# What GPS



## fred_dillon (19 Nov 2008)

Hi
what is a good cheap and chearful GPS for Audax rides
any suggestions welcome
cheers


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## ColinJ (19 Nov 2008)

Hi Fred.

I use the cheapest model in the Garmin Etrex range and it does the trick for me! Have a look at some of my posts in these threads.

ColinJ


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## Rob S (19 Nov 2008)

Satmap Active 10!!!



Oh hang on, you said cheap....


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## jimboalee (20 Nov 2008)

Hi,

Aukweb - handbook - GPS

www.aukweb.net/handbook/index.htm


I used a Garmin eTrex legend for three years. I hated the rubber bumper band, it keeps slipping off. The battery level gauge firmware is dodgy. Suffers with vibration and mine has now gone open circuit inside,  - Only works off the USB power input. Car use now. 

I have a Garmin Edge 605 now. 15 hours battery life is the big handicap, but there are PowerMonkeys. Garmin's 'Training Center' package is pretty crap. Cannot export Track or History to MS Excel - ??? 
Calories calculator is MILES high. 
Zip-clip mount fits FSA K-Wing handlebars


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## Randochap (20 Nov 2008)

This works well. I get 3 distance meters (1 resetable) cumulative elevation and the batteries don't run out in 8 hours or less.

The only thing you have to take care of is making sure the map doesn't get wet. Otherwise, it's worry free.


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## jimboalee (21 Nov 2008)

Another method is to fold the routesheet so it fits in a small plastic bag.
With different colour highlight pens in a colour sequence, highlight the instructions row-by-row. This is so you can easily find the instruction you're looking for.
Fold the sheet and place it inside the CLEAR plastic bag. Elastic band it to your left forearm so you can see the instructions with their rainbow pattern highlighting.

Job's a goodun. 

PS. It pays to have a photocopied map in a rear pocket, JIC


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## fred_dillon (21 Nov 2008)

thanks for the info, this Audax is a whole new world


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## Randochap (21 Nov 2008)

jimboalee said:


> ]Fold the sheet and place it inside the CLEAR plastic bag. Elastic band it to your left forearm so you can see the instructions with their rainbow pattern highlighting.
> 
> Job's a goodun.
> 
> PS. It pays to have a photocopied map in a rear pocket, JIC



Good advice w/ the highlighter and additional map (I meant route sheet above, BTW). Not just any plastic bag though; use a "ziplock." We provide these with the signup package on our brevets. 

I don't follow with the forearm method, though. If you don't have a handlebar bag w/ map case, a route sheet caddy is in order.

And don't forget a hemet or handlebar light, to see cue sheet on longer brevets.


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## Noodley (22 Nov 2008)

I have recently purchased an orienteering arm map holder to use on audax rides, I've not used it yet since I have recently only been riding on roads I know well.


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## fred_dillon (23 Nov 2008)

sounds like more people use a map and route guide than GPS, is that so?


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## yello (23 Nov 2008)

fred_dillon said:


> sounds like more people use a map and route guide than GPS, is that so?



Yes, probably. There are those that use GPS and it is becoming more popular, though some do not think it in the spirit of audax.

I've used the 'route sheet rubber banded to the forearm' method. I find it a tad uncomfortable; rubber bands and arm hairs don't mix (!) and it gets a bit sweaty on warm days.


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## Noodley (23 Nov 2008)

fred_dillon said:


> sounds like more people use a map and route guide than GPS, is that so?



Some don't even bother with that! 

I usually only take the route sheet and map as a back-up, and rely on knowing the route (or finding someone who does early on in the ride ). I know most of the roads where I am to be cycling.

It's a bit more difficult in Englandshire where there are more roads, but some of the roads I cycle on there is only the one option. I have submitted a 200km Perm (well, it's 228km) and the route is basically left turn, right turn, left turn, left turn, left turn and reverse. 10 turns for 228km!  Hardly needs a route sheet or a map...but some gears maybe be needed since it climbs 4800m.


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## jimboalee (23 Nov 2008)

I've got a route planned.

Leave Pacifica southbound on Highway 1.
After 102 km at Santa Cruz, turn round and take Highway 1 to Pacifica.



How about :-
From The Rising Sun PH, A452/A5, follow A5 to Llangollen.
Turn and return.


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## Noodley (23 Nov 2008)

Some people would still plot the route on GPS


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## GrahamG (24 Nov 2008)

Funny this, I'm more than happy going with maps but the recent Arrivee article on GPS systems helped to clear a little of the fog for me and I might be tempted in future, particularly as my route sheets can get pretty damn complex in order to avoid some of the motorway style A-roads.


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## ColinJ (24 Nov 2008)

GrahamG said:


> Funny this, I'm more than happy going with maps but the recent Arrivee article on GPS systems helped to clear a little of the fog for me and I might be tempted in future, particularly as my route sheets can get pretty damn complex in order to avoid some of the motorway style A-roads.


I'm not generally keen on using technology on the bike. I've taken the computer off and find that I'm enjoying rides more now that I'm not obsessed with trying to go further faster. 

I am particularly irritated by excessive use of mobile phones when riding. I got annoyed with one mate once after a series of calls between him and his girlfriend. We were out on some lovely Yorkshire hills and every 5 minutes it was "I'm in Tesco, do we need any jam?" then "How about teabags?", "What do you fancy eating tonight?". It was doing my head in overhearing the conversations.

Having said all of that... my GPS has completely transformed my audax experience! I no longer worry about getting lost on complex routes, and am free to enjoy the scenery and conversation without having to spend my time staring at damn route sheets. I carry them for backup, but my GPS has been 100% reliable in over 2,500 km of rides. I only once had a poor satellite lock and that was when I was in a very steep-sided valley. (For a few seconds, the GPS lost 'sight' of a few satellites and I was suddenly apparently transported 100 metres to the left of the road! As soon as I climbed out of the valley, the GPS corrected itself).

As for the 'spirit of audax' thing. As far as I'm concerned it is about doing long distance rides at a good steady pace and being self-sufficient. I don't remember wanting to be an expert map-reader, or wanting to spend my rides staring at a little sheet of paper attached to my handlebars! The GPS takes care of the route-following for me, and I'm free to enjoy the ride.

By the way - a GPS makes a really top-class bike computer. You get all the usual functions - current speed, max speed, ave speed, ride distance, odometer etc. You also get things like ETA, remaining distance, sunset and sunrise times (!), OS grid reference, altitude. Many more that I can't think of at the moment. The tracklog recorded by a GPS could be a very handy training aid - you can see exactly where you were, when and what speed you were doing at the time.

It's quite nice to just set off and explore somewhere new. When it is time to go home, just turn round and follow your tracklog back! The only catch with that is one-way streets, but I don't encounter many of them.

GPS for cycling - highly recommended! But take a map and/or a route sheet just-in-case. It's a reliable technology, but any technology can fail.


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## Noodley (24 Nov 2008)

I won't name names but I rode with someone using a GPS this year who decided my arm signal to turn right was me pointing to a sheep or something in a field and he carried on past the junction. He had also forgotten to look at his GPS. And failed to observe the 'no through road' sign...


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## ColinJ (24 Nov 2008)

Noodley said:


> I won't name names but I rode with someone using a GPS this year who decided my arm signal to turn right was me pointing to a sheep or something in a field and he carried on past the junction. He had also forgotten to look at his GPS. And failed to observe the 'no through road' sign...


One of the few criticisms I have of my Garmin Etrex is that it doesn't have a warning beep for when approaching a turn. It flashes a warning on the screen, but if you weren't already looking at the screen, you wouldn't see it. If you were looking at the screen, you wouldn't need the warning, it would be obvious from the display!

When I was riding _A Mere 200_ in 2006, I met a rider who had an upmarket Etrex on his bike, a model with mapping built in and a colour display. He told me that he'd already got lost 3 or 4 times in the first 100 km of that ride. It turns out that he hadn't programmed the route in and he was trying to relate his route sheet to what was effectively a tiny map - not the way to do it! 

I always take the information from my route sheet and use that information to plot the route in Memory Map. I then upload that to my GPS so I'm able to follow a 'breadcrumb trail' on the screen when I'm riding. I mark all the junctions with waypoints so I can see when I'm coming up to them. If I remember to look at the screen in time, of course...


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## jimboalee (24 Nov 2008)

I had eTrex Legend. I now have Edge 605.

"The spirit of Audax", comments. 
1/ Audax UK is 'allure libre', which means 'at your own speed'.
2/ The Brevet card is your 'proof of passage', which means as long as it is stamped within the time windows, you have ridden the ride.
This implies you have 'free choice' of route between controls.

On Mapsource, I create Waypoints for each control. On ViaMichelin, I find the best route. It may be longer without hills or shorter with a steep hill to climb. I slowly transpose the ViaMichelin route to Mapsource using 'Route tool'.

I break a Brevet into several 'stages', because some inward routes are along the same road as outward.

Riding some AUK calendar events, I follow the route I have planned, leaving the others to follow the routesheet. I sometimes arrive at the control ahead of the others


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## currystomper (4 Sep 2017)

Used a Garmin edge 250 on a 160 km it ran though a full charge in 130km, other than that it's a great small gps. Need to find a charger / mount to give it an longer range !


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## Siclo (5 Sep 2017)

ColinJ said:


> One of the few criticisms I have of my Garmin Etrex is that it doesn't have a warning beep for when approaching a turn.
> 
> <snip>
> 
> I mark all the junctions with waypoints so I can see when I'm coming up to them.



If you are waypoint marking junctions can you not just switch proximity alarms on?


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## ColinJ (5 Sep 2017)

Siclo said:


> If you are waypoint marking junctions can you not just switch proximity alarms on?


And no proximity alarms ...

What it does do is to pop up an alert on the screen to tell you that the turn that you will miss because you aren't looking at the screen is coming up. Unfortunately, you won't see the alert either, because you aren't looking at the screen!


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## Ming the Merciless (5 Sep 2017)

Dogtrousers said:


> Wow. A nearly nine-year-old thread.



It is the ultimate long audax, time limit 10 years...


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## iluvmybike (5 Sep 2017)

For me GPS saves the faff of having to get map out and read it - eyesight not what it used to be!


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## Spartak (6 Sep 2017)

Garmin Edge 705. 

I've used one of these for years - great navigational unit. 

Lots on eBay .....

https://m.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_fr....Xgarmin+705.TRS0&_nkw=garmin+705&_sacat=7294


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## Banjo (8 Sep 2017)

Interesting bit of evolving history there.

10 years ago only a few Gps users on Audax rides now very few without.

I couldnt see the point back then but now I wouldnt be without one.


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## Heltor Chasca (8 Sep 2017)

3 years ago my Garmin was a thing. No more. Utter frustration. Wahoo has changed my GPS experience for the better, no end. (Mainly touring and Audax)


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## ColinJ (8 Sep 2017)

Heltor Chasca said:


> 3 years ago my Garmin was a thing. No more. Utter frustration. Wahoo has changed my GPS experience for the better, no end. (Mainly touring and Audax)


Same experience as my cousin. I just live-tracked him on his 90 minute ride near Dartmoor with data from his Wahoo Elemnt. He had endless problems with Garmins but none with the Wahoo.


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## StuAff (8 Sep 2017)

Edge 705 here…on my third (first two had USB ports die). It mostly works, despite its 'quirks'....hoping the Hammerhead Karoo proves to be as good as it looks....


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