Sat Nav ?

[small boy]

Hi All
Can anybody shead some light on a bike rider frindley sat nav (gloves on),uk and to include fance/germany/italy.
Cheers
David

[Pedro]

Garmin Zumo, easy to use

[J.P]

Garmin Zumo 550 covers all of Europe, the cheaper Zumo 500 is just for the uk, but you can at a later stage add extra maps, but they are expensive.
I've used my Zumo 550 extensively across Europe and never had a problem. It's chunky but solid and the ability to pre-plan all your routes on a PC if you like.
I know they've just launched the Zumo 650 or 660 or something in the U.S which is an updated version but also built specifically for bikes. In the UK later this year I guess.

[jimbo696]

Not cheap though the Garmin, isn't it about 500 quid with the mount? Do Halfrauds do a bike one??

[Paivi]

TomTom Rider, as long as you get the new one, as the old one suffered from the pins failing, so after a few weeks, it stopped charging off the bike. With the battery life only about 4h, it was a right pain to use.

[J.P]

Yes, £400-£500 is expensive compared to a lot of others and it all depends on your budget.
Lots of cheaper ones around, have a look at the TomTom ones .

[Rogerg]

think the toms toms also had problems with the mounting brackets - a few of them ended up bouncing down the road.

ps I've got a Zumo - use it with a Scala Rider Bluetooth Headset - works really well & can use your phone on the move too. Works really well in the car too.

[alan c]

i have a tom tom rider 2 and have not had any problems, they are cheaper than the Garmin, depends on budget and how much you are going to use i suppose ?

[Smicker]

I vote for the Garmin Zumo 550 - bike friendly etc. Also, because it has its own battery it's easy to sort out your route for the next day off the bike (say, your hotel room etc) - not possible with some devices. Finally, mine came with the bike mount and also a car mount - dual purpose.

[jimbo696]

My mate had has 550 fall off of his 1098 on Sun, he was doing about 70 mph!!! He called Garmin y'day and they agreed to replace it for 100 pounds....That is decent service I think?

[Smicker]

Lucky him, Jimbo - or unlucky?!

The screw that locks the unit into the cradle is fiddly/small (although it also acts as a security screw). It also requires a special screw driver (supplied) to tighten/loosen. That said, my brother sourced me a replacement screw on the tinter-net (Holland, I think). It has a bigger head, doesn't need a screw driver (finger tighten) and overall is much more user friendly (although offers no security).

[JMo]

If you're looking for a more cost effective option, have a search on ebay for a Garmin 2610 - it's not the latest model, but does everything the Zumo does except have the 3D view (which I find a bit tedious anyway).

It's properly waterproof, very easy to use (even with gloves) and runs the same mapsource/city navigator mapping software as the latest Garmin models, so you upload whichever maps you want (or the whole lot) to it's memory card.

It's basically what BMW (and others) rebranded as their own a few years ago, and is a bullet-proof unit (oi! - no jokes about housebricks Julie or Saz x), and you should be able to pick one up on ebay for around 150 pounds or so, quite often with the bike mounting/power cable included, as many are used on bikes...

Also, I'd recommend the RAM mounting system and cradle for fitting to a bike - much more secure than the OE mounting kits, and not expensive rubbish like Touratech (ahem).

xxx

ps. the only other thing it doesn't have is a built in battery, so you have to hardwire it to the bike (which you would anyway), and use the mains adapter when off it.

[Julie]

If you're looking for a more cost effective option, have a search on ebay for a Garmin 2610 - it's not the latest model, but does everything the Zumo does except have the 3D view (which I find a bit tedious anyway).

It's properly waterproof, very easy to use (even with gloves) and runs the same mapsource/city navigator mapping software as the latest Garmin models, so you upload whichever maps you want (or the whole lot) to it's memory card.

It's basically what BMW (and others) rebranded as their own a few years ago, and is a bullet-proof unit (oi! - no jokes about housebricks Julie or Saz x), and you should be able to pick one up on ebay for around 150 pounds or so, quite often with the bike mounting/power cable included, as many are used on bikes...

Also, I'd recommend the RAM mounting system and cradle for fitting to a bike - much more secure than the OE mounting kits, and not expensive rubbish like Touratech (ahem).

xxx

ps. the only other thing it doesn't have is a built in battery, so you have to hardwire it to the bike (which you would anyway), and use the mains adapter when off it.

but is MASSIVE! and HUGE and MASSIVE

http://www.promosxchange.com.au/images/LL070s.jpg

here is a photo of the garmin - as you can see it has three simple buttons on the top - which is easy to use with your gloves on like jenny says.

[Willobs]

Just fitted a Zumo 550 from http://www.mynewcheap.co.uk/products/search/?qry=zumo+

The whitebox version is £399, These are reboxed units which have had things missing from the original box. They come in a branded Garmin White box with no pretty pictures but other than that they are identical to the normal boxed version. I have to say when I opened the box there was a wealth of goodies, two mount with power (one bike, one car). A RAM Mount kit, a main cable, USB lead and case.

Tried it out on my ride to work today, very impressed with its speed of calculation/recaclulation also the pairing with my Scala and iPhone are great. I can dial numbers from my Address book on the unit screen (wasn't expecting that).

Willobs

[JMo]

but is MASSIVE! and HUGE and MASSIVE

http://www.promosxchange.com.au/images/LL070s.jpg

here is a photo of the garmin - as you can see it has three simple buttons on the top - which is easy to use with your gloves on like jenny says.

Oi!

(good gag, good gag about the buttons though x)

xxx