‘Lectronics

For the tour divide I need:

• Race Tracking
• Navigation
• Communication (Sattelite)
• Entertainment

What I have is:

Race tracking: Nothing

Nagivation: Lezyne Mega-XL, or phone

Communication: Inreach SE (200g)

Entertainment: Kindle

Navigation:

Looking over the other riders, what I can see is most folks use a Garmin computer for navigation. The *40 series seems to have better GPS (multi-band GNSS), and the Garmin Edge Explorer 2 has this too. Prices range from $700 (1040 + solar) to 250 (Edge explorer).

What I would like is

• USB-c
• easy to use, big
• lighter weight
• stable no glitches
• battery life

I think I should get the garmin explore edge 2, not sure if it’s worth upgrading from the megaxl.

Decision: Keep using the XL. See if there’s a converter from micro to usbc. Try out the maps, upgrade the software now,.

Communication

Satellite:

What I have is an inreach/Delorme SE. Weighs 200g, pretty old. Works FINE. I could selll it for $100.

What I could get would be an Inreach mini/mini2 which weighs about 100g. Seems to cost $200-300. Quite a bit smaller, depends on phone. Benefits would be:

• lower weight
• usb-c (?)

Seems like a dumb idea to switch.

Phone

It’s good to have a backup. I have a Pixel 6. I am seriously considering a magsafe plug in, since getting the power interface fouled is bad news. It’s basically a good phone.

I would need to get some kind of backup – this was crucial on my last trip.

Entertainment:

KINDLE.