Simplest GPS computer with turn by turn navigation and street names?

[Sophie777]

I am looking for the simplest GPS bike computer, but with turn by turn navigation and street names on its maps.

I don't need any of the data fields - I just need the turn by turn navigation, to ride in city streets.

The simplest (and cheapest) I've found is the Garmin Edge Explore.

Is one aware of anything simpler?

I thought about the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt V2 - but review videos on YouTube seem to show that street names on its maps are not displayed.

Thanks ahead for any of your inputs / experiences!

 

[flash]

For city riding, why not just get a phone mount like a Quadlock? Most of these devices like a phone connection anyway and frankly, if I had to rely on my Garmin 830 for turn by turn I'd probably end up using it as a skipping stone. Nothing beats a larger screen for turn by turn.

Gordon

 

[Sophie777]

For city riding, why not just get a phone mount like a Quadlock? Most of these devices like a phone connection anyway and frankly, if I had to rely on my Garmin 830 for turn by turn I'd probably end up using it as a skipping stone. Nothing beats a larger screen for turn by turn.

Gordon

Thanks so much for your reply!!

I am hesitant to use my phone, as it is much more expensive than the Garman Edge Explore, for instance.
I am also reading that for turn-by-turn navigation, a dedicated GPS unit is more accurate.

Finally the battery on a GPS unit will last much longer than a phone (again, at least what I'm reading).

 

[flash]

Thanks so much for your reply!!

I am hesitant to use my phone, as it is much more expensive than the Garman Edge Explore, for instance.
I am also reading that for turn-by-turn navigation, a dedicated GPS unit is more accurate.

Finally the battery on a GPS unit will last much longer than a phone (again, at least what I'm reading).

No. Your phone’s built in GPS is just as accurate. As for battery, maybe. But a 20$ battery pack will fix that.

If you’re worried about damaging the phone there are plenty of solutions available like Pelicases and Otter boxes.

Gordon

 

[Happydog]

I have a beeline Moto that I use on the motorcycle and also the bicycle. I paid £150 but you can get a cycle specific beeline velo which should be a bit cheaper.

It's not the most high tech of devices and works in conjunction with your phone but is definitely worth a look.

 

[Sophie777]

I have a beeline Moto that I use on the motorcycle and also the bicycle. I paid £150 but you can get a cycle specific beeline velo which should be a bit cheaper. View attachment 68488

It's not the most high tech of devices and works in conjunction with your phone but is definitely worth a look.

That's interesting!!
But would you know if that also works for Canada?

 

[Happydog]

That's interesting!!
But would you know if that also works for Canada?

It uses the GPS on your phone and connects via Bluetooth through the beeline app. I have used it on my motorcycle around Europe and also once when I rented a motorcycle in Japan.

 

[Sophie777]

Okay, thanks!! That's helpful!!

 

[pampmyride]

Small phone - cubot kingkong mini £90?. free maps app. I use Great Britain Topo maps. Back -up battery £3, Alloy phone mount - ebay etc from £4. No phone chip needed. Cache maps from wi-fi.... and off you go! proper mapping on view. Routes plotted on other devices can be followed too.

 

[VWsurfbum]

I am looking for the simplest GPS bike computer, but with turn by turn navigation and street names on its maps.

I don't need any of the data fields - I just need the turn by turn navigation, to ride in city streets.

The simplest (and cheapest) I've found is the Garmin Edge Explore.

Is one aware of anything simpler?

I thought about the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt V2 - but review videos on YouTube seem to show that street names on its maps are not displayed.

Thanks ahead for any of your inputs / experiences!

The Edge Explore is the best solution. if you ride with headphones and music, if you're connected to your phone you'll also get audio to tell you to turn left and right etc. When i'm using that I go through the Komoot App on my Edge and Phone, really simple like a car sat nav.

 

[Growmac]

No. Your phone’s built in GPS is just as accurate. As for battery, maybe. But a 20$ battery pack will fix that.

True, but absolutely not true. The antenna will be less sensitive, so much more affected by tree cover for example. Phones have also get very aggressive about battery management recently. Strava no longer hoses your battery in two hours, but if you compare the same ride on an iPhone and a Garmin, the latter trace will be far smoother and track the trails far better, evidenced by any sections that you repeat.

Phones have many advantages, as you say, but in terms of signal, accuracy, and battery, a dedicated unit is superior.

 

[Gary]

You might be surprised.


The biggest difference between smart phone GPS accuracy and a dedicated cycle GPS is generally that the rider has the GPS mounted to the bars facing up with an unobstructed view to the sky whereas most smart phone users tend to keep their phone in a pocket or bag.

obviously not all smartphone GPS chips, antennas or indeed software is equal... but don't be fooled into thinking that mean they're all worse than the hardware and software used in dedicated cycle GPS units.

GPS tracking is handy and helpful for biking and may even help you in an emergency situation but don't get hung too up on accuracy between devices, And if you want accuracy to so you can compare your times against others when riding your bike you need to get off Strava and enter an organised timed race.

 

[Sophie777]

The Edge Explore is the best solution. if you ride with headphones and music, if you're connected to your phone you'll also get audio to tell you to turn left and right etc. When i'm using that I go through the Komoot App on my Edge and Phone, really simple like a car sat nav.

I was seriously considering the Edge Explore, but reading the Garmin forums, numerous complaints of very poor battery life: up to 3 hours; not nearly the 12 hours advertised.

Garmin responded saying they fixed the problem with a software update - however, despite that "fix" - complaints of very poor battery life with the Edge Explore persist.

What has been your experience with battery life?

 

[flash]

True, but absolutely not true. The antenna will be less sensitive, so much more affected by tree cover for example. Phones have also get very aggressive about battery management recently. Strava no longer hoses your battery in two hours, but if you compare the same ride on an iPhone and a Garmin, the latter trace will be far smoother and track the trails far better, evidenced by any sections that you repeat.

Phones have many advantages, as you say, but in terms of signal, accuracy, and battery, a dedicated unit is superior.

On top of Gary's points there is also the software configuration to take into account. GPS chips don't run continuously. They do a sample at regular intervals. The closer those intervals the more accurate the track becomes. Dedicated units often track one mark per second for fitness applications and then reduce that for activities like hiking. One mark per minute is not unheard when hiking of and even slower marks can be set to improve battery life.

If you get the devices in the same spot and recording the same number of marks per minute then the results will be very similar. Turn by turn apps generally don't record at one mark per second as they don't need that level of accuracy.

Phones also can be more accurate in urban environments because most of them use AGPS. Assisted GPS means as well as GPS they can use known wifi and cell tower locations to assist with speed and accuracy. For things like tunnels where there is cell signal but no GPS a phone can continue to track with less accuracy compared to nothing for a normal GPS unit.

Finally there's more than GPS available. Systems that use both GPS and GLONASS will generally be more accurate than single system devices.

Gordon

 

[Growmac]

On top of Gary's points ...

I don't actually strongly disagree with either of you, but the fact is that my Garmins both produce a clean, steady trace every time, although Gary's notion that it's because they're on the bar facing the sky is plausible.

I used my iPhone XS on Thursday while my Garmin was on its way to Gary (or at least packed up ready to go) and the trace is noticeably off the trails at times. My max speed was apparently 134.3 km/h! Must be the regular bike eliminating that drag above 25 km/h? That kind of silly spike never happens to me with a real GPS.

All of them are ridiculously inaccurate when it comes to Strava segments though.

 

[VWsurfbum]

I was seriously considering the Edge Explore, but reading the Garmin forums, numerous complaints of very poor battery life: up to 3 hours; not nearly the 12 hours advertised.

Garmin responded saying they fixed the problem with a software update - however, despite that "fix" - complaints of very poor battery life with the Edge Explore persist.

What has been your experience with battery life?

The battery lasts long enough for 10hrs in the saddle following a map, just be sensible with the light, switch it to auto brightness when following a route or just set it to 10-20% brightness during the day. too many people will leave it at 100% and it will only last 3hrs lol

 

[Sophie777]

The battery lasts long enough for 10hrs in the saddle following a map, just be sensible with the light, switch it to auto brightness when following a route or just set it to 10-20% brightness during the day. too many people will leave it at 100% and it will only last 3hrs lol

In a bright sunny day, can you see the screen set at just 10-20% brightness?

 

[Gary]

TBF it's kinda laughable even worrying about Strava segment accuracy when there's clearly zero consistency throughout each leaderboard between which tracking devices are used, where they're placed/stored, GPS signal and current weather/visibility conditions. And that doesn't even begin to take into account what bike each rider was riding. Yeah. it'll give you a nice easy to view guide as to how you're doing against your mates or you're local pro riders but it's not ever going to be super accurate. If you want that it's time to pony up and enter a properly organised race or buy your own timing equipment. But we all already know fine well who's fastest and who's slowest in our riding group without the need for any sort of tracking whatsoever.


Oh.. and I've also experienced a GPS glitch during a local road ride where at one point the Garmin device tracked the route to Spain and back.

 

[Gary]

@Sophie777
Are you looking for a device to track and navigate alll day in the city for messenger work (Deliveroo etc.) or something?
Or just navigating the odd route through the city?
For the former, Google maps on a waterproof phone with a good bar mount and power pack will be way easier to use than any dedicated cycle GPS.

 

[Growmac]

TBF it's kinda laughable even worrying about Strava segment accuracy

100%, and that's before you have ebikes on the normal segments, chipped ebikes etc. All total nonsense. Fun to track your own progress though.

 

[Gary]

I can't remember the last time I even looked at a Strava segment

 

[VWsurfbum]

In a bright sunny day, can you see the screen set at just 10-20% brightness?

Yes, no problem at all. It lights up when coming up to a junction and "Beeps" at 200 yards 100 yards etc.

 

[RickBullotta]

Phone mount. No question at all. Better apps, better screen, better UX.

 

[Sophie777]

@Sophie777
Are you looking for a device to track and navigate alll day in the city for messenger work (Deliveroo etc.) or something?
Or just navigating the odd route through the city?
For the former, Google maps on a waterproof phone with a good bar mount and power pack will be way easier to use than any dedicated cycle GPS.

Yes, leisurely navigating odd routes through the city.

And what you are saying about Google maps - that they beat any dedicated GPS device in terms of ease of use - I think is definitely true, after going through forums on the various devices, whether Garmin, Wahoo, Hammerhead,...
None of these dedicated GPS companies deliver what they promise - their promises and specs are all hype.

I will look for a "cheap" android phone, along with a battery pack - I will go with that. So thanks for your suggestion, and everyone else's as well!!

 

[Gary]

I just tried creating a route from my house to my girlfriends using my Garmin 830 not only did it take absolutely ages to navigate menu after menu and eventually input the two addresses but the garmin couldn't actually find my home from the postcode or address. Then even when I'd added it via saved location the garmin created a route on the worst possible roads.
It's a dumb device (ie. Not intelligent) working from its own data base whereas Google maps are constantly updated with up to date road/traffic information.
Any £50 android phone is a far better tool for route navigation than any the top of the range dedicated cycle GPS units.

 

[Sophie777]

I just tried creating a route from my house to my girlfriends using my Garmin 830 not only did it take absolutely ages to navigate menu after menu and eventually input the two addresses but the gsrmin couldn't actually find my home from the postcode or address. Then even when I'd added it via saved location the garmin created a route on the worst possible roads.
It's a dumb device (ie. Not intelligent) working from its own data base whereas Google maps are constantly updated with up to date road/traffic information.
Any £50 android phone is a far better tool for route navigation than any the top of the range dedicated cycle GPS units.

I think your experience is typical.

 

[Growmac]

Gary's experience is why I wanted to swap to the 530. The dedicated units are great if you're following a route you've planned beforehand on a computer or phone and just sent over. Any aspect of using the maps on the device itself is just woeful. Their own routing is terrible, the interface is terrible, it's just rubbish.

I know I've been the one advocating for a 'real' GPS here, but if you're looking to route dynamically through town, there's definitely nothing beats any phone. I've been using the iPhone - Apple Watch pairing recently. It works well, but only really with Apple Maps. The interface is really limited with Google Maps, and it does eat the battery on both devices. Despite that, it's been great when navigating across London on back streets.

 

[Gary]

A low battery use option for turn by turn navigation would be to simply have your phone in your pocket running google maps app and bluetooth headphones.

 

[Tribey]

Careful with a phone on your bars unless you have an anti-vibration mount.
I'd been using my android phone on the bars, using the ViewRanger app running OS maps, but the vibes killed the phone camera.

 

[Manc44]

How come all these GPS units have big colour screens and cost £200+?

OP said he wants "the simplest" - what about the Sigma ROX 4.0?

That's £70 at Halford's, it has street names, it does turn by turn navigation, battery lasts 25 hours and it's 75 x 45 x 18mm.

I have no idea if GPX files can be imported into that, if not then it's useless to me.