Quad locks.

[Scott addict]

Is a quad lock for mounting your phone to your bike a good idea?I’m venturing further from home trying different areas that I don’t know, the last route I got a little lost and had to ask directions.I like the look of komoot it looks straight forward enough for me as I’m not the best with technology.I use a wahoo element bolt linked to Strava but don’t know how to upload routes from Strava yet.is komoot the best app or are there any other good route planning apps ?

 

[cougie uk]

Just learn how to upload routes to your bike computer. Otherwise what's the point of it ?

Save your phone and it's battery for emergencies.

 

[Sharky]

Dare I suggest a map?
Study the area the night before and make some notes of the villages and road numbers.

 

[Dogtrousers]

As @cougie uk says , use your Wahoo for navigation, it's what it's for. I'm not a Wahoo user but I imagine uploading routes should be easy enough.

As for route planning apps there are quite a few, and all pretty good, so whatever you choose you probably won't be disappointed. They're all much of a muchness. The main thing is easily syncing routes with your Wahoo, and I can't help on that.

There's Komoot. Strava has a route planner but I think it's paid subscribers only. There's RideWithGPS which is my personal favourite. cycle.travel often gets mentioned on here and the author is a CC member, and I've played around with it and it seems OK. The only one I actually don't recommend is OSMand which I found positively user-hostile when I played with it, but that may be because I'm a bit stupid.

The main thing to keep in mind is you have to engage your brain when doing route planning. Plan the route in your head and let the app follow you, rather than the other way round. If you let an algorithm do your routing for you then from time to time it will do something daft or miss an interesting opportunity to see something, so examine your route carefully on the map and understand where you're going.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

If local, I prefer to use OS maps on my phone, just keep it in my back pocket for when I'm not sure. Nice to be flexible rather than fixed to instructions from a gizmo.

I've just acquired a Wahoo, mainly for use in unfamiliar places, and it's *very* easy to upload a gpx to it. Just open the gpx in the app on your phone. That's it. Following turn by turn on the Wahoo is simple.

Where you generate that gpx is up to you. Personally I like cycle.travel and pay the extra for OS maps which are miles better than any alternative. It's £2 a month I think.

 

[presta]

I use paper maps in a map holder on the handlebars, the batteries last longer, but before I made the map holder for touring all over the country I just used to follow my nose riding locally. I set off cycling with my back to home and picked roads I liked the look of to see where they come out, then when I'd had enough I looked for roads pointing the other way.

 

[Debade]

To answer your question, I have a Quad lock that I have used a few times but I have had for a few months. The part that goes on the back of the phone is not an irritant when using or carrying the phone in a pocket. The size of the bar attachment is OK. I have a bit of a problem getting the phone to line up when attaching the phone to the part on the Quad Lock holder. Once attached it has been very secure.

I have had a brief conversation with a touring cyclist about his Q Lock. It was still working after several thousand miles but he was concern about its current stability. I really do not know how rough he was on it but I am fairly certain it had all day daily use. I do not know if he was removing/replacing the phone more than once daily. I had already purchased mine but was glad to hear his report.

 

[fossyant]

The quad locks do work well, but your bike computer is best for the job. The phone gets tucked in a rucksack out of the way of possible damage.

 

[mistyoptic]

I have a quad lock mount for my phone, which I use for Komoot. It’s nice to be able to see the route and upcoming junctions but it is a battery killer. With a Bluetooth earpiece i can have the phone in my pocket and just get audio instructions for the route. Not as good IMO but much improved battery life.

To address the OP the quad lock mount has been excellent

 

[mjr]

As @cougie uk says , use your Wahoo for navigation, it's what it's for. I'm not a Wahoo user but I imagine uploading routes should be easy enough.

Yes, figuring out how to upload to the Wahoo probably should be first choice. I've seen mixed reviews, though.

There's Komoot. Strava has a route planner but I think it's paid subscribers only. There's RideWithGPS which is my personal favourite. cycle.travel often gets mentioned on here and the author is a CC member, and I've played around with it and it seems OK. The only one I actually don't recommend is OSMand which I found positively user-hostile when I played with it, but that may be because I'm a bit stupid.

Yes, OSMand has got too big and the interface is too complicated, but it might work for some people. I've switched to Pocketmaps for creating routes on the phone quickly, but it's rather simplistic and not as flexible/powerful as OSMand (no waypoints or banned roads, for example). The ones I'd not recommend are Google and Komoot because I've seen them make seriously bad decisions. Cyclestreets is probably another route plotting site to mention as a possibility, with its three profiles giving options.

Most of the time, I create routes on cycle.travel, then send them to my phone where I use them as a line on a map on AAT (Another Activity Tracker). Pocketmaps should gain the ability to import routes in the next version but nobody really knows when. The phone is strapped to the stem in a padded waterproof case like https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/500-cycling-smartphone-holder/_/R-p-168764?mc=8385553&c=black but I'd probably use a cycling computer if I had one. I've just never quite seen enough benefit over a phone.

 

[fossyant]

If you are doing anything where you might fall off, get the phone tucked away, that's what the bike GPS is for. I picked a Garmin out of the mud after a friend crashed on an off road descent - the Garmin was fine (burried in the mud), the rider less so.

 

[simongt]

Dare I suggest a map?

Two principle advantages of maps; the can't lose signal, no matter where you are and I've yet to have a map with a flat battery - !

 

[ColinJ]

Two principle advantages of maps; the can't lose signal, no matter where you are and I've yet to have a map with a flat battery - !

Conversely, your Garmin/Wahoo/GPS-of-choice doesn't turn to mush or get blown out of your hands when you use it in stormy conditions...

Or run beyond the edge of the map if you change your mind about where you are going mid-ride.

I have the whole-GB OS map on my phone at 1:250,000 + 1:50,000 + 1:25,000 + 1:10,000 scales so I could check the map if I wanted to out on a ride, but I only do it out of interest about once a year and never out of need.

Route plotting on digital OS maps at home; route following on GPS on the road!

I have only had a flat battery cause a problem once in 17 years and that was when a well-charged NiMH battery suddenly failed.

 

[cyberknight]

I find strava premium to be the best route planner out of the various ones i have tried , of course everyone has their own preferences
This one works the most intuitively for me .

 

[Dolorous Edd]

Is a quad lock for mounting your phone to your bike a good idea?I’m venturing further from home trying different areas that I don’t know, the last route I got a little lost and had to ask directions.I like the look of komoot it looks straight forward enough for me as I’m not the best with technology.I use a wahoo element bolt linked to Strava but don’t know how to upload routes from Strava yet.is komoot the best app or are there any other good route planning apps ?

I mostly use a Wahoo Bolt for navigation (which I'm happy with), sometimes a phone + Quadlock (which I'm also happy with), sometimes both.

If you don't need/want all the extra bells and whistles from a dedicated cycling computer, then the main drawbacks of a phone are mounting, protection and battery life. These can all be soved with quadlock + a powerbank + a top tube bag to put the powerbank in. All of that comes to maybe £100 - less than the cost of a cycling computer and a lot more user friendly if as you say you are not the best with technology.

But, since you already have a Bolt, maybe get a friend to show you how to upload routes?

p.s. one extra drawback of the phone is they get more upset by heavy rain - how much this matters depends on whether you keep riding in such conditions