RideWithGPS

You guys make a lot of good arguments for a separate bike computer, and maybe someday I'll spring for one. But for now, Specialized app on phone on bar with later ride export to RideWithGPS does everything I need, and a range extender (about the same price) is a much higher spending priority.

For sure, if your phone works for you thats totally great! Its an additional thing to spend money on. Everyone will probably have a phone with them anyway (I always do) so if the phone works you're saving yourself effort and expense.
 

6zfshdb

Thanks for that information,
have you tried it in heavy over head tree cover, tall pine trees etc?

I had problems in Idaho/hunting with the Honda ATV picking up
sat coverage, (60csx) due to the OEM ant, I had to go to the external ant and the problems were solved.

I also see that you can't add an external ant on the 67 series?
Tia
 
You guys make a lot of good arguments for a separate bike computer, and maybe someday I'll spring for one.
Jeremy, in case you would actually need a computer, your choice is limited to a Wahoo ELEMNT (the only brand that can recognise the Specialized SL Range Extender). I greatly recommend the new Wahoo Roam 3 because of its pretty big screen and a pretty big battery as well as the touch screen plus large ergonomic buttons. (Wahoo ACE is an abomination, Wahoo Bolt 3 is too small!) I stick to my Wahoo Roam 2 as it has everything I need!
 
Jeremy, in case you would actually need a computer, your choice is limited to a Wahoo ELEMNT (the only brand that can recognise the Specialized SL Range Extender). I greatly recommend the new Wahoo Roam 3 because of its pretty big screen and a pretty big battery as well as the touch screen plus large ergonomic buttons. (Wahoo ACE is an abomination, Wahoo Bolt 3 is too small!) I stick to my Wahoo Roam 2 as it has everything I need!
Very helpful. My last bike computer, some 30 years ago, was like an abacus compared to current offerings and their bewildering arrays of features, options, and compatibilities. Selection problem solved!

Now I just need someone to help the CFO understand why I need to spend this additional $465 on my bike. I'll send you her number by PM.
;^}
 
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6zfshdb

Thanks for that information,
have you tried it in heavy over head tree cover, tall pine trees etc?

I had problems in Idaho/hunting with the Honda ATV picking up
sat coverage, (60csx) due to the OEM ant, I had to go to the external ant and the problems were solved.

I also see that you can't add an external ant on the 67 series?
Tia
Yes, I've used the Montana 700i in densely forested areas without an external antenna. The unit will accept one, but I've never needed it. The valleys here in the east aren't as severe as those in Idaho though, so I can't vouch for performance out that way.
No, The 67csx does not have the capability to use an external antenna.
 
Deal!

Very generous. Now all I have to do is study up enough to convince you that you absolutely, positively MUST have a Roam 3 without delay.
;^}
Jeremy, there is a dilemma... Despite my conservative views, my guilty pleasure is owning "the latest & greatest" :D I secretly consider buying the "abomination", "the brick" or a Wahoo ACE :D I only think it is too big too look good on my Vado SL :) But that wind sensor! Ah!

P.S. Not. It must be a Wahoo 3. The ACE wouldn't fit the Redshift Shock Stop Computer Mount :)
 
Jeremy, there is a dilemma... Despite my conservative views, my guilty pleasure is owning "the latest & greatest" :D I secretly consider buying the "abomination", "the brick" or a Wahoo ACE :D I only think it is too big too look good on my Vado SL :) But that wind sensor! Ah!

P.S. Not. It must be a Wahoo 3. The ACE wouldn't fit the Redshift Shock Stop Computer Mount :)
Geez, you had to go and complicate things again! An airspeed sensor would be lots of fun.
 
The improbable Canadian hit TV show Air Disasters (16 seasons!) documented a deadly jetliner crash due the pilot's putting undue reliance on his faulty airspeed indicator. Turns out a mud dauber wasp had built a nest inside one of the plane's pitot tubes.

Maybe I'm better off not knowing airspeed.
 
The improbable Canadian hit TV show Air Disasters (16 seasons!) documented a deadly jetliner crash due the pilot's putting undue reliance on his faulty airspeed indicator. Turns out a mud dauber wasp had built a nest inside one of the plane's pitot tubes.

Maybe I'm better off not knowing airspeed.
I watched the Mentour Pilot videos on YouTube until he decided to become a pro Youtuber and his programmes became too long and boring... Watched his own coverage of the same air disaster.

While knowing the indicated airspeed on a ride would be a nice thing, Wahoo engineers made the ACE ridiculously large. It is certainly not for most riders, who care about the weight, at least a little. Wahoo ACE is as big as an older smartphone, making the whole idea silly :) This is where the competition between brands becomes a bad thing (same as replacing Vado SL with the SL 2).
 
Im very torn here, I have dabbled with the idea of a smart watch that will follow a gpx file so I can quickly check the way without stopping, getting my phone out, glasses on.

But...
Its working OK now, I look at the route the night before and memorise the general direction and noteable waypoints.
I can ride quite complicated route constructions because I made it and if you ride it the next day it gets hard wired into your brain.
Ive taken friends on routes Ive done, sometimes months before and I cruise them with ease without needing any gps help at all.
Once in a while I have a Gandalf 'I have no memory of this place'.
I can still remember 60 mile routes in deepest Wales from 30 years ago.

Im worried constant prompting will diminish that skill.
 
Im worried constant prompting will diminish that skill.
Our brains all work a little differently, Charge, but I don’t find that to be the case, at least not any worse than any other diminishing of capacity due to getting older. :) I (and many of us here, I’m sure) was riding and driving around long before GPS was a thing. Speaking for myself, I don’t believe I’ve lost much of my navigation skills by relying on GPS. Actually, I don’t rely on GPS, I just like it as a supplement. For me, having RideWithGPS, specifically, has opened up new trail systems that I can now explore without worrying too much. I get to glom on to what other folks have done before me because the trail maps are created by aggregating the rides that folks do (at least that’s how I understand “crowdsourcing”). Anyway, I love it so far.

Besides, there are all kinds of ways to use these tools. All I currently use is a ride display while I’m riding, and RideWithGPS highlights all the trails around where I am. I haven’t even studied the options to do ride planning, although RideWithGPS now allows a group of cooperating riders to help plan a ride. That sounds really cool to me.
 
Im worried constant prompting will diminish that skill.
For me, at least, turn-by-turn navigation isn't a daily rider kind of thing.

But if I am trying to safely navigate an intricate route or an unfamiliar city it is indispensable. It becomes more so if you are trying to stick to bike infra that is incomplete and poorly connected.

Some of the trips I have taken involved navigating a confusing mess of poorly marked roads on terrain with few visible reference points and often no views of the horizon. If it were an event ride they would have it all marked and probably also have people keeping folks on route. And probably an enormous cue sheet. But it is no problem getting through something like that with turn-by-turn navigation. Without it I doubt most people would even try.

On the other hand, if your route mostly follows a major road or a rail trail I don't see the point.
 
It does leave space for happy accidents, but theres a fine line between a pleasant surprise and the universe is out to get me.
I do find theres an anecdotal sixth sense thats reading clues you cant quite decipher yourself, the amount of times you just feel thats the way and it turns out to be correct, or takes you to something very interesting by sheer luck.
TBH you are probably just pattern recognising the people who built the trails or roads
 
I'm old enough that I remember doing rides with printed cue sheets. :) Circa 2010 with my old edge 305, which didn't do mapping in any way. I would map the ride with RidewithGPS even back then and then type up a cue sheet with the turn mileage to do the ride. I don't think I even had a smart phone then, so I was on my own to figure out where I was going!

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For me, at least, turn-by-turn navigation isn't a daily rider kind of thing.

But if I am trying to safely navigate an intricate route or an unfamiliar city it is indispensable. It becomes more so if you are trying to stick to bike infra that is incomplete and poorly connected.

Some of the trips I have taken involved navigating a confusing mess of poorly marked roads on terrain with few visible reference points and often no views of the horizon. If it were an event ride they would have it all marked and probably also have people keeping folks on route. And probably an enormous cue sheet. But it is no problem getting through something like that with turn-by-turn navigation. Without it I doubt most people would even try.

On the other hand, if your route mostly follows a major road or a rail trail I don't see the point.
Yup, Im mostly referring to off road, navigating busy roads is not the time to be stopping and pondering the way
 
I ditched the bike computers and use my iPhone for it, tracking and GPS using Strava and OnX Offroad. It is mounted to my bars with a Quadlock system, and I also use this on my dual sport motorcycles. I download off-line maps just in case and carry a small aux battery in my pack. It works really well for me, holds up to single track and does it all. The overheat can be an issue but if it is that hot, I am not on the bike at my age.
 

6zfshdb​

Thanks for that info on the Montana 710 series of GPS,
I have been reading up on it and it will fit with what I want also,
I like the external ant, as all my bikes are setup for them.
I am not to sure about the "in Reach" system,
still doing my home work...
Tia,
Don
 
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