Bike Forums - Anybody help me on GPS systems?

Quote:

Originally Posted by cafzali (Post 15047255)

Personally, if I was going for a GPS-enabled computer, I'd get the Edge 800 (or the 705, if you can still find one) or nothing. Why? Because the other Garmin devices allow you to upload rides and see where you've been and record speed, cadence (with the appropriate sensor), etc. But they're not of any help to you if you get diverted from a route and need turn-by-turn directions or if you just want to explore a course someone else has done. If you get a 705 or 800, it will last you for years and you won't need anything else. I also like being able to call up all the navigation waypoints on my ride before I get to them so I know what I'm up against.

As far as the comments on turn by turn directions, generally if you feed a Garmin an address, it should give you the same turn by turn directions as anyone else's. Things can sometimes get different when you import a .GPX file that others have mapped if you start in a place that's slightly different from the beginning of the .GPX map recorded by the other person.

Go with the 705 or 800, with a Cadence sensor and you won't regret it. I also find heart-rate training valuable, but you may or may not want that. You can always buy the HR strap later.

I presume you are referring to other bike-specific garmin devices. There are alternatives. I use a GPSMap60Cx and it does all those other things (reroute, and turn-by-turn, and POI/waypoint navigation) very well. I would also point out that a fellow GPS user has a garmin etrex. We use identical source .gpx files as input to the same map software and download to our respective devices, -- and frequently get differences in the device-calculated routes. We typically now prefer breadcrumb trails because they DO load identically (and when I run both breadcrumb and turn-by-turn, they sometimes differ even though generated from the same source file.)

But those are general purpose outdoor devices (hiking, etc). I'd like to switch to the 800 myself for some of the newer features (my device is 5 yrs old).