Routing Options
When planning a route in the Bikemap app or on the website, you can choose from different routing options to match your riding style and preferences. Each routing option influences how Bikemap calculates a route. Depending on the available roads and paths, the suggested route may not always match every preference exactly.
Here you will find out more about these options and how to select the most fitting one for your trip.
The routing options in detail
On our website and in the app you can choose between the following routing options:
- Free: Balanced, Fastest
Premium: Cycling Paths, Popular, E-bike, Gravel Bike, Road Bike, Mountain Bike, Smooth Ride
Each routing option suits different needs and riding preferences. The following sections describe what each option does.
Balanced
This option provides a good mix of cycling paths and streets with low traffic while avoiding roads with a speed limit higher than 50 km/h (31 mph) whenever possible.
Fastest
Fastest prioritizes shorter routes with fewer turns. Cycling paths are given lower priority, which can result in routes with higher traffic volumes.
Cycling Paths
Select this routing option to increase the amount of cycling infrastructure used along your route. You can choose between three settings:
Low: Cycle paths are preferred. Detours are only accepted to a very small extent.
Medium: Cycle paths are clearly preferred over other roads. Detours are avoided where possible to keep the route from becoming unnecessarily long.
High: This option forces the route onto cycle paths and gives preference to international cycle routes. In most cases, this results in a significantly longer route compared to the other options.
Popular
This option uses anonymous route data from the Bikemap community to prioritize roads and paths that are frequently used by other cyclists.
E-bike
This routing option allows routes with more elevation, taking advantage of the support provided by an e-bike motor. It also avoids stairs that would require you to carry your bike.
Gravel Bike
Designed for gravel bikes, this routing option favors gravel roads, forest tracks, and bike-friendly unpaved routes while avoiding traffic-heavy roads and impassable trails.
Road Bike
This option is designed for road bikes and avoids unpaved roads whenever possible. Major roads are given higher priority, while safer alternatives such as cycle paths are used where available.
Mountain Bike
This routing option attempts to include unpaved terrain, mountain bike tracks and more elevation in your route.
Smooth Ride
Designed to prioritize comfort and safety, this routing option avoids obstacles such as stairs, embedded rails, gravel, sand, cobblestones, and heavy traffic.
Selecting a routing option
In the app
After entering your destination in the app, you'll find the routing options below the destination search bar. Select your preferred routing option to recalculate the route.
On the website
When planning a route on the website, select your preferred routing option from the dropdown menu in the information panel on the left.
Distance limitations
Some routing options (such as Cycling Paths, Popular, E-bike, and Smooth Ride) only work up to a distance of around 250 km (150 mi). To create longer routes with these routing options, add waypoints at regular intervals along your route or split the route into shorter sections.