Whats the best cycling route app

[Tribansman]

I used to be a happy user of RWGPS because of its decent routing and seamless syncing with my Wahoo. Then I noticed it starting to introduce these odd detours a few months ago. The problem became worse and worse until every route required 5-10 minutes of tidying up to remove these anomalies. I assume this was something to do with a change in its routing algorithms.

So instead I tried cycle.travel. The routing seems far more reliable, and while there is (as yet) no seamless sync with Wahoo, it takes less than a minute to turn the Wahoo on, plug it into USB, download a .tcx file and copy it into the Wahoo routes directory. So on balance much better than RWGPS.

If you do it on your phone, it's even quicker (and you can do on the go): download .gpx file, long press it, select 'open with' and choose the Element app. It will then sync to the device, no need for a cable

 

[Cycling_Samurai]

I wouldn't dream of using googlemaps for detailed cyclerouting, tho do use it for a quick and dirty estimation of cycling distance and time. Cycletravel for me.

Not sure what you mean by detailed but I do the latter. Distance and time estimates. I am generally familiar with the areas I'm looking to route through.

 

[Tribansman]

Hi @Richard Fairhurst As I've said on this thread, I think cycle.travel is great and use it a lot. But one of the features I really like on Strava is the 'minimise/maximise elevation' toggle. Sometimes, I want to see how much climbing I can do, and sometimes on really long rides I wanththe route as flat as possible. Would that be possible/feasible to add to cycle.travel, or would it play around with the existing algorithms too much?

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Not sure what you mean by detailed but I do the latter. Distance and time estimates. I am generally familiar with the areas I'm looking to route through.

The OP was clearly asking about detailed planning.

I despair when people suggest Google Maps* to plan routes. In NL, a country neither short of people nor dedicated cycle routes, it would regularly try to send me through fields in rural areas. In urban areas it didn't - but there weren't many fields!

In other places it preferred the suicidal highway to the placid (and interesting) backroads.

*Google Maps has its uses for away from home, especially with "saved" maps that have useful info saved such as cafés, bikeshops, campsites etc. or for Google Streetview.

 

[Richard Fairhurst]

Hi @Richard Fairhurst As I've said on this thread, I think cycle.travel is great and use it a lot. But one of the features I really like on Strava is the 'minimise/maximise elevation' toggle. Sometimes, I want to see how much climbing I can do, and sometimes on really long rides I wanththe route as flat as possible. Would that be possible/feasible to add to cycle.travel, or would it play around with the existing algorithms too much?

Lots of options don't really coexist with fast route-planning I'm afraid. Basically cycle.travel pretty much pre-calculates all the best routes (which takes a couple of days each time), and the reason it's so fast is because it can call on those pre-calculations. For each extra option I'd have to pre-calculate another dataset, and rent a new server to store them on. I've got two options so far (normal and paved-only) and might add a third to prefer gravel/off-road, but after that it gets expensive!

But - what you can do is open up the elevation display as you drag the route around. It updates live as you drag, so you can see how your changes are affecting the profile. Once you get the hang of it you can work out flat or hilly routes that way fairly easily.

 

[Cycling_Samurai]

The OP was clearly asking about detailed planning.

Hi just wondering what most road cycling riders use to plan there rides. I bought a wahoo element roam used it today with a planned route from Strava but it was rubbish. I've looked at other apps but most of them won't put you on main roads like koomot ride with GPS they seem to be for more of gravel bikes.

Pretty certain that the OP wasn't asking for detailed routing. 🤠

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Pretty certain that the OP wasn't asking for detailed routing. 🤠

Can you explain how to take a route from Google Maps and put it on to a Roam GPS unit?
Thanks.

 

[Cycling_Samurai]

Can you explain how to take a route from Google Maps and put it on to a Roam GPS unit?
Thanks.

I'm not familiar with Roam GPS. But any GPS should provide roughly the same information. Street view would be the only thing that would be different. I suppose you mean display Google map data on your GPS device. If it's possible then there should be instructions from the vendor. But I highly doubt it. I know my routes and merely use Google maps for pre planning. I use MapMyRide for tracking data. It has worked pretty much anywhere in the world that I've gone.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

I know my routes and merely use Google maps for pre planning.

Whatever about a discussion about the meaning of the word "plan" I'm absolutely sure the thread wasn't about pre planning!

 

[Cycling_Samurai]

Whatever about a discussion about the meaning of the word "plan" I'm absolutely sure the thread wasn't about pre planning!

Touche'. Pre would indicate before where planning is also before. So you are correct that pre wasn't necessary to understand that planning had occurred before a ride. 😉

So have a cookie.

 

[Eric Olthwaite]

But - what you can do is open up the elevation display as you drag the route around. It updates live as you drag, so you can see how your changes are affecting the profile. Once you get the hang of it you can work out flat or hilly routes that way fairly easily.

I really like the elevation display and the colour coding of the gradients is very useful.

Just one minor query - as I run my cursor along the elevation display section, a readout appears of the percentage gradient - but only if my cursor is more or less on the line of the hill, as it were. If the cursor is above or below the line, the readout disappears - so it takes a bit of accuracy with the mouse if I want to see the readout. I would have thought most users with the cursor in the elevation display section would like to see the readout? So would there be a way of reducing the degree of mouse accuracy required, so that the readout stays visible even with the cursor above/below the line?

More generally, keep up the good work!

 

[Tribansman]

Lots of options don't really coexist with fast route-planning I'm afraid. Basically cycle.travel pretty much pre-calculates all the best routes (which takes a couple of days each time), and the reason it's so fast is because it can call on those pre-calculations. For each extra option I'd have to pre-calculate another dataset, and rent a new server to store them on. I've got two options so far (normal and paved-only) and might add a third to prefer gravel/off-road, but after that it gets expensive!

But - what you can do is open up the elevation display as you drag the route around. It updates live as you drag, so you can see how your changes are affecting the profile. Once you get the hang of it you can work out flat or hilly routes that way fairly easily.

Thank you. I thought it would be something like that, and yeah playing around with the route and noting changes in elevation is a workaround.

Really like the addition of colour coding on the gradient chart... what would be ideal (I know it's not possible!) is applying that colour coding to the roads on the map at a certain zoom level...

 

[cyberknight]

I used to be a happy user of RWGPS because of its decent routing and seamless syncing with my Wahoo. Then I noticed it starting to introduce these odd detours a few months ago. The problem became worse and worse until every route required 5-10 minutes of tidying up to remove these anomalies. I assume this was something to do with a change in its routing algorithms.

So instead I tried cycle.travel. The routing seems far more reliable, and while there is (as yet) no seamless sync with Wahoo, it takes less than a minute to turn the Wahoo on, plug it into USB, download a .tcx file and copy it into the Wahoo routes directory. So on balance much better than RWGPS.

tried cycle travel with exactly the same issue so far for me strava is the only planner that can navigate half a mile down a straight road without taking you on a detour

 

[Blue Hills]

tried cycle travel with exactly the same issue so far for me strava is the only planner that can navigate half a mile down a straight road without taking you on a detour

What sort of rides were these? Length?
I have used cycletravel all over the country and generally find it excellent.
I have only found the diverts off main roads for short hops to only be an issue in cities. But then I don't use it for that sort of route.

 

[cyberknight]

What sort of rides were these? Length?
I have used cycletravel all over the country and generally find it excellent.
I have only found the diverts off main roads for short hops to only be an issue in cities. But then I don't use it for that sort of route.

this was on main roads through village and even on a main A road where it took me around the houses to get maybe half a mile up the road.I was trying to plan a sunday ride of around 50 miles manually plotting the course