- I absolutely love gadgets, from iPhones
to wireless speakers to fitness trackers.
But when it comes to riding my bike,
I like to keep it fairly simple
and go almost acoustic almost all of the time.
But one thing I do take advantage of is GPS.
But why is it so good for mountain bikers?
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You can find GPS functions on most new mobile phones
and bike computers,
so hopefully these tips are going to help you out.
In this case, I'm using Garmin devices
as they are a partner here at GMBN.
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You can find GPS in loads of day-to-day items nowadays
from your mobile phone to your car of course.
The emergency services use it
to pinpoint exactly where you are.
Google Earth of course for mapping facilities.
But why is a global positioning system useful
for a mountain biker?
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At any moment in time, your computer is connected
to at least three satellites
that triangulate your exact position.
Now these GPS units have become much more affordable
in the last 10, 15 years, meaning
that it's really easy to get a computer
or a watch that does all this stuff for you
to give you super accurate data that you can use.
You don't have to go too far back
to find those original bike computers.
Do you remember the ones where you stuck it
on your handlebar and you probably had a wire
that went down your fork leg and then a magnet going
around your wheel?
Although you could get wireless ones.
And they gave you really basic information
like speed, distance, how long you'd been riding,
possibly average speed, so super simple stuff
for tracking your ride.
But the way that GPS does this means you don't have
to calibrate your wheel size anymore.
Just the position
of this computer will give you an awful lot
of information that is super useful.
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The first big difference from the old-school computers is
that now you know exactly where you are at any time.
You can plan routes online or really look
at the mapping on your computer.
So you can follow a big, long route and really not get lost.
So here at GMBN, we use our partner brand Komoot
to plan those rides on the software,
send it over to our Garmin computer, and away you go!
All you do is follow that turn-by-turn navigation.
So there's no getting lost in a field anymore,
getting out your old OS map out in the rain
and trying to work out where you are.
Although there is still a bit of fun in doing that.
These things make riding for big days out
or even big days in a row super, super easy.
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Now I know there will be some people screaming
at their computer or TV now saying,
"I hate all this gadgets and all these data,
"things that I don't need for a bike ride!"
And I get you.
I don't always take my GPS out with me.
I do like to go old school sometimes and just go for a ride.
But I have done that with a computer before,
gone for a big old ride, decided I'm really tired,
and then just hit the get me home button
and it will find a nice, easy route
for getting me back without completely bonking
or losing the will to live.
So there is a time and a place
for a computer for most riders.
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And one of the biggest advantages
for mountain bikers of knowing exactly
where you are other than route finding is now the ability
to take part in imaginary races.
So things like Strava or even racing yourself
on a section that you've set on your computer means
that people can turn a normal ride
into something that's a bit of a challenge.
So I know millions of people love Strava
for putting in a section and racing everyone
who rides it down there and it is brilliant.
It can really turn a casual ride
into something where you really push yourself.
And I definitely do it as well.
But also you can use it for training.
So often I'll sort of know my nearest hill
and in the springtime when I'm really trying
to get fit, I'll try and beat my own times up that hill.
So knowing exactly where you are
on this planet can have other benefits
as well as route finding.
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Now there's varying degrees of nerdiness
for how much you want to get into these sort
of location data-based apps like Strava
or using the route finding apps.
For some people, Strava is the be all end all
of every ride they go on.
For me it's not.
I do occasionally look for a bit
of sort of some personal satisfaction
if I can beat someone else's time, but rarely to be honest.
I'm more into getting nerdy on things like Google Maps
and on Komoot in winter for trying
to find new places to ride or you know plan those big,
epic rides which we've done a bit of recently.
Me and Blake went on the Ridgeway,
all planned out by myself on Komoot.
So I really do get into doing that.
And however much you're
into these things will determine the sort
of the GPS device you go for.
How many features do you need
or you think you'll want to use?
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Most GPS units will also have the ability
to add on extra bits and bobs, other gadgets.
And I do use some of these for training.
So something like a heart rate monitor.
If I'm going for a big ride, I probably will use that.
And that'll connect wirelessly
to my Garmin, same as a power meter.
Now I have one of those on my cross-country bike.
Again I mean I'm not probably the best person
for that sort of thing.
I don't go super in deep on the power numbers.
But I do get a bit curious and occasionally like
to see if I've upped my FTP, see if my training is working.
There's other things, things like lights
that you can wirelessly connect
to your head unit so you can control your light.
That's probably useful for commuters and people like that.
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The fully up-to-date GPS computers will
probably let you add different apps
to them as well like our Garmin.
So I've got Komoot on here for those,
well, syncing my routes across.
I've got something called Wikiloc.
I don't know what that is; I've never used that.
I've also got Trailforks and Strava Route.
So super useful, Trailforks is
for maybe when you're in bike parks for finding
out where those trails are you want to ride.
Same with Strava Routes, probably better suited
to road riding, but there's definitely ways
of customizing your GPS unit to really make it work
for what you need it for.
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Route finding and ride tracking are
probably the two main reasons
for using a GPS device on a bike.
But there are some added extras as well,
something like the incident detection
that you get on Garmin.
So in the event of a crash, basically,
this will use a GPS to see if you're still moving
and also an accelerometer.
If there's a really big hit and then you stay
in the same place for a while,
that is probably going to trigger the incident.
So you turn this on and off but what
that will do in the case of my computers is send a message
to a loved one at home.
So you can turn this on off like I said
and even set up who it's going to send the message to.
So this could be really useful
and potentially save your life in a big incident.
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There's also a nice feature to set a bike alarm on this.
So just using your head unit, set the bike alarm,
and if anyone moves the bike, the computer will know
and will send you a text and the bike's location.
There's also a way of integrating your ebikes
into this as well.
So you can see power level, what mode you're riding in.
So there's definitely a few other extra useful things
when it comes to getting the right bike computer.
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It's fair to say that modern GPS computers
for riding bikes are absolutely packed
with different features.
And of course you can buy different models as well
from the larger screen units that are really good
for navigating, having big, useful maps,
to smaller ones or even GPS watches
where you have a lot of the same features,
but probably a smaller face on there compared
to most GPS units.
And I do like to keep track of the rides I've been doing.
Whilst I don't get super crazy
into number crunching of power and heart rate,
things like that, I do like
to see the training effect that bigger rides have had.
So maybe if I know I've had a long, mellow ride,
it's been good for sort of building my base fitness.
And now the next time might be worth going
for a shorter, faster paced ride.
Also you know you do see lots of mountain bikes
out in the woods with you know GPS units.
You often hear people talking KOMs,
things like that, on Strava.
So they're super popular for mountain bikers.
And your phone can do it.
Most phones nowadays do have GPS.
They're in there so lots of people use them for Strava.
Although you might find that they're not going to be quite
as accurate as the GPS you find on one of these units.
And of course, you got to ride
with your phone in your pocket.
Not everyone likes to do that.
And I wouldn't necessarily want
to put my phone on the bars for navigating.
But it's worth shopping around,
looking at what you need from a GPS unit
to suit your style of riding.
Don't forget if you're thinking
about planning your own epic rides,
then why not look at the GMBN Komoot profile
for some inspiration?
There's a lot of UK-based rides in there,
but there's also Iceland.
There's the day from BC bike race.
So hopefully that'll inspire you.
And if you want to see a couple more videos
where we use our Garmin devices,
me and Blake, or myself and Blake should I say,
compare each other's flow and try
and improve on our own flows,
then click down there for that one.
And for Blake sending it on A-line
with the CUBE Actionteam, up there for that one.
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