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Which GPS is Best for Cycling and Mountain Biking
I have used the Garmin Edge 305, Edge 705, Quest,Colorado and Oregon GPS’s. And I must say – my vote will always be for the 705. Simply because it is the ultimate jack of all trades, and these are the reasons why:
- Pure brute ruggedness! A few weeks ago a friend of mine crashed on tar and her bike landed solidly on the face of the handle bar, bending bar ends and smashing her 705’s bike mount……. And the GPS is still working perfectly, only damage: a few scratches here and there.
- The Oregon and Dakota’s are very pretty with big screens, but I think this is their downfall as it inherently makes the screen weaker – the bigger it gets – I have had a Quest’s screen break when it fell off the car’s dashboard. I also do not think touch screen is the way to go if muddy gloves are a possibility.
- The Oregon and Dakota’s are very pretty with big screens, but I think this is their downfall as it inherently makes the screen weaker – the bigger it gets – I have had a Quest’s screen break when it fell off the car’s dashboard. I also do not think touch screen is the way to go if muddy gloves are a possibility.
- Fitness benefits – The 705 is fully compatible with Garmin’s Training centre software. The other units – al though you can purchase the heart monitors as an extra, they will only record the heart rate data, and display on the units them selves. They do not download or communicate with Training Centre. Thus, they can also not load Course files, which according to me, are the nicest to use when navigating some-one-else’s downloaded route.
- Navigation – Although the 705 does not talk to you while navigating, it still shows all its navigation info with great detail and text instructions, and beeps when a new instruction is displayed. It also has all the nice navigation options such as finding the nearest steak restaurant or nearest shops or hospitals. I regularly use my 705 in Capetown and Jo’burg. And the nice thing is: if you take the topographical mapping with the unit, you have the whole countries gravel roads as well. And most jeep tracks as well!!
- Works great with Mapsource. First of all – you get a full version of mapsource with your 705, and you can physically draw a prospective route on mapsource, send it to your unit, and then go navigate it within seconds! You can read the details on the GPS for Dummies pages on my site.
- Battery life. The 705 has a proven battery life of at least 15 hours whilst using the heart rate monitor and the screen back light. It will last even longer if you disable some of these options. Also, it charges through a mini-usb connection, so you can purchase a car-lighter-charger from any game for about R80-00. Then you can top-up your battery on the way to a race, OR at a checkpoint during an overnight race. There just needs to be a car nearby. And the battery charges from empty to full in about 2 hours. Thus, a 20minute top-up charge will yield an additional 2 hours riding time!!
- Ease of use while riding. Keeping your fingers steady enough to press touch screen buttons are a bit of a trick on bumpy roads. You would never think this could be a pain until you have tried it yourself. The Edge units have buttons that give definite feedback that they have been pressed – you can feel the button depressing, and you can actually grab hold of the unit while riding and press the buttons as many times as you need. No pressing of buttons by accident! The same goes for the little joy-stick on the 705, although depressing this one while on bumpy roads is possible. But the zoom in and out, and mode buttons are impossible to press by accident.
- Accuracy. Many will think that the cycling gps will not be as accurate as the gps’s actually marketed as mapping units, but, the Edge units both make use of the new SiRF technology that allows them to use even bounced and refracted GPS signals to determine their position, not just direct line of sight signals like most older/cheaper GPS units. This means that even in the thickest of forests and in canyons the Edge units will still be able to track your progress and tell you where to go.
- Bicycle Routing: This is probably the most impressive feature. The default route calculation preference is set to "Bicycle" (but also offers Car and Pedestrian routing). The device seems to have an uncanny ability to create a "bike friendly" route to your destination. It appears to analyze different streets as it creates a route and has knocked my socks off a few times by taking me along low-traffic roads as long as possible before guiding me to a large road just a few hundred feet from my destination. This feature makes it a powerful asset for bicycle commuters or cyclists exploring a new location they are unfamiliar with. If you're game for mixing it up with traffic, you can un-check the "Major Streets" avoidance and this might improve your time to your destination.
- Turn-by-Turn Directions: Just like a car GPS, the Edge 705 will auto-zoom on the map and provide directional guidance when you are approaching a turn. The geek in me has enjoyed shouting out the "we have a turn ahead in 10, 9, 8, 7...seconds" to some of the other cyclists in my group.
- Map Detail: My Edge 705 has Garmin's Topo and Recreational maps. It still amazes me that on this small device I have detailed maps for all of Southern Africa! All that detail on a microSD car that slips right into the unit. Like a car GPS, you can choose your level of detail. The more detail you choose, the slower the response time on the map view page since the unit is having to not only update your position on the map but also show detailed points of interest at the same time. I have mine set to "More" detail which is one step up from the default "Normal" map detail. I haven't detected much of a performance hit at this setting.
- Topographical Mapping: This is probably the single best thing for a exploring mountain biker to have strapped to his bike........ the topographical info of the entire country, in full colour with detailed info on rivers, mountains, farm boundaries and 20m contour lines. Not only do you know precisely where you are even when following a jeep track route in the middle of the Transkei, but you can also see on the contour lines how far up the hill you are, and how much pain is still in store.
For a seriously detailed review check this site:
