I have been riding for 44 years. Most of that riding was done using paper maps or just the maps in my head. Some years ago I discovered mapquest and then Google maps and those started replacing paper maps for trip planning. Then I got a smart phone and would occasionally pull out my phone when I got lost or couldn't find something and consult google maps. A couple of years ago I decided it was time to get a GPS and mount in on my bikes so I could use it while riding. Like many other things I put my toe in the water as opposed to diving in headfirst and I got a Garmin drive 52EX for $99 at Wally World. I found a cheap mounting system and started suing it on some of my bikes. I found the Garmin pretty clunky to use or to input stuff however it was nice being able to see where I was and what was coming up. IMO Garmin's software sucked compared to google maps.
I'm at the point where I want to have a useful GPS mounted on my bikes that. My real motivation is that I will be doing a trip out west this summer and want to be able to follow some GPX tracks. After doing a lot of research I found basically three options.
1. Buy and expensive Garmin or less expensive used Garmin
2. Buy a Tom Tom.
3. Use a smartphone with one of the many GPS apps out there.
I just read too many bad things about garmin and my personal experience hasn't been that good and Garmin is expensive so I have ruled out #1.
I have a friend who swears by Tom Tom and it is less expensive than Garmin but it won't accept GPX tracks.
I have decided on the phone option. I was going to get a used Kyocera phone but after some research decided on a Samsung Xcover Pro. I got one on Ebay for $71. Then I needed to figure out how to mount it. I researched this for a while and went with RAM mounts. I got the Ram Quick Grip with all the hardware to mount it to a motorcycle handlebar. I also got a second ball mount that could be attached to a mirror stem. I needed this for my Vespa which has no exposed handlebar.
I have used this now a few times using google maps. I don't have service for my phone so i downloaded Google Maps for my area and us it offline.
My next step is to figure out which GPS app to use to be able to download and follow GPX tracks.
I researched this and the recommendations I got are to use Locus or Osmand. Research also shows it is possible to do this with Google maps.
I downloaded Locus 4 and so far I'm not impressed.
That's where I am right now. Any advice would be appreciated.
I'm at the point where I want to have a useful GPS mounted on my bikes that. My real motivation is that I will be doing a trip out west this summer and want to be able to follow some GPX tracks. After doing a lot of research I found basically three options.
1. Buy and expensive Garmin or less expensive used Garmin
2. Buy a Tom Tom.
3. Use a smartphone with one of the many GPS apps out there.
I just read too many bad things about garmin and my personal experience hasn't been that good and Garmin is expensive so I have ruled out #1.
I have a friend who swears by Tom Tom and it is less expensive than Garmin but it won't accept GPX tracks.
I have decided on the phone option. I was going to get a used Kyocera phone but after some research decided on a Samsung Xcover Pro. I got one on Ebay for $71. Then I needed to figure out how to mount it. I researched this for a while and went with RAM mounts. I got the Ram Quick Grip with all the hardware to mount it to a motorcycle handlebar. I also got a second ball mount that could be attached to a mirror stem. I needed this for my Vespa which has no exposed handlebar.
I have used this now a few times using google maps. I don't have service for my phone so i downloaded Google Maps for my area and us it offline.
My next step is to figure out which GPS app to use to be able to download and follow GPX tracks.
I researched this and the recommendations I got are to use Locus or Osmand. Research also shows it is possible to do this with Google maps.
I downloaded Locus 4 and so far I'm not impressed.
That's where I am right now. Any advice would be appreciated.