Biking in France - Komoot disappointment

RayKinsella

Folks, I have another trip over to France next month. Last year, I bought the appropriate Komoot maps and thought I was all set.

I was pretty disappointed with it. I felt like it was taking me way off the beaten track, it wasn't helping me find the well beaten road routes out there - it wasn't taking me through anywhere interesting.

So what do people use for planning their road routes in an unfamiliar place. Is it worth buying a beeline or similar to help with navigation, I found it hard to hear komoot on the bike.

Ray K

pblakeney

I use Garmin Express. Works fine and you can choose to follow popular routes.
Other options are available.

davebradswmb

I use Ride with GPS. On a computer it's great, and with heatmaps you can see the roads that are used most. It is usable on a phone screen too. I never got on with Komoot, partly for the reason you've given but also because it was difficult to modify routes, this is a breeze in Ride with GPS, although you have to subscribe to get all the editing options.

Dorset_Boy

Are you on road or off road?
Strava heatmaps are great for seeing what routes are well used in an area.
Sometimes do a segment search in the area you are heading to, and then see what rides / routes people have done when passing through that segment.

RWGPS does have a habit of sending you down farm tracks - fine if on a gravel bike or MTB, not so good on a road bike. However it is what we use for plotting our club rides each week.

pblakeney

Oh! A thought on popular routes. Beware of commuting routes. Sometimes riders are going where they have to rather than where they want to. Not an issue in the countryside.

davebradswmb

Dorset_Boy said:

Are you on road or off road?
Strava heatmaps are great for seeing what routes are well used in an area.
Sometimes do a segment search in the area you are heading to, and then see what rides / routes people have done when passing through that segment.

RWGPS does have a habit of sending you down farm tracks - fine if on a gravel bike or MTB, not so good on a road bike. However it is what we use for plotting our club rides each week.

I tell RWGPS to route for a car so it sticks to the roads, the issue then is you have to watch for when it routes you onto a dual carriageway. But RWGPS allows you to switch from car to bike and back on the fly.

Flasher2

I only use Komoot when I'm away from home and have found it to be excellent when used in conjunction with my Garmin.

I don't know how you use it, but this is what I do, on my phone app, tap - Find your next adventure > Road Cycling > Start where you are > then choose a route from the list that comes up > Save > Send to Device. From where I am currently 213 rides come up with all kinds of distances and difficulties, these are routes that have been shared from other users.

When I was in France last year watching a few stages of the Tour, we were in a Gite in the middle of nowhere and loads of really good routes came up, I was really impressed.

davidof

I use brouter.de, it shows the cycle routes. Be careful in France, there are some very, very heavily trafficked D roads.

esemianczuk854VCYDy1YJ

OO you can use the app I've been spending months building! https://sherpa-map.com/ it has Google maps, 28 route profiles (paved/unpaved/hill/flat/etc...) it can pull weather point by point along your route, assess tailwind, and even us AI to classify unknown surfaces!

Oh, it's also 100% free!