shivia Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Hi all. Two simple questions. PN-40 has Canada, topo or street, map; specially Quebec province map? And is there a very good unit for ROAD bicycle trip uses (not mountain bike)? I very appreciate your opinions, thanks. Quote Link to comment
+randyrucker Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Hi all. Two simple questions. PN-40 has Canada, topo or street, map; specially Quebec province map? And is there a very good unit for ROAD bicycle trip uses (not mountain bike)? I very appreciate your opinions, thanks. I don't think the PN-40 has any Canada maps. Quote Link to comment
kchunks Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 A lot of GPS units have handlebar mounting brackets in the $10-$25 mark. If it works on a mountain bike it will work on a road bike. For bike trips you will most likely want something that has the buttons on the front of the GPS like the DeLorme or a Garmin that is NOT the etrex series as they have buttons on the side. But, some people like using an etrex on a bike. Looking at a manufacturer's web page in addition to a retailer like Amazon/REI/Walmart or any that allows customers to leave reviews and you should be able to find a bracket and how well it works. Can't help with your map questions. Quote Link to comment
shivia Posted February 22, 2009 Author Share Posted February 22, 2009 I own presently a 60csx, works fine as all of you know. But i want "renew" my gps. I'm checking for Oregon series. But, I heard very good reviews for PN-40 but it seems they do not have canada maps. Quote Link to comment
+twolpert Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 I own presently a 60csx, works fine as all of you know. But i want "renew" my gps. I'm checking for Oregon series. But, I heard very good reviews for PN-40 but it seems they do not have canada maps. Delorme cartography is pretty much limited to the US. If you plan to use the unit outside the US and need maps, PN-40 is a bad choice (much as I like mine). For an extra $100, you can get the Xmap software. This will allow you to create geo-referenced maps from any suitable image. But it's not something you want to do for areas of any size. Quote Link to comment
DMcKittrick Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 I own presently a 60csx, works fine as all of you know. But i want "renew" my gps. I'm checking for Oregon series. But, I heard very good reviews for PN-40 but it seems they do not have canada maps. Delorme cartography is pretty much limited to the US. If you plan to use the unit outside the US and need maps, PN-40 is a bad choice (much as I like mine). For an extra $100, you can get the Xmap software. This will allow you to create geo-referenced maps from any suitable image. But it's not something you want to do for areas of any size. You're correct that XMap offers in registration tool for creating a map layer from any image however the XMap feature that is most applicable in this case is its ability to read GeoTIFF or MrSID files. These files contain the necessary coordinate and projection information so they don't need to be manually positioned. The Canadian government provides all of the 1:50k and 1:250k maps in GeoTIFF form and they be freely downloaded from the Dept of Natural Resources Web site. XMap (and the PN-40) can read these files. More detailed information is available here. Quote Link to comment
+embra Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 FWIW if one buys XMap, then one can use that to bring in the Delorme Street Atlas data which includes Canadian streets & highways. I don't think they are routable, though. Quote Link to comment
Ken in Regina Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 (edited) I use my eTrex Legend HCx on my mountain bike. Garmin makes an excellent handlebar mount for it. It has wonderful battery life. I have a 2GB microSD card in it with maps from Topo Canada, Metroguide Canada and the excellent free Ibycus topo 2.1. When I go for a ride in the mountains I search the internet for track files and load them up before I go. They are very helpful when I ride in areas I am not familiar with. I don't mind the location of the buttons because I stop if I need to play with the GPS. It's too easy to run into rocks and trees when you are trying to play with the GPS instead of looking where you are going. I find it quite easy to use with light riding gloves and it works great for one hand because the side buttons allow you to squeeze instead of pushing. ...ken... Edited February 23, 2009 by Ken in Regina Quote Link to comment
kchunks Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 There are a few things that I do on the road while riding that I would never try on a mountain bike without stopping first (ie eating, playing with my bike computer, etc). Yes, those things slow me down when I am on the road but I can keep on pedaling while I do it. I can see that using a GPS would be along those lines and if I were to stop then I wouldn't care about where the buttons were. Quote Link to comment
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