Best GPS Unit for the Money?
 

Does anyone have an opinion on this. I have just recently gotten into cycling. I have bought my bike (Specialized Sequoia) and I love it. BUt I am also a gadget guy. I've heard you can import routes through google earth to different gps units.

What are your opinions. Thanks.

edge 205

What is the procedure to download a route from Google Earth to your Edge 205?

you can map out your ride in a number of online services, export to gpx or a course file, sync to edge, ride!

What functionality do you want?

For cycling only, my pick would have to be the Garmin Edge 305. Disclaimer: I don't have one, but I researched GPS receivers extensively before I chose the model I did.

The 305 is a cycling-specific unit that includes barometric altimeter, wireless cadence and wheel sensors (I guess the wheel sensor takes over if you lose the GPS signal). Also has a heart rate monitor. All of that data can be downloaded to Garmin's Training Center program (or something similar).

But, if you're looking for *other* GPS features (mapping, auto use, hiking, geocaching), then the 305 might not be your best choice.

I wanted a GPSr for my bike, but also for ski touring, hiking, car use, geocaching, and just general look-how-far-we-walked-honey geekery :D. I bought an eTrex Vista Cx - colour screen, barometric altimeter, magnetic compass, mapping and autorouting capability, removable memory card, and such and such.

I upload files to my Mac via GPSBabel, then I import them into Ascent's training program. Shows my route on a map, graphs the elevation profile, graphs my speed, figures out total elevation gain, avg. speed, etc. The Vista Cx has a lot of features, but I wish it had a heart rate monitor.

I haven't tried downloading routes from Google Earth to the GPS unit, but I have gone the other way - uploaded a track from the unit and shown it on Google Earth.

What Plow13 said should work with any newish Garmin unit.

Happy GPS shopping!

What other cycling-specific GPS units are available besides the Garmins?

Suunto X9i Wristop GPS
Adeo Personal Fitness Companion
AllsportGPS
Timex Speed and Distance Global Positioning System GPS Watches

Its worth checking out the Mio H610 and the Mio 520C. You get MP3, video, built-in maps of USA, turn by turn, bluetooth and I understand you can download its memory into your computer for Google Earth applications. Its best use is the car but the Mio H610 can be set for bike or walking. (Directing you to walk or bike a street that is normally one-way in the opposite direction) Either one is about $350.00.

How does the Edge give you directions?

I was looking at the Mio, its pretty small and seems to be a good value. I recall seeing it for 150 in a fry's ad. I think if you were looking at the Edge to guide you, then its not the write device for you. From what I understand the Edge's "Map" function is actually just a screen with a line showing where you have been. It doesnt actually give you directions, so bring a map.

Garmin Vista/Legend series. So far i've used my Legend C in every vehicle I own. Car, motorcycle and bicycle (i toss it my jersey pocket on rides i've never been on). With the right mapset I can use it in my kayak too. The newer ones has a micro SD car slot to hold more map info. Mine is almost 2 years old and doenst have it.

What is the battery life on the Mio? Most of the GPS units designed for cars can only run 3 hours or so on battery power, which makes them useless for any kind of bike ride where you really need a map. The Garmin Edge has a battery life of about 10 hours and many cyclists complain that even that is too short.

The Mios is rated for 5 hours which means proly 4 or so I am sure its even less if you are listening to music (that might be a really nice feature since it has speakers versus you using headphone and risk a fatal accident).

Something for you guys to ponder is that both of these units use usb to charge, they most likely arnt big power hogs, that said from the Mio's manual it takes 5v DC source to charge, why not just attach a solar panel to your bike? i mean you can buy one for cheap or make one for cheaper. I would suggest making one since you could use a flexible one and just wrap it around the frame bar. then you have unlimited gps for 16 hour rides if you wanted full with music, backlighting for night and what have you.

Why not wrap the solar panel around your helmet? That way it will protect you from space aliens as well as charging your GPS.

Note that the MIO is a very different product from the Garmin Edge. MIO has no route recording capability, so you cannot use it for training like with the Edge. How accurate is the speedometer? I doubt it has any odometer or altimeter capabilities. Of course, there is no heart monitor.

Can you create turn-by-turn routes on the MIO or does it force you to follow its route?

lol wrapping it around your helmet might be ideal for warding off space aliens but it'll cost you comfort because you wont get as much air to your head...

yes, the mio and edge are vastly different. its about your needs if you are looking for a route recorder/trainer then the edge is for you. however, if you are looking for a device that actually tells you how to navigate city streets with turn by turn, then the mio is a better choice. the mio doesnt force you to follow its route, if you go astray it will show you a way to get to your destination via an updated route.

I've got a Garmin Legend (older monochrome screen) and it works pretty good. When I use it, I just pop it into my jersey pocket and go. Where I live, a lot of the roads aren't listed on the built in map so its really useless as a navigation device

I've got an eTrex Vista Cx and I plot my routes in MapSource and then transfer them over. The one thing to watch out for is that if you create a long ride with a few waypoints, the waypoints seem to get transferred and the unit recalculates it in a potentially different way. So when doing 30 miles + add a few more waypoints. I've also made sure that the mechanism for calculation is the same, Fast, Faster, Best, Shortest, etc.

Also, I've noted odd behaviour when close to my destination with few formal waypoints and go off route. It can then recalculate your route way off. I was 5 miles away from one place and it recalculated another 20 miles onto a 40 mile ride. No matter what I did it, it didn't want to know. Fortunantly I just followed the signs and made it to the train station with 6 minutes to spare.

I also use http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/ to upload the tracks after the ride so I can send it to the other guys on the ride where we've been.

Regards,
Max
p.s. if you buy a bike mount realise there are two sizes :)

Depends what you want. If you want turn-by-turn directions with alerts for when to turn, the Edge will NOT do it. You'll need something like the Garmin eTrex Legend Cx.