Originally Posted by
zachstep
...but from what I've seen they normally are more geared towards road biking instead of a mixture of road, trails, and off road. Off road I'm not overly worried about as it will be more for fun, but I'm enjoying the road and trails and see myself transitioning to mostly road or paved trails in the next few years. Are the Garmins and other cycling computers able to have these dedicated paths loaded into them? Or are they more for on road use like the photos I've seen.
This depends on the maps being used on the device. The Garmins allow you to load other maps. The issue, then, is finding the maps that have the trails you are interested in. Maps based on openstreetmaps are more likely to have the "dedicated paths" you are talking about. There are, as Seattle Forrest mentioned, mountain bike maps avaiable but not necessarily for all places.
Originally Posted by
JohnJ80
To add to this, my Garmin Edge 1000 specifically knows when I'm on a bike path vs road and can differentiate between the two.
This is solely due to the maps installed on the device. The 1000 comes with maps based on openstreetmaps.
You can get equivalent maps free elsehere.
http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/
Originally Posted by
JerrySTL
My Garmin Edge 705 can often tell when I'm on a bike path IF it was a rails-to-trails conversion. It often shows up on the screen as being on railroad tracks.
You can install other maps on the 705. Newer maps may have bicycle paths.
Originally Posted by
MileHighMark
My Magellan Cyclo 505 shows bike/MUP trails on the maps.
It doesn't seem like you can install other mals on the Cyclo 505, which makes it less useful. This unit uses openstreetmap maps too.