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I'm the proud owner of a new Garmin E-Trex 20x and I was wondering if any existing GPS users had any tricks and tips they wished they knew about when they entered the world of open source maps and gpx files.....?
What are the best free maps or should I give up on that and just buy one?
Aside from MBR and here are there any other GPX resources it's worth knowing about?
Does anyone else mount their device to their top tube because they ride with a tiny stem?
And a long shot, but if anyone's got a GPX of the best technical descents near the Dales Bike Centre, specifically Harkerside Moor (Pipeline, gamekeepers, vomit et al) I'd be very very grateful...
My tip is to not only rely on blindly following your GPS route on your Garmin, use google maps and maybe even strava to get a better idea of where you are going and when.
For strava, you can use segment explorer over part of your route or area you want to ride, find some segments, then look at the leaderboard for where these riders went, it will help you know when you should be going up or down! You could then look to maybe download their ride as a GPX or amend the pre planned route you had.
Also, most of the time in the sticks, you may lose signal, I will sometimes take screenshots of google maps to refer to when I have no signal, kind of like taking a physical map but not if that makes sense!
I just got an etrex 20x too. For riding I think the Topo light map (based on the opencycle map) is better than the available os maps. I think you can get something like it for free but I couldn't be arsed sorting it out and just bought it for £20 for the whole of the UK.
Have you had issues uploading GPX tracks? I keep getting very long extra lines.
That stem cap mount is for the Garmin Edge, the Etrex uses a different sort of mount. I've not seen any stem cap mounts for it.
The preloaded maps on the Etrex are based on OpenStreetMap. They should be pretty good. Though not sure how up to date they are.
Or you can download free maps from here, they are updated regularly. http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/
The preloaded maps on the Etrex are based on OpenStreetMap. They should be pretty good. Though not sure how up to date they are.
The version that is preloaded doesn't have contour lines which I found ok for on road but no good off road.
http://www.navigation-professionell.de/en/garmin-etrex-20-x-30-x-settings/
I have OSM UK on BaseCamp and my gps and would recommend it.
Dont use blue flags use dots for way points and dont use Route use Track. It saves battery life but does not give you turn by turn directions with a beep so you need to be alert to turns.
Do if you do nothing else get a secure safety means of attaching your gps to the bike. Mine jumps out of the handlebar mount occasionally but stays attached via the camera style loop that I thread round the mount.
Do download some existing gpx files and play around with them in BaseCamp. One dodge I found that works really well is if a Route has too many way points as long as you have the track delete the route then 'create route from track' and reset the way points using 'assign auto'. It blows out a lot of data but makes the file manageable.
If you want to record a ride remember to clear current track or you get half an hour of faffing after you switched it on which all adds to the data stats and will drive you nuts trying to edit it out.
If you are off for a number of days at a time use day 1 day 2 etc tracks. Etrex have a habit of crashing with really long single routes in them and save at least twice a day.
Good luck.
Get a lanyard on your etrex and loop this around the bars for when it flies out of its mount.
GPX Resources-
For on road bike friendly route planning;
Sounds like you have a fun night of fiddling ahead!
Pro tip*: If out on a ride you come across a trail you don't have time to investigate and want to mark it for future exploration head down it a short way then turn back round and return to its start. Then ride round in a couple of small circles to differentiate it from wrong turns.
Also, most of the time in the sticks, you may lose signal, I will sometimes take screenshots of google maps to refer to when I have no signal, kind of like taking a physical map but not if that makes sense!
Why a screenshot? Just save the area around where you will be riding as an offline map. You can overlap areas if you can't get it all in.
Offline maps have been available on Google for a couple of years...
Buy a genuine garmin etrex mount. All others are crap
Also any Garmin of a decent size doesn't appreciate being on a stem cap mount .without fail it's always the stem cap mounts that break in crashes with my mates and their 1000 series Garmin's.
I also found the open street maps to be less than crap in the Cairngorms with many prominent paths missing so stumped up for the os maps. There's a reason it's the standard.
If it's like the older Etrex 20/30 then a micro SD card will be far quicker than internal memory for storage, pop it directly into your PC to copy map files, tracks, etc. You must follow the correct directory structure for this to work
IME the top tube is too close in to read and ride, mount the GPS on your bars
I like talky toaster maps, I find full os maps too slow and that's on a garmin etrex 30x.
I've not looked that carefully but it seems it's only 1:25,000 os that's available? I think 1:50,000 would be much easier to see on that wee screen and it's really rare (never really!) that I feel I need the extra detail of 1:25,000.
Get a lanyard on your etrex and loop this around the bars for when it flies out of its mount.
Buy a genuine garmin etrex mount. All others are crap
Do both.
I'm sure half of etrex sales are for replacement units!
And set your email/phone number to appear on the startup screen. Then if does get lost, there is a chance someone could return it.
How does one do that Craig?
Plug it into your computer, then look in the 'Garmin' directory. There should be a file named startup.txt. So you can edit that in Notepad to add your message, and set the display time.
Does no-one ever get an actual OS map, open it up in all it's glorious detail & actually look at the bridleways & cheeky bits then go & explore?
I have an Etrex, great for getting a grid ref if ya get lost. 🙂
Contrary to earlier advice, routes can be better than tracks, as you'll get a bleep and a large arrow, to show you when/where to turn, so you don't have to keep an eye on the screen. (But you do need to practice planning things, then double check that your Garmin generated the same routing as Basecamp)
Ram Mounts are just as good as the official Garmin mounts, and usually a bit cheaper.
Talky toaster maps and openfiets maps are worth looking at.
P S. You don't need a GPX for ''pipeline', just roll over the edge, get your arse as close to your back wheel as possible - then just hold on tight ;?
Does no-one ever get an actual OS map, open it up in all it’s glorious detail & actually look at the bridleways & cheeky bits then go & explore?
I don't think anyone uses a GPS for planning? Either os sheets or the computer for that and paper maps still have the edge there.
I've just got my etrex after a tour last week that chopped and changed between 4 os sheets. It made me realise things really had moved on and sticking with paper os sheets was no longer the best way to do it.
For winter climbing and hill running I'm probably going to stick with printed out os sections and my suunto watch for a quick check of location but for hiking the GPS just suddenly made sense for me, mainly because you cover so much more ground.
Thanks Craig.
I’ve just got my etrex after a tour last week that chopped and changed between 4 os sheets. It made me realise things really had moved on and sticking with paper os sheets was no longer the best way to do it.
I got mine after a moment on a ski tour navigating in a total white-out (couldn't even see the texture of the snow by your feet) round a hydroelectric storage lake, drop on the other side to find one of 3 gullies which was the way up and out. Compass in one hand, map in the other,, but what I really, really wanted was a little picture of the map with "You are here ->" on it.
I will sometimes take screenshots of google maps to refer to when I have no signal, kind of like taking a physical map but not if that makes sense!
As said above, just view the area in google maps and it will save a copy.
I use an Edge 520 on my bars which has the route plotted, then if I get really lost or can't work out what's going on, I pay a £20 a year subscription to http://outdoorsgps.com/ which does the same thing as google maps, but with OS maps, and it changes scale (1:50k/1:25k) as you zoom in.
It's also useful to plot or see others routes on the website.
I believe the OS do their own version of the app.
https://www.ioffer.com/i/gb-discoverer-premium-full-coverage-on-micro-sd-sd-619747999?i=317700457
You can also get just the 1:50000 OS maps for around £25 I think from the same seller. I use the one from the link above and its been faultless.
I also found that helpful CraigW
Thanks very much for the replies - loads of useful information here. Luckily I know how to use a map and compass from my fell running/rock climbing days. I'll definitely always carry a compass and a 1:40000 Harvey British Mountain Map, but stopping to look at the map when exploring new trails is a pain - hopefully the new Garmin will solve that problem and with a bit of thought I should be able to explore new trails using the Strava segment explorer.
If only Harvey did a GPS version of their BMC British Mountain Maps - I'm sure that would be the perfect scale for the Etrex.
Very exciting I just need to find the time to sit and fiddle with it now!