Why Komoot goes wrong

Honestly, the biggest challenge I have with Komoot is sometimes it’s dumb choices when it comes to routing.
But you can avoid problems by simply adding more waypoints along the way.

Very useful. Thanks.

this was really good. didnt know about half of these features. thanks for sharing!

This is incredibly useful information!

Thanks for the video, Strava had a lane way that wasn't available anymore and had to reroute over the Sunday ride so I've now updated that in OpenStreetMaps, thanks for the tip. I've also found Kamoot to have less elevation shown than Strava when route planning so it's a little deseiving when route mapping

Komoot is an exploration app, not a pathfinding app. Its algorithm prioritise out of the way routes as opposed to direct routes. At night for example, it send me away from well lit main road into areas with zero lighting. If you want to explore, use komoot. If you want to get from point A to point B, use another app.

Great video, I have raised this issue with Kamoot in the past and I was told they rely on users to add information which I generally agree with but I do think if we are going to give them route data we shouldn’t have to pay for all the features

Can you please include also Garmin connect course building tool into comparison? Compare to Strava it is free of charge for Garmin users and it also has heatmaps.

Very interesting, I will explore those features, I tend to use OS maps to plot, switching views satellite, standard, green space or cycle network, then when finished I transfer to Komoot. Komoot often says that sections on my route cycling not permitted but usually this is incorrect. I also struggle with their definition of road surface. The gravel 1-6 gratings I have seen in various books seem better but I think it would be good to somehow have a rating system similar to how trail centres grade routes and then get this agreed with various bodies. I say this with absolutely no idea how this would happen, but I imagine the cycling bodies must be thinking about this

Absolutely agree on the touring option on Komoot, I did plan my trip from Malaga to Belgium like this last year. Great content!

good tips.

Great info 👌👌👌🏁

Thanks for the video! Off-topic question: What brand is your jacket? Really like the visibility.

My favourite gripe with Komoot is using someone else's route - only to discover I make the same mistakes as they have! To be fair though, how lucky are we to even have all this route finding tech at all!

I see you have gone back to flared handlebars. Didn’t you take them of your Sonder or has that been resolved with the new shock absorber stem?

Thanks for the info, really appreciated 👍

Simon, I find Komoot very frustrating and have given up with it. I discover and ride MTB trails that are suitable for gravel bikes, and sometimes want to map a route on Komoot combining trails that I know are rideable and legal for bikes. But what is frustrating is that Komoot insists on routing me where it thinks I should go, rather than letting me freely plot the route that I know is available. I hear what you say about editing OSM, but if I am creating a route at short notice (I generally am) which I want to share, Komoot simply prevents me from doing so. I have raised this with Komoot and essentially all I get is a shrug of the shoulders, pointing the blame at their source maps. To me, there should be a function to allow one to freely route where I want, overriding the source map data. With Komoot as it is, it would not be possible to create a route that ventures onto private land, when I might well be trying to route someone to a destination like my home at the end of a private track or road (I wish but just as an example). Do you have a workaround?

I agree about using Touring option over gravel option - here in Australia it’s algorithm is more reliable

Hi Simon, what do you think about using Google maps ? I’ve got a quad lock mount on my bike and tend to use google as a turn by turn GPS. Thanks for a great channel

I looked at the route it picked to send me across town, right through the traffic almost exclusively on busy roads, some of which I wouldn't take willingly on a motorcycle, never mind a push-bike...

Google maps sent me about a 1/3 mile extra & I had exactly 200 yards of busy road to get across a cross-roads where there's no room for a cycle lane or shared use path, I just did that as a pedestrian very short walk and a pelican crossing instead of a busy set of lights & a queue, the rest was mostly shared paths, & some quiet residential streets. Monumental win for Google over Komoot here.

Neither pick the sane route to my nearest shopping centre, if I edit the route on Komoot it becomes clear why.. I'd have to get off & push for an entire 67 feet for a short section of footpath between a shared use path & a quiet dead-end back street, by doing so I avoid a steep hill I'd (at my level of fitness) be pushing the bike up for a much greater distance anyway & my route is appreciably shorter using shared paths rather than a bus route where you often get close passed into the bargain.

As a mostly urban cyclist, Google maps appears to do better.

OMG mate, thank you so much! I did not know Komoot changed your route based on your activity! Switching to Road definitely improved Komoot's suggested routes! And the M key! Amazing!

As a contributor to OpenStreetMap in my area this makes me happy to see!

Lots of helpful information, thanks a bunch. One way I found to trick RWGPS and others into routing off of main streets and roads is to select hiking when I'm looking for a MTB options – this way I get mostly unpaved paths and single/double track dirt roads. It proved a lot faster than trying to use cycling option and then manually forcing the app to use those unpaved surfaces.

What is your opinion on Garmin Edge mapping? I'm fine using my phone with Komoot or LocusMap for bike navigation however a Garmin Edge is just soo dedicated and I am tech enthusiast anyway. (I have a Fenix 7 watch, so I'd use the Edge mainly for routing or navigation). However, I have had very bad experience with Garmin's algorithm just planning awful and nonsense routes.