Using Komoot

[straas]

I tried it, but didn't like it at all. Felt like a lot of hype.

 

[Deleted member 23692]

Tried it and found it totally useless.

Plotting a 6 mile route to work sent me on a 7 mile route through the centre of the city along the A6 and ignored the direct cycle track and obvious quiet roads no matter what settings I used. Elsewhere it sent me along private track and public footpaths.

It only works it you know the area and then adjust the generated route to one that you know works for you.. thus proving itself useless

 

[Gwylan]

In the intervening 3 years has any progress been made.

I tried it today on a route between 2 points. I thought I knew all the possible routes, but it found another one.

Debating whether it's worth actually paying for

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Debating whether it's worth actually paying for

That would very much be down to personal taste.

I don't like Komoot. At all. Then again, I have tended to use it when far from home and everything is unfamiliar.
The number of times I have hit a dead end is too often to be just bad luck. More than once I have thought it is trying to kill me, such are the roads it puts me on.
Elevation calculations are something akin to a dark art but the times I chose Komoot over CT becuase it looked "easier" ....... well, lets just say I regretted them .
I recall testing it out in more familiar grounds and it preferring the most direct routes, sticking me beside a motorway and missing a park that would have added about 500m to a 21km route. A roadie may have preferred the Komoot option. I didn't.

I have had a problem with their customer service, having subscribed to their international maps (many years ago now). On arrival in foreign places I discovered that the WorldWide Coverage promised had some pretty big gaps.

It's useful for locating addresses and useful for downloading recorded gpx files. As a planner I far prefer CycleTravel . Its routes suit me. It's free to use (as is the app, Android or IOS) but a small monthly donation would go further and be better for developing cycling in the UK than a sub to Komoot.

As always with these things, they are very personal and what suits one doesn't suit another. All planners nearly always require some investment of time to get a handle on them.

 

[Gwylan]

Just back from a full blown trial.
The off road bit had a stile at one end and petered out into a field to pop out of a hedge.
Not ideal.
It was not the shortest or most direct route.
It seems you have to set the screen on permanently.
It does not like running on my Cowboy E-Bike. Lots of squabbles over who is using the GPS.
Between them they consume more than 1% of battery per km. This was fine until I found the spare battery pack was less than half charged.
Think I'm off the try CT.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

The off road bit had a stile at one end and petered out into a field to pop out of a hedge.
Not ideal.

My (amateur) understanding of these things is that a lot of the route planners use the same underlying map data (OpenStreetMap). Where they differ is how they interpret that data.
It has been suggested on the CT fora that the "Big Boys" can lack the local knowledge of how to interpret local quirks such as stiles, bridleways etc.
This can lead to more "conservative" suggestions (such as CT) or more "aggressive" suggestions such as Komoot.
In all fairness to any route planner, given the "voluntary" nature of the underlying data, the differences from country to country it is mind-boggling that planners can operate across national boundaries, in different continents.

Of course, another factor in the whole process is mislabeled tags in the underlying data, something that affects all planners but CT has some nifty tools to help with that.

It was not the shortest or most direct route.

In my experience, bike routes rarely are. However, this comes back to personal preference. What one rider enjoys today, another may hate tomorrow. Late for my commute I might prefer the shortest, most direct route. On the way home? Not so much.

It seems you have to set the screen on permanently.
It does not like running on my Cowboy E-Bike. Lots of squabbles over who is using the GPS.

This is interesting, if only from a pedantic angle.
I took the view the view that you were asking about Komoot as a route planner. Of course, you are also using it as a navigtor.
I've never used the app in navigation mode other than for a quick test.
I can't understand how the gps on your bike is interfering with the gps on your phone. If paired, (bike to phone) perhaps consider unpairing them? I'd be confident that there is some functionality to switch off the screen between turns. Maybe check the Komoot settings?

Think I'm off the try CT.

The IOS app has been out for a year and has a load of improvements in the pipeline. The Android app has just gone live and is more basic, but functional. It will get you from A to B on an interesting route.
The dream pairing is the planning of routes on the website, the navigation of routes on the app. I suggest you plan on the website, navigate on your phone.

There is a help forum available to help on all three platforms, and for me, this is the real difference between CT and the Big Boys. Service. I've seen suggestions for improvements implemented within hours of a query.

CT is not for everyone. It's routes are weighted in favour of quiet, scenic and the least climbing. It does paved, gravel or both. It does round trips (back by a different route) and route suggestions -we specify distance and off we go. It has particular advantages for multi-day rides. It is intuitive to use for the basics but well worth playing with to understand the full array of tools to make route planning more personal. It exports easily to most big name gps units and its gpx files can be used in the likes of Komoot too.

For a teeny, tiny, British based cycling route planner it really deserves the support of local cyclists.

 

[albion]

I tried it back in 2010. There was less competition then yet it was still too limited.
Google maps does a good but often flawed job. You just need to cross check it to a map that tells you what bits are offroad and thus possibly hazardous. Google is great for its timings, but again, its flaws are when going offroad.
Cyclestreets produces good options. But for cross checking google, being lightweight, fast, working and routing offline, Organic Maps is the perfect free Google backup, only really bettered by OS.

I don't use Organic as a navigator so cannot comment on its actual routes. Reviews for it are very high though. I am also wary of updating it in case it gets the horrendous bloat of all the rest.

 

[Spartak]

I really like using Komoot and it's a good navigation tool too. Turn the cycle map filter on. Set plenty of waypoints. You can also drag the route to where you want it if it's off your preferred course between waypoints. Don't worry about it reversing...it will do that until you have enough waypoints to make a decent circuit. Or you can change it to round trip after you have more waypoints. If it puts the waypoints in the wrong order then you can expand the waypoints and move them up or down.

I recommend persevering with it as it's very good. Shows where the hills are, what surfaces you're riding on, etc.

I'm another Komoot fan, I've been using it for years.
I find it easy to plot routes on the app, you have the option for road cycling, touring or gravel / off road which gives you different routes.

I regularly use it for plotting routes in unknown parts for when I'm on holiday or away with work and it's never failed me, be that Wales, England or further afield in Belgium, France or Italy.

Here is an example I plan to use this week whilst using a rental bike in Antwerp.

 

[Mike_P]

All the route planners fail IME - I use Komoot as I find it easy to use but invaribly end up tweaking a route. One of the other planners set to its safest road cycling mode wanted to direct me along a narrow 60 mph A road which has a steepish climb immediately after a bend - no thanks.

If I am cycling somehere I am unfamilar with I follow the route on Google Streetscene to see if it poses any issues; one did entail turning right on a three lane central urban area which I figured would not be problem if I got there mid Sunday afternoon which was indeed the case.

Komoot are a bit hit and miss on making corrections. I keep on asking them to correct this;

The direct route along Parsons Intake is a designated cycle route even though that is a private road. I have sent them a copy of the local cycle route map and, as that failed to get any change, followed up by a photo of the private road sign permitting passage of pedestrians and cyclists, again without any response.

 

[Always Cross]

I use Komoot to design my own routes I have Wandrer Earth embedded on it that is on the computer not the app. That way I can design routes to ride roads I’ve not been on before. If I was going to let a route planner to design a route for me it would be Cycle Travel. i have tried it with Komoot but it has tried to take me down fast dual carriage ways, not good.

 

[Richard Fairhurst]

The direct route along Parsons Intake is a designated cycle route even though that is a private road. I have sent them a copy of the local cycle route map and, as that failed to get any change, followed up by a photo of the private road sign permitting passage of pedestrians and cyclists, again without any response.

It looks like that has been set to "bikes allowed" in OpenStreetMap within the past few days, so most routers will pick that up before too long.

Pretty much all bike routing services apart from Google Maps use OSM as their base data. I'd strongly recommend learning to edit OSM - it means you can fix things like this in minutes, rather than waiting for someone else to do it for you.

 

[cwskas]

As a planner I far prefer CycleTravel .

It took me a bit to get the hang of each of the planners I have used. I do like CT and use it regularly when I am just curious about someplace I think would be awesome to cycle and it is my most used planner if I am planning a multi-day trip.

another factor in the whole process is mislabeled tags in the underlying data, something that affects all planners

I noticed that planners would often route me on PR xxx roads. In all but a few of the States, PR means 'Private Road' not 'Parish Road' as it often means elsewhere. That is just one example.

I have a route across on a path across a dam that I like to use when riding to visit grandkids. It has a locked gate at each end that is only designed to provide access for maintenance personnel. There is also an open smaller gate that is never closed. I could not get any planner to overcome that issue.

But I sent an email to Richard (CycleTravel) and within days it worked just like I wanted.

 

[cwskas]

I'd strongly recommend learning to edit OSM - it means you can fix things like this in minutes, rather than waiting for someone else to do it for you.

I have unsuccessfully spent some time trying to figure the editing out. I think I would have to do quite a bit of it in order to be useful.

I only think about it when I notice a problem. For example, we have a lot of roads under construction around here and I tried to figure out how to pass that info to OSM for several hours one day before just giving up.

 

[Gwylan]

All the route planners fail IME - I use Komoot as I find it easy to use but invaribly end up tweaking a route. One of the other planners set to its safest road cycling mode wanted to direct me along a narrow 60 mph A road which has a steepish climb immediately after a bend - no thanks.

If I am cycling somehere I am unfamilar with I follow the route on Google Streetscene to see if it poses any issues; one did entail turning right on a three lane central urban area which I figured would not be problem if I got there mid Sunday afternoon which was indeed the case.

Komoot are a bit hit and miss on making corrections. I keep on asking them to correct this;
View attachment 709148
The direct route along Parsons Intake is a designated cycle route even though that is a private road. I have sent them a copy of the local cycle route map and, as that failed to get any change, followed up by a photo of the private road sign permitting passage of pedestrians and cyclists, again without any response.

Struggle with Komoot. It can do some odd things.
Really struggles if it decides on the same route for bits of out and back.
Pissed me around a town twice the other day. Until I just went the way I knew. Then it got the message.

Google on my Cowboy is quite good. But doesn't know about little sneaky cyclable short cuts. But it does insist on sending me across several very muddy winter fields.

 

[rivers]

Komoot is my planner of choice these days, though I also use cycle.travel and rwgps as well. For me, komoot is the easiest UI to use, and I like that users can upload images of certain areas, as well as descriptions of ideal/less than ideal conditions,as well as what bike type the terrain is best suited to (handy when trying to plan a gravel ride in the UK).