Navigation / Route Planning Curious

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Windle

Über Member
Location
Burnthouses
Hi everyone, I’m getting the urge to try one of those fancy, new fangled cycle sat navs that seem to proliferate these days. I quite often do ‘remote rides’ up around the Tyneside area, attracted by the maze of Waggonways and cycle paths up there. Generally, I plan a route in advance by using google maps on my PC, one that’s not too difficult to remember and if need be, I take screenshot pictures of google maps to highlight any awkward areas. Yes, I’m a bit of a luddite mobile phone wise, just using mine for texts and the occasional call. I don’t have a smartphone and don’t use the interweb on mine.
I’m after something that (as well as measuring the usual bike computer stuff) can be used for route planning, my ideal requirements are:
  • The ability to set up route plans on a home computer (like the directions feature on google maps). I’ve dabbled with a few (Komoot, Cycle Travel and Hammerhead dashboard) with varying results.
  • Load these onto the cycle computer.
  • Have a map screen which gives directions like a car sat nav.
I’m not going to be totally dependent on it as I’ve a pretty good sense of direction and can usually find my way about, I’m just after the ability to have something that’ll keep me right and enable some more complex routes / exploring.

Price wise I’d rather not spend top end Garmin money, so maybe up to about £400 - £500 although a cheaper one that'll do the job would be fine.

I’ll throw this to the collective wisdom of Cycle Chat, any advice & experience would be much appreciated, thanks.

Windle.
 

roubaixtuesday

self serving virtue signaller
I have a Wahoo Roam, bought for similar reasons to yours. I use it with cycle.travel for planning, and it works very well. I like cycle.travel particularly because it allows (with a subscription) OS maps, which are miles better than alternatives for judging road style and gradients at a glance IME.

I've zero experience of the alternatives, which could well be better!
 

ianrauk

Tattooed Beat Messiah
Location
Rides Ti2
You can't go wrong with a Garmin Explore 2 which you should be able to get for around £200. There are more expensive Garmins but if you are not wanting metrics with power meters and such like, then the Explore 2 will be perfect.
It's a machine that works flawlessly doing everything that you wanted in your post and has a superb battery life.
 

PaulSB

Squire
In my opinion Wahoo is the best option and within your price range you can get a new Bolt or Roam. For an extra £50 you could go for the top of the range Ace. I find the Roam is more than adequate.

The problem you face with Wahoo is it comes with a companion app. You will need a reasonably modern smart phone to run the app and the Wahoo system, without this you can't run a Wahoo unit.

This may be true of othe GPS units, I don't know.
 
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Windle

Über Member
Location
Burnthouses
Thanks for the replies, I'll have to have a play with the route planner in Garmin Connect as it's one I haven't dabbled with yet. I'll probably discount the Wahoo, (even though it seems good device) as I only use a basic android phone and don't intend upgrading any time soon. The best route builder I've tried yet was the Hammerhead Dashboard, which seemed to do exactly what the directions in google maps does. If the Garmin connect mapping planner is as good as that then that may sway me towards a Garmin Explore 2 as it's about half the price of a Hammerhead Karoo.
 

Dogtrousers

Kilometre nibbler
These days GPS units are really good, and you'll rarely hear many complaints about them. They are a lot more usable and reliable, with better battery life than 10 years ago. Lots of people happy with what they have.

For your needs I think it should be easy to get what you want for significantly less than your budget of £400-500

Whatever you choose, after the initial learning period, you'll probably be happy with it. I don't think there are really any particularly poor products out there from the leading brands.
 

ianrauk

Tattooed Beat Messiah
Location
Rides Ti2
A good resource is DC Rainmaker (Google it), there's very few, if any Cycling specific GPS computers he hasn't reviewed in depth.
 

Psamathe

Über Member
I’ve dabbled with a few (Komoot, Cycle Travel and Hammerhead dashboard) with varying results.
As with most technology, the more frequently you do it the easier and more effective becomes. Easier as you know exactly what to do, when to do it and what can go wrong and how to fix. More effective as you discover new features and functions that make things easier and/or produce better results.

Ian
 

Alex321

Guru
Location
South Wales
Thanks for the replies, I'll have to have a play with the route planner in Garmin Connect as it's one I haven't dabbled with yet. I'll probably discount the Wahoo, (even though it seems good device) as I only use a basic android phone and don't intend upgrading any time soon. The best route builder I've tried yet was the Hammerhead Dashboard, which seemed to do exactly what the directions in google maps does. If the Garmin connect mapping planner is as good as that then that may sway me towards a Garmin Explore 2 as it's about half the price of a Hammerhead Karoo.

The Wahoo app works with Android 9 or higher. You don't need it while you are riding, you only need it for setting up your device and )I think) for transferring routes from whatever route planner you use.
 

Psamathe

Über Member
I've watched a couple of his reviews and they are pretty good.
Few I've seen are good butI have the impression his main interest is training (or I have that impression). Worth bearing that in mind when your own focus differs. I'm not so interested in the training aspect but rather touring/navigation where different or additional considerations apply.

As he reviews virtually every device he cannot spend vast time evaluating every device (or he'd be out riding 72 hrs every day). And a lot of useful aspects can be very relevant from people who use any paticular device for an extended time eg how reliable it is and what can happen when it has a "glitch", what weirdos can happen and when and how often.

Hence the value of forums like this one. Get the functionality overview from DC Rainmaker and when choice narrowed down use forums like this one to find when people using that device have found over sometimes several years with long navigated tours, etc.

Ian
 

ianrauk

Tattooed Beat Messiah
Location
Rides Ti2
Few I've seen are good butI have the impression his main interest is training (or I have that impression). Worth bearing that in mind when your own focus differs. I'm not so interested in the training aspect but rather touring/navigation where different or additional considerations apply.

As he reviews virtually every device he cannot spend vast time evaluating every device (or he'd be out riding 72 hrs every day). And a lot of useful aspects can be very relevant from people who use any paticular device for an extended time eg how reliable it is and what can happen when it has a "glitch", what weirdos can happen and when and how often.

Hence the value of forums like this one. Get the functionality overview from DC Rainmaker and when choice narrowed down use forums like this one to find when people using that device have found over sometimes several years with long navigated tours, etc.

Ian

On his website I do find that he does delve much deeper into each device he reviews then his videos, including touring and navigation. People I think are more likely to spend time reading and digesting an in depth review/walkthrough then watching You Tube videos.
 
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