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Navigation without a cycling computer/GPS

As I progress my cycling and begin to build up my miles on the bike, I have been faced with a bit of a dilemma.

While I try to mix up my routes, I often find myself hitting many of the same roads on every ride. I'm keen to add some variation to my rides and find some new roads, but I'm afraid my sense of direction usually let's me down!

My question is, is there a way to plan routes and navigate without a GPS-enabled cycling computer? Or is it worth investing in a basic (relatively cheap) cycling computer like the Garmin Edge 130 (https://www.halfords.com/cycling/cycling-technology/cycle-computer-gps/g...)?

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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11 comments

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Organon | 3 years ago
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What a charmingly 21st Century problem.

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Sriracha | 3 years ago
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I use Komoot or CycleStreets on Android. You can plot a route on either, and then follow turn by turn instructions from it.

Komoot has a slicker interface, but you only get one region's maps for free. If you are unlucky and live on a region boundary, too bad. CycleStreets' maps are free. Both are based on the open source OpenStreetMaps, so it's a bit of a cheek that Komoot make you pay (and then you have to pay a subscription on top if you want cycling-specific mapping features!)

I use a Quad Lock phone mount, mostly the screen is off and I just listen, but you can have the whole 'big arrows' experience with Komoot, or a live map. It's also handy for when I'm not using the navigation but just stopping to check the map occasionally.

Komoot is also good for tracking a journey, but it only gives minimal stats. It also has a whole social thing for sharing routes which I have never bothered with.

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Canyon48 | 3 years ago
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I really rate using strava to create routes then sticking them on a GPS. That way you can sit down and plan a route using google maps/streetview and OS maps. The OS map subscription is very useful too, £40 for a year and you have complete access to all the OS maps online and you can print them in your desired scale (A3 or A4).

Failing that, take a map and cycle down some roads you've never been before. You can't really get that lost!

Re: Garmin Edge 130 (I have the Edge 25 and it's great for tracking rides and following a breadcrumb GPS trail) however, for not a lot more than the Edge 130, you can get a Wahoo Elemnt Bolt, which is a vastly superior computer IMO (but if you don't want the extra capability now or in the future then the 130 would be fine).

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Paul__M replied to Canyon48 | 3 years ago
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Bing maps is great for OS maps, even goes to hte detailed mapping for offroad routes. I print them because my Garin Navigation is pretty hopeless (won't allow detours) and unreadable in the sun.

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TheBillder replied to Canyon48 | 3 years ago
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I agree, though personally use ridewithgps for planning (free, and easily exports .fit files for my Garmin). Most of my interesting rides though have begun with a paper OS map, looking for roads I've not used before and interesting stuff.

I do rate a GPS over a phone on the bars, for battery life and waterproofing especially. I was lucky to buy a used Edge 810 from a friend for a bit of a bargain price.

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Achtervolger | 3 years ago
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I've used paper maps profitably when exploring new cycling areas. However I think a lot depends on the area and the type of map. I worked recently at a Youth Hostel in the Lake District, and I found the Sustrans South Cumbria & Lake District Cycle Map perfect for exploring - good size for fitting in a jersey pocket and showed me all the roads I needed. Sustrans produce these maps for the whole country, and I think they're great for countryside areas. However they're not so good for urban areas, as the scale is quite large - this means they cover quite a large area, but don't have much fine detail. An alternative is to get hold of, say, an AA road atlas, cut out the appropriate page(s), perhaps laminate them and take them with you. Or you could subscribe to OS (Ordnance Survey) maps online (not sure how much it coast, though you could try the free 7 day trial). Then you could perhaps get a device that would attach your 'phone to your handlebar or stem and you could use the on-screen map to navigate. Using OS maps would mean you could pick the map-scale that works best for you too. 

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ktache replied to Achtervolger | 3 years ago
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I love a paper map, for the mostly off road me the OS Explorer is great, 1:25,000, but you might need a couple for a long road ride.  I think the pink 1:50,000 might be more appropriate.  I tend to think about navigation in OS.

I did get the Sustrans map for my local area, very useful and the tape that I used to repair it is now falling apart, just not a great map and they miss a lot of stuff out, but almost essential for the NCN.

Getting a bit lost is rarely a bad thing, if you don't NEED to be anywhere quick.  Some of my most remembered rides were ones where I got a bit lost.

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Cargobike | 3 years ago
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Getting lost is half the fun!

It's all too easy to become over reliant on GPS when out riding, just as car drivers do with their sat-navs when the reality is that we tend to cycle within quite defined areas as our journies start and finish at the same place, usually home.

I know my local roads well enough to know which are the fast traffic routes to avoid and can then ride without the need for a dedicated route planner, but then again I ride almost every day, so you learn your local area fairly quickly.

If however, you have time constraints or you want to do specfic training to meet certain objectives a GPS unit can certainly be beneficial, but relying on it for everything can take some of the enjoyment away. I ride whatever is in front of me, whether that's a huge climb, or a twisting descent. Too much route planning can lead to you opting to miss all the best roads in an attempt to find routes that meet specific criterias.

Ultimately, it's down to you to decide what your needs are. Me, I couldn't care less about Strava and KOM's, or covering ground from point A to point B as efficiently as possible, it takes too much of the fun away which is why I ride, because I actually enjoy it, rather than it being an exercise in purgatory.

I must admit that I am extremely lucky living on the southern edge of the Peak District and have such a variety of different terrains to cycle in which many don't get. Go North and it's hilly, go south and it's far flatter, west it's high plateau and east more urban and typical rolling English countryside.

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Shades | 3 years ago
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Over the years I've gone through the full spectrum of bike navigation from the map bag on the bars to the various smartphone apps.  Decided to get a GPS computer a few years back (Wahoo Bolt); complete revelation!  For places your not familiar with, just plan the route, load it up, ride and enjoy yourself.  No time-wasting stops to check where you are.  The purists might say that seeing where you are on a paper map is part of the fun, but it does make a ride way more efficient.

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Nick T | 3 years ago
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The old school way is to get a map, plot your course and write your own turn by turn street names which you either tape to your bars/stem somehow or keep in a pocket to stop and check. You can print one of these sheets out easier now using google maps. 
 

gps computers make life a lot easier and are worth the money, but check it's capable of navigation rather than just recording your trip like many cheaper ones are. More expensive ones (eg edge 830)will have a map on display, tell you when to turn etc, the middle range ones (eg edge 530) have more minimal mapping and more of a breadcrumb trail navigation system. 
 

the tricky part of all this is finding which roads are good for cycling, it's a shame to be stuck on a busy A road for 10k when there's some lovely twisty B roads just a few turns away. Strava is good for that, their heat maps and just lifting others' gpx files for you to ride yourself, also consider joining a club and benefitting from their experience of your local roads 

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SimonAY | 3 years ago
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Do you have a smart phone? Easiest way without a dedicated computer is to plot them on website (I use Strava's route mapping tool) and then use a related app. You can then keep the phone on your bars or just check it now and again

Tho I'm also old enough to remember having a laminated OS map in my jersey pocket.......

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