me. My idea of riding is nearly always training for racing, ridden at close to race pace – I rarely go for a dawdle ride – which may have a bearing on my choice of kit.

Been using the garmin gpsmap 62s which is very good. Comes with 50:1 OS mapping which should be good enough for the trails and is very robust.

the Geko sounds like a big step backwards – I’ll stick with the Satmap.

Oh the Geko certainly is a step backwards. It was new in 2002 for heaven’s sake! Would I buy it now – not sure I would but it still does a job FOR ME. For comparison I did just download the Satmap user guide and it does have a pointer page which is nice to see as the first rasta technology units didn’t. Graphically Carp in comparison though which is a shame.

Still it’s horses for courses – I still don’t fancy your chance in a head to head over a preplanned route with you on your turner with your fancy pants satmap vs me on my turner with my hamster powered unit! 😈

Here’s a slight tangent to the OPs question that I’ve wondered for a while (having destroyed one Garmin Etrex Legend and in the process of destroying another).

Which GPS will survive rattling along trails longest before some kind of shake-related death?

I’ve found my Etrex Legend Hcx to be fab for route finding but doesn’t like hooning down a rocky decscent or two. At best it’ll usually switch itself off. After a few months of this it tends to not be keen on working properly at all ever again. I’m not talking about surviving being dropped, just being attached to bars for cross-country riding.

I’ve been looking at the Garmin Dakota as a replacement, and I believe Aidan used one for the Tour Divide. Comments vs something like the Memory Map one?

I left my satmap on the boot of the car once and it got slingshoted across the large roundabout nr Swinley, bouncing across the road a few times before coming to a stop in the central reservation. Still works.

I wouldn’t fancy the Memory Map units myself – Windows based, clunky to use, etc. But it might be a good compromise if you have MM maps on the PC.

you on your turner with your fancy pants satmap vs me on my turner with my hamster powered unit!

With the satmap in orientate route to direction of cycling and zoomed in it is pretty useful showing the twists and turns of the route you are about to come up to, I think you would find it ok.

It is a bit like when driving at night on twisty roads a car GPS is useful as it give you a clue as to what the road is about to do in front of you, so you can see it might go left sharp, then curve back round to the right, then sharp left again, for example.