best navigation tech

[kev.t]

this has probably been covered before so i apologise in advance but being quite rubbish at searching forums and being very new to this trail riding malarky, coming from jetskis and roadbikes, it has become painfully apparent to me that i am another kind of rubbish at reading maps and generally even finding meeting points for before the rides.
so the question is, what is the best gps type device out there that i can save the trails i've done and will do in the future that is almost idiot proof?
i have joined the trf as well so maybe there are money off offers???

thanks for any and all advice.
kev.

[MarkN]

Hi Kev,

Have a think about what you want to do with your sat-nav, do you want it to find a spot on an OS map etc for helping you off road or do you want it as a guide for on-road use?

I can't really help with the off-road stuff and there are a lot more knowledgable people than me on here to give you that advise.

I can only speak about what I use and what works for me.

My back up sat nav is my iPhone which has Tom Tom Europe on it. This software is about £60 I think. It's a full map of Europe and doesn't use any data allowance when travelling abroad unless you want to use the Google search engine to find a hotel or petrol station etc. All the mapping is help on the iPhone. The only other thing you need is a pair of ear phones and a bluetooth pick up to listen to the voice prompts etc or to music or, if you have a full bluetooth headset in your helmet, you can make phone calls.

My main satnav is a BMW Nav 5, it's very similar to the Garmin 660. It's also locked on to the bike via a Touratech cradle. I have it bluetooth to my phone and helmet. There is a separate app on the phone from Garmin that will send the unit traffic updates and the latest speed camera positions as well as other useful information.

I personally prefer Garmin software over Tom Tom but that's a very personally choice, one isn't better than the other, it's just different in the way it works. There are many different types available and they will all get you to the same place.

My only advice when choosing one of these is to go for a built for bike one, only because they tend to be water proof and there screens are designed to be fuel proof and used with gloves on.

Hope that helps with getting the ball rolling?

[APD_660Ten]

Hi

I wrote this for our TRF site which might be useful:

http://www.trfribblevalley.co.uk/articl ... me-options

Also this on viewranger:

http://www.trfribblevalley.co.uk/articl ... i-make-one

Personally i have been right around the houses on this one....

Cheapy Chineese option - peaklife - works a treat, IGO maps for the road and memorymap offroad. Downside. Screen is crap in sunlight, very fiddly for the none tech savvy to get working and the mount is made of cheese. Also memory map is fiddly on the small screen and no good with gloves.

Phone as a sat nav - android user myself so have done this with HTC and S4. Navfree for the road and memorymap for the trail. Fantastic at navigation on and off road. Great for planning everything you really need. However. Sunlight reading is rubbish also. Mounts are the other issue. Everytime I think I have the solution it either falls apart after about a year or breaks. But I love the phone platform.

I have therefore most recently taken the plunge on a monterra. I'll feed back later. Not cheap but ticks a lot of boxes for me. It's little brother the montana is a great bit of kit and can be had for much less. Road and off road.

Hope that helps.

[zimtim]

I use the Garmin etrex 20 for off road trails although the OS mapping is extra. But with that and basecamp I am well sorted.
I also use a Garmin nuvi for the road work.
IT does all depend on your budget though. Lots of the others use the Montana but I found that beyond my budget.
There is a satnav and gpx section in the forum.
You could also just look out for organised rideouts tag along and see what some of the other riders use. (thumbs)

[kev.t]

thanks guys, that's a good start. budget isn't to much of an issue as i'm going to bully the wife into buying me this for crimbo.
i'll have a read of those on the trf site as well, thanks.

ribble valley chap myself (thumbs)

[oilcan]

:silly: don't forget if you upgrade your phone you can use your old iPhone 4 for example with view ranger loaded as a dedicated trail gps i use mine with the ultimate addons case, works great and you don,t run the battery down on you main phone. Remember to get rid of all old apps and close everything that may drain power on your trail phone thats not needed. (thumbs)

Chris

[Famous]

+1 for the Montana (thumbs)

[fatowl]

If you're using a garmin, have a look at talkietoaster. Co.uk. you can get openstreetmaps for free. These are basically free OS maps.

[nethen1]

We are soo crap at maps !!

Thanks kev

IMAG2452.jpg (41.96 KiB) Viewed 3347 times

[nethen1]

We are soo crap at maps !!

Thanks kev

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