erbfarm

I would like to be able to map out a 30 mi bike route using Google maps and then load that info onto a GPS unit and mount it on my handlebars. What type of (not expensive) GPS can you do that with? I don't need anything fancy, I just have a horrible sense of direction and need to not get lost when I go out on my bike for the afternoon. I don't have an iphone or Blackberry or anything like that. Thanks!

sehsuan

use the best and free gps given to us at birth - our inbuilt sense of direction.

in case of being lost... ask. that's the magic word...

erbfarm

my sense of direction is atrocious. no one to ask as everyone around me will be speeding by in a car. really, it's much safer for me to have a gps, I'd just like to find one that is low budget and functional for my needs

kayakdiver

Do you have an REI close? Or maybe an EMS? I know that REI in my area is having free GPS clinics. Maybe EMS sports or similar has the same opportunities?

truman

You can load routes into the Garmin 305, which can be picked up used or on sale for under $150. I did that a few times, then sold it and went back to using paper maps.

For what it's worth, I found Google maps to be inaccurate enough to tell me a road was present when in fact it was not, or if present was unusable, at least once in each trip over 50 miles that I routed that way.

JeanM

Not that I have anything agains GPS hardware, just that I see no need for it myself.

What I do is first to trace my route into MyMaps in Google maps, or in Bikely. Then I capture as many maps of all the needed detail levels using Firefox and Pearl Crescent Page Saver extension; I even include some captures from Street View of crucial turns or interesting places. About the precision of Google maps, well, one can alway verify if a road exists with the satellite view and, for all but the smallest ones, check in what shape it is or if it has a paved shoulder using Street View.

For my use, this is the best of all worlds.

JM

It requires a bit more work than loading a .gpx file but planning a trip is a large part of the fun of traveling by bicycle, isn't it?

sstorkel

I used a Garmin Edge 705 and BikeRouteToaster, which pulls route information from Google, when I rode from San Francisco to Los Angeles last year. I found data for the routes I rode to be reasonably accurate...

valygrl

Garmin Edge 305 doesn't have the ability to display a map, just a route, so if you get off route it doesn't help at all. The 705 has maps, but is very expensive. Not sure about the 500.

My friend can get lost a mile from her house, even though we have a big mountain range right next to us so you always know what direction you are facing - it blows me away that this is possible. In the trees, though, I totally understand it.

Sorry I don't have any actual suggestions.

erbfarm

I know where she's coming from believe me!! I use a TomTom for driving and love it, and I'd like the same type of thing for bike touring, but for just dealing w/ doing some decent training routes in my area, I'm just looking for something that will hold a .gpx file and that I can follow easier than a cue sheet, pretty basic for a gps I think, I just don't know which models do this w/o your having to buy preloaded maps or something like that, and I need something that I can use w/ a Mac

BigAura

Garmin eTrex HCx - they make a bicycle mount
Export from googleMaps to GPX format: https://www.elsewhere.org/journal/gmaptogpx/
Import into GPS unit using the garmin BaseCamp software https://www8.garmin.com/support/downl...ls.jsp?id=4435

OR

print screen shots from googleMaps use a map case

sstorkel

MSRP on the Edge 705 is high, but there are deals to be found. I paid around $400 for mine (with HR+Cadence+Maps), which is around what a higher-end hand-held GPS might cost...

FYI, the Edge 500 is similar in capability to the Edge 305. The size of the unit is slightly different and it adds support for ANT+-compatible power meters but no significant mapping capability IIRC. If you want maps, I believe you need the Edge 605 or 705.

sehsuan

i'm using a 60csx myself - it's too powerful for most people, although it gets the job done.