Garmin Edge 820 . Maps questions

[StuR]

Ive currently got an 810 which is great but i want to add an Ebike field.
Im trying to keep my bars as clutter free as possible so seriously considering an upgrade to an 820.
My one concern is the mapping.

Can anyone enlighten me as to the quality of the on board off road maps ?
Can other maps be added ?
(The 820 hasn't got an SD slot )
In particularly interested in quality off road maps for UK as well as French and Swiss Alps

Thanks

 

[mark.ai]

If it's anything like my Edge 1030 then the default maps look ok, but route finding is really poor! Garmin seems to have moved all their default maps over to use OpenStreetMap (OSM)(OpenStreetMap), so the quality of mapping in an area depends on how good OSM is in that particular area. I've noticed where I am that a load of trails are incorrectly tagged for cycling, which means that either routing tries to send you down trails you don't have access to, or it doesn't send you down trails that it should.

That's the bad points out of the way - but there are some positives!

OpenStreetMap is open source, which means anyone who finds a mistake in the mapping can edit it and make a correction. When the maps are rebuilt (by Garmin, maybe a few times a year?) then all the latest changes to OSM will get added to the Garmin version of the maps. So over time, OSM will keep improving. Any fixes you make to the maps in an area are not just good for you, but also good for everyone else using them.

OpenStreetMap recently added tagging for trails where you can indicate a general MTB difficulty for the trail. You can also specify uphill difficulty as well. I've been adding some of these locally as well as fixing errors I notice.

There are plenty of other versions of OSM maps (some free, some not) which you can copy onto your Garmin and use instead (provided there is enough space free on the device). These other versions can be tuned for particular activities like MTBing. You install the maps into Basecamp, and then you use that to install the maps onto your device. Some of the ones I've tried are:

• Talkytoaster - https://talkytoaster.me.uk.
• OpenMTBMap - Openmtbmap.org - Mountainbike and Hiking Maps based on Openstreetmap - Routable Maps for Garmin GPS for outdoor sports. Good information, but I didn't like the appearance. Routing was ok but not the best. From the name you can tell this is aimed mainly at MTBing.
• Freizeitkarte - Freizeitkarte - Overview. My current favourite, with the routing that works best for me (although I still have to check any routes for errors before riding ...). Also has the best appearance for me when using the "small" design (Freizeitkarte - Design)

 

[StuR]

If it's anything like my Edge 1030 then the default maps look ok, but route finding is really poor! Garmin seems to have moved all their default maps over to use OpenStreetMap (OSM)(OpenStreetMap), so the quality of mapping in an area depends on how good OSM is in that particular area. I've noticed where I am that a load of trails are incorrectly tagged for cycling, which means that either routing tries to send you down trails you don't have access to, or it doesn't send you down trails that it should.

That's the bad points out of the way - but there are some positives!

OpenStreetMap is open source, which means anyone who finds a mistake in the mapping can edit it and make a correction. When the maps are rebuilt (by Garmin, maybe a few times a year?) then all the latest changes to OSM will get added to the Garmin version of the maps. So over time, OSM will keep improving. Any fixes you make to the maps in an area are not just good for you, but also good for everyone else using them.

OpenStreetMap recently added tagging for trails where you can indicate a general MTB difficulty for the trail. You can also specify uphill difficulty as well. I've been adding some of these locally as well as fixing errors I notice.

There are plenty of other versions of OSM maps (some free, some not) which you can copy onto your Garmin and use instead (provided there is enough space free on the device). These other versions can be tuned for particular activities like MTBing. You install the maps into Basecamp, and then you use that to install the maps onto your device. Some of the ones I've tried are:

• Talkytoaster - Talkytoaster.
• OpenMTBMap - Openmtbmap.org - Mountainbike and Hiking Maps based on Openstreetmap - Routable Maps for Garmin GPS for outdoor sports. Good information, but I didn't like the appearance. Routing was ok but not the best. From the name you can tell this is aimed mainly at MTBing.
• Freizeitkarte - Freizeitkarte - Overview. My current favourite, with the routing that works best for me (although I still have to check any routes for errors before riding ...). Also has the best appearance for me when using the "small" design (Freizeitkarte - Design)

Thanks @mark.ai for a massively comprehensive answer
Much appreciated