Do You Use GPS? What's Good? What's Bad?

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Permalink Reply by pistola on June 4, 2009 at 10:39am

I've used a Garmin Oregon 300 that I've used on various trips, including on bike. I have also used it on my motorcycle and in the car. The last time I used it on a bike, I used it to look at properties. It has a touchscreen that is really easy to use. I just typed in the address of the place, looked at the route selected, and headed off in that direction. It's a handheld device about the size of a cellphone, so I just kept it in my cargo pocket, even though I do have a handlebar mount for it. The cool thing about using Garmin's Mapsource program to create routes is that you can tell the program exactly what kind of roads to avoid, which makes it very bike friendly. In my experience, bike trails don't show up on Mapsource so that might be tricky but doable, especially if you can find someone that has saved a track using particular trail. Lets say I went for a bike trip and saved the track. I can then edit the track, save it and send it to anyone. That track information has everything, including elevation climbed, distance, bearing, time, speed, etc. They can then use that track to create their own route using Mapsource. I'm pretty sure you can find people who have saved tracks in gpx format that you can use online. I know there are tons of motorcycle riders that have done that.
The other thing I really like about having a Garmin Gps is that you can very easily use Google maps with the device. Once you register the device and download a plugin from the garmin website, you can google search anything andautomatically save/send that as a waypoint to your compatible device. The other cool thing about having the gps device with you is having a searchable database of waypoints, everything from bike shops to hotels to food which is a godsend when doing longer trips. The garmin Edge 705 is definetly a bike specific device, but I wouldn't rule out the handheld devices like the Oregon series either. I spend about $225 on amazon.com for the 300, plus another $80 for maps. Definetly worth the money. Its bulkier, but it has a bigger screen (although it's not so easy to read running on batteries in direct sunlight).

Let me know if you have any other questions

Pete
Pete

Permalink Reply by Bob Kastigar on June 4, 2009 at 4:13pm

My son bought me one before a trip down the west coast a couple of years ago. I couldn't decide if it was a Toy or a Tool. I guess it's OK as a tool, but not an absolute necessity.

A GPS is excellent for letting you know where you've been. It can't decide for you where to go in the future, however. It does tell you what direction you're riding (but so does an ordinary compass) and it does track elevation (not needed in Chicago but really great going from Canada down to San Francisco!)

Mine is a Garmen eTrex, it has an entire US map, but not every road. I'm considering getting a newer one, tho the map prices seem kind of stiff. I'll kind of follow this thread just to see what others have to say and what brand/model to purchase.