Thanks, unfortunately I'm a large/xl. Good luck!


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What size frame is it dude?

Sorry, correction, I misread your post: you can charge the Garmin NiMH battery packs in the 64. Not sure if you can recharge regular rechargeable AAs though.


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No, you cannot charge the batteries WHILE using the eTrex or the 62/64. IMO, The main reason for the eTrex being better for biking is size, weight, and battery life. No other GPS I have found comes close to the amount of features you get for the size, weight, and cost of the eTrex series. The 62/64 series is great, but it's the biggest of the common handhelds. Plus the added accuracy of the quad helix antenna is essentially nullified if you have it level, mounted to your handlebars. Might as well use an eTrex or Oregon with a less bulky package, same accuracy in that position.

Now we're talking! Thanks for the photo!


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That's great Tim! Thank you!

Umm... It's probably easiest CCW. I also put the single track at the end so you could work up to it, as you say. The biggest climb you've got is gonna be cooper gap road, then Lance Creek at the end. Definitely some other climbs but nothing on par with Cooper Gap (it hurts).

I might head up that way for a day ride on Saturday. Is that when you're thinking you'll start?

here's a good loop to start with. It's got a lot of climbing and there is about a 5-10 mile paved section near Suches, but almost all dirt. You really can't avoid climbing in North Georgia and it just builds character ;-) Resupply available in Suches at a gas station and then again at the intersection of Cooper Creek Rd and GA-60. I marked a bunch of decent campsite areas (really they are just telling you there's a good selection in that vicinity). The first 60 miles are pretty much all dirt roads. The last 20 miles or so are mostly single/doubletrack. Dont get too worried if the track doesn't line up completely with the trail. Just do your best to follow the GPS at intersections and you'll be fine; a lot of re-routes that aren't represented in my trail software yet. If you want longer, I'm happy to help add some other stuff on. At the same time, there are pretty obvious ways to cut off portions if you look at a topo; let me know if you need advice there. I hope you enjoy it!!

I know this is kind of an old thread, but curious how you put the Icon on the handlebars (more specifics). I have one that I will be doing the same with. Any pics would be awesome!

Deathgrip, how many says do you have? Soooo many options. Happy to suggest if you give me an idea of mileage and days.

Haha, damn you Ian!

The night before I started the Highland Trail Race, I got a chest cold or something. I was hacking all the way to Fort Augustus. I'd planned to crash on the side of the trail every night, but I ended up getting two hotel rooms during the race simply to try and hold off the advancing plague. It worked! So I guess my advice is push it when you have the ability to improve your situation through gear or infrastructure to protect yourself, or back off if "extreme" depravation is the only way to accomplish your ride.

Not sure what year Safari you have, but assuming it's from the last couple years...Full disclaimer: I work at REI. But I believe in buying the bike that's right for the riding you do. Which is why I have a Niner, Ritchey, Lynskey and Marin (3 of which you cannot get at REI). Anyway, now that I've tried to convince you of my unbiased opinion, I think you have a bad ass bike for a fraction of the cost of the CoMotion. It's definitely set up for long touring on any surfaces out of the box, but you can do anything you want to it. Add some BB7 brakes and swap out the mustache bars for flats or drops and you've essentially recreated the CoMotion for half the price. I'm not sure why you're having trouble with the tires and wheels though.... You should be able to get some reasonably large knobbies on there without too much trouble. The only thing the Safari is a little lacking in is clearance (compared to the Karate Monkey, for example, which has more of an s-bend in the rear stays. Those wheels that come on it are pretty dang durable, and are designed for fully-loaded touring. If I was going to go on a full-on biking expedition, the type where you literally carry a kitchen sink in your front panniers, the Safari would be my choice for cost effective reliability. What sort of problems are you running into putting knobbies on your current wheels?

Haha, well put Greg! God, that was the best worst pizza I have ever had...

Nice, thanks! I found one at Home Depot made by Rayovac.

Thanks guys! I'm using an iPhone. I am starting to lean back towards battery packs. And also realizing that for endurance racing it's really not going to work for more than a day or so of racing (unless I'm planning to sleep indoors the whole time). I'm spoiled by my etrex Vista running for about 40-50 hours on lithiums and since it's only 3.5 oz, it's hard to justify the phone-only option. But as you guys said, the phone's coming we me anyway so I might as well try to use it. Anyway, you guys gave me lots to experiment with. If I come up with anything that's significantly awesome, I'll let you know. Thanks!

Nice! And I even have a Home Depot gift card

I'm experimenting with utilizing my smartphone as my only navigation unit (been using a Garmin Vista HCx and paper forever). For one particular trip I am pretty sure that this plan is perfect. The thing I am worried about is power. I don't want to have to rely on solar or walls to recharge my phone. I know there are some battery packs that would get me by for 1-2 extra days/charges. But what would be ideal is if there was a unit that could accept regular batteries and then charge a phone. I swear I've seen these before but I can't seem to use the right search terms anymore. Anyone have any suggestions? Used anything like this? Pros/cons?

The only reason to go with the Oregon is for the larger screen and the interface. It's heavier, bigger, and has average battery life. Personally I prefer smaller units on my bike. I use the eTrex myself and cannot recommend it enough for bikepacking. Besides being light and small, its battery life is a good 10 hours more than others. I'd get the eTrex 30 since you get a barometric altimeter and electronic compass which helps a lot with navigation, You mention turn-by-turn directions...if you mean how your car nav unit says "in one mile, turn left at Smith Street" you're not really going to have that with any backcountry GPS unit when you're on trails and doubletrack. You can convert the GPS track to a route which will be similar to turn-by-turn in that it will give you distance and time to the next "turn" (the turn could just be a curve in the trail). I've tried doing both routing and then just following the track on my screen and by far, I miss fewer turns just watching my little triangle following the track on the screen. Just my .02 as a user, and instructor/salesperson of said devices

I was looking at the mountain speed 32 because of the weight and size. It shrinks down to a ball about the size of your palm. It's seriously tiny! However I just couldn't justify the extra cost over a phantom 32 and I didn't feel like the phantom was unreasonably larger in size/weight. The bag the phantom comes with is pretty much its ultimate compressed dimensions. So whatever MH lists as it's packed size is prob dead on. Guessing the compressed bag is 6"x4" maybe?