I’m looking for a GPS unit to use on a bicycle. It would primarily be used on a road bike (as opposed to it being for off-road use on a mountain bike). Mostly I want to have something that will prevent me from getting lost when out on a long ride. Less import would be the unit’s ability to record training data, as I can get what I need in that regard from a cheap Cateye cyclometer.

On the shortlist right now is the Garmin Edge 605 and the Garmin GPS 60CSx. The 605 is designed specifically for bicycles and on paper it has exactly the features that I want but user reviews on the internet are a mixed bag (there seem to be a fair amount of disgruntled owners). The 60CSx, on the other hand, seems to get almost universally positive reviews but it’s more of a general purpose GPS than a bicycle-specific design (though mounting hardware is available to put it on a bike). Both units cost about the same amount of money.

I’d be interested to hear if anyone has experience using either of these units for the intended application, and in any comments on their pros and cons.

Edited February 4, 201016 yr by OriginalPoster

Where are you going to buy this GPS and what map are you planning to use?

Where are you going to buy this GPS and what map are you planning to use?

I was going to buy it from Amazon.com in the US and have a colleague hand-carry it over on his next trip. Prices that I've seen in SE Asia have in some cases been almost 2X that of Amazon's price. Don't know exactly what maps I'd be using - from browsing though this forum it appears as there there is more than one Garmin-compatible mapset that covers Thailand and that the popular ones can be downloaded for free from certain internet sites or purchased if you feel so inclined.

Edited February 4, 201016 yr by OriginalPoster

I just bought a HTC phone in fortune and a 100baht bike mount. Not only do I have free GPS road maps, free health fitness s/ware c/o SportyPal I can even answer the phone as well, surf the net or listen to music on it whilst out and about thro the BT headset. All for the price of a Garmin.

I just bought a HTC phone in fortune and a 100baht bike mount. Not only do I have free GPS road maps, free health fitness s/ware c/o SportyPal I can even answer the phone as well, surf the net or listen to music on it whilst out and about thro the BT headset. All for the price of a Garmin.

Which HTC phone did you get?

On the shortlist right now is the Garmin Edge 605 and the Garmin GPS 60CSx.

Where are you going to buy this GPS and what map are you planning to use?

I was going to buy it from Amazon.com in the US and have a colleague hand-carry it over on his next trip.

You should be aware that there are minor issues with the latest ESRI Thailand Street Map v10 when used with Garmin GPS units purchased outside Thailand. To avoid these issues you may want to use a Garmin City Navigator Southeast Asia NT v4.5 map.

Edited February 5, 201016 yr by InterestedObserver

I just bought a HTC phone in fortune and a 100baht bike mount. Not only do I have free GPS road maps, free health fitness s/ware c/o SportyPal I can even answer the phone as well, surf the net or listen to music on it whilst out and about thro the BT headset. All for the price of a Garmin.

Which HTC phone did you get?

I bought a Touch Pro2. The phone came with Garmin software and can use maps from any part of world downloading from net - often mentioned on this forum so no moving maps whilst connected with ISP fees. I prefer however OziExplorer on it also available to use with free Google Maps but you can use whatever mapping software you like. The SportyPal is free for exercise routines. Only worry is phone isn't weather proofed but there are ruggedised boxes for them that I haven't got.

I just bought a HTC phone in fortune and a 100baht bike mount. Not only do I have free GPS road maps, free health fitness s/ware c/o SportyPal I can even answer the phone as well, surf the net or listen to music on it whilst out and about thro the BT headset. All for the price of a Garmin.

Which HTC phone did you get?

I bought a Touch Pro2. The phone came with Garmin software and can use maps from any part of world downloading from net - often mentioned on this forum so no moving maps whilst connected with ISP fees. I prefer however OziExplorer on it also available to use with free Google Maps but you can use whatever mapping software you like. The SportyPal is free for exercise routines. Only worry is phone isn't weather proofed but there are ruggedised boxes for them that I haven't got.

I'm sure that it's a nice device but on Amazon.com unlocked Touch pro2's are going for about US$611 (20,300 Baht) versus about US$308 (10,250 Baht) for a Gamin Edge 605 bicycle GPS. Is the Touch Pro2 substantially cheaper than that when bought in Thailand?

Nothing imported is substantially cheaper when purchased in Thailand.

Nothing imported is substantially cheaper when purchased in Thailand.

In that case, the 20,000 baht price tag would be a deal-breaker for me.

Any way you look at it, the Garmin GPS 60CSx is probably the most popular hand held built. There are other water resistant hand held units available with the Garmin Oregon and Dakota supposedly the new generation. The Oregon and Dakota are touch screens. The Dakota is just a smaller version of the Oregon.

No way would I want to use a phone for a GPS. You will be money not to mention satisfaction ahead using a decent phone in your pocket and a dedicated water shock resistant GPS.

I use the Garmin Forerunner and you can buy it in Thailand for 7000 baht. No moving map, but it has a built in wireless heart rate monitor and paints a cookie crumb trail on the LCD so you can find your way back home. I've been really happy with it, and have added waypoints to it over the years. The heart rate/route downloading features are good in that you can view the data on your home computer. The thing charges back up for 13 hours of use via the USB port when you download your data.

My riding buddy uses the 60CSX and it is substantially bigger, but much more powerful. If you are a computer geek you can search for and download maps that include back-country routes in Thailand. Commercial maps are available too but he has had better luck finding his own.

So for biking, if you want a map, the 60CSX is a great choice. If you don't need a map, I think the Forerunners are great.

I have used my Garmin 60csx on my mountain bike for a long time. It works great and the best thing about is that it uses AA batteries. The bike specific Garmin units come with rechargeable batteries, and that can be a problem in remote places.

Thanks everyone for the information and advice. I've decided to get the Garmin 60CSx.

I had three Garmin units. The hand held was an Etrex Legend. I loaned it to a FORMER friend of mine and it apparently ended up in the UK. In any case, it didn't come back. My favorite was a Street Pilot 2610. Garmin has seen fit to make that unit obsolete. I can no longer update the map. The new NT format maps won't work. I sold the unit to a friend of mine after explaining to him that the map could no longer be updated. The leaves me with a Nuvi 750 which works well.

I am addicted to these devices so I have just ordered a Garmin 60Cx. This is the same unit as the Garmin 60CSx except it doesn't have the electronic compass or barometric altitude function. I should mention the it DOES have a compass and altitude indicator but not the high tech versions. The 60Cx is just a little cheaper. My Thai wife is a farmer and I used the little Etrex to tell her the size of her fields. I can't do that with the Nuvi. The 60Cx can do that. It will also be handy to keep in the glove box when I explore locally.

I now have my new GMAP 60Cx. It does a lot of the things that my Nuvi won't do. I can go to favorite waypoints and the coordinates pop up along with the other options. It finds satellites MUCH faster than my Nuvi although both have the same chip. It also holds the signals MUCH better. Anywhere in my house and I still have the signal. The Nuvi works near windows but moving away from the window gives the signal lost warning.

The belt clip that comes with it can clip to the front basket on the motorbike. It's a great little unit and I highly recommend it. I like a bigger screen for in the car or truck but the 60 Cx can certainly be used for any vehicle.

I by a Nokia 5800 XM whit Ovi Maps a FREE navigator program whit all maps round the globe for free, and the maps for Thailand is much better than Garmins.

I by the phone for 10,500THB and a good holder for bikes on eBay 250THB, then I use a Bluetooth stereo headset under the helmet, nice driving

I now have my new GMAP 60Cx. It does a lot of the things that my Nuvi won't do. I can go to favorite waypoints and the coordinates pop up along with the other options. It finds satellites MUCH faster than my Nuvi although both have the same chip. It also holds the signals MUCH better. Anywhere in my house and I still have the signal. The Nuvi works near windows but moving away from the window gives the signal lost warning.

The belt clip that comes with it can clip to the front basket on the motorbike. It's a great little unit and I highly recommend it. I like a bigger screen for in the car or truck but the 60 Cx can certainly be used for any vehicle.

I finally got my 60CSx and have been playing with it for a day. I learned how to use Mapsource while waiting for the unit to arrive so I thought that I'd hot the ground running. Biggest frustration so far is that I can plot out a route beautifully in Mapsource but when I transfer the route to the 60CSx the 60CSx recalculates it as soon as you try to "navigate" the route (a message saying "calculating" comes up). The problem with that is that the 60CSx seems to use differnt routing algorithms than Mapsource and the calculated routes are often dramatically (and sometime illogically) different than what Mapsource produces. Do you know any way to make the 60CX/CSx acccept Mapsource's routings as-is? Turning off the auto-recalculate in the routings options doesn't seem to have any affect on this, that just seems to prevent the route from getting recalculated again if you go off course in the middle of the route.

Edited March 1, 201016 yr by OriginalPoster

I now have my new GMAP 60Cx. It does a lot of the things that my Nuvi won't do. I can go to favorite waypoints and the coordinates pop up along with the other options. It finds satellites MUCH faster than my Nuvi although both have the same chip. It also holds the signals MUCH better. Anywhere in my house and I still have the signal. The Nuvi works near windows but moving away from the window gives the signal lost warning.

The belt clip that comes with it can clip to the front basket on the motorbike. It's a great little unit and I highly recommend it. I like a bigger screen for in the car or truck but the 60 Cx can certainly be used for any vehicle.

I finally got my 60CSx and have been playing with it for a day. I learned how to use Mapsource while waiting for the unit to arrive so I thought that I'd hot the ground running. Biggest frustration so far is that I can plot out a route beautifully in Mapsource but when I transfer the route to the 60CSx the 60CSx recalculates it as soon as you try to "navigate" the route (a message saying "calculating" comes up). The problem with that is that the 60CSx seems to use differnt routing algorithms than Mapsource and the calculated routes are often dramatically (and sometime illogically) different than what Mapsource produces. Do you know any way to make the 60CX/CSx acccept Mapsource's routings as-is? Turning off the auto-recalculate in the routings options doesn't seem to have any affect on this, that just seems to prevent the route from getting recalculated again if you go off course in the middle of the route.

You must have the same map versions on your GPS and computer. Then you must set your preferences the same, meaning fastest way, shortest way, avoids, etc. I seldom have problems transferring routes but keep in mind that all the mapmakers, in their wisdom no longer offer maps that work with Mapsource.

I find it more reliable with no surprises to create and save custom routes directly on my GPS. With the 60 series hand helds it is pretty easy. Go into Routes, New and enter waypoints. Navigate the route and the GPS will save it. It will always be there.

It will use routing according to how you have your preferences set. I have routes with different routing preferences to the same destination. Going the same way every time is boring.

You must have the same map versions on your GPS and computer. Then you must set your preferences the same, meaning fastest way, shortest way, avoids, etc. I seldom have problems transferring routes but keep in mind that all the mapmakers, in their wisdom no longer offer maps that work with Mapsource.

I find it more reliable with no surprises to create and save custom routes directly on my GPS. With the 60 series hand helds it is pretty easy. Go into Routes, New and enter waypoints. Navigate the route and the GPS will save it. It will always be there.

It will use routing according to how you have your preferences set. I have routes with different routing preferences to the same destination. Going the same way every time is boring.

Part of my problem might be that I'm creating a rather complicated route (a long loop through city streets with lots of turns). The route I came up with in Mapsource wouldn't make any sense at all of you just wanted to go from point A to Point B rather than taking a tour of the city. In that sense it might only be fair that the 60CSx would come up with something different. I'm starting to think that for that type of thing an easier option might be to convert the Mapsource routes into tracks. I found an online tool that seems to do a good job of doing conversions such as that (I couldn't anything inside Mapsource itself to do that but you coan exprt to gpx, convert the file, and then import it back into mapsource).

But anyway... I'm just back from my first on-raod trial with the 60CSx. Took it on a 70km ride though north, west, and central Singapore on a route with lots & lots of turns and road name changes. I have to say that once I succeeded at getting the route that I wanted into it that the unit worked great. From studying the documentation and playing with the unit in my apartment beforehand the unit seemed a bit overly complex but once you get on the road with it it's pretty simple - directions that it gave were clear as a bell. I also had it saved my track at 0.01 mile increments to look after later on my PC - not so sure if that's useful but it's sort of cool to see the speed and altitude that I was at for each point on the course.

The more you use that unit, the more things you will find that it can do. There are normally several ways to set it to do what you want. You can always add waypoints manually, then add them one at a time to create a multi point route.

I hope you enjoy your new versatile high tech gadget as much as I enjoy mine. Last week I visited a friend in Phan. Phan is about 50 km south of Chiang Rai. His Thai wife wanted to buy a piece of property next to her farm. No one knew how many rai were there. I used my 60Cx to measure it. She now knows it is 4.5 rai.