Originally Posted by
Christo613
The battery pack would actually work well, if they weren't so hefty. The ones I've seen were around 400g, and even then you only get a few phone charges.
This weekend, I actually got to try a Garmin Edge 530. It was steeply discounted at my LBS, and the guy suggested I take it home to play with it and return it if not happy. I was very unimpressed. The poor map made me feel like I was going back to playing Space Invaders after having known Skyrim. I tried every way I could to import my routes from RWGPS, which has fantastic maps, but wasn't able to.
I need this primarily for multiday bikepacking and cross-country ski trips. There's no way I'd want to be stuck in a blizzard trying to find the trail on this unit.
I don't need this for a couple more months, so will keep an eye out for the Explore 2
Since I have only used general recreation GPS units, I do not know if or how to load alternative maps to a cycling GPS, or even if it is possible or not. In post number 4 above I listed two links for maps that I use for non-cycling GPS units. But one of them, I can't really explain how to get the maps from the site to my GPS, as I do not remember how I did it. But the BBB bike maps were pretty easy for me to load into my Garmin 64. NJKayaker knows how to use those sites, ask him if it works and how to.