DaveLeeNC

New Returnee to the road, here. The advent of GPS and what it can do for biking was one of the big changes that I have encountered. However, being retired I am careful with where I spend my money. For example I don't own a smart phone - I use a 6 year old piece of crap and pay for calls by the minute. My cell phone costs me about $100 per year which covers pretty much all the calls I want/need to make.

On reflection I could see two things that I really wanted from GPS (and there were others on the nice to have list).

1) A way to never get lost. I wasn't really after route mapping (a nice to have from my perspective), but did want to be able to just wander for a few hours and know how to get home efficiently (or easily gauge how far out I really am).

2) 'Hill/slope calibration'. For example, just exactly what is a 10% grade - had no idea, really.

A Garmin 800/810 looked nice for multiple hundred dollars. But then there was

1) I already own a Tom Tom auto GPS, it only weights 9 oz., and fits nicely into a cycling jersey pocket. So that one cost me nothing (OK - cost me 9 oz).

2) A biking inclinometer (basically a handbar clip-on bubble level) for around $15 solved the slope/grade issue quite well.

Old men who do NOT want to go back to work can be real tight-wads.

dave

Spld cyclist

I can see where you're coming from. I'm teetering on the high-tech edge, but I think I'll step away from it now and stick with my basic HR monitor and wired bike computers.

Thanks for the bike inclinometer tip!

dwmckee

I have one of those inclinometers set up for my stoker on the tandem (my son); he gets a kick out of feeding me updates from it. Cheap and requires no batteries! I cut the cord about 3 years ago and have been happily riding electronics-free since then. I found I started enjoying riding more that way. I like to pretend I am retired at least and ride without a plan sometimes. I think what you are doing is spot on, keep the auto GPS handy for a backup only, just in case you do need to find a route home from an unfamiliar place.

Don't get stuck with an electronic wife telling you to turn left and right and that you are not riding as fast as you did last week or that some guy from across town is faster than you are.

01 CAt Man Do

@dave.....I feel you. I'm getting close to retirement myself. Back in the day I used to just plan rides using my cache of maps that I had for work. When ever I planned a route it would generally be in an area I was familiar with. I would then write all the turns down on a cue sheet ( along with an estimate of the miles between ) and then just attach the list to my stem using a strong spring clip. Back then there were no GPS devices and for that matter I likely didn't even have a cell phone. Somehow I got by without too many problems. Eventually I gave up road riding ( for safety reasons ) and pursued my newest passion which was mountain biking. A good ten years or so went by and I decided to once again take to the road. I still love Mountain biking but sometimes you can't ride when trail conditions are really bad. A lot has changed since then. Home computers, phones, smart phones and GPS devices.

From what you wrote you should be fine. If you want to plan routes you can sign on to a website like "RidewithGPS" and plan as many rides as you want for free. Though you can't download the routes because you have no device to let you do that you can still print out ( or write out ) the cue sheet direction and use those. The good part is you don't have to buy maps anymore so that will never be an issue. At least you do own a tom tom so push-come-to-shove, you have a navigation aid if you need it while on a ride. You didn't mention having a compass so if you don't have one it would be a good idea to buy one.

If you really would like a GPS device for your bike you can pick-up used models on e-bay without breaking the bank. I have one myself that I bought last year but now that I have a smart phone I'm just keeping it for back-up in case something happens and I can no longer afford the phone. I love having a smart phone though and working with the phone apps are much easier than with the garmins. It is one of the most useful things to own, on or off the bike if you do a lot of traveling. As long as you have enough battery power you are good to go.

Another way to go without spending a ton of bucks is to buy a used smart phone and find a way to download navigation apps or maps that can be used without being on line. I have an app on my phone called "Locus". It is a comprehensive GPS navigation app with a ton of navigation features. It can be set-up with off-line maps and routers that can be used to navigate the way you want. Not the easiest thing to work with but once you get used to working with the app it works fine. I do have a couple off line maps on mine but basically I use the on-line router. I've not made the attempt yet to be completely off-line. The Locus website offers a lot of help if you have questions and so far I've had most of my problems or questions solved.