To GPS or not to GPS

[Goldcrank]

I have an amount of cash burning a hole in my pocket and am sorely tempted to "invest" in a GPS. Should I? Or should I just get better at reading a map?

I will make use of all the additional features. But do I really need any of these fripperies or should I just get out on my bike and ride. £300 is an awful lot of money to spend on an odometer.

[Feanor]

Yes, you should, esp. if you are an audaxer.

The main thing about a GPS is the ability to record a tracklog.
Navigation is a secondary thing.

GPS tracklogs allow you to do DIY routes where it would otherwise not be possible.

[fuaran]

There's no need to spend £300. You can get something like an Etrex 20 for £140, plus free mapping, will probably do just about everything that you want. ie mapping, navigation, plus recording a track and as a cycle computer.

[Oaky]

(fuaran just posted exactly what I was going to say).

The only thing I'd add is that if you wanted extra features like hooking up to power meters etc., then you probably need something like the Garmin Edge range, but the eTrex 20/30 have the advantage of running on AA batteries.  (Many people do work around that limitation of the Edge units using external USB battery packs).

[vorsprung]

Er, most people have a "smart" phone these days which can get a GPS fix on a map and record short GPS journeys as a track

So unless you are planning to do stuff that involves riding for several hours you can probably use a cheap phone instead of a GPS

£300 is a bit steep btw

[Goldcrank]

Yes, £300 is a bit steep but then that's how much a G800 costs. I find the phone option is a bit meh at the moment. This may change by next year and then I'll be stuck with a brick on my bike and a phone in my pocket that would do the job just as well.

Thanks for the input though.

[Hot Flatus]

I'd say it is money well worth spending, but maybe not £300.

I'm on my third GPS in ten years (they all still work), but barring malfunction I still can see no reason to upgrade from my 705. For me the massive bonus is that I can spend a couple of moments plotting a route on an online route maker like bike hike and then go off and ride it. No fuss, don't need to carry a map and don't need to keep stopping. It has made the local area more accessible.

Of all the bike related stuff I own, the GPS would be one of the last things to go,

[Ningishzidda]

Spencer Kelly on the Beeb this morning said that if you carry an Andriod Smartphone, you are probably being tracked.

For the purposes of DIY by GPX, simply advise your DIY Administrator to contact MI6 for oyur details.


If this is too much bother, buy a Garmin eTrex 20 for under £130 and install OpenStreetMaps for very little cost. If ou have a CTC membership card, go to Cotswold Outdoor for 15% discount and the knowledge you can take it back for a refund if it goes t*ts up.

There is only one drawback with GPS. The satellites are not controlled by YACF. They belong to NASA and could be switched off "if an alien threat comes from somewhere else in the galaxy". 

[Wowbagger]

Yes, you should, esp. if you are an audaxer.

The main thing about a GPS is the ability to record a tracklog.
Navigation is a secondary thing.

GPS tracklogs allow you to do DIY routes where it would otherwise not be possible.

Navigation is the primary thing. The GPS allows you to read the map whilst riding so you don't have to stop frequently and try to work out which way you are meant to go. I don't mean that you should get the GPS to find your route for you: that is asking for trouble. You do all your route finding yourself when sitting in front of the computer and download a track to follow whilst riding.

Saving your track after you have finished the ride is very nice, especially if you find a different way whilst out on the road from the one you had planned, but you can always save the track you generated on the computer to see where you intended to go.

If I am on a long tour I like to take paper maps with me as well as long as they are not too bulky (copied sheets from the Philips Navigator road atlas is fine). I jst with OS did their Landranger series scaled down to 1:75000. That would be fantastic for cycling. 1:50000 is just a bit too big and you need too many maps.

[Ningishzidda]

Yes, you should, esp. if you are an audaxer.

The main thing about a GPS is the ability to record a tracklog.
Navigation is a secondary thing.

GPS tracklogs allow you to do DIY routes where it would otherwise not be possible.

Navigation is the primary thing. The GPS allows you to read the map whilst riding so you don't have to stop frequently and try to work out which way you are meant to go. I don't mean that you should get the GPS to find your route for you: that is asking for trouble. You do all your route finding yourself when sitting in front of the computer and download a track to follow whilst riding.

Saving your track after you have finished the ride is very nice, especially if you find a different way whilst out on the road from the one you had planned, but you can always save the track you generated on the computer to see where you intended to go.

If I am on a long tour I like to take paper maps with me as well as long as they are not too bulky (copied sheets from the Philips Navigator road atlas is fine). I jst with OS did their Landranger series scaled down to 1:75000. That would be fantastic for cycling. 1:50000 is just a bit too big and you need too many maps.

Here, here.
I wasn't going to stir it up by saying 'riding down the wrong road is way down on an Audaxers list of prioritoies' so Navigation is at No. 2.

Having the stamina to complete is No. 1.

[uphillbothways]

GPS mapping is a tremendously liberating technology, because it completely takes away the worry of getting lost. You can simply ride off in any direction and follow wherever your curiosity leads, safe in the knowledge that your GPS will get you home in time for tea.

I have always had a penchant for ad-hoc touring, never pre-planning routes, rarely carrying a map more detailed than a 1:200,000 motoring atlas and often travelling with no map at all. Using a GPSr hasn't changed these habits significantly, but it has taken away the more miserable parts of such touring - being hopelessly lost in monotonous terrain, desperately searching for a hot meal or a bed or just somewhere to fill my bidons.

For me, a GPSr is a piece of self-rescue equipment, like a spare tube or a toolkit. It's not something I expect to use on every ride, but I feel naked riding any real distance without it.

[poweredbyveg]

Can highly recommend an Etrex 20, £130 including next day from Handtec. Then all you need to do is trawl through all the excellent postings on here to work out how to use it 

[Goldcrank]

Well that's done. G800 should be winging its way to me.

[Glover Fan]

Did you shop around? I saw the G800 on handtec for £234 the other day.

[Manotea]

I wasn't going to stir it up by saying 'riding down the wrong road is way down on an Audaxers list of prioritoies' so Navigation is at No. 2.

Having the stamina to complete is No. 1.

Though having all the stamina in the world will not help if you are cycling in the wrong  direction...

[Goldcrank]

I did. I didn't check handtec but I didn't pay much more than that price.

[Glover Fan]

The only problem I find with GPS is that in planning stages unless you are pretty meticulous, planning routes in unknown areas can lead to frustration. Most mapping sites use google maps which show apparent roads.

However, if like this morning you are going down a perfectly tarmacked lane which then abruptly ends with a sign "unsuitable for motors" which is a massive understatement as you would struggle to get a MTB down the lane. It meant I had to trudge up the 20% hill I came down and use the map on my edge 705 to get back on route.

Oh and don't bother buying maps, I find Open Street Maps suffice.

[Ningishzidda]

I wasn't going to stir it up by saying 'riding down the wrong road is way down on an Audaxers list of prioritoies' so Navigation is at No. 2.

Having the stamina to complete is No. 1.

Though having all the stamina in the world will not help if you are cycling in the wrong  direction...

The jury is still out. 

[Ningishzidda]

Try this.

http://www.greenmanbushcraft.co.uk/navigation/

[contango]

I wasn't going to stir it up by saying 'riding down the wrong road is way down on an Audaxers list of prioritoies' so Navigation is at No. 2.

Having the stamina to complete is No. 1.

Though having all the stamina in the world will not help if you are cycling in the wrong  direction...

Of course it does. It helps you go the wrong way faster, and gives you a bit more ooomph in your legs when you realise you went wrong to get back to where you were supposed to be.

It certainly beats climbing a big hill struggling against a lack of stamina only to realise you got it wrong and have to go back down and climb a different hill.

[Euan Uzami]

(Many people do work around that limitation of the Edge units using external USB battery packs).

this is one odd piece of behavior that completely baffles me - why get a nice slim unit but only to then have to strap a separate battery back to it...
seems a bit like buying an electric car but then putting a separate engine in a trailer and towing it around behind in case it runs out of power.