GPS or maps

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
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Vantage
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Re: GPS or maps

Post by Vantage »

You'll be wanting to take both a GPS AND a map or series of maps. I found this out the hard way and it cost me my first attempt at touring.
The etrex20 went all pear shaped on me after about 30 miles and after storm force rain, wonky pannier racks and being blown around like a ragdoll, the gps failing was the final nail in the tours coffin. Hoping to try again soon.
I would strongly suggest the etrex20 over the 30 purely on cost. I'm not sure what the 30 offers that is £30-£40 more expensive and the bright orange of the 20 will certainly make it easier to find if it wanders from the mount. Speaking of which...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001 ... ge_o04_s00

That's the one you want. The cheaper copies out there are from what I've read, prone to breaking and rubbish at holding the unit. It'll mount on either bar or stem. I've done both but prefer the bar so I can angle it depending on where the sun is. Reviews vary on how secure it hold the etrex (too tight or too loose) but if loose, a strip of electrical tape will sort that. If tight, it soon loosens. Mine did. You might want to consider a lanyard in case it does leave the mount. (Unlikely. It only happened once to mine and was following a particularly nasty pothole)
Anti reflective screen covers work wonders too as the etrex 20 and 30 screens are terrible in direct sunlight. I bought mine in Nov 2012 and despite daily use ever since, I'm on the same cover I fitted back then. They're tough stuff.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006 ... ge_o07_s00

As for mapping, I personally would avoid Velomaps as in my experience on repeated occasions, it likes to shove you down mudbath tracks rather than roads if the situation arises that you need its auto routing. OpenfietsMap is far superior imo.
Bill


“Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.” ~ Eddy Merckx
It's a rich man whos children run to him when his pockets are empty.
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smith4188
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Re: GPS or maps

Post by smith4188 »

If you decide upon maps then take them with you. I really struggled to find paper maps in Germany a couple of years ago. The shopkeepers all told me, "But no one wants them any more." Only two years earlier I seemed to be able to find them anywhere. I love maps, me.
http://www.EuropeByBicycle.com - Country-by-country touring info for 54 European nations and disputed regions
PH
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Re: GPS or maps

Post by PH »

Vantage wrote:I would strongly suggest the etrex20 over the 30 purely on cost. I'm not sure what the 30 offers that is £30-£40 more expensive and the bright orange of the 20 will certainly make it easier to find if it wanders from the mount. Speaking of which...


I'm a happy owner of a 20, but if I was buying again it'd be the 30. The main advantage is the compass when stationary, there's been several times when I've not known which way was which when stationary. No big deal, just ride a few meters and the GPS compass kicks in, but enough of an inconvenience to stump up the extra next time. (I'd also prefer the grey colour)
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Vantage
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Re: GPS or maps

Post by Vantage »

I have to agree with you on the compass issue, it doesn't half get on my wick.
Bill


“Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.” ~ Eddy Merckx
It's a rich man whos children run to him when his pockets are empty.
wirral_cyclist
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Re: GPS or maps

Post by wirral_cyclist »

Why not just just look at the compass arrow before you stop?
LollyKat
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Re: GPS or maps

Post by LollyKat »

I've now got used to noting which way the track continues before I have to stop at a junction, but to begin with I got pretty confused in city riding where there are lots of options but only one of them correct... I also take a pocket compass with me just in case.
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Vantage
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Re: GPS or maps

Post by Vantage »

I'm usually busy checking the rear view mirror and watching whoever is in front.
It's not a huge problem on simple T junctions, but on complex ones and especially roundabouts when the compass can't keep up with your rate of travel while changing direction, it's a big issue.
Bill


“Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.” ~ Eddy Merckx
It's a rich man whos children run to him when his pockets are empty.
22camels
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Re: GPS or maps

Post by 22camels »

I've been looking at getting an eTrex for a while too. However, I am really not very interested in using it to plan a route in advance (either on the device itself or on the computer). I would just like to know where I am and look at the map to figure out where to go next on the fly. Same way as I use the maps.me or pocket earth apps at the moment. Do you think a garmin like an etrex is still useful to someone like me or is it mainly intended for people who want to follow routes? The long battery life and AA batteries is the main attraction I see in it..

(*) does the etrex have a good zoom out capability to be able to see your route for the next 20 or even 100km, not just the small scale? Guess it depends on the map you load into it?
psmiffy
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Re: GPS or maps

Post by psmiffy »

Its gota be maps if like me you only do global planning beforehand - macro planning is done the night before or at the cafe stop - micro planning doesnt happen

Ive owned a GPS with mapping for about 15yrs - sits on the handle bars turned on every moment the wheels are turning on tour - nice for comparing landmarks - road shapes, junctions etc for pinpointing where I am on the map and ensuring the spider senses are not letting me down exiting large cities - good for determining how many vertical metres I have left on a col - great for identifying afterwards exactly which way I went- however, no good for picking a route "on the fly" zoomed out you might just a well be looking at the bottom of a beer map - at 150k to 200k on a map I can just pick the route for the day, the morning, the afternoon or the next hour with a quick look - its easy to pick out the likely interesting towns and villages by the shape of roads, where the bridges are et.al - a convenient fold, a handle bar map holder and a clear plastic bag to keep it dry - jobs a good one
psmiffy
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Re: GPS or maps

Post by psmiffy »

22camels wrote:
(*) does the etrex have a good zoom out capability to be able to see your route for the next 20 or even 100km, not just the small scale? Guess it depends on the map you load into it?


No :D
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Vantage
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Re: GPS or maps

Post by Vantage »

22camels wrote:I've been looking at getting an eTrex for a while too. However, I am really not very interested in using it to plan a route in advance (either on the device itself or on the computer). I would just like to know where I am and look at the map to figure out where to go next on the fly. Same way as I use the maps.me or pocket earth apps at the moment. Do you think a garmin like an etrex is still useful to someone like me or is it mainly intended for people who want to follow routes? The long battery life and AA batteries is the main attraction I see in it..

(*) does the etrex have a good zoom out capability to be able to see your route for the next 20 or even 100km, not just the small scale? Guess it depends on the map you load into it?


The etrex range will certainly give you your position to help with planning on a map, but I can't help but feel that if it's for this reason alone, it is maybe overkill. A smartphone with a gps app (Googlemaps and so on) could do the same job but without the additional expense of buying an extra gizmo. The easy availability of AA batteries is a plus in any gizmo though imo.
There are plenty of other feature about the etrex though that might be useful to you. POI's (points of interest) are handy in some situations. It can show you the location of atm's, toilets, shops, parks, cafes and just about anything else you can think of. It can double as a cycle computer showing speed, trip distance and so on.
Zooming, whilst it does work, can be iffy depending on the level of zoom and detail in the onscreen map. Just like googlemaps, the further out you zoom, minor roads start disappearing, then main roads and eventually all roads the further you go. On my 20 and using openfietsmap at its highest detail setting, I can zoom out enough to cover 1 mile of area from top to bottom of the screen whilst still maintaining the view of minor roads. I'd say you've no chance of seeing 20km worth of route in any kind of detail. There is the option of scrolling the map up, down or side to side to see that detail at closer zooms but I'm not sure if that's what you want.
Bill


“Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.” ~ Eddy Merckx
It's a rich man whos children run to him when his pockets are empty.
tatanab
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Re: GPS or maps

Post by tatanab »

22camels wrote:I've been looking at getting an eTrex for a while too. However, I am really not very interested in using it to plan a route in advance (either on the device itself or on the computer). I would just like to know where I am and look at the map to figure out where to go next on the fly. Same way as I use the maps.me or pocket earth apps at the moment. Do you think a garmin like an etrex is still useful to someone like me or is it mainly intended for people who want to follow routes? The long battery life and AA batteries is the main attraction I see in it..

(*) does the etrex have a good zoom out capability to be able to see your route for the next 20 or even 100km, not just the small scale? Guess it depends on the map you load into it?
I tried an Etrex20 last year. Like you I do not preplan routes and I have a phobia of running out of batteries an so wanted AA. I took it on a month tour last year, with my normal paper maps. On the Etrex I had openvlietsmap. I found the Etrex did not do what I wanted. The screen was too small to see much unless zoomed well in, and it did not show enough for me to judge a route for more than a mile perhaps. Scrolling around with the little button was very tedious when trying to look at an area 50km away from present location, and I wanted to be able to find POI at that remote location which I could not make it do. I know that it is a fine instrument for hill walking where you can do everything by grid co-ordinates for example, and I am sure it works well if you want to follow a preset cycling route, but for my purposes it just did not do what I want. I sold that and bought an Edge 800. I can see much more (larger screen), scrolling is easier, and I can find remote POI. I have yet to use it on tour. Whatever GPS is used (on tour) a map is useful for the big picture. Indeed I mush prefer decent cycling scale maps to looking at a little screen. On my tour this year I intend to use my normal 1:100,000 maps and use the 800 to show me that I am correct in thinking that I am on the wrong forest track for example, or to show me POI even if that is only the nearest supermarket. I want to try to train myself to use larger scale maps like 1:200,000 and use the Garmin to fill in the detail but I am sure that will need a bit of route planning which I prefer not to do. I seem to have overcome my need for AA batteries having carried an e-reader last year and having no problems with recharging.
22camels
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Re: GPS or maps

Post by 22camels »

Thanks, that confirms my suspicions about the etrex.. I think I'll stick to phone app maps, and paper for now.. currently trying to get Nokia maps to work on an old phone with a very long battery life (C5). Wish I could just use my iPhone but it really does need recharging too often.
bobzeller
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Re: GPS or maps

Post by bobzeller »

There are a number of mapping sites, Garmin Base Camp, Ride With GPS and so on. Presumably they all have use different criteria when they are used to generate a route. Little of this criteria can be dialed into the site before it generates the required route. I am wondering if anyone has an idea of what each site uses, ie minimising traffic, climbing, road surface, paved or track. Secondly, and this might be off topic, but does anyone have suggestions regarding portable power devices to recharge my Garmin Edge Touring?

Many thanks
wirral_cyclist
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Re: GPS or maps

Post by wirral_cyclist »

bobzeller wrote:There are a number of mapping sites, Garmin Base Camp, Ride With GPS and so on. Presumably they all have use different criteria when they are used to generate a route. Little of this criteria can be dialed into the site before it generates the required route. I am wondering if anyone has an idea of what each site uses, ie minimising traffic, climbing, road surface, paved or track.
Many thanks

cycle.travel is my favourite, it plots a nice route and can be tweaked if needed (rare)
http://www.cyclestreets.net/ is good as you can choose fast/balanced/quiet as required.

bobzeller wrote: Secondly, and this might be off topic, but does anyone have suggestions regarding portable power devices to recharge my Garmin Edge Touring?

Many thanks

This post (and thread) covers the most popular answer.

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=94947&p=877031&hilit=anker#p877031
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