For anyone not interested in all the geeky stuff that comes with an eTrex or similar, and the cost of such, the Nuvi is a very practical little gadget.

For a couple of years, I've toured with an eTrex Vista unit. Curiousity aroused by a post on CG, I recently got myself a Nuvi 1300, the one with the fewest bells and whistles, the <$100 one, the one designed for use in cars. I'm impressed.

This thing will talk you through a large city and do it loudly. It's touchscreen is very responsive. The display is large, crisp, and bright. It's small enough to slip into a shirt pocket. There's an elevation display option. Its limited features make it easy to use. The learning curve is very short. Battery life is about 4 hours, with a 3 hour AC recharge time, usb cable.

On tour, I would anticipate using it only when really needed, with a battery life of several days. To navigate through a city, I'd put it in my jersey pocket and just follow the spoken directions, with the screen brightness turned way down for the least battery drain. There is a bicycle mode and various routing options.

It comes loaded with CNNA street maps with free lifetime updates, a major bonus. There is the usual compliment of POIs.

A bar mount is available from ram-mount.com.

yeah i have one of these there brilliant but never though it would be good enough for touring because of battery life.

I suspect you could recharge one with batteries. I'm sure radio shack has a device that will enable you to recharge it with batteries. As someone said, it runs out of batteries too fast and it's not rain proof. Only the motocycle GPS's can take water. It's amazing how much in price they have dropped over they years.

This would come as a surprise to my Garmin Edge 705...

I saw an older Garmin Nuvi at Goodwill for $25. I was tempted, but was afraid to risk it. There was no real way to see what type of condition it was in as the battery was drained to almost nothing. Do you think it would have the free updates also?

IDK. Call Garmin and ask them. 1-800-800-1020. My experience with their phone help has generally been good.

@Dahon.Steve. The Nuvi is no way a 'leave it on all day' type of gps. But, I'm sure you're right about battery pack recharging. OTOH, the Nuvi is really suitable only for touring in civilized areas where AC would be readily available.

My Garmin GPSmap60csx is weatherproof. I know this since it was mounted on my motorcycle handlebar and spent a day in the rain riding across Wisconsin. It never skipped a beat.

I just picked up a 1450 with the bicycle mount and I think it works pretty good.I thought I would use it trying to get through some places that I'm not familiar with, then shut it down again on the open road. It doesn't look to clumsy behind the handlebar bar either. Anyhow I think I'm going to like it.

@Cyclebum. Sounds like it's working for you as an "emergency" navigation device to get through larger cities. How flexible is the routing on the device so that you stay on reasonable surface streets rather than crazy busy streets? Not just keeping you off the highways (which is a usual function) but "biking preferred" roads.

I have been using a vintage Garmin Legend black and white screen model for quite a few years. Am very happy with it, I use rechargeable AA batteries in it. I use the US Topo 100k series of maps but the roads on those maps are from about 20 or 30 years ago so it often does not do well in newer areas on the edge of town where the roads are newer.



But, this coming summer I plan to also carry my Nuvi so that I can use it in towns when I want to find nearest restaurants or grocery stores. The Nuvi would be stored in a hard case in the pannier and only taken out when needed due to low battery life. I am undecided if I will bring a 110v to 12v converter, I might bring one to charge it with the auto cord.

Some Nuvi models have lifetime map upgrades, some do not. Also, you can enter a security code in it so that when you turn it on you have to enter the code to make it work. (Or, it will automaticaly turn on if located at your home but not elsewhere.) You do not know if someone did that or not. So, $25 at goodwill might have lifetime maps and might not, it also might be stolen and it also might have a security code that would make it unusable. It would be a roll of the dice.

I bought a spare windshield bracket and a spare cord for my Nuvi on ebay, shipped from China for very good prices but very slow shipping.

Considering the way I've used my eTrex when touring, the biggest difference using a Nuvi would be having it in my pocket rather than on the bar, and not having a predefined track to follow. As noted, I'd most likely just follow the spoken instructions for any sort of complicated navigation. Easier than eye balling the eTrex. I would not consider the Nuvi an 'emergency' navigation device any more than the eTrex has been. Just a sort of fun gadget.

The limited testing I have done here in town suggest it has the same navigational algorithms as the eTrex. Set to bicycle mode, it will try to avoid more heavily trafficked streets and roads. This can lead to some interesting routing and should be used with caution. The same can be said for 'automobile' mode. Gps's are buggy things where routing is concerned. You best not turn you brain off.

There are a number of navigational options for 'avoiding' various types of roads.

I'm really green w/GPS, but your Garmin looks very similar to a local brand we (finally!) started using here. I was surprised at just how easy they actually are. So, my dumb question is...would this tell you where hotels/camping/etc are? I'm going to try to tour again late this summer and would really like to have one w/me as a backup.

Yes, as long as you've got the software loaded for your region/area. Garmin, in order to increase revenue, also has dedicated apps for different activities. So, some apps are great for the city but don't work well if you are the outdoors type... finding campgrounds, dirt roads, hiking trails, creeks, etc. They have a different app for that! For Mexico (gotta purchase the specific app for Mexico first) last time I looked about a year ago, they had a great level of detail in the larger cities but very poor if you are in a small city or town. They are constantly updating their apps though.

The Nuvis are nice devices. The battery life is a deal breaker for me for touring though. If I am only going to turn it on once in a while then the utility is not worth the extra weight. In fact GPS technology has not yet really made the cut for me for touring. That is strange since I have embraced the GPS for other functions. I used on on my sailboat when I owned one, I never trail run without my wrist GPS, I typically take a handheld GPS when back packing, and use the Nuvi on car trips. I do have gps capability with my cell phone and it can provide directions where there is a cell signal. I have yet to bother using it on tour though.

Just another gadget staehp. Two wheels, two pedals, a few sacks, and a map are all we really need. Not even sure about the map. Folks along the way love to give directions to wayfairing strangers. Best ask x3 tho, and then keep your fingers crossed.

Directions from folks met along the way are always an adventure. That is unless you manage to ask a professional truck driver. Then you are likely to get directions you can depend on. Farmers seem to do pretty well also.

I also use a Nuvi out of my car, the 265. It's smaller, I think it's something like a 3-inch screen. I just carry it if I need to find something in a pinch - a store, hospital, restaurant, motel, whatever. Also like the ability to use it to get back on track if I happen to get lost somewhere (used it once for that - worked great). This one has bicycle mode too. Also has about a 4-hour battery life, but it runs fine from my battery pack too, which would make it last several days probably, if I left it on (which I don't).

The Nuvi can search a database for things like restaurants, motels, etc. I do not recall if they have a dedicated search mode for campgrounds.

But, keep in mind that all databases have errors and the errors in the database in the Nuvi can be significant. If I was planning on staying at a motel that my Nuvi said was nearby, or going to the only grocery store within 20 miles because I was out of food, I would call them on the phone first to make sure that they exist.

I once drove 20 miles out of the way to a store that my Nuvi said existed, when I got there I found the parking lot for a lawyer's office. I suspect that the database that Garmin got had the mailing address for the law firm that filed the corporation papers for the retailer instead of the actual location of the store.

I suspect that the newer smart phone users will tell you that the latest phones can be just as good at locating nearby places to spend money. I do not have a smart phone, my phone is about 8 years old, does not even have a built in camera to tell you how old it is. So, I can't make a comparison with phones vs Garmin Nuvi database.

Exactly. On a recent credit card tour, the Nuvi said the motel, a large chain, was a mile and a half from where we found it. Thinks my house is at the opposite end of my street. All gps software is filled with such bugs. I'm told to email the errors to Garmin. They send out software updates 4 times/year.