GPX or TCX

[Belgian Champ]

I have no doubt this has been asked many many times........ however, what are the pros and cons of either for a Garmin 1030. I see both are now available on the organisers site.

[Hot Flatus]

I think TCX doesn't offer TBT direction prompts, does it?

[De Sisti]

On my 1030 Plus I don't find one better than the other.


[Edit: I follow the purple line and get turn-by-turn instructions, even if the screen is loaded with data such as speed/distance/hr/cadence/etc]

[chrisbainbridge]

I got the impression from Danial’s post on FB that the tcx had more cues in them.

[Lightning Phil]

TCX is a Garmin format that was supported by Edge units even back in 2004.  The TC refers to (Garmin) Training Centre as it’s the native database format for that software. It has elements built into the schema that the GPX schema has no equivalent for.  TCX has supported turn by turn prompts from it beginnings more than 18 years ago, as that’s what Garmin courses (CRS) support, and CRS is a subset of TCX. Adding the turn prompts back then wasn’t as automated as now though!

For compatible turn (or other type) prompts with Garmin Edge units, TCX is likely your best choice.

[Hot Flatus]

Ah, interesting. I've been using the damn devices for 20 years and always thought a tcx was a track rather than a course.

Just found this:

https://medium.com/decathlontechnology/gpx-tcx-fit-how-to-choose-the-best-file-extension-for-sport-activity-transfer-403487337c04

[Lightning Phil]

Tell I lie I got my Edge 305 in 2005.  I still have the TCX holding our 6 day coast to coast off road courses dating from 2005 on the PC.  Not sure where wiki got 2007 from. But I don’t care enough to correct it. Maybe TCX was proprietary in 2005 without a publicly published schema till 2007.

[Belgian Champ]

Thank you for the replies, I shall go with the tax files then.

[alwyn]

I got the impression from Danial’s post on FB that the tcx had more cues in them.

Correct. Although the base files have all of the detail, I don’t think the warnings about busy roads or bollards remain after I convert to GPX. I don’t use a Garmin (I’m old school paper these days) so cannot comment on the tcx file

[Cudzoziemiec]

Thank you for the replies, I shall go with the tax files then.

That'll be the .hmrc extension.