Tandem Tom

We have been using our Garmin 800 for a number of years and it has work fine for our cycle tour routes. Our Europe map SD card is about 10years old. Wondering about getting an updated one. Anyone know how to find out when they were last updated?

njkayaker

https://garmin.bbbike.org/

Make sure you use the "Latin" versions (Unicode won't work).

There's no reason to pay for maps.

(Maps get updated all the time (at least yearly).)

Steve B.

Possibly the Open Street Maps are more up to date. DC Rainmaker has details as to how to download and install.

njkayaker

The Openstreetmaps are certainly more up-to-date. Garmin updates their OSM maps roughly twice a year. The free providers have a much higher update frequency.

That talks about a website that is dead. People are now redirected to the link I provided when they go to the site DC Rainmaker talks about.

Installing the downloaded file is generally copying the "img" file to \Garmin folder on the device or SD card on the device. If you have multiple maps, the file can be renamed.

Tandem Tom

I took a quick look at that site. But being tech challenged after I receive the map how do I copy it to a micro SD card?

njkayaker

It's easy (see below). Try it for a small region around your house. One nice thing about some of these sites is you can download just the region you need.

You'll get a *.img file (in a zip file). You can rename this file (keep the "img" part).

Tandem Tom

I see a Latin lite and Latin full. Which one is preferable?

Steve B.

Thank you

njkayaker

"Lite" and "Full" refer to the style of the map (how the map looks). An example image is shown below the list. For these two, there doesn't appear to be much difference (pick another type to see a more drastic difference).

So, to answer your question, it doesn't seem to matter which of these two you use (they will have the same information).

The "Openfietsmap" map favors cycling (it will include cycling paths). So, that's generally a good choice.

All of the "latin" versions will work (though, you might prefer some over the others). (The "unicode" ones won't work at all.)

Tandem Tom

Thanks again! Our internet at home is not working and it will be a few more days. So as I work at a bike shop and we are pretty well caught up I will "play" !!

njkayaker

The site DC Rainmaker referred to was broken for a couple of years. It was a bit of a pain because it kinda looked like it worked. The functionality degraded over time (and even kinda came back somewhat for a while). It took people a fair amount of work to get to redirecting the site to something that works. (People even tried to see if they could take over maintaining the site.)

The maintainer dropped off the face of the earth (which was weird). It wouldn't have been so bad if he put up a "closed for business" page.

It's likely that quite a few people where led to the zombie site by DC Rainmaker's article.

The bbike site is great. There are other fine sites too. I strongly favor sites that let you build maps for custom regions since it's less stuff to copy and more convenient to distribute maps to other people on your trip.

It was a bit easier to pick custom regions in the other site (and one could build bigger custom maps, apparently).

You can buy maps from Garmin but that doesn't include updates. I've update OSM before trips. So, being able to get maps based on fairly current data is useful to me.

njkayaker

It's one of those things might seem odd at first but it will easy for the next go arounds.

Steve B.

When I had an Edge 1000 I ended up buying the Garmin Topo series as I was unable to download the topo version of OSM. I desired topo for gravel riding in Vermont and upstate NY. I was subsequently unable to load those Garmin topo maps to my 1030 but then discovered that you can enable topo features on the installed base map on the 1030, so problem solved. I had to download and install OSM maps on my 810 way back as it only came with a very non detailed base map. I used the DC method to get the OSM maps, this was many years ago.

njkayaker

Topo maps can be an exception (especially for hiking). I find the topo lines useful too.

The 800/810 didn't come with ("real") maps. You could get the "Garmin City Navigator" (CN) maps extra or in a bundle (but these had the "you have to pay for updates" problem). The CN maps were the standard maps Garmin produced for automobiles. Or you could (as you did), download OSM maps.

The "non detailed basemap" comes with every Garmin (even the new ones). The purpose of it is to make rendering (displaying stuff on the screen) faster at very low zoom levels and to provide some sort of context for regions you don't have detailed maps for.

The current Edges come with maps based on OSM. You get updates for any regions you are entitled to. With the 1030+ and newer, you are entitled to world-wide maps. With earlier models, you were only entitled to a "home region" for the device.

There's less and less need for alternative sources for OSM maps but people can still prefer the look of different maps. The alternative sources don't generally (?) have topo lines (you can get overlay maps that provide them).

That one can create and use custom maps for the Garmins is a cool feature (even if not everybody cares). That wasn't by design on Garmin's part: people reverse engineered the format.

Daniel4

Is the OSM site still active? I thought I read somewhere not anymore.

Badger6

The OSM site hasn’t been functional for a couple of years now. Another option is https://www.openfietsmap.nl/home. The site owner updates the BENELUX almost weekly, and Europe every few months…the current Europe wide map sets were last updated on 5 April 2022, just a little more than 3 months ago. The map rendering makes it pretty easy to distinguish where the bike lanes/paths are.

Fentuz

I use the Garmin map and I also use these https://talkytoaster.me.uk/

it adds an extra layer on my fenix watch and on my 530

njkayaker

It wasn't an "OSM" site. It just happened to have OSM in the name. One of the problems with the zombie site is that people thought it was an official Openstreetmap site and went to them to try to get support.

Badger6

I know it wasn’t an (or the) OSM site, and by context no one including me said it was. That exists at https://www.openstreetmap.org/. It was a site that took advantage of the OSM data. Any semi-intelligent person who can read and understand English would be able to discern that https://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ was not OSM by reading the header. But, not everyone is good with reading, I guess. That it caused problems for “people” strikes me that it was their problem. It never professed to offer any kind of tech or map support, just aggregated cards of selected areas using the most up to date data at the time the map was requested.

Regardless, the BBBike site fulfills the same function, and the site I linked above is spot on for the OP’s needs in that it has an already aggregated set of maps for Europe, if the OP would like to skip the steps required for using BBBike (which aren’t onerous, but do require some attention to detail).

njkayaker

You didn't say it wasn't (and implied that it was). In any case, many people thought it was. Anyway, the issue isn't really "what you know".

Whatever the reason, many people were confused by it.

It caused problems for the real Openstreetmap "people".

Badger6

Okay

Tandem Tom

I picke a sample area and received the dowload. Got onto a micro SD card,I think!
Now I am waiting while the Garmin is charged.

Tandem Tom

Success! My test area came out and I have received my next map download of Denmark. Now I plan to get another Garmin for my bike!

Steve B.

If you do not need a lot of the performance functions, workouts, laps, and that kind of stuff, they just released the Edge Explore 2, $300. Has a touch screen almost same size as the 1040, does navigation very well, is a decent price for the functions.

dmwill

I had a long exchange with Garmin to do with delays on turn by turn directions on my Edge 830. Turned out the culprit was the map of Florida I had pulled from bbbike.org and loaded up. Once we removed that map the delay went away. Maybe the whole state of Florida was to much and I should have just done a county or two.