Cycling Sat Nav

[Blue Hills]

Quite agree I wouldn't use Google maps but reading between the lines this is what the OP has available.

i read it that he was looking for something else.
On the original question OP if not interested in performance data, I'd go for one of the Etrex 20 series. Also useful off the bike.

 

[Blue Hills]

Precisely what I use - cycle.travel loaded to eTrex 20 - never let me down and takes AA replacement batteries so never need to worry about whether you'll have enough juice for a (multi-day) ride.

i take it you mean you use cycletravel generated routes loaded onto the etrex - me too.
For the maps on the etrex I can recommend this.
http://www.openfietsmap.nl/

I also use osmand+ on an android tab for looking at the bigger picture - I often load my cycletravel gpx routes/tracks onto that as well - also allows me to see spoons adjacent to my wanderings

The whole caboodle is of course totally offline - no data use or coverage issues.

 

[mjr]

osmand is the most versatile Android app. I use AAT when a track on a screen is good enough.

The ordnance survey has a free option.
What three words for those lost and in trouble.

Ordnance Survey don't show most cycleways. What three words is a cynical attempt to privatise coordinates which should be resisted.

 

[Mike_P]

Know someone who was in need of medical attention and what three words guided the emergency services to them.

 

[Mike_P]

(All but the most ancient of mobile phones communicate emergency location seamlessly. No words needed.

I was responding to the posting above mine.

 

[mjr]

Know someone who was in need of medical attention and what three words guided the emergency services to them.

Just wait for homophones to send the emergency services to the wrong place.

Better to use the "Send Location" feature on most phones.

 

[Paul_Smith SRCC]

There are quite a few sites that offer free route planning in addition to a paid for version; software as you'd expect changes frequently and you may swap from on to another as they evolve.

At the moment I normally use the free version of www.alltrails.com (was GPSies) to create the course and add to my old Garmin 810 via usb. The user experience is very similar to www.ridewithgps.com, but with the added bonus that you can add your own notes in the form of a 'waypoint'; like 'café' or 'bikeshop', a feature that is no longer free with ridewithgps; hence my switch to Alltrails. One handy feature I like is you can toggle between 'hiking-cycling-driving' when creating, so you can switch to 'hiking' if you want to take a shortcut over a footbridge for example then back to driving if you want to stay on roads. There are two cycle focused modes, 'Bike touring' may include a smooth trail where as 'Road biking' will be on paved roads and paths that support bicycle access.

For those who want to follow the route for free on their a smartphone the GPX Viewer app is popular and has a 'free option' where you can still upload the route you have created to the app and then follow, note that is pretty much all it will do, you can see the course and you can see if you are still on it; don't expect turn by turn directions or off course warnings. If you are intending to invest in a cycling GPS features wise the Edge® Explore has all I'd need although the extra battery capacity of the 830 would probably sway me (upto 20 v 12 hours). Yes the 830 is more of an investment but my old 810 has lasted 8 years which is not bad for a piece of tech'; which for me would also be a consideration when justifying how much I am prepared to treat myself. The 530 is cheaper and also has 'upto 20 hours' battery life, I do find the 830 touch screen far more intuitive to use than the 530's buttons.

There are quite a few videos referencing using your phone as a bike GPS that may be of interest on YouTube

 

[GuyBoden]

You can just use O.S paper maps for your local area, study them at home with a cuppa tea, you'll soon memorise all the good routes and no battery is needed.

For explorations further a field, a cycle sat nav is very convenient.

 

[Spoked Wheels]

Cycle.travel works very well on a phone for showing you the least trafficked route. It can output the chosen route as a gpx for a bike satnav of any make, or straight to Garmin Connect for transfer by bluetooth to a garmin GPS (my method). Using just a phone only for bike navigation is hampered by battery life issues of running big screens all ride, waterproofing and a suitable mounting.

I use my phone for navigation, I have an old Garmin 800 but the screen is rather small for me but I still use it nevertheless.

I use Cycle.Travel to plot my route and export the route as gps file that I upload to the AlpineQuest app... quite easy to do on my tablet or phone. I let the screen go to sleep to save battery and if I miss a turn or take the wrong one then Alpinequest sounds a beep to alert me.
I use a quadlock mount for the phone.... it's rather expensive but the phone feels very secure on it. You can buy a water protector but I don't bother, fortunately my phone is waterproof.
If I have a long route I take a power pack or two with me.

Alpinequest is fantastic once you learn to use it.

 

[Mike_P]

Komoot has a few oddities with A roads that might apply to other apps/programs. It often seem to seek to avoid them even when set to road cycling. A consequence of this is this a currently plotted route originally had a left turn onto a A road, a right turn off, a right turn back on and a final right turn off. Needless to say the second and third turns have been removed. It also often plots a route down a very busy dual carriageway of some age (i.e. no non vehicular wide edge to the carriageway)

 

[ericmark]

I have found routes vary over time, and it depends on the bike used, no maps can really help, I started in Chirk to ride the canal tow path, and am aiming in the end to have ridden all the way to Newtown, in small sections, on the map it does show places where the canal no longer exists, and where there are tunnels which may not have a tow path, but it does not say what the surface is like.

Some bits I found were a road, and in other sections up to the Montgomery branch were not safe to ride on, it was a case of walk with the bike, from the Montgomery branch the tow path was good, until Crickheath just after crossing B4396 where it was closed for repair.

Riding out from Welsh pool in other direction I got as far as when it goes under the road with about 6" head room at Arddleen no reason to stop other than needed to return to Welshpool to catch train to Llanfair where I live, but the surfacing stone got gradually larger as I left Welshpool, at Welshpool road bike tyres would be OK, but by time I turned around wanted the wider mountain bike tyres, but still a good ride traffic free. But no map or sat nav will say when routes are closed or what the surface is like.

Near Chester towards Shotton there are three good off road routes, one follows the cut towards Ellesmere Port, one the old railway line, and one side of the Dee, at Queensferry there is a chicane bars to stop motor vehicles, easy for any bike, but at Saltney Ferry there are angled brackets which my handle bars were too wide for, having gone that far really don't want to turn back, want to complete the circle, so it is a lift the bike over the bars job, not easy. Again not shown on any map.

Where I live in Llanfair Caereinion it is how steep the road is which matters, maps show > or >> but many roads have short bits where walking with a bike one is too wide to avoid other traffic, lanes are some times more dangerous than main roads.

 

[TiffAching]

I do like Garmin connect / Garmin Edge 530 for route planning & following. It does highlight roads more popular with cyclists. But I'm finding you have to careful placing waypoints when planning route. i.e its forever sending me off route because I put a waypoint on a junction.... It can give audio instructions via a phone linked with bluetooth.

 

[ericmark]

What I wanted was to take grandchildren on a bike ride, but to find a route which did not have steep hills, or cross roads, or lumps in the path, only way is ride it.

I tried going for a bike ride in the Forest of Dean, cheap mountain bike, started at Bracelands caravan site, the old site has been turned to chalet site, new one is lower down, but the forest tracks from the site does a reasonable circuit around the camp, but rather steep first section to get to route to river, once first second done rest seems same gradient all the way down. But it would not be an easy return.

Other routes go towards the Symonds Yat which I did, but there did not seem to be a forest track down, so took to the road, which is where I learnt the problem with cable disc brakes, which would slow me, but not stop me, I had not until then realised how they simply run out of travel, so light braking they work great, but heavy braking they need to be kept in adjustment. Lucky I met nothing coming up.

At the bottom the old railway was a good route to Monmouth with a ferry that will take bikes at Symonds Yat base, and a foot bridge half way (Biblins rope bridge) which will also take bikes, opposite side of river to old train track was still passable with a bike, but not as easy, but what I relied on was being able to call my wife to pick me up from Monmouth and second time took car down to Monmouth and parked car on Hadnock Road out crossing river on rope bridge across ferry and return on railway track, but needs to have done the route first to know you can put bike on boat and the route is reasonable.

I tried the Wirral loop cycle route, and got lost, from Shotton the route follows the coast past a nice cafe and then pub, but then goes through the village of Burton Point, I found old railway but went wrong direction I think, did it a second time, up to Park Gate but there are road sections, so easy to get lost. Again first attempt rescued by wife, which is not the idea.

Shotton to Chester loop still has a small road section, you can join the canal to get right into Chester, but you need to get to New Crane Street and cross that major road to get into the small park and on to the river route back, and there is a gate to lift the bike over to get to Tower Road/Raymond Street junction, it may be possible to gain assess to Upper Cambrian Road, but not tried.

And this is the problem, you can get just one point on the route which stops you, I took my dad around Alyn Waters park near Wrexham him in a mobility scooter, half way around I had to dismantle it and rebuild it other side of kissing gate, there was no reason for it to be there, both sides free assess from the cafe at car park. Wepre Park route to Ewloe the same, all the way through the Park no problem for bikes, then just at point where you go onto Castle hill farm road, there is a kissing gate, I could just about get the bike around it on rear wheel.

 

[Paul_Smith SRCC]

What I wanted was to take grandchildren on a bike ride, but to find a route which did not have steep hills, or cross roads, or lumps in the path, only way is ride it.

I tried going for a bike ride in the Forest of Dean, cheap mountain bike, started at Bracelands caravan site, the old site has been turned to chalet site, new one is lower down, but the forest tracks from the site does a reasonable circuit around the camp, but rather steep first section to get to route to river, once first second done rest seems same gradient all the way down. But it would not be an easy return.

Other routes go towards the Symonds Yat which I did, but there did not seem to be a forest track down, so took to the road, which is where I learnt the problem with cable disc brakes, which would slow me, but not stop me, I had not until then realised how they simply run out of travel, so light braking they work great, but heavy braking they need to be kept in adjustment. Lucky I met nothing coming up.

At the bottom the old railway was a good route to Monmouth with a ferry that will take bikes at Symonds Yat base, and a foot bridge half way (Biblins rope bridge) which will also take bikes, opposite side of river to old train track was still passable with a bike, but not as easy, but what I relied on was being able to call my wife to pick me up from Monmouth and second time took car down to Monmouth and parked car on Hadnock Road out crossing river on rope bridge across ferry and return on railway track, but needs to have done the route first to know you can put bike on boat and the route is reasonable.

I tried the Wirral loop cycle route, and got lost, from Shotton the route follows the coast past a nice cafe and then pub, but then goes through the village of Burton Point, I found old railway but went wrong direction I think, did it a second time, up to Park Gate but there are road sections, so easy to get lost. Again first attempt rescued by wife, which is not the idea.

Shotton to Chester loop still has a small road section, you can join the canal to get right into Chester, but you need to get to New Crane Street and cross that major road to get into the small park and on to the river route back, and there is a gate to lift the bike over to get to Tower Road/Raymond Street junction, it may be possible to gain assess to Upper Cambrian Road, but not tried.

And this is the problem, you can get just one point on the route which stops you, I took my dad around Alyn Waters park near Wrexham him in a mobility scooter, half way around I had to dismantle it and rebuild it other side of kissing gate, there was no reason for it to be there, both sides free assess from the cafe at car park. Wepre Park route to Ewloe the same, all the way through the Park no problem for bikes, then just at point where you go onto Castle hill farm road, there is a kissing gate, I could just about get the bike around it on rear wheel.

Composing a route like this using mapping alone will often result in elements that perhaps you were not expecting. As I mention upthread I use free version of www.alltrails.com and to recap "you can toggle between 'hiking-cycling-driving' when creating, so you can switch to 'hiking' if you want to take a shortcut over a footbridge for example then back to driving if you want to stay on roads. There are two cycle focused modes, 'Bike touring' may include a smooth trail where as 'Road biking' will be on paved roads and paths that support bicycle access".

In your case you mentioned a path with a kissing gate, there will not be many route planning software that will reference those; Alltrails included. Popular routes may well be promoted via local authorities which can often help with fact finding, out of interest I just Googled Wirral Cycle Loop, they have a link to a map that could quite easily be recreated in a route planner for example. You can often search for routes that others have referenced and listed on route planning software that may also be of value, I have just searched Wirral on Alltrails, that particular link shows 10 pictures and a brief description of what you can expect plus you can download the route to your device

 

[mjr]

In your case you mentioned a path with a kissing gate, there will not be many route planning software that will reference those; Alltrails included.

I'm not sure what you mean by "reference" but cycle.travel will refuse to route through narrow kissing gates where mapped and I suspect many other planners do similar.