Komoot - Are the trails on it decent?

I’ve used komoot routes in the lakes and near my home in Bolton, they are, in the main pretty good, just have a look at the routes on the map before you set off , make sure there’s no obvious mistakes .

but yes is the answer !

No.

Crowd sourcing trail & route information seems poor.

It also goes massively on numbers riding - and actively excluded routes due to low numbers.

It's automatic routing can be lethal - near us it prefers to send people up the main A84 rather than the NCN traffic free route in a few places. This is stretches of road which have seen cyclists killed (Lubnaig and Ogle). I've messaged them and basically had a shrug as a response and a suggestion that the algorithm is in charge.

I find for mtb it's pretty crap and rely more on Trailforks to find decent trails.

For gravel it's better, but will still sometimes send you down something far too lumpy to be considered fun.

This is on the continent, not the island.

Now my main mapping/routing solution. I find it works really easily. It uses Openstreetmap for surface/access types, same as most of the other mapping programs and, as OSM can be easily modified, any errors or omissions can be easily dealt with. Linking it to Garmin Connect means that routes are easily sent to any of my Garmin devices.

I use it to find routes already created by people (there's a few I follow locally), or to make my own routes - it's pretty easy to do.

IME auto-generated routes (on komoot, or Garmin) are variable.

Though you can create a 'gravel' ride, there's no gravel category in the Discover page, which I find very weird - you kinda have to find bike touring or MTB routes.

There are no reliable sources of ready made gravel routes. You might find a nice collection on Komoot made a by a knowledgeable person you might not. But it’s no better or worse than any other source.

As Mat says above they all suffer from roadie on A road problems because that’s what roadies do.

Strava is another option. Strava isn’t better for route planning. But the heat map is useful and you get OS maps via fat map.

I tend start by googling the area and looking for options then plot something, usually in os maps, but looking at the Strava heat map to make sure you can get through

no gravel category in the Discover page,

Weird and annoying.

Bike touring is mostly on road and the mtb stuff you never quite know what you're getting.

I have Locus Maps which is quite good at suggesting routes for gravel, hiking, etc.

Friend used Kommot to plot a round UK cycle tour. Mostly OK apparently, but led here up poo creek several times. Not sure why Singletrack uses Komoot to be honest as it doesn't have OS maps. Hence I never look at the route guides from the magazine

Outdoor Active has a gravel filter and OS maps. Not free, but I think you can do the free month trial thing. I don't ride gravel, so can't comment on the route suggestions, or if there are any. I have noticed a lot of the MBR routes popping up on OA which is great - as long as you reverse them 🤣.

I swear by cycle.travel - it will always route to favour quiet roads and lanes based on traffic data, and has a gravel mode. It's free but for £2 a month you can get also get an OS map layer to check/adjust your route.

Guess it depends where you live? I've found it useful for finding linking bridleways etc for local rides, but our terrain is crap and flat so the trails are never going to be that good.

Katherine Moore has some decent gravel route collections on Komoot.

Not sure why Singletrack uses Komoot to be honest as it doesn’t have OS maps. Hence I never look at the route guides from the magazine

They don’t any more. The maps were terrible. The new partner is cycling uk and back to is maps

I think Komoot is ok - have found a few bits localist to me. Have also followed a few bits away from home including a decent Quantocks loop

The general routes are, as suggested, pretty naff but if you can find an individual's routes, these can be good. Ed Shooter and Markus Stitz for instance ,both post excellent rides. Maps are crap though

They don’t any more. The maps were terrible.

You what! Err, shows how much I look at the mag.

Hang on . . . .Nope still garbage as it looks like you need a paid for OS subscription to see a proper OS map.

Come on Singletrack just put up a stand alone GPX file so we can any use app we like*.

*Full members only, would be fair.

Best to follow someone local to the area who has ridden a route, recorded it and uploaded it so you know it's rideable, has some local knowledge (i.e. fun stuff that may not be strictly legal in the footpath/bridleway sense) and probably won't kill you.

Sounds like komoot may be trying to improve.

I got sent an email asking me to take part in a video call feedback session on route planning within komoot.  Offered a free years premium as a reward for taking part.   I didn't have time last week to take part.

An old colleague writes about and rides tours for Komoot.... Holger S.

I don't really trust any software to plan a decent route all by itself. Whatever software I've used, I've always had to check it carefully to make sure it hasn't done anything really dumb (and it usually has, if left to its own devices).

I usually find it better to try and find routes that reliable people have either put together themselves (eg Ride with GPS) or ride regularly (pulling the route from Strava after looking at various rides from segment leaderboards).

When putting together a route which has a lot of junctions, I can get a half decent route out of Komoot but only if I insert a LOT of waypoints at key points...

Wikiloc > Komoot

Why not try the cycle.travel website instead of komoot?

Allows gravel routes and it's free. I find it pretty decent.

The riders blogs are good to read on there too.