chrisx

I want to follow a little red line on my phone, in and out of coverage areas. You know, download tracks someone else posted, follow them. I do not want to carry a computer around to down load tracks. I do want a device that works by itself to get gps tracks and let me see where I am on a map. Or just follow a red line without the map.

John_V 

Any decent cycling app for your phone will allow you to do what you are asking. You may have to join some of the cycling app web sites like RideWithGPS, MapMyRide or Endomondo to download routes others have created. You may need to subscribe/purchase your phone cycling app if importing a GPX, TCX or KML file isn't part of their free version.

noglider 

The iphone seems to have excellent GPS accuracy, better than the Garmin I used to use. There are lots of nice apps that will do what you want.

chrisx

My old phone is old. I need to buy a new phone. So, Which phone will work better than the others. I don't know how many giga bites I need, etc. A replaceable sim card would be nice, for traveling to other countries, no?


Apple you say? Do they have a replaceable sim card. Do I need to pay for the one with lots of giga bites, or will I make it through google maps and gps some ride or other with just a couple of gigs.

I am not a phone talker. I have a 15 year old flip phone. My gps unit is 8 years old. Should I just choose the phone with the best camera, and try to use it for navigation? Some of the lads have phones with a red line to follow, and a dot to tell them if they are on the line.

Wouldn't it be nice to load a track without using a computer, then follow the line to someplace nice, taking photos along the way¿

My tired old non technical self needs help to choose a phone fit for bicycle travel. I suppose I have to pay big bucks. Unless someone knows of a more budget friendly option.

noglider 

I did all of this yesterday with my iphone. Even if you don't want to use it to talk, it's an impressive machine capable of doing many things, and do them very well. The camera in it is excellent. As I said, the GPS accuracy is better than other devices, and the bluetooth is reliable. A friend of mine created a route to ride using ridewithgps on her computer. She emailed me the URL of the route. I loaded the route into the ridewithgps app on my phone. I mounted my phone on my handlebar. I said "ride this route." It gave me turn by turn directions. It told me when I went off course, and the dog representing me moved along the map, on or off the course. It gives me speed readouts, though it would give more accurate second-by-second speed readings if I supplemented it with a speed sensor on the bike. I could do that, but I haven't, because my exact speed isn't that important to me. I plan to hook it up to a heart monitor so I can track my fitness with some app I haven't chosen yet. It might be the one that comes with the phone.

I pay $60/year for the ridewithgps service, but many are happy with their free service. I had it for a few months before I started paying. I don't remember all the extra features, but one of them is the ability to categorize my rides by which bike I'm riding. If I kept repair and upgrade records, I could see how long things last such as tires and cables and whatever else I tracked.

gauvins

You may want to clarify what you are after.

Most navigation devices will calculate a course and will display it as an overlay on a map. Think google map. Some applications (I don't know about them) are designed to grab a course designed by someone else. Usually people download those courses in .gpx format and upload them on their navigation device. I am familiar with this practice, but seldom do that -- computing a course is way easier.

A device that is able to calculate a course is most probably what you are after -- following a set course often means getting off course and not being able to return to it.

There are dedicated bike computers that do this type of thing. And several applications running on smartphones. The significant advantage of bike computers is that they are better designed to withstand the elements. The disadvantage, as far as I am concerned, is that they are incredibly primitive compared to a decent app running on a decent phone. Smartphones can work online (obviously) and offline as well if you take the precaution of downloading the required map(s) and have an offline routing app to recalculate directions.

Getting a smartphone app to work well probably means a few rainy Sundays spent trying to figure things, but the reward is there.

I personally use Locus Pro on a repurposed Android phone (I would be a little nervous using my current phone as a bike computer -- think rain, or a sudden jolt sending your $800+ phone hurtling towards the tarmac). My setup provides turn by turn navigation, or guidance if you prefer (i.e. the "red-line" without indications as to when to turn). If you are not the type of person who enjoys a good fight with an app, you may want to try CoPilot -- mostly designed for cars, but OK for cycling. Turn by turn nav only.

chrisx

I just spent a half hour answering this question and it got lost in cyber space.
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I want a new phone that can navigate in isolated no cell coverage areas. I do not want a computer to down load tracks. I want a phone that can act alone.

Example:
https://www.pnt.org/
The Pacific Northwest trail has very few places to make calls. A navigation aid with a track to follow, show me my location phone, would be good. I need a real gps, not a tower location device.
Read the post from April 28. https://pnt.org/forum/index.php?topic=2.0

https://bajadivide.com/mapping/
I used a paper map, with highlighted route, and a 2009 garmin to find my location on the national Geographic paper map. Other guys turned their phones on to see if their dot was on the red line. I want to join the modern world of back country navigation.

Do I need the latest 2018 phone, or is last years on sale model good enough? How many gigs do I need to load a google map and a route or 3? My flip phone is prepaid minutes. I have to buy $20 every 3 months to keep the service. I have $400 in unused credit, I can spend on a new phone. I can add more money for a nicer phone if need be. In other words I do not talk on the phone. I do take my bicycle to places off the grid. I want a phone for off grid navigation.

gauvins

I understand.

My suggestion is to get a Samsung S5 (they are waterproof and relatively cheap).

I would personally not bother downloading the course provided by the site to which you link. Did that on a couple of occasions involving trips of several thousands of kilometers, and was largely a waste of time.

Instead, learn how to use a navigation app. I would recommend Locus Pro. If you are tech inclined, take a look at Orux maps.

I'd suggest Locus. Then, I'd identify the stops for your trip, such as campgrounds, resupply points and other Points of Interest.

Next, your can compute your route between these points and save then to your phone. You can/should also install an offline routing app (I use brouter), download the relevant tiles and learn how to use it.

You can then follow the red line with or without cell coverage.

If you expect to have coverage on most or all of your itinerary, you may try Google map. But be warned that you'll be sent in odd places from tube to time.

Feel free to ask specific questions.

chrisx

The Pacific Northwest trail is not going to be in the correct place on google maps. This is a trail not a road. I do not understand this thought. They just spent months making the newest gps track. I can not compute a better one in 3 years of trying. Navigation in isolated areas is best with a paper map, and a electronic track one could follow. Turn on your phone to check your location.

gauvins

Possible, but you'd be surprised by the number of trails that are accounted for.

But back to your initial questions.

1. Hardware. I suggest Samsung S5. It is one of the few good handsets with swappable battery and SD card support. And it is water resistant.

A 32G SD card would give you more than enough storage space. A 128G card can hold detailed maps for the entire planet.

A protective shell would be a good idea. I'd suggest getting either Quadlock or Rockform. Both would be compatible with handlebar mounts.

2. Software. There are countless options. Locus Pro being among the better ones (remarkable 4.8/5 evaluation). I would suggest that you install it, along with brouter.

You could then download the gpx file, import it into Locus and navigate the PNT.

noglider 

@chrisx, I'm using an iphone 6S which is just over a year old. It has 64 GB of RAM. It cost me $750 which was extremely painful to fork over, but I use it a lot and plan to keep it for as long as possible. My previous phone lasted about five years. At the end of its life, it was very slow and reluctant to work for me. My wife is still using hers, and it's going for six and a half years.

Garmins and similar devices are great, and people get great use out of them. I'm not saying one approach is better than another. I'm jes' sayin', my approach has served me well. Just don't make the mistake I made and go cheap on a mount. I ended up getting an expensive mount-and-case combo (Quad Lock), but it would have been cheaper if I had gotten that first.

noglider 

Oh, and I don't typically download maps to my phone, but I could. Most of the storage is devoted to music. If I needed to cut that back to make space for maps, I could. I'll just dump the music I haven't listened to frequently or recently.