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I know the Garmin edge 200 has a course follow feature, enabling the upload of gpx routes etc. I was just wondering how useable it actually was offroad for riding an unknown route. I hear people get on ok with it on the road, but thats a different ball game.
Does it retain signal well in dense trees etc?
does the screen refresh regularly enough to keep up with changes of direction in twisty trails?
can you zoom in enough to see your position accurately relative to the gpx route?
I know this is not up to edge 810 spec with proper mapped navigation, but I wondered just how good this feature was on the edge 200.
cheers.
Its fine for the most part, especially with a paper map as backup. You literally get a line to follow and no indication of surrounding features whatsoever. Use your common sense and all will be well.
I've never really lost signal tbh, and the refresh rate isn't a problem because its a line on a screen. If you go off course a thinner line following your trajectory appears so you can get a sense of what direction you need to head to rejoin the route.
If you are looking for a reasonably priced GPS for your MTB, look no further than the Garmin Etrex 20, spot on. I managed to pick one up from the classifieds for £70.
I have one and used it lots for this. Make sure you accurately plot the route in the first place. Sometimes when you reach a fork it can be difficult to know which way to go but you soon know if you've gone the wrong way. The only reason I'd get a more expensive one with mapping on it would be if I was exploring and didn't want to follow a set route or if you needed to use an escape route for some reason but I can't really justify a more expensive GPS just now.
I have largely the same experience as sboardman and stevenmenmuir. Much easier than having to stop and drag a map out of your bag every 5 minutes, though as said I'd not want to be without a map entirely.
The only addition that I'd like to see, (which will never happen now as the 200 has been superseded and they don't update the firmware anymore) is an OS grid reference on one of the displays.
Anyone know if the new 20 or 25 does that?
I've used it lots for offroad, it's very useful. It gives you a direction to follow and tells you when you're off course and by how far.
I've only had it go wrong once, when the gpx file was corrupted. You really need a map backup as obviously the device gives you nothing if the course following fails.
I've found the edge 200 great for offroad navigation. As has been mentioned above plot your route very carefully. I've found it's better to zoom in as much as poss and use a mix of OS mapping and satellite imagery to get the best out of it. for eg, it may say bridleway on the map but on the ground people may have cut another path and there is no discernible track where the bridleway 'is'. Also when there is hairpins and the like, plot the dots right to the edges or you'll be going down and it'll start beeping at you off-course. This will throw you and sometimes you'll have to stop and make sure you didn't miss a path going off in the woods. I use justgoride to plot routes as you can switch between OS on bing and road and satellite.
I have one and it is fine for offroad stuff.
I find it doesn't like gpx files much and works much better with Fit files. I also initially found the fact that it autozooms rather than you selecting the map scale yourself very, very annoying but out in the real world it doesn't matter so much.
ok. That all sounds pretty positive. Does anyone find the gps "drifts" much or is it generally quite accurate when moving along? only I've found my smartphone to be very "wondery" unless i'm stood still. People have critised the edge 200's sampling rate when recording a ride and viewing it back later (it can end up cutting corners off with a few too many straight lines)... I wondered if this 4-8 second position sensing makes following a predetermined route jerky at all?
I'm keen to use it to follow rides exported from strava, in areas i dont know so well. Kind of like having a local guide with you i guess. Have others done this successfully as opposed to drawing their own bridleway based routes?
many thanks.
I got by with an Edge 200 for quite a while (and a Forerunner 305 before that) for navigating road and MTB routes. It'll get you round but expect a few times per ride to miss a turn (forks in a trail are particularly bad) and have it beep at you to go back - likewise often get a few false alarms where the course file and your real position deviate a little too much.
I forget which, but at least one of the websites that lets you click a route and make a GPX can add waypoints to the course at junctions so you know when you're supposed to make a turn at a junction.
Have others done this successfully as opposed to drawing their own bridleway based routes?
yes, it works great. If you do this it will also tell you how far behind you are compared to the rider you are copying.