What do you think a GPS should do?

For riding a bike, I would answer that with (1) follow a route, (2) show me a map in case I get off my planned route, and (3) work regardless of where I am.

The Garmin Touring you reference works pretty much like that, and it's sufficiently resistant to water that you can stick it on your bars and ride in the rain. Note there are a few cycling GPS models that don't show you a map.


You may find that the mapping programs that come with a smart phone don't work if you don't have a working data connection. Bad news when you're roaming or out of cell reception, which can happen pretty frequently especially in mountains. So you'll have to pick a good mapping add-on for whatever phone you end up with. Also, most smartphones have pretty lousy battery life if you leave the display on, while you can turn the backlight off a decent GPS and extend your battery life.