GPS for bicycles

be intreste in this... most gps want a road to deal with but living in NYC there are many bike routes that I would love to use but is not on the map..

what can we do?

any help on this subject?

Bob

I've seen boating and hiking style GPS's - never seen 1 for a bicycle before.

I would like to mount my eTrex Legend on a bicycle but haven't found a mount. Anyone know of one at a reasonable price. I want to use it for speed and distance, not for routing.

Here is a URL for the Garmin Bicycling GPS devices

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=160&fKeys=FILTER_SER...

It looks like the Garmin Edge 705, for example, does come with a mount.

What about an ipod touch/iphone device with a bike mounting kit? One that is used to hold cellphone etc. Zumo?

If you're just looking for speed and distance a GPS is not going to be very accurate. There are tons of manufacturers making bike computers that will show speed, distance, riding time, and lots of other usefull information. Plus some can be had for very cheap. Get a wireless version as they are easier to set up.

If you really want a GPS for your bike look at Garmin's Edge 500, Vista HCX, or Edge 705 models. If you want a mount for your Legend let me know as I have an extra one laying around you can have for free. It will fit the old Etrex Vista, Legend, or Venture models but not the new HCX models.

I use my iphone

Actually, I was pretty specific in my original post that I'm *not* just looking for speed and distance--and don't care very much if it even has that: it's for a mapping GPS that can handle detailed road mapping and off-road (with trail data).

The iPod Touch doesn't have GPS capabilities, so would be useless.

I was replying to Mike107 who said he wanted to use it for speed and distance. Sorry I didn't clarify whom I was talking to.

For you I would reccomend the Etrex Vista HCX. I have one and it works great with detailed road maping as well as off-road using topo maps. You can find free topo maps at www.gpsfiledepot.com . They're just as good as the Garmin Topo maps if not better.

It's not clear if you are trying to navigate off it or capture routes for mapping. If you are just trying to capture where you go, the Garmin 305 mounts "on your wrist" so you don't have to worry about it falling off your bike, getting stolen, etc. Download your data into Garmin Connect when you get back and pull it up on Google Earth, etc. As a plus, you'll also get Heart Rate and optionally Cadence...so motivation to get or stay in shape.

Just use models designated for trekking. They are waterproof and for most of them there should be chance to buy mount for bicycle. And topo maps will have bike and trekking routes mapped, when car navi got mostly routes available for cars.
And batteries in hand held units are lasting for way longer then any car navi. For example oregon 400t can work for about 10 hours on one set of 2 rechargeable AA batteries.

As example look at this.
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=14904#accessoryTab
Under "mounts" there is even bicycle mount and topo maps for us.

The thing I've been trying to get a clearer picture on is just how detailed roads on the topo maps are. My bike use is a little closer on the spectrum to car navigation than it is to hiking--lots of roads (bike touring rather than mountain biking). But I take the bike where cars can't go--like that link in my original post, which is a bicycle/pedestrian bridge over a parkway that saved quite some distance over having to do a roundabout route that would have taken me on bike-unfriendly roads.

So, on a particular trip, I might go 20-30 miles on roads that are either bike-friendly or where I don't otherwise have a choice, plus maybe 10 (or whatever) miles on trails. Additionally, I'll use bike-accessible links between roads to both save mileage and avoid traffic. Those numbers are flexible--in my first post in this thread, I only managed to fit in about 1 mile of trails for a 20 mile trip--though the bike-specific routing included that crucial bridge over the parkway.

The nuvi 350, unfortunately, will want to put me 100% on roads, the majority of which will likely be very bike unfriendly (the major thoroughfares) and doesn't recognize any of those connecting links (for the nuvi, the bridge did not exist).

My question about the topo maps is whether they'd have been able to steer me along those 20 miles of local roads as well a being aware of the bike-specific components of the trip.

BTW, I'm not interested in creating the route on the computer and loading it on. I take my bike along on long trips, and I'm never certain where I might be, so planning isn't feasible. I want on-GPS navigation capability.