UKC

Hi Guys

Just made a very expensive impulse purchase (although I got a big discount) of a Garmin Edge 800 Bike GPS.

So far I have signed up to Garmin Connect (web based) and downloaded garmin Training Centre (PC based) - is one better than the other or are they complimentary and different.

Also I believe there is a programme called basecamp I can download for planning routes - do I get this from the garmin site?

Ive also had a brief look at GPX files on the MBR site but a little confused as to the varyinh g formats:
GPX Track
GPX Route
Garmin Course CRS
Garmin Course TCX

What are the differencves and advantages please?

Anything else I need to know - useful websites, downloadable software, sources for downloadable routes and anything else a thick and naive newbie needs to know?

Cheers

David

In reply to David Hooper: Hi David, so you actually bought it then!


I can recommend mapmyride.com for route planning.
Mapyx Quo now has free open source maps for use if you download the program for free.

I would assume the formats just descern the source of the GPX i.e. the Track is a GPX created by the device when it is logging your ride, the Route is what you create to upload onto the device. Im not certain what the CRs or TCX formats are though I suspect that they are just garmin specific GPX files that can easily be converted into other formats such as GPX with the help of GPSvisualizer.com or similar.

Hope that helps

Regards

Anthony

In reply to higherclimbingwales:
Yup - £80.00 discount

Ill check out Mapmy ride

We should get out some time?

Cheers

David

In reply to David Hooper:

You can get basecamp here http://www.garmin.com/garmin/cms/us/onthetrail/basecamp If you have mapping on your edge thn you can see it in basecamp without having to install the maps on your computer.

Track is generally a recording of what you have done. i.e. the track you actually followed, rather than the route you planned. Can contain thousands of points. Route is a pre planned set of (way)points that you navigate point to point. A route gnerally is limited in the number of points it can have, which is why Garmin invented courses. A course is also a set of pre planned points that you follow, except you can have special icons for hills, or water / food stops, or turn directions etc. A course can also have thousands of points so is very good for long or complexs rides you are planning.

tcx and crs are just different Garmin file formats. TCX can contain courses, track or routes or all three. A CRS can only contain courses and is a smaller file size. GPX is a universal GPS file exchange format compatible across virtually all GPS. Your EDGe will record the track in GPX format.

Training centre is the older software and hasn't been developed since they started Garmin Connect (which followed the motion based site). A beta for Training centre came out last month but it is looking dated. I use training centre because thats all there was when I got my edge 305 aeons ago, and it also stores the data on you computer. I use Garmin connect occassionally if I want to share a ride I'm planning or hav done.

Good websites to checkout

BikeRoute Toaster
GPSies
Open Street Map and Open Bike Map

Look out for the open source software Golden Cheetah - very good.

In reply to PaleMan: Thanks Paleman - I can see this is going to be a steep learning curve

I use Garmin connect in conjunction with RideWithGPS. I swear by it!