Whether you love exploring back lanes on your road bike or going all-terrain on your MTB, life can get a little dull if you’re always riding the same routes. Top navigation app komoot can broaden your cycling horizons, however, with a range of handy functions designed to make your rides more fun, varied, and tailored to your abilities and interests.
Beyond its state-of-the-art route-planning technology – integrating Google Street View and other helpful tools – komoot is also a vast community of like-minded outdoors-enthusiasts, many of whom have supplied insights and advice on your new favourite roads and trails. In other words, it’s an ideal blend of tech and human expertise.
So before you next get in the saddle, here are 5 ways you can use komoot to get more out of your cycling adventures.
1. Plan ahead with the new Trail View function
Trail View, an exciting new addition to komoot, uses photographs taken by other users to enhance the app’s route-planning capabilities. A clever algorithm sorts through millions of images that have been uploaded by other adventurers. These then show up as green dots on the map and provide invaluable, real-world information on what to expect when you hit the roads and trails for yourself. While this is great news for anyone who wants to find out if a route is suitable for their ability level, it’s particularly useful for MTB riders or gravel cyclists who want to get an idea of the terrain they’re about to face.
komoot's Trailview function can show you what terrain to expect before you set off
(Image credit: komoot)
2. Add Google Street View
Maps can reveal a lot about a landscape but they can’t tell you everything. Luckily, komoot now brings the power of Google Street View to its route-planning technology, so you can see interactive pictures the surroundings you’ll be exploring before you’ve even started pedalling. Whether you’re getting a feel for local landmarks, checking out the standard of cycling lanes, or just want to find the perfect viewpoint for a lunch break, the addition of Google Street View can only enhance your adventurers. It can also reduce unwanted surprises, while reducing the hassle of switching between apps on your device once you’re en route.
Google Street View is now fully integrated into komoot's route planner
(Image credit: komoot)
3. Turn on map overlays
Cycle paths aren’t always the easiest things to spot on a crowded map, but this is another place komoot can help. Using overlays, you can highlight the routes most important to you, and ensure they stand out on standard komoot maps, satellite views, OpenCycleMap routes and more. Not only is this a great way to get an idea of landmarks and terrain, komoot also makes it easier to orientate your map with your surroundings, helping you find whatever it is you’re looking for.
komoot can help you discover beautiful routes you never knew existed
(Image credit: komoot)
4. Get local knowledge from komoot’s Highlights tool
On top of its sophisticated route-planning tools and extensive data on the outdoors, the human element of komoot can add an extra dimension to your adventures. The app is a gateway to a shared community of over 28 million other outdoors enthusiasts, so there’s a good chance another user will have already given your route a test-run. Recommendations from local riders appear as Highlights (red dots on the map), and you’ll often find that your fellow users have given the lowdown on the best bits of your upcoming adventure. There’s no one better to tell you about a spectacular segment of flowy singletrack, a postcard-perfect view, or simply the best cafés to stop for tea and a hard-earned cake. These things are important.
Information on routes and terrain make komoot an invaluable part of your cycling kit, whether you’re on road or trail
(Image credit: komoot)
5. Put your trust in komoot
In reality, getting from A to B is rarely as simple as getting from A to B. When you enter a start and end point into komoot, it doesn’t just calculate the quickest route between them. With information on elevation and surface types built into the software, komoot will plot the best route to suit you and your bike, so there’s no need to worry about your grand road tour reaching a dead end on a gnarly dirt track.
In short, komoot is a tool that can work around you and how you want to ride, and if you want to explore a little bit further, komoot is the perfect place to find your next adventure.
Founded in 1891, Cycling Weekly and its team of expert journalists brings cyclists in-depth reviews, extensive coverage of both professional and domestic racing, as well as fitness advice and 'brew a cuppa and put your feet up' features. Cycling Weekly serves its audience across a range of platforms, from good old-fashioned print to online journalism, and video.
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