Your GPS will follow this track and is the next most common format we recommend for units that cannot use a TCX Course file. Contains no cuesheet entries, only track information (also known as breadcrumb trail).Īllegely will provide turn by turn directions (true navigation) on the Edge 705/800/810/1000/Touring, but will not have any custom cues. For weekend spins, sportives, and audax rides, GPX route files are of little value. Routes are best suited for reaching a specific destination, or set of destinations, when the path being taken is not important. It relies on the GPS device to calculate a path between each of the waypoints. Typically contain a sequence of waypoints and may contain cuesheet entries. This process uses the map installed on the device. For this mode, the unit itself calculates a second 'path' to follow by walking the track and picking the roads the track appears to be following.

All the Garmins support this method.Ģ)The other is 'turn guidance' (Garmin's term). These work independently from each other (you can use one or the other or both).ġ) One is more basic. The Garmins that have maps provide two methods of navigation. So, as well as location, each track point can store additional data such as heart rate, cadence, calories, lap times. It is very similar to GPX but treats a track as an Activity rather than simply a series of GPS points. TCX or Training Center XML format is also an xml data format, but was created by Garmin. The minimum properties for a GPX file are latitude and longitude for every single point. GPX, or GPS Exchange Format, is a common an (xml) data format which can describe waypoints, tracks, and routes. (so, while a route may have tens or hundreds of waypoints - a track could have thousands of trackpoints). It consists of trackpoints recorded at short increments along the path. directions to be taken at each waypoint (and possibly in between).Ī set of 'cues”, essentially turn by turn directions.Ī track is a more detailed recording of the path/road travelled. (The following table may not format correctly on all devices)Ī waypoint is any single specific location, typically identified by latitude and longitude.Ī route is a sequence of waypoints (eg JoeDalys, Glencullen, ViewingPoint, Rathfarnham).Ī route may also contain 'cues' ie. I would welcome corrections or clarifications. My summary is that that it depends on 3 things:ġ) what info was put into the file in the first placeĢ) how much info is in the GPX or TCX fileģ) what your device can do with that infoīelow is my interpretation of what I have found. I have been trying to get my head around this - but there is a lot of conflicting information out there

Gpx track vs gpx route