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Photo by Marc Gibaud, Clouds on Tres Cerros and Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia

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Photo by Marc Gibaud,
Clouds on Tres Cerros and
Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia




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  #1  
Old 21 May 2009
Matt Cartney's Avatar
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I agree with Bertrand, I hate having the GPS lady banging on at me:

"In half a mile turn left... in 300 yards turn left... in 200 yards turn left..." its enough to drive you nuts.

When I was looking a few months ago a bike system was circa £400. I got a Garmin Nuvi with maps of Europe for £80. A pretty big saving. And its got all I need - maps, places of interest (garages, hotels etc). I mounted it like this:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...-car-gps-41063

But if you have a screen I don't think the box would be necessary, just buy the bicycle mount and away you go.

Matt
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*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!
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  #2  
Old 21 May 2009
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I've just bought a 70 pound Garmen Trek in case i get lost and need to find out were i am. The GPS's are not that much use once you get out of Europe anyway.

I use the tried and trusted map and compass method.
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  #3  
Old 21 May 2009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ExtremeGene View Post
The GPS's are not that much use once you get out of Europe anyway.
Hello Russ
That's a bit confusing... a GPS will work worldwide provided it can receive the signals from the orbiting satellites- or do you mean that some countries don't have accurate/turn-by-turn/available mapping?
Good advice on knowledge on how to use a map and compass !
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  #4  
Old 21 May 2009
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Agree with Matt - I like the lack of mobile phones whilst riding and dislike the voice prompts of GPS so bought an £80 nuvi 250 witha £4 mount from ebay, power straight from the battery and off I go!
If it rains I can either pop it back in my topbox or wrap a see-through waterproof bag around it.
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  #5  
Old 21 May 2009
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I got the Nuvi 250 from Amazon for £85 and fitted it with a cheapo bar mount off ebay for £6.
It does all I need it to do.
I didn`t want bluetooth as taking calls on the move is stupid and unsafe and I could not see the advantage of glove friendliness as once you have programmed your route why would you want to touch it again?
I think bike specific ones are just a rediculous price.
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  #6  
Old 9 Jun 2009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Monsieur-to-go View Post
If it rains I can... wrap a see-through waterproof bag around it.
The genius of simplicity!
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*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!
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  #7  
Old 9 Jun 2009
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Admittedly the car satnavs are much cheaper than the bike navs. The difference isn't only that the bike navs are (more) shockproof & waterproof than car navs. Placing the satnav into the tankbag will take care of that problem.

What is far more important is that the car systems are devised to take you on a more or less direct route to your goal. They usually do not offer the possibility to load pre-planned routes which you have worked out on your pc.

I often plan my routes on my home pc before the trip, using good maps that show scenic routes, and integrate this information into my route-planning.


@ ExtremeGene,
I don't quite agree with you regarding satnavs as pretty useless outside Europe. Thinking of Patagonia: Yes. There aren't many roads, so it is easy to drive by map. When travelling in South Africa this does not apply. There is a fairly dense road network - and few road signs on secondary roads. My gps came in very handy there
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  #8  
Old 16 May 2011
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Any one used one of these bags eBay.ie: GPS SATNAV CASE MOTORCYCLE BIKE CYCLE MOUNT WATERPROOF (item 330552132285 end time 09-Jun-11 06:40:05 BST) just ordered it will be interesting to see how well it works
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  #9  
Old 26 May 2009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt Cartney View Post
I agree with Bertrand, I hate having the GPS lady banging on at me:

"In half a mile turn left... in 300 yards turn left... in 200 yards turn left..." its enough to drive you nuts.

When I was looking a few months ago a bike system was circa £400. I got a Garmin Nuvi with maps of Europe for £80. A pretty big saving. And its got all I need - maps, places of interest (garages, hotels etc). I mounted it like this:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...-car-gps-41063

But if you have a screen I don't think the box would be necessary, just buy the bicycle mount and away you go.

Matt
ACE!!! that's just saved me £300, Ta!!
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