Adventure Bike Rider Forum

As the title says really, not ridden for a few years and like the idea of something to keep me on the straight and narrow as it were. I’m looking for something that follows trails and can possibly have a route programmed with limited ability.

Virge

Hello Virge, most seem to use a Garmin Montana for green lanes, I have the Montana 600loaded with UK OS mapping, I believe there are newer versions out now.
Its robust and waterproof and can deal with tracks and routes, though it does mean using Garmin Basecamp software to manipulate the tracks/routes which I find absolute crap but others seem to get along with it

hello there for UK trailriding the go to map what is shown on your screen really needs to be something Ordnance Survey (OS) based, most mobile phones have this capability probably at a cost, some Garmin units do aswell also at a cost, Garmin names their map product "discoverer" there may be other GPS suppliers that have this capability too I know there were but unsure if they are current. As said already many people use the Garmin Montana series they are tough and reliable but pretty old line although there is a line of evolutions. Many people are also going down the mobile phone direction, which probably is the future, but for myself I would be using a second or spare. A lot of us prefer to create our route in advance on a computer and load that on to the device as opposed to using the device itself although that is of course possible, As mentioned already Garmin Basecamp is an example of a plateform for this, but there are many others and many others that are compatible with eg, montana's . It appears the most popular format for recording, passing on information is a GPX file. which I beleive is Garmin too, you may be able to see a theme here, all this stuff can almost become a hobby in it self. I am a long time Garmin user Montana being one of them and also the Marmite like basecamp. If that confuses you more I apologise, if I can help further please ask and I will try, if you think a few pics would help I could probably do that too.

i use satmap 20 been good so far worth a look

I’ve just upgraded from SatMap active 12 to the active 20. Pleased so far.

Zumo XT is the new SatNav

I know little about

johnnyboxer wrote: ↑Fri Jul 24, 2020 8:32 pm Zumo XT is the new SatNav

I know little of this unit a quick question to aid the OP mainly is it capable of running OS based map in RAR format off a SD card as the montana's etc? my Zumo 550 does not. If not does the XT have another method of running OS type mapping. IMO OS type mapping is critical for UK trailing I know we use alternative's outside the UK .

bikenav wrote: ↑Sat Jul 25, 2020 10:08 am I know little about

johnnyboxer wrote: ↑Fri Jul 24, 2020 8:32 pm Zumo XT is the new SatNav

I know little of this unit a quick question to aid the OP mainly is it capable of running OS based map in RAR format off a SD card as the montana's etc? my Zumo 550 does not. If not does the XT have another method of running OS type mapping. IMO OS type mapping is critical for UK trailing I know we use alternative's outside the UK .

XT uses Garmin Topo mapping, search YTube and there are plenty of video 's on the XT and how it works, what mapping etc

Some people are swapping from Montana to XT, for offroad, so must be happy with the performance

Problem with the Montana's I have seen is that the screen is so small and is just a screeshot of OS mapping, so loses definition

I haven't got an XT yet, but people say it is better (ex Montana users)

johnnyboxer wrote: ↑Sat Jul 25, 2020 10:26 am

bikenav wrote: ↑Sat Jul 25, 2020 10:08 am I know little about

johnnyboxer wrote: ↑Fri Jul 24, 2020 8:32 pm Zumo XT is the new SatNav

I know little of this unit a quick question to aid the OP mainly is it capable of running OS based map in RAR format off a SD card as the montana's etc? my Zumo 550 does not. If not does the XT have another method of running OS type mapping. IMO OS type mapping is critical for UK trailing I know we use alternative's outside the UK .

XT uses Garmin Topo mapping, search YTube and there are plenty of video 's on the XT and how it works, what mapping etc

Some people are swapping from Montana to XT, for offroad, so must be happy with the performance

Problem with the Montana's I have seen is that the screen is so small and is just a screeshot of OS mapping, so loses definition

I haven't got an XT yet, but people say it is better (ex Montana users)

That new xt looks good, a well overdue update for the montana user.

Bikenav, it looks like you can install osm maps on a micro sd card just like on a montana, don't know about uk os maps though.

A useful review here




To the op, there are several good apps for smartphones, I've had a brief go with Osmand and viewranger, Osmand has some nice features imho.

Whether you go down the Garmin route or smartphone app one there is a degree of learning involved which can be daunting to some, I know it took me a little while to get to grips with my Montana but once learned there's no going back , they're a great bit of kit

Nico-D wrote: ↑Sat Jul 25, 2020 11:02 am took me a little while to get to grips with my Montana but once learned there's no going back , they're a great bit of kit

This is so true, i nearly chucked my Montana away several times at first but now I wouldn't be without it. You need to stick at it to get the best out of it.
I use city navigator for road use , OS mapping for trail riding and OSM mapping for Europe. You can do it all on a Montana.