Sat Nav on Bikes

I've got a TomTom one, I was going to try using it on the bike using an earpiece (with the actual unit in my pocket) and just using the voice commands to direct me.

Anyone tried this or have any opinions ?

I'm not a fan of the idea of sat nav equipment. Half of the fun of going somewhere is trying to work out how to get there, getting lost and making unplanned detours. For me that's a big part of the 'biking experience'.

There seems to me to be two major problems with the latest fashion for sat nav. Firstly there are those drivers who decide to position their screen in the middle of their windscreens. Call me old fashioned, but I thought the idea of having a windscreen was so you could see through it!

The other thing that concerns me is that it's causing yet more of a dumbing down of driving. People are slavishly following instructions at the expense of their own senses and experience. I'd bet that the bulk of times sat nav is used is for trips to the shops or on known routes.

I'm sure there is real value for some drivers / riders, but I'd suggest they are in a minority.

Anyway, if I wanted someone to tell me which turning to take then I'd get married!

Been tempted by SatNav but I think thats when I was cold and in the middle of winter lost, gettting lost in the sun on a hot day doesnt seem a bad idea

It does annoy me when you see all these cars with their SatNav in the middle of the dash yet they probably all know where they are going, very dumb.

But to the subject, not heard of anyone doing that, most people mount the satnav on their bars somewhere and use some kind of wired or bluetooth connection to listen to instructions

I have a PDA (HP Ipaq 2210) with tomtom 5 installed and I recently purchased a Ram mount (£30 but worth more to me)for it. With an open helmet you could hear the instructions at city commuting speeds and with headphone should be even better. I do not use the headphones and I always check my destination and route in advance before I get on the bike. Provided that you do not have your eyes glued to the GPS and you manage to mount it high enough for it to be nearly in your line of sight I would say it is a great tool at the weekend and at finding addresses. I only mount it when I'm going somewhere I am not familiar with.
Ps - I use a clear sandwich bag to waterproof it.

With my old GPS (Nokia 6600 with tomtom5) and headphones I did find the voice commands to be very clear and useful but I do prefer having a look at the map.

I get lost all the time and it rather anoying, so I'm looking at getting a smart phone with Copilot or something when my contact comes up for review.

Fair points but they do have their uses

TBH I find I only pay any attention to it in the last 2 or 3 miles of the journey just to find the specific address.

Very handy if you're lost and in hurry

Its also pretty handy for finding carparks, petrol stations etc in unfamiliar towns, also alerts you if there are speed cameras ahead as well.

Glad to see this topic come up, last couple of weeks I have been running the Tom Tom Rider on my bike (THanks to some serious slave duties to the wife).

I tend to find it useful if I get myself totally lost or going somewhere I have never been before. I also have the Navman Pin570 (PDA Satnav) which I used to have in my tank bag.

I tend to find that the Tom Tom's gives directions a little late compared to the Navman, and the Tom Tom occasionaly does not give directions, so that I need to glace at the display quick to confirm for example which direction I am going.

In general there not bad, but I think they are over priced, I just have a very loving and understanding wife (or is that suffering? Ah I love ya Daphne if your reading this!). I think the Navman, might have been a little more flexable.

If your interested I can write up a full review (which I was planning this weekend to do) with pictures.

If you have any questions just yell!

Cheers

Rich

Hiya Rich.

I don't know about the "Rider" unit, but doesn't TomTom have a preference somewhere that you can change the distance / time for the announcements. I'm sure it does on the PDA.

Garry

Originally Posted by independentphoto

Hiya Rich.

I don't know about the "Rider" unit, but doesn't TomTom have a preference somewhere that you can change the distance / time for the announcements. I'm sure it does on the PDA.

Garry

I did have a look for that settings but could not see them, likely I am just going blind in my old age!

Rich

Originally Posted by independentphoto

Hiya Rich.

I don't know about the "Rider" unit, but doesn't TomTom have a preference somewhere that you can change the distance / time for the announcements. I'm sure it does on the PDA.

Garry

AFAIK it adjusts the distance itself based on how fast you're travelling, or at least, mine seems to. e.g. If I'm sat in traffic at crawling pace it'll announce a turning in 100yds, if i'm doing, say, 40ish, it'll increase this to 200 or 300yds. On a motorway it's 800yds. I know you can adjust the distance warning to POI's (such as Gatsos - I have mine set at 500yds), but I don't think it works for the directions.