Garmin Zumo v Road Angel

[boboneleg]

OK, before I start I have to admit to being a numpty where these technikal fings are concerned.

Anyway back to the plot.......... I am interested in getting a sat nav for the bike and It needs to be useful for trail riding as well as normal road riding.

Having done some research (I looked on ebay) these two models look useful, does anyone have experience of these two?

I like the look of the Road Angel as it has memory map already loaded but the Zumo is built for bikes so which to go for?

Over to you.................technical people

[steveR]

I like the look of the Road Angel as it has memory map already loaded but the Zumo is built for bikes so which to go for?

Over to you.................technical people

Completely non-techy response, I have a Zumo and like all bits of tekky kit, it has it's problems, admittedly not many! However, it is waterproof and has a good clear screen, I suspect the Angel hasn't! These for me would be the killer!!

I tried my old Navman under a tankbag map cover and it didn't really work. Couldn't see clearly and in the damp, it was a joke as the pocket misted up...!

[Whealie]

I have a Garmin Quest and a recently purchased Road Angel Adventure. They both do different things well so I recently refitted the Garmin alongside the Road Angel. I believe the top of the range Garmin Zumo can do all of the things I want so I will probably sell these two units and buy one.
I have to say I think I will be getting rid of my Road Angel, so if you want to make me an offer, please do. I have the unit with the UK road maps and the National Parks OS maps on one disk, plus another disk with the full European maps. This unit does speed cameras and accident blackspot warnings and so on. I bought the full UK OS maps and, although I have not yet used them on the Adventure, I intend to keep those.
I do, however, have a car holder and two or three handlebar holders for this unit.
The main thing I prefer about the Garmin is the ability to plan routes on the computer and upload and download routes and waypoints. The Road Angel does not allow you to do this. The Garmin acts as a sort of trip computer, giving info on miles covered, mph, trip time and so on, and it stores where you have been. The Road Angel does none of this.
Although the Garmin screen is smaller, it is also easier to read in bright sunlight. You can also connect the Garmin into your Starcom/Autocom but you can't with the the Road Angel.
While in France I tried to change the settings so that it worked in kmph instead of mph and I could not do it. I did not have the instructions with me but a few of us tried and could not work out how to do it - I do not think you can do it.
But if you want to ride round the UK, avoiding speed traps etc, without keeping a record of where you have been, it will work a treat.

[Dee Duble Yuh]

It is possible to set the Zumo to work in kilometres. There's a "settings" option from the "Wrench" menu. My Zumo's not to hand so I can't give the precise details.

British topo maps for the Zumo are horribly expensive. If the Road Angel does this easily I'd go with that. Like most "jack of all trades" it may not be as good for road use as a Zumo though.

[Chad]

had my zumo well over a year now and its been feckin ace and you can get them for a darn sight cheaper now

[boboneleg]

Great replies thanks for the offer Chris but I reaaly want to buy new so that I have warranty cover etc should anything go wrong.

So........... looks like the Garmin for me, Halfords have a good offer on at the moment so I'm off down there now.

cheers, Bob.

[iswoolley]

So........... looks like the Garmin for me, Halfords have a good offer on at the moment so I'm off down there now.

What's the Halfords deal? Current online best I could find was £370 for the Zumo 550 and TMC traffic receiver.

[Buggles]

I got the Zumo 500, only difference is the EU maps don't come pre-loaded on the unit (you need an additional SD card for that). The maps are included on DVD though.

Also, the 550 comes with a car-mount (£89 if you buy it separately), but I don't have a car.

I paid £289 for the 500 2 months ago, and am very pleased with it! I'm sure you can get better deals now.

JB

[jasonbc]

I to was stuck in this prediciment my tomtom 510 is perfect for roadroading but won't do anything for offroading, the software isn't designed for it. Having got all the memory map for the uk on 1:25000 and 1:50000 I have now decided to go for the garmin gpsmap60csx for use on the xr as it has expandable memory slot, is waterproof, takes all maps from memory map and bounces well when dropped.Prices i've seen online anywhere £180 up