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Bicycle GPS System?

Old 09-02-06, 10:19 PM
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My Garmin Map60CS makes finding an alternate route easy as well. Before leaving I load in the local mapsets for the area I plan on traveling in. A few weeks back I went to New Paltz NY to try a rail trail. We found the trail very boring. Used the maps on the GPS to get us back to our start via local roads. I had a paper map from a local toursit guide, but it didn't have the detail of the maps on my GPS, nor did it show my location on the map as I rode.
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Old 09-03-06, 10:00 AM
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"local toursit guide" Go to a gas station and buy a road map. You would be surprised at what the amount of information a 30" static paper screen has vs a 1" dynamic active matrix screen has.
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Old 09-03-06, 10:47 AM
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Originally Posted by geo8rge
A GPS will tell you where you are instantly, a paper map would require a bit of thinking.
Also add to that the fact that you could be wrong too and send yourself in the wrong direction. When the wife and I go out, she has a Garmin forerunner attached to her bike and i have the paper maps. paper maps are also could if you want to connect to another trail that probably won't show up on the GPS map. also paper maps are great when the gps battery dies, or for some reason, known or not, it can't reach it's satellite. however, if you take many wrong turns and get totally lost, the GPS helps a lot more than the map.
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Old 12-31-06, 07:38 AM
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I am revisiting this subject (almost had forgotten about GPS units) since the Mrs. and the kidlums (more lum than kids these days) gave me an Etrex Vista CX for Christmas.

They somehow got the impression that the bike mount was included in the base package, so I haven't used it on the bike yet, but have had a lot of fun learning to use it in the car (while someone else does the driving).

Looks like it will work out fine for my biking adventures. I'm anxious to get out and get lost on roads I would not normally bother with.

I was really not much into paper maps, geo8rge, especially on a bike. If they work for you, that's great. FWIW, the zoom function on the Garmin unit allows you to back out and see a more general view of the area or to zoom in and see a closer view of the detail around your position.

In my "package" was a smaller package containing Mapsource City Navigator North America, so, I can either use the unit/software to track actual rides, or sit in the house and plot rides in points I may never visit during this "trip through."

Very much looking forward to getting my new toy tethered to the "beast" so I can give both (and me) a real work out.

I like the feature that allows you to plot a route, then, ignore the unit until it beeps to warn you of an upcoming turn.

If for some reason you miss the turn or decide on an alternate route, it will recalculate from your "off-route" location to re-route you over an alternate course to your destination. Pretty cool, I think.

Caruso

Last edited by Carusoswi; 12-31-06 at 03:19 PM.
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Old 01-02-07, 12:20 PM
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Etrex Vista CX

Caru,

I've had the Vista since August or so and have really enjoyed it both on the bike(s), and in the car and motorcycle.

On the bikes we use it for tracking the routes and the usual navigation in the car or motorcycle. It's small enough to fit on the handlebars but functional as the bigger units in the car.

The display is great in the sun and the battery life is phenomenal (20-30 hours). I use rechargable NiMhs and have found to ALWAYS replace before a ride.

You can then load the track back to the pc and see the profile, map it, or other features like gpsvisualizer.com and Goggle Earth. It's fun to 'fly' over your latest century with Google Earth.
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Old 01-02-07, 12:33 PM
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There have been a lot of GPS threads around here lately. I'm not complaining at all. I like GPS threads. A lot. Much if not all of the imformation has been covered in previous posts. It's always a good idea to repeat them. Repetition is the mother of learning.

I like my Garmin 305. You can go to a mapping program (I use CourseCreator2), outline a course, download it to your Garmin, so It'll point the way. I take the cue sheets on rides that look interesting, and using the Garmin I just take off. It's pretty cool. It would be cooler if the Garmin 305 had a true mapping function built in. It doesn't. I bet the Garmin 405 will. It'll cost a million dollars.

I then upload my rides to Motionbased. It lets me keep track of my times and progress. It also lets me review other people's rides, which is really really cool when they live in Koala Lampur.

Last edited by The Weak Link; 01-02-07 at 02:23 PM.
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Old 01-02-07, 03:10 PM
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Dennis/Weak:
I plan on using my GPS unit in the same manner as you describe. One question . . . I was looking at Google Map - will I need to pay for a subscription to look at the routes I generate as I'm out riding? I have played around with Google Map, but have yet to invest in a subscription because, until now, I could see no practical application that pertained to me.

We have already had a lot of fun using the Vista CX to "find" a couple of movie theaters, the Kimmel Center (my son played in one of those "Salute to Vienna" holiday concerts there - music was just alright, singing was pretty bad) in Philadelphia, Lees Hoagies in Southampton. It's pretty clear that the thing can be very useful. I have a project meeting in Harrisburg in the morning. Have plugged in the address and already know how to go. I'm certain this is nothing special in GPS units, but it is really cool to set the thing and depend upon it to beep a couple of times in advance of where you need to change course - you don't have to sit and watch it. I am especially looking forward to using it for some of my night rides. I could never get my cyclo-computer to light brightly enough at night that I could actually tell how fast or far I had ridden without stopping and shining a light (really tough to find your moving speed when you have to stop to read the speedo!!). I know that a GPS will not be quite as accurate at instantaneous speed readings, but, at least that screen will come on nice and bright when yo press the button.

I bet I have some 20 hours of use on my original set of AA Alkaline batteries and the power icon has lost just one segment so far.

I didn't need this thing at all, but it's fun to have just the same.

Caruso
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Old 01-02-07, 05:30 PM
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You don't need to pay for anything I don't think. I sent Brad Culberson some money for his mapping site, although that was voluntary. I got a subscription to MotionBased, but really don't need one to use most of the features. Don't know about Google maps, but don't need to use it, either.
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Old 01-02-07, 05:47 PM
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while I carry a Silva navigator for GPS info, lat and long, and elevation,etc, it does not have mapping, so I also carry paper maps, usually pages torn out out of a cheap road map.
or free maps from tourist information offices.

Both together they work for me.

george
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Old 01-07-07, 02:45 AM
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Any major differences between the Garmin Vista CX and the Garmin Venture CX? Aside from the price?
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Old 01-07-07, 05:59 AM
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Foolish heart:
You could check it out in detail here: https://www.garmin.com/products/etrexVenturecx/. Looks to me as though the two key differences are that the Vista includes an altimeter and has a USB port so that you can download maps, waypoints, tracks, etc. from your computer. I make those assumptions from reading the bullet points at the above site. I am still exploring my Vista. You can set it to optimize routes for specific vehicle types: Bus, Car, BIKE, and to avoid toll roads, etc.

I received the bike mount this week, and have mounted the unit on my bike. Went out yesterday to test it out. Worked like a charm - and, because you don't need to illuminate the screen during the daytime, I am certain there is an insignificant drain on the batteries.

I took a 10-mile ride after dark last night just to see how convenient it would be after sunset. Again, it works fine, and you can set the degree of brightness for the display to very low or through several increasing steps to very bright. You can set the illumination to go off after a certain time interval, or to be constantly on. I like the dim, constantly on setting so that after I turn it on, I never have to touch the unit while riding to see my progress, estimating speed, heading, etc.

It's a very nice unit.

Caruso
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Old 01-07-07, 08:40 PM
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Venture CX is a Legend CX w/o Mini USB cable & included memory card, different color.

The Vista has electronic compass & barometer/altimeter the other 2 don't have.
Electronic compasses aren't all that accurate and must be level. Barometric elevation varies as the weather changes. Both must be calibrated.
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Old 01-07-07, 10:32 PM
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The mapsource software is a good investment for the etrex vista. You can install more detailed maps than the factory default ones. Also creating routes is easier on my computer than trying to do it on the fly on the GPS. I use the mapsource metroguide and topo.
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Old 01-08-07, 06:03 AM
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Originally Posted by gps_dr
Venture CX is a Legend CX w/o Mini USB cable & included memory card, different color.
I apologize for the ignorance, gps_dr. But for that minimal difference, the price difference is quite considerable. Am I correct to assume that I can buy the Venture Cx and just get a mini USB cable and a memory card on my own, save some money in the process, and eventually have a set-up like the Venture Cx? Or can I even go one step further and get a 128 MB card instead of the 32 or 64 MB card that's packaged with the Legend Cx?

Last edited by foolish heart; 01-08-07 at 06:12 AM.
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Old 01-08-07, 06:21 AM
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And while I'm at it, do I gather correctly that both the Venture Cx and the Legend Cx come with a bike clip?
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Old 01-10-07, 11:55 PM
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Garmin uses a standard mini usb connector that you may already have from a camera.
$14 for Garmin Cable. I bought a 1GB Micro SD (SanDisk) for $35 after rebate locally. If you buy the Micro SD seperately, they come with a SD card carrier you can use to plug into the PC for map transfer. Don't waste money on a hi-speed card (They tend to have problems with GPS units).

For Biking Use, I don't see a big benefit with the vista. If you are into stats, the barometric altimeter on the Vista will show more accurate elevation changes in you active track log than the others.

The color etrex models come with the clip that attaches to the battery cover that latches into the rail mount. You still need to get/have the rail mount portion.

If you are near a Sportsmans Warehouse, they have the Venture CX for $220 during January (at least the mountain region's ad).
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Old 01-11-07, 12:03 AM
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If you'ld like to see what can be done with a Garmin GPS on a bike -----
Visit https://geobiking.org/Maps.aspx

About 850 miles of bike trails viewable via satellite imagery (on PC) that you can upload into your GPS & follow.

Last edited by gps_dr; 01-11-07 at 12:12 AM.
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Old 01-11-07, 01:23 AM
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Thanks for the heads up, gps_dr.
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Old 01-12-07, 06:46 AM
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You can also get preloaded SD cards they have extra map details and travel info (hotels/resturants etc.) which is great for trips to foreign countries.
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