Teach me about bike vs car satnav

[mustang1]

On car satnav, I punch in a postcode and it gives me a route.

On a bike satnav, there is talk about going to various websites to create your route and then uploading it to your device. Why is that... why can the bike satnav not just calculate a road route like a car satnav can (but specifically for bike friendly routes where you enter your Cycling Confidence level so if you are more confident, you are routed on a main road etc)?

 

[vickster]

On car satnav, I punch in a postcode and it gives me a route.

On a bike satnav, there is talk about going to various websites to create your route and then uploading it to your device. Why is that... why can the bike satnav not just calculate a road route like a car satnav can (but specifically for bike friendly routes where you enter your Cycling Confidence level so if you are more confident, you are routed on a main road etc)?

You can use a higher level Garmin to route as you describe but you may not get the best cycling route. You need to plan for that.

Wahoo can do similar using a postcode but only via App not device and then download to device. I found the results of said feature very poor.

presumably there’s simply not been the investment in Cycling mapping as for cars (lower demand, lots of beardy sandal wearing cyclists even still like paper maps )

if you’re into development of such things, you may even be able to make some money doing so

 

[All uphill]

As a beardy sandal wearing cyclist I would love a device that is simple and straightforward as described by @mustang1 , but I lose interest when there are multiple steps to planning a new route.

I'll stick to cycle streets on my phone backed up with a paper map.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Because the cycle routing data isn’t there behind the mapping

 

[HobbesOnTour]

On car satnav, I punch in a postcode and it gives me a route.

On a bike satnav, there is talk about going to various websites to create your route and then uploading it to your device. Why is that... why can the bike satnav not just calculate a road route like a car satnav can (but specifically for bike friendly routes where you enter your Cycling Confidence level so if you are more confident, you are routed on a main road etc)?

The simple answer is that a bike gps unit is too small to do that. To have sufficient battery, storage and processing abilities, the unit would have to be much bigger.
Then, confidence, ability etc. is entirely subjective - hence the many routing apps/services available (and the many arguments over which is best).

As @vickster says above some units do have the ability to plot a route, but the suitability of those routes are questionable.

While it may seem fiddly to use a planner/app to plot a route then a gps device to follow it, the truth is that with a bit of experience the process is relatively seamless.
On a pc at home with lots of time it can be a pleasure, on the road with a phone it just works!

 

[CXRAndy]

That's why I use Strava route, it uses the commonly used paths from riders. I then tweak for personal preferences

 

[Dwn]

Strava routes is pretty good, but needs a bit of preparation time. I have a Garmin edge explore, but the only time I tried to use its satnav abilities to propose a route it took me miles out of the way on terrible roads. Not used it (for that) since.

 

[Donger]

As a beardy sandal wearing cyclist I would love a device that is simple and straightforward as described by @mustang1 , but I lose interest when there are multiple steps to planning a new route.

I'll stick to cycle streets on my phone backed up with a paper map.

What he said ...... but with just the map.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

It's mildly annoying that none of them are the same but also good. The car nav routing is different to the motorcycle range and both are different to the cycling units.

I'll take the quickest route in the car which is normally dual cabbageway or moronway, and set the motorbike nav to twisty (which it ignores if I transfer a gpx over)

 

[mustang1]

The simple answer is that a bike gps unit is too small to do that. To have sufficient battery, storage and processing abilities, the unit would have to be much bigger.
Then, confidence, ability etc. is entirely subjective - hence the many routing apps/services available (and the many arguments over which is best).

As @vickster says above some units do have the ability to plot a route, but the suitability of those routes are questionable.

While it may seem fiddly to use a planner/app to plot a route then a gps device to follow it, the truth is that with a bit of experience the process is relatively seamless.
On a pc at home with lots of time it can be a pleasure, on the road with a phone it just works!

I might like to use a phone and battery pack in my back pocket and connect it to the head unit where i can see the map - or just have phone and battery on the handlebar.

Another question is would car satnav be as popular as it is if one had to plan a route every time you needed to use it?

 

[mikeIow]

What he said ...... but with just the map.

If you have a fair distance, or indeed a multi-day journey....do you just take a load of paper maps?
Memorise the turns and targets?
I struggle to remember the next village

I'm toying with the idea of a Wahoo - it *sounds* easy to send mapping from a mobile to their unit, but yes, remapping en route (if needed) wouldn't typically be done on the unit, from what I read.

Have just discovered https://cycle.travel for planning, and at first glance it looks *really* good at picking decent routes.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

I might like to use a phone and battery pack in my back pocket and connect it to the head unit where i can see the map - or just have phone and battery on the handlebar

Maybe I'm getting the wrong end of the stick but are you thinking about a cable connection from your phone to a gps unit?
That's not how they normally work. (I can connect my phone directly to my Wahoo, but that is only for creating and sending a route when I have no internet connection - I get to some remote places).
If you want to be able to plot a route on the fly, then that is possible on your phone and to then send wirelessly (for example using Bluetooth) to the unit. However, not all units allow that, and in most situations you will need an internet connection either to plan the route or to send it.

If you just want to use a phone (with a supplemental battery) that's possible but there are a number of disadvantages. A search of the forum will throw up a few discussions.
Of course, most planning apps or sites will still require an internet connection to plan (not to follow) or to reroute if going off course.

I understand it sounds very complicated and there is a lot of complexity in this area.

I'd advise anyone thinking of buying a unit to first have a really good think about how they want to use the unit. Then look for the unit that best matches their needs.

Similarly, Osmand is a free app that plans routes, navigates them, caters for going off course and gives turn by turn directions.
Although clunky and difficult to get a hang of initially, it is well worth the time investment and is a great way of figuring out what is important for you before investing in an expensive unit.

 

[cyberknight]

My units can plan routes to POI but the biggest difference i find that if you go off route it will try to get you back to where you left the route rather than recalculating a new route .It does catch up eventually if you get back onto the route later on but you pretty much have to ignore it until then or turn around .I dot know if the more modern high end ones still do this ?
I put it down to computing power in such a small unit .

 

[HobbesOnTour]

I'm toying with the idea of a Wahoo - it *sounds* easy to send mapping from a mobile to their unit, but yes, remapping en route (if needed) wouldn't typically be done on the unit, from what I read.

Just FYI the Bolt (or the Elemnt if you can still find one) do not have rerouting. However, I rarely stay on course and have never had a problem navigating by the basic maps provided on the unit (Elemnt).

The Roam will reroute and while I have disabled that feature when I do use the unit to create a route it is doing a surprisingly good job - although I only have it a few weeks.

The "Take me to" function on the app (an address search facility) though is appalling in terms of actually finding an address. (Applies to all 3 units).

Have just discovered https://cycle.travel for planning, and at first glance it looks *really* good at picking decent routes.

Yes, cycle.travel is my preferred planner for quiet routes.

 

[HLaB]

Strava routes is pretty good, but needs a bit of preparation time. I have a Garmin edge explore, but the only time I tried to use its satnav abilities to propose a route it took me miles out of the way on terrible roads. Not used it (for that) since.

In the garmin connect phone app you can now create a route, select your type (road, mtb gravel), then automatic, specify distance and direction then it creates a route based on popularity that you can easily transfer to your head unit. Ive not used it but it looks good. I like the being able to pick direction