Bryton Rider 50 - really basic GPS n00b questions

[GazM]

I've been doing Audaxes for a coupleof months now. Everything is great except my sense of direction. I'm fed of getting lost and taking ages to get back on track, so I'm looking for a GPS.

The Bryton Rider 50 looks like the job for me. However, knowing nothing about GPS I need to find out a coupleof things before buying one.

What I want it to do is:
      Load gpx files (tracks?) that I can get on Aukweb, and tell me when I'm going off route.
      Tell me how to get back on route when I do wander off
      Let me input a search location to get back on track. EG, if I'm 'lost', and the next control is in Henley, I want to be able to type in Henley, and it will plot a route
      Record my rides in a way that will be acceptable for DIY rides by GPS.

Any help/advice gratefully accepted. I don't drive, so have no other knowledge to fall back on. My wife has a tom-tom, and I can just about get that to show a route.

Thanks in advance. Hopefully, somebody will rely before the Wiggle £10 discount finishes later today!

[GazM]

Had a crap day at work yesterday, so I popped into Evans on the way home, and picked one of them up. 
Only used it for 6km on the way to work this morning, and it's looking good. It didn't have a great start as it crashed out of the box, and I didn't get it working for a couple of hours, after doing a factory reset via the website (didn't make any difference), and eventually formatting it and reloading it from the website.

On first impressions, the only frailty/criticism I could make is it can't be loaded/programmed without internet access. I don't know if this is the same for the big brands, but in this case I can live with it. To manage it, you have to install a piece of software (BrytonBridge), connect the GPS to your PC, and when it recognises it, it fires up the Bryton Website. Through there, you can create your own routes using Google Maps, or import .GPX files that you've acquired from somewhere else.

After recording a ride, apparently you have to retrieve the GPX file from somewhere in your user profile on the PC. C:\users\username\appdata\local\bryton\etc. I haven't had a chance to check this myself, this is something I saw in the Bryton forums.

So, so far it looks pretty good. I'll be using it on Saturday with an imported GPX file, and if I have the legs, on Sunday, I hope to do a short 50km DIY/GPS perm, mainly to see if I can get the process and procedure right.

[henshaw11]

You've found the brytongps.com site ? - in addition to faqs etc there's a forum (I tried a rider50 briefly but decided I wanted something a bit more mapping orientated).That's actually run by the Bryton importer for South Africa, rather than Bryton themselves.

I've mailed Bryton support (ie the actual manufacturer) and found them pretty responsive - I had an answer on a few questions the following day.

Ah, looks like Bryton have now set up their own forum - via facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/brytonsport?sk=app_174481013789

I've just noticed that in addition to the Edge 500-like 30/35, there's now a 20 listed - still logs gps and takes hrm/cadence but you don't get power measurement/altimeter of the 35...which probably won't make Garmin happy (and they took a lawsuit out in the US re the 35), 'cos they've just come out with the Edge 200 which doesn't have cadence/hrm/power.  I suspect the Bryton 20 might come in at the same price point or below (the 35's not that much more than the edge 200 at wiggle)

[Erudin]

I've got one, it makes navigating an audax easier (no more have I took wrong turn anxiety), I just load a simple gpx track into it and follow the orange line on the map screen (and keep an eye on the routesheet as backup). You import/export GPX files via BrytonSport.com.

It beeps and displays "Off-Route" pretty quickly if you miss a turn, an arrow on the screen shows your position/bearing and you just head back onto the orange track line. Would not be so good for 300km+ audaxes (200k is the longest I've done) as the battery life 14 hours , you can plug in a power pack, but not while it's on the handlebar mount.

Link: My track from Granite & Serpentine Way Audax

[henshaw11]

>but not while it's on the handlebar mount.

If you use the earlier handlebar-only (ie not bar/stem, rubber band version) the mount doesn't cover the whole of the back of the device, and you should be able to plug in the 90 degree usb cable - and Bryton confirmed this:

> d) is it possible to plug in the usb cable if using the original handlebar mount ? - and is that mount still available ?  I sometimes ride over more than a 12 hr period, so it would be useful to power the device externally while still using it attached to the bike.
>> Yes, it is ok to plug in the USB cable with the original mount. However, you might need to use the L-type USB cable which bundled in the Rider 50 box.
The original bike mount is still available for order. We can ship to you nominate address. Please confirm this if you will like to purchasing of old bike mount.

There was an issue with mounts, but I *think* just the earlier version of the 4point bar/stem mount, and that the bar-only mount is fine - I'd guess they just stopped shipping with it since it was bar-only, and probably a bit more expensive to produce:
http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12774494&highlight=bryton

 - but if you can rig some sort of lanyard up too, so much the better.