Hello,
So I've recently purched a Trek 8.4 DS and have been using my phone to keep track or everything. I'd like a dedicated unit, 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.

For starters, GPS just "knows" where you are and what time it is. There are a lot of GPSs that don't have maps at all. In fact a lot of people ride with Garmins (Edge 200, 500, any Forerunner) that don't have maps. A unit like that is going to be equally at home on the road or the trail, even if you're hiking. It'll just record where you've been so you can look at a map later.

But the mapping Edges (800, 810, 1000?) can take whatever maps you want to load on them. Depending where you are, the satellite imagery could be useful, or not. A lot of people run some version of Open Street Maps on their unit. I think there's a MTB version too, but I'm more of a roadie so I can't really say.

How to download free maps to your Garmin Edge 705/800/810 | DC Rainmaker

I use a Garmin Dakota 20 because of its versatility I use it for everything from biking to camping. I use on mountain bike and my road bike as well as for hiking and camping. You can purchase additional maps but I haven't needed that level of detail, the supplied map is fine. It can also be used in car with turn by turn directions if you want. It has the micro slot near for extra maps too that you can download for free on-line. Many of the maps are topo and very detailed 24K versions. It's ANT capable so I have speed, heart rate and cadence sensor for that. There are newer models out there such as the etrex models so you could probably get a Dakota for 150 or a new Garmin model for several hundred such as the etrex or Montana series. I like mine because of the versatility and its about the same size of the bike specific models. It also takes batteries which is handier than a recharge model. Good Luck on whatever you choose.

I have a Garmin Edge 200, and it can record where I've been while doing anything.

One of the reasons I prefer using a phone for gps is that you can load any app onto it, you're not tied to "oh, your hardware doesn't support that".

If battery life is a concern you can buy an external battery pack like this one for $30:
Amazon.com: USB External Battery Pack 20000mAh 5V/2.1A (Black Limefuel Lite LP200X) Charger with Flashlight for iPad, Mini, iPhone 6, 6+, 5S, 5C, 5, 4S, Galaxy S5, S4, S3, Note 3, Nexus 4, 5, 7, 10, HTC One, One 2 (M8), Motorola Droid, LG G2, G3, MOT

Cell phone batteries are around 3,000mah usually, this pack is 20,000mah.

The only reason I would personally buy an external gps unit is if they had some magic that made the screen far more visible in daylight.

I bought a wrist-based heart monitor, all excited to get rid of the chest strap. Had to buy a new cell phone to go with it; my old smart phone couldn't load the app to go with the HRM, it was like "oh, your hardware doesn't support that." True story. That being bluetooth low-energy, it just did the old bluetooth.

Bike GPS units (and GPS watches) use something a little like magic to be easily read in bright sunlight. Your cell phone has pixels that light up to display, and the sun is a lot brighter so it overpowers them. Sports GPS screens are visible because they reflect light from their environment to your eye. (They also draw less battery power that way.)

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.

J.

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.

I once had a Garmin Nuvi car GPS unit tell me to get on the Katy Trail in Missouri. That wouldn't have turned out well.

My Magellan Cyclo 505 shows bike/MUP trails on the maps.

I bought this on your recommendation. I've only used it a little bit since buying it. So far, so good. But it is much bigger and heavier than I had expected. It weighs one pound! I might decide to buy a smaller one, maybe one third or one half the size, for when I don't want to lug a one-pound battery.

This is going to much bigger than people will generally want to ride with. If you are only interested in keeping things running for a day, you don't need such a large battery.

The iPhone 5 battery is around 1400 mAh. The Edge 800 battery is 1000 mAh.

It's too big (for carrying around). It's a case of "but for the same money, I can get a much larger (and heavier) battery".

I bought a 5400 mAh battery. It's not bad to carry around but even it's bigger than I need.

Be wary about buying a big battery.

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.

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.

https://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/

You can install other maps on the 705. Newer maps may have bicycle paths.

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.

Yeah, you don't need a back-up battery that big. A 4000mAh back-up should be enough to get you through a ride. When I upgraded my phone this year I got a bigger internal battery so likely I won't need extra but its' nice to have back-up just in case.

I wouldn't mind having one of the newer Garmin 810 or 1000 but damn they want so much money for one of those. Actually though I've been very happy using the Locus app for my Android. Even if I want to use it in an area where cell coverage might be weak I have the option to buy localized "off-line" maps. Since the Locus app already lets me use openstreet(cycle ) maps ( on-line ) they already include a whole lot of good bike/hiking trails. So far I've been very satisfied using my smart phone for bike navigation for both road and trails. Now if you can't afford the data service then a dedicated bicycle GPS unit would be the way to go.

Why does one need GPS for a short ride on a presumably well-marked trail/MUP?

I have that same unit and it knows all the MUPS I'm on because my city is fairly new and they actually gave them street names. However there are a few walking / biking trails that it knows I'm on, but doesn't identify them by street name is all.

They aren't on the map because they have names (lots of paths have names and are not included).

What map are you using?

Cycle ways aren't included (typically) on the Garmin City Navigator (CN) maps because those maps are mostly targeting road users. It's much more work to include cycle ways and the market that wants them is relatively small.

People have added them to Openstreetmap (OSM), which means, if you want cycle paths, OSM is (generally) a better choice.

It's a convenient way to tally my miles over the month and year. I don't have to write in a log book or spreadsheet. I just hit "start" and "stop" and it does the rest.

I uh...feel kinda bad, I was trying to point out that it exists and you could buy a really high capacity battery for relatively cheap that takes up the same space as carrying around a dedicated gps unit. There are a lot smaller batteries that would do the job as well.

I haven't been taking trips long enough to require an external battery. What I personally do is that I discovered that in the last 2 years or so they suddenly started making phones and batteries that charge much, much faster than they used to - if you have a quickcharger like this one:
Amazon.com: Anker Quick Charge 2.0 18W USB Turbo USB Wall Charger for Samsung Galaxy S6 / S6 Edge, Note 4 / Edge, Nexus 6, HTC M9, Xperia Z3 / Z2, Moto X and More (Black): Cell Phones & Accessories

(That's the one I own, though I also bought an ankr 10 ft charging cable). I have a similar charger for my car.

This page demonstrates the different charges rates (though note that you do need a phone that supports it, if your phone is old it won't help):
https://www.qualcomm.com/news/snapdr...see-difference

It charges the biggest phone you can buy (nexus 6) to 50% in 40 minutes. As long as you keep the screen off, gps tracking doesn't take up **that** much battery on my phone, so I put it on the charger for the drive home.

Of course there are other situations where an external battery is either necessary or just more convenient as well.

Again, I feel kinda bad, sorry if my post was misleading.

Yeah, monotonous repetitive work - it's what computers are good at. :-)

It's not your fault. I didn't read the specs carefully. And I'm power hungry, so I went on the assumption that more is better.