
On-bike GPS navigation - jseliger
https://slate.com/technology/2018/04/on-bike-gps-navigation-is-enabling-a-new-era-of-adventure.html
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amanzi
Bikepackers have been using on-bike GPS navigation for years. These newer
devices just make it a bit easier to create routes by linking directly to your
smartphone. The eTrex series of GPS from Garmin are more popular for long,
multi-day rides because they run off AA batteries.

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aphextron
This is an ad. Bike computers are just really expensive single purpose
smartphones.

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eesmith
And smart phones are really just hand-held computers.

I don't think "just" is appropriate. How many smart phones can handle rain or
snow? How many support both GPS and GLONASS? How many have the UI (both screen
and buttons) which fit with the needs of what many cyclists want?

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plorkyeran
I've used both dedicated bike computers and an iphone mounted on my handlebars
in a waterproof case, and the only upside I noticed to the dedicated device
was that it didn't drain my phone's battery. The UI wasn't any better and both
were fine in the rain.

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eesmith
You are right. I researched this now and the details that were important when
I last bought a GPS are now no longer relevant.

Other than battery life, some of the reasons people prefer a dedicated unit
are: better aerodynamics than a smartphone+case, support for ANT+ sensors,
more rugged in the face of falls (even for a smartphone in case), more easily
controlled by hands in a bicycle glove, and the ability to still have phone
service even if the GPS battery is exhausted.

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briga
Minor nitpick: GPS doesn't enable adventure. If anything, having constant GPS
guidance takes away from the adventure. Many of my best memories while biking
have happened because I got a bit lost and stumbled upon something neat in a
place I wasn't expecting to go. Same goes for road trips.

But that's just me being a Luddite. For now I think I'll stick to my phone's
GPS if I need a map.

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eesmith
Minor nitpick, GPS _does_ enable experience for some people.

My riding partner has difficulty with converting the absolute direction of
maps into relative left/right terms, and prefers GPS turn-by-turn guidance.

I go on cycle camping trips. I get lost most often when I go through cities,
because I find it hard to keep attention on the map, pay attention to the
traffic, and take in what I'm cycling through, all at the same time. I am
tempted by a turn-by-turn GPS so I don't, for the n-th time, have to stop and
redetermine my position and bearing.

That is not an adventure.

I have been "lost", in the sense of not being where I thought I was, and being
further off the route of where I planned to go, many times. So far _none_ of
them have resulted in an adventure.

Nor have none of them been of the sort described in this article, where
getting lost near sunset increased the risk of hypothermia.

What has resulted in an adventure is looking at a different route, wondering
"where does this go?", and taking it - knowing that I have enough mapping
technology with me to both see that it might be an interesting route, and not
get more than temporarily lost.

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hprotagonist
I normally use ridewithGPS and a cheap head unit for brevets -- but i carry
cue sheets, too.

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karag
so this journalist used a gps and it was great experience? great story!!

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eesmith
Ummm, no. This journalist used a different type of GPS-based mapping system
and found it was a better experience for the types of activities she does.

