Test Ride with the Bikemap Cycling Navigation App
Vložit
- čas přidán 7. 08. 2023
- *PLEASE NOTE!! Update April 2024*
I have found in recent weeks that Bikemap is no longer choosing sensible routes, and I can no longer recommend it.
I will be going back to using the Cyclers app, which currently seems to choose much better routes- even though I REALLY don't like the scale of the map display in Cyclers.
What I would suggest is that Bikemap might be worth a try, and its possible there is a setting I have changed without realising, which is causing the recent problem.
But as it stands now, I am finding the route finding to be so difficult as to be unusable.
Super cool thanks
Thank you for the video. I wanted to know though when you said it was not good in re routing. If you make a wrong turn or decide to change route whilst cycling, does it not re route at all or does it take time to realise you actually took another route than previously planned and then adjust accordingly. I am planning a 12 day cycling trip and I am bound to re route often or simply get lost!!!
You know I have to be honest, I'm just not sure about the re-routing function. On a few occasions it just outlined and recorded my new incorrect route but never tried to re-route me at all.
But at least once I remember it trying to mark a new route to the destination point.
So to be 100% sure what it does, I'd have to try it out quite a few times by deliberately going the wrong way, and I haven't had the time or the energy!
Now this test ride was maybe 8 months ago, and there may have been an upgrade and I haven't tested how it reacts to me taking a wrong turn.
My suggestion would be this- before you spend any money on the premium version of the app (which has better maps), I would download the free version yourself, and test out for yourself how the app reacts when you take a wrong turn.
My guess is that aspect of it will not have changed, and it will still be very poor and unpredictable.
My solution when I've gone wrong is to end the current navigation, and put the destination in again. It calculates the route again but from you current live location, so it will find the best route based on where you are now.
If you are planning to use rough tracks and go over gates and fences, it might struggle to find the route you want to take.
To me that seems pretty good. Yes, the turns are jerky onscreen, but seeing as your speed is very slow and there’s always going to be a gap between the app calling for satellite signal, I’m guessing it’s unavoidable
I had to laugh when you described your A52 because I still use its father the A51. The phone and case look just like my A51. That rubber case has let me keep that phone totally without damage. I was the last dinosaur around to buy a smartphone. I had a flip up for over 10 years. So this phone still has a few years left before I even consider upgrading.
I used to always get the top range phones, and replace them every 2 years, until I realised what an absolute waste of money that is.
Of course the problem now is that I need a half decent phone to record the front view, AND a second one for the rear, and sadly one area where these mid range phones do lag behind the top models is in the camera performance.
In fact, I learned my lesson on the first Poncysyllte aqueduct video that older and cheaper phones will eventually let you down, so I did end up ditching that phone.
But I always remember that Robbie Cumming, the OG boat vlogger and in my view the best and most creative, used his phone to record his brilliant Leeds and Liverpool series back in 2016.
So I reckon phones will do the job!
Thanks 👍🏼
Hey AB, what was the canal map program you were using in the last video? It seemed very detailed.
Morning Mr Z. The answer, as ever with me, is not straightforward. I actually paid about £80 for a digital map from this website:
www.waterwayroutes.co.uk/shopping/maps/
At the time I didnt know about the open source version and the free canal map phone app, or I might have thought twice about the paid version.
But it is very nice to use and very clear, although it doesn't show current stoppages like the free phone app does.
You get the map, and then you have to buy a phone app that can import it and use it.
There are a few suitable apps, the one they recommend is AlpineQuest (Pro), which cost me less than £10.
You have to move the digital map into the folder where the app will see it, but they give instructions on the website, so I managed it ok.
Mine is now 3 years old though, so at some point I'll have to think about buying an update....
Thanks AB, I had a look at the website and after 4 years its full price for the update so not overly cheap.
You are a master of understatement Mr Z.
I consider it to be pretty much a rip off, and it means I'll just carry on using my 3 year old map (which is still 99% accurate btw).
Let's be honest, you dont see people buying new Nicholson's guides every 2 or 3 years.
Handle bar mount is very wonky and viewer cannot see it. I will keep my Quad-Lock mounts. Oy Vey! I cannot get a bloody sense of the value of video of Bikemap, I will continue to use "Ride with GPS,''' and most metric rides use it too. Cheers
as sat navs go that looked ok to, they are only a guide
Thanks for your comment Trevor, and yes I do agree with that, but for a liveaboard boater you do need to rely on the satnav.
Its all fine in the summer with the warm weather and late evenings etc, but when you really need the navigation to work is on a pitch black winter's evening when its freezing and pouring down with rain.
The very last thing you want to do it take a wrong turn because the app directions weren't very clear, or it had lag in its screen movement, etc.
Then you might have to cycle a mile back along a fast, busy A road through freezing rain in the dark, which is the last thing you want.
So for me, because I move into new areas frequently and I often have no idea what lies ahead on the road, the navigation can cause some real hassle if its no good.