800,000 cyclists make a pilgrimage around Lake Constance every summer. Eight hundred thousand! A colleague from our sister magazine MYBIKE once joined this permanent procession and realised that he was constantly overtaking larger groups at a sporty pace. He therefore recommended that the tour should be tackled in the opposite direction.
Sounds like a good idea, thought a friend, but after her "ghost driver" tour she was able to report: "In this direction you have to be constantly careful that you don't run into the handlebar ends of oncoming traffic, because even the second person in a group is late in spotting oncoming traffic." Jesus, why do you do that to yourself?
We guessed it. Of course, lakes and rivers always provide a nice guide for a tour: lots of nature, bathing spots, refreshment stops and accommodation - but little car traffic, and gruelling peaks in altitude are hardly to be feared along the banks. But the main reason why there are so many cyclists on the official routes along Lake Constance and the Danube, as well as on the Via Claudia transalpine route, is probably because there is no need for a GPS device: You don't need a GPS device here. Paper maps and guides are not necessary either, you simply follow the shore and can rely on the seamless signposting. But also on several thousand fellow cyclists.
That's why individually set destinations with self-designed routes are simply worth their weight in gold - and thanks to GPS navigation on the handlebars, no more wandering off into the bushes. However, the systems on the handlebars are not yet comparable to the sat navs we know from cars.
If you have never been on tour with a GPS track before, we recommend that you slowly familiarise yourself with the subject. All you need is a smartphone and the basic version of an online tour portal. Simply click together your usual road bike route or gravel tour and then ride it. This is the quickest way to recognise the still minor pitfalls of GPS navigation and to better assess them later on a long tour in unfamiliar surroundings. This is also the best way to find out whether it makes sense for you to invest in a much more robust and easier to read bike computer with a longer battery life.
Exercise steps for beginners can be found at the end of the article.
Four bike navigation variants compared
1. follow a signposted route:
There are, of course, signposted routes marketed by the respective tourist offices (e.g. Stoneman routes, Buchonia tour, Westweg in the Black Forest or Transalp Via Claudia). Fortunately, they are not quite as overcrowded as the Danube and Lake Constance cycle routes. The biggest advantage of this variant is that there is usually a first-class infrastructure for cyclists along these routes. For your own overview of the route, but also because you can always miss a sign, you should still download the GPS track to your mobile phone.
Advantages:
- No need to plan your own routes/stages
- Good infrastructure for cyclists along the route (accommodation, well-stocked bike shops, e-charging stations)
Disadvantages:
- (Too) many people on the move
- Signage possibly overgrown, incomplete or questionable (see picture above)
- Individual route changes not possible
2. mobile phone and tour app:
z. e.g. Komoot, Outdooractive, Strava etc.
The good thing is that you probably have a smartphone anyway. Of course, the mobile phone manufacturer does not supply a holder for the handlebars. But these are now available to buy for every smartphone model (even with a rain case). The range here is between 15 and 80 euros.
To do this, you need access to an online tour portal and the corresponding app for your mobile phone. The free "Basic" subscription (or the two-week free trial of a higher version) is sufficient for practising. A "Pro" subscription for around 30 euros is then required to save the maps offline. This includes the world map package (Komoot, Outdooractive).
If you have an Android mobile phone, it is worth taking a look at the Locus Map portal (locusmap.app): You can also edit and plan tours offline on their maps. There is now also a version for iPhones, but it is currently still in a slimmed-down form.
Advantages of mobile phone navigation:
- Largest display
- Best cards
- Voice navigation
- Simple operation/planning
- Inexpensive (you have it with you anyway)
Disadvantages:
- Rescheduling of the tour only possible with a stable internet connection
- You have to buy an additional holder for the expensive (more sensitive) mobile phone
- Short battery life
- Display less legible in sun/shade
3. navigation with bike computer
It costs money to buy, but for just 250 euros you can have a good device on your handlebars (including mount) that is unaffected by dust, rain or even a fall. Professionals recommend devices for bikepacking that are intuitive to use, with a colour display that is not too small and has an anti-reflective coating and the longest possible battery life. They should also be able to be connected to common online portals directly or via the corresponding manufacturer app on your mobile phone. The following have proven themselves on long tours: Garmin Edge Explorer 2 (250 euros/battery: 16 hours), Sigma Rox 12.1 Evo (380 euros/battery: 14 hours) and Wahoo Elemnt Roam V2 (400 euros/battery: 17 hours). Only on the market since 2024, but already celebrated: the Coros Dura (289 euros). The model is equipped with a solar cell and is said to achieve an incredible 120 hours of battery life!
Advantages of bike computers:
- Robust, dustproof and waterproof
- Easy to read display even in the sun
- Handlebar mount included
- OSM maps of Europe (and more) via free download and updates
- Re-routing also possible offline, as all necessary data is stored on the device
- Route can be easily changed via mobile phone app
- Long battery life (at least 14 hours), solar devices from Garmin and Coros significantly longer!
Disadvantages
- Acquisition costs (good device but already from 250 euros)
- Fitness functions are annoying when you don't need them
- Turn-offs are announced by beeps, but voice announcements can also be made via mobile phone using the app
The range of bike computers on offer is large, but so is the experience of bikepacking professionals worldwide. And according to their reviews, there are three devices for touring cyclists who are mainly interested in navigation (rather than training tools) that have proved particularly effective on long adventure trips:
Garmin Edge Explorer 2
- Price: 250 Euro >> available here
- Battery life: 16 hours
- Highlights: Favourable price; ProClimb function (detailed information on gradients); Europe maps included in the device, directly connected to portals such as Komoot, Outdooractive and Strava.
- Dislikes: Somewhat more complicated menu navigation, touchscreen doesn't work in the rain, button operation a little awkward.
- If you want to spend a little more: Garmin's top models are the Edge 1040 Solar (€690) - thanks to its solar cells in the display, the battery on this device lasts 45 hours and longer. And the Edge 1050 (750 euros) with a razor-sharp display, 20-60 hours of battery life, voice navigation, group ride, bell and danger function, as well as various training tools. However, the question is whether you really need the many other features of the significantly more expensive Edge 1050 in addition to navigation.
Conclusion: The Edge Explorer 2 is the ideal device for anyone who primarily wants to use the navigation functions and perhaps get a taste of training tools. Top price-performance ratio!
Sigma Rox 12.1 Evo
- Price: 380 Euro >> available here
- Battery runtime: 14 hours
- Highlights: Very intuitive operation, touchscreen (also simple 5-button operation in the rain), automatic (power-saving) brightness setting, pre-installed maps of Europe (more can be loaded via mobile phone app), six profiles for different sports or bikes possible, pre-installed POIs (e.g. ATMs, supermarkets, accommodation) and tour (re-)planning is also possible directly on the device.
- Points of criticism: When switching on, satellite reception can take up to 2 minutes; transfer of maps and tracks only via the mobile phone app; memory of 8 GB relatively small, but sufficient due to compressed maps, display somewhat less legible than on the two competitor devices; at very slow speeds (e.g. steep uphill), the device switches to pause mode.
Conclusion: Its intuitive operation makes it the ideal model for GPS beginners or for owners of several bikes.
Wahoo Elemnt Roam V2
- Price: 400 Euro >> available here
- Battery runtime: 17 hours
- Highlights: Best display, direct connection to common tour portals, as well as Trailforks, MTB Project and Singletracks, 7 satellite connections of different systems (track accuracy!); 32 GB memory for very long tracks and maps, pre-installed maps of Europe, free worldwide download via WiFi, Go Pro control, "Summit Segments" tool for gradient details, GPX transfer from mobile phone app via Bluetooth
- Points of criticism: slightly smaller display, no touch function (e.g. to move the map section)
Conclusion: The perfect toy for (tech-savvy) trail seekers without any significant weaknesses.
Navigation for beginners: practising on familiar paths
Even if navigation on a bike, especially when you're travelling off-road, is still a little more complicated than you're used to in a car or with your mobile phone via Google Maps, once you've found the right system for you, the world is practically open to you around the globe. The initial effort is therefore worthwhile and with a little practice you will soon recognise the small pitfalls of track navigation that unfortunately still exist.
The first important insight into the world of GPS is free: Simply open an online tour portal (e.g. outdooractive.com or komoot.de), select a sport and enter your location. There are sure to be a few ready-made tour suggestions nearby, whose GPX tracks you can follow via the corresponding app on your smartphone. Thanks to voice announcements at junctions, this comes very close to navigation in a car. However, only if it is a well-maintained, up-to-date track that has been prepared accordingly by an experienced GPS cyclist. Otherwise, you'll literally find yourself in the woods very quickly.
Next step: Click on "Tour planning" in one of the tour portals mentioned and put together your usual after-work or Sunday tour on the map. This works best on the large screen of your computer. After saving, this tour will automatically appear in the tour portal app on your mobile phone (download the app beforehand, of course). If you now get on the saddle and ride this tour, also click on "Record track" and watch what happens on your mobile phone display. You will probably have the following experiences on this ride:
Damn, where to put the mobile phone - I need one Bracket for the handlebars.
That's right. There are now plenty of good solutions available. Just google your specific mobile phone model. But for this first test tour, your jacket, jersey or trouser pocket will have to suffice. You might want to turn up the voice navigation so that you don't have to fumble your mobile phone out of your pocket all the time!
My recorded track doesn't run on the track I'm following, but often next to it?
This mainly happens in places where satellite reception is somewhat poorer, such as in the forest or on steep slopes. Or the underlying map material is not entirely accurate. Sometimes this means that you are not quite sure which route is the right one at forks in the road. Then it helps to zoom in on the map and check whether your own track still runs parallel to the one given. If necessary, you simply have to try out the branch-off. If the cursor moves away from the track: turn round!
My self-recorded track measured completely different altitude metres.
In contrast to the bike computer, very few mobile phones have an air pressure sensor. Here, the altitude data is determined rather imprecisely using GPS data. But even the barometric data of a bike sat nav, which is measured using air pressure, hardly ever matches the data on a tour portal.
In contrast, the good topo maps from Outdooractive, for example, have a terrain grid with very precise altitude information. However, the air pressure in nature fluctuates. If, for example, a thunderstorm comes up during your tour (low pressure), a bike computer will show significantly more metres in altitude than the tour originally selected on the computer. This is also the reason why the start and end points of a circular tour can have different altitudes, even though they are the same place.
My recorded track shows funny dumplings on the map.
These are the so-called point clouds. These are the places where you have paused for a long time without switching off the recording. Before you upload your track to a tour portal and make it available for others to follow, it is a point of honour to delete such excess points.
My track doesn't follow the path, but shoots through the forest as the crow flies.
Either you forgot to switch the recording on again immediately after the break or you had no or poor satellite reception for a long time (forest, steep slope, tunnel). Such tracks can be found on tour portals from time to time. This is because the person who uploaded the tour did not bother to edit it.
Anyone who has downloaded such a bad track will be massively annoyed in the middle of the forest. Because now the tour will take much longer than expected, as you can only follow the path and not the "planned" aerial track. If you have also saved the map offline (see below), the programme will also very annoyingly ask you to turn around.
Unless you have had a close look at the track on the computer beforehand, discovered such dropouts and repaired them. In other words, you have dragged and dropped the track onto the marked route network on the map itself.
My mobile phone battery is almost empty after two hours!
This is precisely the biggest problem with the mobile phone navigation version. You can save a little power by switching off the display and just listening to the voice prompts. In the long term, however, you should buy an annual subscription to the Pro version of one of the popular tour portals (Komoot and Outdooractive e.g. 30 euros). For this you not only get access to better, more detailed maps worldwide, but also the option of saving them "offline" on your mobile phone. This means you can navigate just as well, except that your mobile phone doesn't have to run hot because of the constant satellite search.
Unfortunately, most maps saved offline have a disadvantage: If you want to deliberately deviate from the planned route or change the tour, this is only possible again with a stable internet connection (exception: the offline maps from Locus Map, which can only be used in full function on Android mobile phones, info: locusmap.app). You should definitely try out the deliberate deviation from your home trail route: Does the programme suggest a sensible re-routing route?
And one more tip: If you upload and save your recorded track (or a third-party track) in the online tour portal, you have to choose between: "Follow known routes" or "Do not synchronise waypoints with the route network". If you choose the latter, your track will remain in its original form. If, on the other hand, you save under "Follow known routes", the track is automatically drawn exactly onto the route network and provided with underground information. However, the route is often also moved to "suitable paths for cycling". In other words, your favourite trail may be lost because it has been replaced by an official forest road bypass. Or even worse: instead of a forest road ascent, the route is moved to a nearby, officially authorised single trail - even if it is a trail descent in a bike park. And riding uphill is a rather life-threatening idea...
It is therefore really important to familiarise yourself with the planned route in detail beforehand and not just switch on the device and blindly follow a foreign or AI-generated track. Fortunately, you learn how to use GPS navigation very quickly. If only because every poorly planned and wrongly taken turn in the countryside costs you a lot of energy.
Gitta Beimfohr
Editor
