GPS Death

[off piste]

This seems to happen to me about every two years, like clockwork. Not bad, concidering where the thing sits on the handlebars, and how many trips over them I take per season. ::)

I was getting a little bit over-confident on a new-to-me downhill section in Willard Brook today and did the rare full 180 degree endo. EMS is having a 20% off Club Weekend, how convenient.


http://home.comcast.net/~wi1w/gps_death.jpg

[mcd]

i'm looking to buy a gps this week. it will be my first one and i'm mostly worried about signal strength under the trees around here, do you have any recommendations on which unit to buy?

[off piste]

I'd go with the one pictured -- the very basic Etrex, because of what happened in the picture. If you mount a GPS on your bike, it's inevitable it'll die someday. I've now got two in a drawer that I need to have fixed. These are $100, and EMS is having a 20% off sale tis weekend, so it cost me $80.

As far as signal reception, that will depend on what you intend to use it for. If you want to do very accurate maps, these small units probably won't fit your bill. I use mine to get myself out of an unfamiliar trail system, and often as insurance in ones I'm ok with that I can get out if something happens to effect my situational awareness. Dropouts in reception are reasonable, as I'm only looking to be able to "trend" back to my starting point. Dropouts aren't really that bad with mine anyways, even under deep cover.

[Slabysz]

A friend of mine loves the new Garmin made explicitly for biking. It even has a heartrate monitor. Plus the track can be linked to a site that will create an animated re-creation on top of a map. Also, the chip is so sensitive that he skis with it in his pocket and still has no reception problems. (This should help damage
issues. ) It was cool to see how we skiied in the woods and then watch the dot quickly go up hill when we were on the chairlift. Not sure of price. It'd guess it's not cheap. But 20% off helps.

[Ridge Wrecker]

I'd go with the one pictured -- the very basic Etrex, because of what happened in the picture. If you mount a GPS on your bike, it's inevitable it'll die someday. I've now got two in a drawer that I need to have fixed. These are $100, and EMS is having a 20% off sale tis weekend, so it cost me $80.

As far as signal reception, that will depend on what you intend to use it for. If you want to do very accurate maps, these small units probably won't fit your bill. I use mine to get myself out of an unfamiliar trail system, and often as insurance in ones I'm ok with that I can get out if something happens to effect my situational awareness. Dropouts in reception are reasonable, as I'm only looking to be able to "trend" back to my starting point. Dropouts aren't really that bad with mine anyways, even under deep cover.


I have the same Garmin ETrex GPS unit and I'm not at all satisfied with it. Maybe I have a defective unit or I'm not using it for it's intended purpose. It quite frequently loses it's signal when it has a good view of the sky (no leaves on the trees yet). I'm using it with National Geographics TOPO mapping software and I get inaccurate results. For example, if I ride the same trail twice I get two completely different track lines that makes it look like I was on two different trails. My maps end up looking a mess of squiggly lines. Like I said, maybe this unit wasn't intended for this type of mapping.

I'm curious to know if others have had similar problems with this unit?

I'm considering getting the Magellen Explorist 400. :)

[catbbq]

I have the same eTrex although mine is probably older than most (about 4 or 5 years now). I was hoping to use it as a replacement for my cycling computer to keep track of time and distance in addition to the cool GPS features. Fell way short. I had similar problems as those mentioned of losing signal in view of the sky and being way off on tracking. Haven't used it in a couple seasons.

[benb]

Yah I have the top of the line eTrex that I bought a few years ago.

I only used it once on my mountain bike, it was next to useless..

The battery terminals are not made to deal with shock, you take a good hit or get some vibration up through the forks and the battery terminals vibrate off of the batteries and the unit shuts off. (Same problem on motorcycles)

And it was able to lock a signal maybe 5% of the time on forested single track, making it pretty much useless. It would only be useful to me if I was in the absolute middle of nowhere, I could pull it out of my pocket when I came to a clearing, get a fix on my position, and then navigate by compass till I found another place with a clear sky.

That said I am a big fan of keeping computers away from mountain biking and motorcycling. Too many farkles defeats the point of being out in the woods away from civilization. I have since taken the cyclometer off my mountain bike too.

[fisherking]

Interesting. I picked up an eTrex Legend last year and had great results. Riding at Stow, Groton Town Forest, Great Brook, Leominster and Vietnam I had great reception and came out with some nice maps. Just this winter I did have a few rides in which the unit shut off (battery contact I assume) but that was it.
In fact I was expecting to get sketchy reception but was happily surprised. I used it as my bike computer until I stopped wearing the camelbak where it was clipped. Did these other units have WAAS? And maybe that helped? I am not that versed with the GPS, just use it like Mark for safety and getting in/out of new places.

[jh_on_the_cape]

Y

That said I am a big fan of keeping computers away from mountain biking and motorcycling. Too many farkles defeats the point of being out in the woods away from civilization. I have since taken the cyclometer off my mountain bike too.


i dont know what a farkle is, but i agree with you. i like maps, though.
I clicked this because my dad said he wanted to get me a gps as a gift. it's a nifty gadget, but i don;t see myself sitting down at the comp. after a ride and looking at my track. just personal pref.

can you use your gps in the car for navigation, too? will it tell you where to turn, etc??

[fisherking]

I have used mine in the car. I won't tell where to turn but in a new area it will show quite a bit and show if roads cut through or stop. Again just for general reference it was nice.
For the road the interface would be pretty bad to find points of interest I think. too much work.

[benb]

My eTrex has been great in the car as long as you don't try to read it/operate it without pulling over, otherwise it's real dangerous.

It's just I was pretty excited when I got it that I could map out trails & routes and figure out elevation gain & distances in the woods. No such luck at all, big disappointment.

Farkles is a motorcycle term.. you will see some guys with a GPS on their handlebar, an ipod attached to listen to tunes, and every other electronic mod they can possibly have.. kind of defeats the purpose of motorcycles. Maps work just as well in most cases, save time, and cost nothing in comparison.