following a mtb route…what tool do i need

What type of bike sat nav do i need to download and follow an mtb route offroad?

Are they reliable and accurate as I do not want to get lost and am not a very good map reader

Do they guide you turn by turn?

Where do I download routes from and in what format?

What does a basic one cost?

Do have a limited life before they become unusebale, like sat navs for cars?

Many thanks, this is all new to me.

The most basic/cheapest is a Garmin 20 or 25 that does a ‘breadcrumb’ trail. About £100, probably cheaper now they’ve been out a while. You download a GPX file from a computer and follow a black dotted line. If you deviate from the line, even by a few meters, you get beeped at and an arrow to point you to the closest point on the route. Surprisingly effective and so much less hassle than keeping dragging a map out of your bag every 5 minutes. Anything with a map are considerably more expensive and the extra functionality only infrequently useful. IMHO of course.

thanks so much that’s brilliant.

Probably lots of people will be along to disagree but… Learn to read a map! Modern GPS’s are brilliant, but I wouldn’t want to be out in the wilds without a) the skills to read the map that’s on the screen of the GPS (it’s a lot different to navigating on road) and b) a backup for if the battery dies / the software has a fit / you lose the GPS signal and get lost in the woods / you have a crash and mash it up / etc etc.

I like Viewranger on my phone, but it has the disadvantage that you’ll need to stop and check it a lot. A friend swears by his Garmin eTrex which is probably as cheap as you’ll get for a dedicated unit.

can you record your own routes too?

Bike, legs and lungs as a base…sense of adventure and a general idea as a next step and finally, ability to read a map and take a mapping source with you – either paper or electronic.

GPS is great but means you don’t need to look about, you follow a line on a device on your handlebars, which kind of defeats the purpose (for me).

As long as I do not get lost and learn a route I do not mind a line. Once I have done a route a few times, I’ll probably remember it as I will look around too. The routes will be about 10-20 miles so nothing large.

Do they also cover road sections to?

breadcrumb trails are fine up to the point that you need to deviate from your pre-destined route for whatever reason e.g. weather, injury, mechanical… Also, the countryside is not mapped like a road network so you can’t expect software to make informed choices for you about how to get from A to B over complicated terrain.

If you have a GPS with decent on screen mapping then you can either use routes that others have created (e.g. in GPX format) of which there are many sources – just use google – or some software to plot your own and upload them to the unit. I like viewranger since it has proper OS mapping and a desktop and mobile app that supports offline maps as a back up to the bar mounted display – and I’d carry a paper map & compass too.

As a starter you should consider getting the OS maps app for your phone, it does navigation from gpx files and you can buy the maps (or get a subscription) to use them offline. I use it as a backup when I’m unfamiliar areas like the Lakes after getting the file from flattyres or similar. Bit of a fiddle having to get the phone out your pocket and unlocked, but you can mount your phone to the bars easily enough with something from Amazon.

I had been thinking about getting a dedicated device for gps, but after doing this it works well enough that I can’t justify getting one for the 4 or 5 times a year I’d actually use it.

thanks.

I use a breadcrumb trail on my garmin on my bars.

i also have a paper map and view ranger on my phone for back up

Garmin Edge Touring or the 520 Explore would be my recommendation.

can you record your own routes too?

Paper map + 

I do like paper maps though.

And if you plan on going somewhere unfamiliar a Garmin type device is perfect for using as a Sat-Nav style device for turn by turn directions, but absolutely useless if you get lost or in an emergency.

Hypothetically you break your arm (or even just sprain your wrist), the weather is good and you’ve got it in a sling and can easily walk 5-10 miles pushing your bike to a village and get a taxi to A&E from there rather than call 999 and end up in an air ambulance or mountain rescue landrover.

You just get out your paper map, find the dotted line that goes between you and the nearest road/house/village and start walking. Try doing that on a 260x320pixel screen, it’s not impossible, but immensely frustrating. With the additional drawback that when you have an accident you have no real idea of your surroundings as you’ve not been looking at the map, just a little tile of it with an arrow “I’m about 3.5hours of slightly below average cycling pace into Scottish Dave’s GPX route of the Cairngorm Plateau” is about as much use to Mountain Rescue as a chocolate fireguard.

I’m not saying “Don’t use a GPS” , but don’t not use paper maps. GPS is perfect for say an Audax.

Trailforks.

I can read a map very well, but if the maps are shit then go Trailforx. Had an excellent guideless week in finale recently that was made awesome by Trailforx.

I can read a map, and always have a map and know where I am on it if I’m doing an off-road ride in the middle of nowhere. Paper maps are also way better for stringing routes together because you see more at once than any monitor screen.

BUT being able to plot a route, or download one, and then accurately follow it without stopping every 5 mins is just way better.

Just make sure that you can switch back to analogue and locate yourself at any time if needed.

Don’t bother with anything without mapping.  Having to keep digging a paper map out of your backpack when it’s pissing down etc doesn’t really work.  OS Maps app on an old smartphone will do the job, but a SATMAP Active 20 is even better.  I find Garmin devices to be a pain in the arse, software wise especially.

Garmin etrex 30x and Talky Toaster maps.

Make a track and navigate with that and it shows up as a bold usually purpke line.

If you want a bigger screen, the Oregon 700 is good, but touchscreen and less aa battery  life.

If you make your route on ridewithgps.com and you can add in your own cues “turn left” and so on, it’ll add them automatically on road sections.

Follow GPX file route on Great Britain Topo Maps android app, on Andoid phone. Strap to bars & go.  Gives full mapping etc. Prior to this I scanned OS maps or took images from OS mapping on streetmap.co.uk and loaded oo phone – use to check the new bits of a route.

I plan routes on the OS website that I pay a subscription to. I some times print these maps

I navigate with a Suunto watch strapped to the bars. Trail of bread crumbs. The Garmins above do the same job but I wanted a watch I could swim with.

If I have a problem I get my phone out and use back country navigator. This is better than the OS app as you can have as much of Britain as you like on your phone for one price

If I’m not riding locally I’ll carry an OS map as well

Just popped my Edge 800 on ebay today, message me if you want a special STW deal…

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/123502322815

There’s an Edge Explore on classifieds for £60 as well. I’m holding out for a cheap 1030 because I’ve been sucked by some of the ‘live’ features that I know I don’t need…