[Closed] Garmin Edge 705 - Maps?

I got my 705 with the street mapping stuff, which is great for the road but useless for mountain biking. I am currently using some open source stuff for offroad, only really used it around Leith/Holmbury Hill so far but it seems to be pretty good as it is based on other people's GPS data. Not only does it have bridleways etc but smaller mtb specific tracks.

I think I am using openmtbmap ([url= http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OSM_Map_On_Garmin/Download ]somewhere on this page[/url]), I have it for the whole of the country and best of all, it's totally free.

i've got some morally dubious copies of the garmin topo and road maps, and the legally free OpenStreetMap downloads.

The OpenStreetMap stuff is just as good, if not better, than the Garmin maps, especially if you live in an area where lots of people have updated it. It even has some biking trails like Summer Lightning and Barry Knows Best marked on it! The Garmin Topo maps just have disjointed paths which may or may not be bridleways.

Given that the Garmin maps are 150 quid or so for the UK, i'd say definitely use the ones on the link above.

I was looking at a bundle with the Garmin maps thrown in, I will steer clear if the quality isn't great.

I'll mainly be using the maps for planning/sharing rides in the Dales, Lakes, and Scotland, so areas which are popular, but I don't know very well.

Any tips for the French Alps, Chamonix/Morzine area?

openmtbmap again, go to their website they have all of Europe by country.

Bought mine with the Topo map which is OK off-road, not great on-road so bought the City Navigator map for when using it on the road bike.

I have Topo on the Garmin and use that and Memory Map for planning routes. Trouble is, it's a bugger to get the route into the right format (.crs) to follow on the ride. Although when it's in, its brilliant.

Snakebite uses one of the other Garmins, Etrex Vista, I think and he can just copy the route over.

Edges are really training tools with the navigation added. Works perfectly, but not easy to understand and use. If it's primarily a training aid you're after the Edge is the one. Primarily a navigation tool - use something else.

I have been reading about problems with loading routes onto the 705. The 3 main functions I want are

Training Aid - HRM and distance info
"Where I've been" - routes to transfer out of the device
Navigation - Loading shared or planned routes in unfamiliar areas.

I know there are cheaper ways to achieve each of these but the Garmin should do all 3 once I get the hang of it.

Yes, it's perfect for all those. It just takes a while to learn it properly.

Do remember that the course (.crs) is the ONLY format to use for following a route. The latest version of software may have made this easier, but you have to export the course (or is it a track, or a route? - all different) from Mapsource as a gpx, convert the gpx file to a crs file (using a 3rd party tool, Gpx2Crs.exe) then go into Training Center to load it up.

I once did it all except the last bit. When I got to where I was riding, the course wasn't on the Edge. Doh!