GPS opinions please???

[ianboydsnr]

i have a quest, use it either, to plan the following days rout( avoiding motorways) or just put in my final destination and head in the general direction, when i get bored, i just rout to my destination, it definatly saves stress finding that hotel(remember in paris, it took over an hour to find my hotel, using a map, as it was on an industrial estate not on the map), you shoud not think as it is an absolute, more like a pointer in the right direction.

 

[Tarka]

I can see where you are coming from Tarka (even without a gps ) ha ha ha

I dont know how much touring abroad you have done

My first bike trip abroad was in 1985,aged 19,on an XT600.
Ten days,2800 miles. ( Stayed in Marseille )

Since then,I`ve taken my bike abroad two or three times a year.... toured a great deal of France,stayed in Paris twice,been to the Picos de Europa twice,done the Stella Alpina three times,spent a week in Switzerland,been to the Nurburgring,toured the Western Front sites,been to Monaco....

And all with just Michelin maps and a bit of savvy.

 

[Den]

My first bike trip abroad was in 1985,aged 19,on an XT600.
Ten days,2800 miles. ( Stayed in Marseille )

Since then,I`ve taken my bike abroad two or three times a year.... toured a great deal of France,stayed in Paris twice,been to the Picos de Europa twice,done the Stella Alpina three times,spent a week in Switzerland,been to the Nurburgring,toured the Western Front sites,been to Monaco....

And all with just Michelin maps and a bit of savvy.

Ah ... but where were you MEANING to go ?

 

[Mzokk]

I'd have been with you Tarka until I tried GPS. Now I'm won over. Just cos you have one dosen't mean that your map reading skills are lost.......It just saves a lot of pissing about especially in strange towns and cities

 

[jimcg]

I am one of the new converts to GPS and had my first European adventure with the Quest last month. I found it excellent at avoiding the bits you didnt want to see i.e city centres as well as taking you were you did want to go. Being used to maps I found it all a bit strange at first not knowing where I was or which road I was (I was like that with the maps all too frequently now that I think about it) on so I did have a map in the tankbag just orientate me. Now I wouldnt go abroad without it.

 

[ianf]

I had a couple of days after Lahinch to pootle about Ireland. I just pointed at a couple of places and let it route 'shortest distance'. This keeps you off motorways/A roads a lot of the time (unless they really are close to your ideal line) and I did Lahinch to Bray in 1 day with <10 miles of dual carriageway, and a lot of it on single track lanes. Great fun, as long as you trust it.

 

[judge]

Technophobe, Luddite ..... Come on admit it - they are still too expensive to win you over that's all it is really

So that's technophobe, luddite and a tightarse, yep that summarises him nicely

 

[Steptoe]

ever been low on petrol - in a strange place, at night,


GPS will take you to the nearest petrol station - it might be closed, but hey , thats life

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

My first bike trip abroad was in 1985,aged 19,on an XT600.
Ten days,2800 miles. ...
And all with just Michelin maps and a bit of savvy.


and....... ?
Haven't we all ?

my nan had a black and white tele - much better than the radio before that.....

 

[judge]

You can't beat an old 78 played on a His Master's Voice

 

[nud1e]

Exactly

I had a couple of days after Lahinch to pootle about Ireland. I just pointed at a couple of places and let it route 'shortest distance'. This keeps you off motorways/A roads a lot of the time (unless they really are close to your ideal line) and I did Lahinch to Bray in 1 day with <10 miles of dual carriageway, and a lot of it on single track lanes. Great fun, as long as you trust it.

The Quest can lead to so much fun. I use the Michelin maps, have for 20+ years , to locate my destination and a route to it, make a list of the waypoints and put it up in the map window of the tank bag. I get there with frequent stops to check the signposts, the map and junctions without signs.
With the Quest, I put in the destination, shortest distance and go off on a voyage of discovery, on roads that, from the map, I would have never considered travelling, and with the bonus of the saved track if I want to repeat the route another time.
The Michelin is still in the tank bag, but only to locate the general area of the destination.
GPS opens up so many more possibilities and places of interest.

 

[Tarka]

You can't beat an old 78 played on a His Master's Voice

Records ?

Bah,I`ll not waste any money on those new fangled gadgets.....

Besides,they`ll never catch on...... :slideface :slideface

 

[jimbo]

OK, so who has bought a GPS, and then decided its a waste of time and got rid of it and gone back to maps only?
Not many people I guess?

Having a GPS doesn't mean that you can't use a map too.

 

[Humbug]

However,I cannot help but be scornful of the reliance on such a device for leisure/pleasure riding...it just seems to smack of today`s trend for most people wanting everything done for them,with little or no effort on their part.

Maybe it`s because there`s so many office bound people who ride bikes nowadays..those who festoon their bikes with GPS/iPod/MP3 et al.

Maybe I am a bit of a luddite at heart,but I feel that riding a bike,and in particular holidaying on a bike,should be somewhat 'seat of the pants',and not having every last wheel turn mapped out for me is a major part of the enjoyment....

I wholeheartily agree with every word!!!!

Whatever happened to ' let's go up this road to see where it takes us'?

 

[Possu]

I wholeheartily agree with every word!!!!

Whatever happened to ' let's go up this road to see where it takes us'?

It's still there? Having a GPS just means that you have a better idea of where you are , useful if the road turns in to a dead end for any reason.

Don't assume that all GPS users are 100% reliant on technology. If you'd bothered reading the thread, you'll have realised that many GPS users, inc. myself, plan the route using paper maps first before plotting the route on the GPS. Think of GPS as selection of differently scaled maps that allows you zoom in & out at will, foregoing the need to constantly stop & turn the map over.....

I sometimes plot a route to a finish point but will deviate from it if I see an interesting road I've not ridden or just fancy a change, with the GPS recalculating automatically as I go along. Anyone who thinks that their "Spirit of Adventure" will disappear if they go the GPS route is deluding themselves, unless of course it's lacking in the first place...........

 

[cookie]

i love my 2610

i just want to ride the bike. if i want to take up map reading as a hobby, i'd think about orienteering.

ps. i don't work in an office or own an ipod/mp3.

 

[trotsky]

i love my 2610

...

ps. i don't work in an office or own an ipod/mp3.

That's weird. I work in an office,have an mp3 player (and my other half has an ipod) but I don't have a 2610...

Do I have to buy a 2610 then? Or would a Quest do?

 

[cookie]

That's weird. I work in an office,have an mp3 player (and my other half has an ipod) but I don't have a 2610...

Do I have to buy a 2610 then? Or would a Quest do?

quests are for losers

sorry bill

 

[judge]

quests are for losers

sorry bill

You may just get away with that on account of he doesn't currently own one. Sorry Bill just spreading my brand of humour far and wide

 

[judge]

MAking the assumption that beacuse I own and use a GPS I somehow lose the ability to think, be adventurous or worse plan every aspect of my riding. Wrong on all counts, just as wrong as me making the assumption that map readers are luddites, prehistoric or tight (except in Taquins case ).

In the same way I can pick up a Michelin guide map and still plot the dullest route on the planet or navigate by the road signs and am thus devoid of a soul.

All that has happened is that technology has come up with a way I can improve my enjoyment levels of riding - in the same way you might argue the bloke who invented pneumatic tyres did, I could still ride on solid tyres but why?