11
I don't know that you can do this with the apps you are talking about.
However there is hope. Going back to first principles, you have a pc on which you want to create your route, and you have an android device which you want to stick on your bike and use for navigation. Correct?
If you accept that you need to abandon Google Maps altogether, there are ...
10
Easy bit - Touch screens don't usually work when wet, you can easily test it, sprinkle some water on the screen and see how it goes.
Because phones are high volume consumer goods designed as life style toys, not outdoor equipment, as far as IP ratings, I personally believe the claimed IP ratings are based on marketing need for a bigger number than the ...
9
I have a background in developing consumer GPS systems...... There is no doubt that a Garmin is a much better device for the job. On cell phones, GPS and associated functionality is the side dish - as in "would you like fries with your burger", on a Garmin, is the Raison d'être.
Hardware wise, its a no brainier.
First, as already mentioned in @armb ...
9
Just verified that the 510 can be attached to power while on/in use. It continues to operate. When the external power source is removed, it will give a message to that effect, but does not power down (like the nuvi/car versions do).
Note that you (obviously) have to open the weather seal to plug in power.
Also worth noting, the 510 will go into a different ...
7
Mobile is the way to go. Forget cycling computer.
Cycling computer can't connect to computer wirelessly, your mobile can. I've stopped logging my rides on my mac, my mobile do this for me automatically and I can access the logs from anywhere.
You get maps for free on your mobile from the internet and you don't have to update your map.
You don't need ...
7
Yes.
The Garmin Edge 530/830/1030 can be loaded up with extensive map data, and can give you live routing, even without a cellular connection.
Wahoo's ELEMNT ROAM can also do routing on the fly.
The Sigma Rox 12 also has extensive navigation functions.
Probably others.
There are some smartphone apps that can do this—I think the best-known are Ride with GPS ...
6
Garmin Edge 800, 810 and 1000 can be charged when exercise is active.
You can use for example power bank or usb dynamo charger (ie. Busch&Muller E-werk, Luxos U light or Supernova The Plug).
It is not recommended to charge anything with usb when it is raining.
Also note that Garmin 1000's plug is in the bottom so cable might not fit when device is ...
5
I spent all last summer biking around Ireland, France, Italy (a bit), and Germany with my wife. We went with map and compass to avoid being dependent on a battery to not get lost.
Map Scale. In general, you need at least 1:250k map scale in my opinion. More detailed (i.e., 1:200k or less) is nice, but you can end up buying/schlepping a lot of maps that ...
5
Inkatlas lets you create printable PDF maps with GPS tracks and waypoints (on multiple pages if needed). You can select a map style with terrain. Smaller PDFs (6 pages or fewer) are free.
Full disclosure: this is my project.
5
I use a Sony Xperia z3 compact as my bike computer/GPS, in all UK weather. It's described by the manufacturer as waterproof, but not for immersion, and I've never had any water ingress issues (even washing it up). You do have to be careful the seal is tight on the sim card slot.
As for using it in the rain, the touchscreen isn't completely useless, but it ...
4
Good quality road maps will differentiate between paved and unpaved roads. I really like my Gazetteer State Maps
4
I would use GPS for wilder trips, and a combination of online services and paper roadmaps for more civilized trips.
Both ways of doing it generate some dependency and some indepencence:
With GPS, you depend on the battery, but you know your position in realtime, and if your device has embedded mapping you virtually never need to stop and ask for directions....
4
I use the Garmin 800 and an external battery with USB output.
The Garmin will keep running for days like that, with no backlight BUT the data recording
cannot cope with a 24 hour bike ride.
On my last two 24 hour cycle events, the Garmin corrupted the activity file at around 23 hours which was somewhat 'annoying'.
I have tested it on distance, with car ...
4
Barometric pressure is not the only feasible method to track altitude, but is by far the more practical in terms of power requirements (I have a watch that lasts 2 years on a battery with altitude), size and cost.
GPS Altitude is wildly inaccurate due to the geometry of the satellites. Unfortunately to cope with very small signal errors you need a ...
4
The simplest on-the-road solution is to get a detailed paper (walker's?) map with contour lines. In the UK, Ordnance Survey provide these, for the USA you could try Omnimap.
Alternatively, there are plenty of online tools, like freemaptools.com which use Google Maps. You click on a point and it gives you the elevation.
3
Yes you can charge the Edge 500 whilst riding at the same time, and record your ride as well.
http://www.joewein.net/blog/2013/03/04/garmin-edge-usb-power-hack/
3
I just completed a 300K brevet last weekend and my Garmin 500 ran out of juice about 2 miles from the end of the 190 miles. 18 hours. I just tried to plug it into an external battery that will charge phones and the Garmin 500, but the Garmin will not operate while plugged in and charging. Note this is the Garmin 500, not the 510.
A friend used an 810 on the ...
3
For those still interested, there's a pretty solid map site available now covering the US. Not everything is on there, and you can add more gravel roads as you find them.
https://gravelmap.com/#9.57/36.2029/-86.7234
3
Google Maps for iPhone now has bike layer support and bike-specific navigation starting with update on July 16, 2013, version 2.0
3
Yes, you should be able to use a Garmin Oregon that way. A Garmin Oregon can do almost anything that a Garmin Edge (GPS bike computer) can do. The exact details will depend a lot on exactly which Oregon and Edge models you're comparing.
Most of the current Oregon models actually can connect to a heartrate or cadence sensor via ANT or Bluetooth.
They can ...
3
I have used bicycle mode of Google Maps for this purpose. Of course Google maps is not available everywhere. The idea is to use the voice prompts for each turn. You may be able to follow a route created in other software, but I haven't tried that.
I've done it two ways. The first time, I arranged a small pocket, pinned to the upper left of my jersey. It ...
3
I highly recommend https://brouter.de/brouter-web for bicycle route planning. It also calculates elevation gain/loss and tries to avoid elevation changes.
Keep in mind that elevation data can be inaccurate since it’s usually using Digital Elevation Models which are based on satellite data. For example it might miss things like bridges entirely and display a ...
3
https://brouter.de/brouter-web/
Allows you to draw no-go areas.
Allows you to specify cost for ascents or descents. I’m not sure it’s possible to tell it to completely avoid streets above a certain incline. You could set the cost very high and set the cutoff to whatever you like. Disadvantage of this approach is that inclines below the cutoff are not ...
2
The Garmin is waterproof, and has a resistive touchscreen that works with gloves. It has an ANT+ receiver for use with cadence sensors etc., and most phones don't. Battery life will be better than most phones. I suspect the Garmin will be easier to load maps onto than a phone with no plan, but many mapping apps do allow you to load data for later use without ...
2
There is one use case I think will suit you greatly if you get your phone to work AND get some app that saves GPX files (I think most GPS-oriented apps do that):
When you go out for a ride, you turn the phone on, get a GPS position, throw it in your back pocket and forget it.
When you get back home, you transfer the GPX file to some service (Strava and ...
2
as far as i understand it all garmins will charge off any cable/charger combination except for the Edge 500... basically the cable needs to have pins 4 and 5 grounded to earth not just pin 4, so a normal sync cable will not work you need a special charge cable, not content with paying the £12 for a usb cable for this particular use, i made my own by cutting ...
2
A generic USB cable will have the Edge switch to storage mode but I've found the Garmin cables allow charging whilst using. I have an external battery pack which I used on day-long back-country rides in the alps and could plug it in whilst on a chairlift or at a bar without interrupting the tracking. Arguably I didn't need to but it does mean that when I get ...
2
The RideWithGPS Android and iPhone apps now also offers this with subscription payment.
http://ridewithgps.com/app
As mentioned before, the RideWithGPS website is useful for trip planning, you can customize your cue sheets, save maps and route for offline use, etc.
2
My solution to the problem is to grab my phone, record my biking trajectory with sports tracker (no data plan is needed) and get an estimation of the elevation (total number of meters uphill, and total number of meters downhill) with the help of GPS. For this you'll have to have:
a smart phone with a gps (android, apple ios, nokia, or microsoft phone)
...
2
Since you state that "any method" would do, and taking into account that there are several arguments against GPS, I would suggest a couple of non technology solutions to the problem you have with barometric altitude.
You want to use altitude information for goal setting, which I assume requires more precision than simple route tracking, for which GPS ...
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