# what's the cheapest gps with navigation on market?



## garage (Dec 14, 2010)

need one to navigate long bike rides. I have a phone with built-in gps but can only run like 2 hours on a single charge. i've checked ebay and the cheapest used garmin 705 was 375, anything cheaper than that?


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

What kind of navigation are you looking for? Did you read the sticky at the top of the board?


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## garage (Dec 14, 2010)

NateHawk said:


> What kind of navigation are you looking for? Did you read the sticky at the top of the board?


i have a smart phone with built-in gps, so alternatively i could just get lots of batteries for my phone and it will last all day. but the map in it and the navigation are mostly for cars, so lots of highways in the navigation which is no good for bikers. i've never used a gps for bikers/hikers, so i don't know if the maps or navigations are different from regular ones?

plus, my phone is not waterproof and there's no cage for it (it's not an iphone) to mount on the handlebar. so i need a gps that is built for hikers/bikers, good battery, and low price. i have a cycling computer already, so no speed monitor, cadence, heard rate monitor needed.

any particular type you would recommend me?


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## jimbowilly (Jan 8, 2007)

I think you can get a NEW Garmin Legend for about $100.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

jimbowilly said:


> I think you can get a NEW Garmin Legend for about $100.


This is about as cheap as you'll find. Bushnell makes a $50 GPS, but it'll only navigate you to 5 or so stored waypoints.



> i have a smart phone with built-in gps, so alternatively i could just get lots of batteries for my phone and it will last all day. but the map in it and the navigation are mostly for cars, so lots of highways in the navigation which is no good for bikers. i've never used a gps for bikers/hikers, so i don't know if the maps or navigations are different from regular ones?
> 
> plus, my phone is not waterproof and there's no cage for it (it's not an iphone) to mount on the handlebar. so i need a gps that is built for hikers/bikers, good battery, and low price. i have a cycling computer already, so no speed monitor, cadence, heard rate monitor needed.
> 
> any particular type you would recommend me?


1. You will get speed readouts on any GPS whether you want it or not. It comes with the territory.
2. Cadence and HRM are primarily available on fitness models, and optional on some Oregon and Dakota models.
3. You still haven't said how you want to navigate. Do you want the GPS to give you turn-by-turn directions on roads? Do you want it to navigate you on the trails? These functions work totally differently from each other. You will not get turn-by-turn directions on trails like you can get on roads. To "navigate" on trails, you need to have a track from your or someone else's previous ride to follow. Even then, the GPS will only point the direction you need to follow to remain on the trail with a compass arrow, and it will alert you when you have deviated from that set path.
4. Would you want the GPS to be able to show how your performance compares to previous rides? This feature is called Virtual Partner. The Edge models (and I believe some of the Forerunners) can do this when "navigating" a previous ride.
5. Except on models like the Dakota or Oregon or Colorado that support raster imagery and custom maps or the Delorme models which also support raster imagery, the maps you can put on the GPS will not be the same as you get on your phone (Google Maps or similar). Even with raster imagery, they won't be exactly the same, but they'll be close. Even if you want to navigate by streets, the street maps you can put on a handheld GPS will be the same ones used in car GPSes - their only saving grace is that they have an option you can set for mode of travel.

You really should look more at the available maps than at specific GPS models so you can decide what maps you want to install. In turn, that will help you choose a GPS model.


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## jkmacman (Mar 5, 2009)

Buy an extra battery or two plus a wall adapter. And just bring extra batteries. At the end of the day you can combine the gpx files you saved prior to swicching batteries.


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## garage (Dec 14, 2010)

NateHawk said:


> This is about as cheap as you'll find. Bushnell makes a $50 GPS, but it'll only navigate you to 5 or so stored waypoints.
> 
> 1. You will get speed readouts on any GPS whether you want it or not. It comes with the territory.
> 2. Cadence and HRM are primarily available on fitness models, and optional on some Oregon and Dakota models.
> ...


thanks for your reply.

i want a gps with turn-by-turn navigation since i don't have any previous path to follow. but i don't want a one for cars because i don't want to stay on highways. also i don't need performance compare functions or other "fancy" stuff, just navigation is enough. so about maps, where can I find ones that are designed for bikers?

thanks again.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

garage said:


> thanks for your reply.
> 
> i want a gps with turn-by-turn navigation since i don't have any previous path to follow. but i don't want a one for cars because i don't want to stay on highways. also i don't need performance compare functions or other "fancy" stuff, just navigation is enough. so about maps, where can I find ones that are designed for bikers?
> 
> thanks again.


There really aren't any maps designed for bikers.

These are the maps Garmin would sell you for anything that can do turn-by-turn navigating. It's the same software you'd use on a car GPS. My Nuvi 205w will navigate me assuming different modes of transportation (bicycle is one of them), but I do not remember seeing that option when I had City Navigator on my old 76CSx. I don't have the software anymore, so I can't say for sure now.

Really, if you want to navigate roads on your bike, you're better off planning a Route on your computer at home, then saving that Route to your GPS so you can follow it (similar to a track you'd download from Garmin Connect or MapMyRide, except there will be a series of programmed turns at intersections and the GPS will alert you to those upcoming turns.

You can pre-plan Routes on your computer using Garmin's software, Delorme's software, 3rd party software like Topofusion, or you can do it online in a Google Maps interface with MapMyRide, RunningFree, or a few other sites.

You don't _need_ maps of any sort for this kind of functionality. The maps will only give you a visual reference, so you'd be able to use topo maps, even, which will show you street names and such, but will not have addresses programmed into them. Since any navigation information will be in the Route file, it won't need addresses in the maps.


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## slocaus (Jul 21, 2005)

garage said:


> i want a gps with turn-by-turn navigation since i don't have any previous path to follow. but i don't want a one for cars because i don't want to stay on highways. also i don't need performance compare functions or other "fancy" stuff, just navigation is enough. so about maps, where can I find ones that are designed for bikers?


You will need a Garmin 705 and maybe, MAYBE, the maps from Free routable maps for Garmin brand GPS devices will work. The free maps are routable and work great. Most of the trails that are more than about five years old are on these maps in coastal central CA where I live. Since they are based on Open Street Maps, you can add the known trails in if you want. Check OSM and see if your trails exist, if so, that is what you need.


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