Best GPS from Mountain Biking

Hi All,

After many years of faithful service, my Garmin Edge 205 has just died. Well it’s not actually dead, but the mode button doesn’t work (and it rattles when I shake it), so it can only do the basic bike computer functions now.

So, I’m toying with the idea of leaping into the wonderful world of mapping. But which one?

Garmin Edge 800 with 1:50K mapping seems the obvious choice (as I already have all my rides in Garmin Connect), but seems to be the most expensive (around £350) and has the smallest screen.

Satmap 10 and Adventurer 3500 can both be had for £260-£290 with full GB 1:50K maps and have bigger screens, but less bike specific features (I’ve enjoyed using the virtual partner on the edge on occasions, for example).

Main use would be finding new (natural) routes around Aberdeenshire and the rest of Scotland. So, key features would include:

1. Rugged. The edge survived many years on the road bike, but has died within a few months of being used off-road. May be just coincidence, but clearly it needs to take some abuse (which is why I’m reluctant to just mount my iphone on the bars – well that and the fact that its GPS performance is so much worse than the Garmin).

2. Easy route planning on a PC i.e. using a mixture of map and satellite images to plan a route then easily transfer it to the device.

3. Ease with which route can be followed on device i.e. clarity of maps, easy of operation with gloved hands etc.

4. Ease with which route can be changed out on the trail e.g. when you realise that track you saw on the satellite image doesn’t actually go anywhere.

5. Bike specific functions e.g. speed, average speed, gradient etc.

I guess it’s unlikely that anybody will have direct experience with more than one of the units above, but it would still be good to hear your thoughts.

Cheers,

Andy

I’ve got an Edge 800. I use it on the road and off road so like some of the training features.

I’ve never had a problem with the screen size.

It’s fairly rugged. NEver crashed with it but I have done plenty of wet rides.

Very easy to transfer to a PC but the software is a bit clunky on my older machine. I don’t like using it to plan routes and prefer “where’s the path?” (google it), bikeroutetoaster and walkhighlands which has full UK mapping on the site.

Folling a route on the road wiht coursepoints is fine, satnave style turn by turn directions.

Off road you get a line overlayed on the map and an audible/visible warning if you stray off course. I haven’t noticed that you can replot a route on the go.

Works fine with gloves as operation is fairly simplistic. Does tend to scratch the screen but just put a protective sticker over it.#

Bike specific functions are the strength of the Edge 800. Loads to pick from.

If you decide to go down the less bike specific line then it would be worth looking at the dakota range.

In summary I foudn the edge 800 to be fantastic and does exactly what I want. The only negatives are the “supplied” software for computers but there are some very good options available as alternatives. Best upgrade I’ve bought for my bike and has openened up a whole new way of exploring on the bike.

The edge comes up cheap on halfords occasionally and also on CRC when there are vouchers kicking around.

Got the SatMap and teh Garmin 800. Much prefer the SatMap for navigation. Bigger and rattles around a bit more, but great screen and more than enough stats for me. Garmin neater, lighter and good for training.

I have an Edge 705 and when I was after something for hillwalking/mountain biking went for a Dakota 20.

If I’d been starting from scratch I’d have probably gone for an 800.

Consider the Garmin Dakota 20. Bit chunky, but it mounts well and is a bit cheaper.

2 of my regular ride buddies have had problems with the Garmin 800, due to water ingress.

I bought a Garmin Etrex 20 and use it for MTB, mainly downloading new routes and then navigating.

I have to say that I think the Garmin operating software is poor. We were all sitting in the cafe recently with Garmin 800’s trying to find out how to change the dashboard….the software is not intuitive and the manuals hopeless.

+1 for Garmin not being user friendly. It drives me up the wall.

I have a Garmin 800 and a GPSmap62st they both have mapping but the 800 stays on the road bike and the gps62 stays on the mtn bike. Its a much more rugged unit and does everything the 800 does without the touchscreen (which is rubbish)

not helped whatsoever but hey.

Thanks for the feedback folks.

I’m leaning towards the Garmin 800. Partly because I liked my old edge 205 and am used to how it works (so those menus that people seem to find frustrating will probably be quite familiar); partly because it is the only one of the three with a barometer, so would give more accurate data on amount of climbing and partly because it probably represents the best compromise between a small cycling computer and a large navigation device. The others are no doubt better when you are lost in the middle of nowhere, but are probably too big to stick on the bike for every ride. The Garmin (with its cycling specific featured, e.g. virtual partner) can be used as a regular cycling computer on routes that you know well, but the maps would help to get you back home in strange terrain.

The others also seem to switch themselves off after a while (to save battery power) which would drive me mad.

The only things that are holding me back are the ability to use satellite images and custom maps on the 800.

There may be a Scottish angle here. I get the feeling that, in England, you mostly ride on the paths that are marked on the OS maps. Bridleways if you are being strictly legal and footpaths for some cheeky sections. But up here in Scotland we have an access code that can be summarised as “ride where you like, just don’t be a dick” and loads of paths (built for logging, stalking etc) that aren’t on any OS map. So satellite images are often more useful for discovering new paths than maps. The Garmin Birdseye tool seems to offer this feature (for a price), but all the demonstrations I can find are for the USA and I can’t see whether you can actually get high resolution satellite images of Scotland onto the device.

The Open Streetmap project looks as though it could provide a way to map all the trails that I use (for myself and for others), but I’m not sure how easy it is to add trails to these maps and then load them back onto the device.

Cheers,

Andy