Tips on using the skip function please

[Protonhound]

Hi All,
I'm still getting the hang of my XT2 and when navigating a route on the upper right there is a skip button with a pin surrounded by a squiggly arrow. The manual does not mention this and I have not been able to find any info on it. I only tried it today but the result was not what I was expecting and I just turned the thing off since it was trying to send me on some seemingly wild goose chase.
What do you think?

[Peobody]

Using the Skip function to skip a via point triggers the XT and XT2 to recalculate the entire remainder of the route. Try to avoid using it but sometimes you can't help it (eg: going off route that takes you around a via point).
Two proactive means come to mind for minimizing the effects of such a recalc.
1. Include enough routing points in your trip plan so that a recalc keeps you on the intended route. This means trying to outsmart what the XT2 might do if it does a recalc. I have had minimal success at this but it reduces the chance of a major route route change.
2. Create a track of the route and have that displayed on the map along with the route. When a route then gets modified by a recalc, the magenta route line will then deviate from the track line. You can then opt to manually follow the track. This is practical when the deviation is minor.
The reactive approach is to stop and reload the route, picking a waypoint somewhere up ahead as the entry point. Using closest entry point is also on option although there have been reports of issues with it on the XT (I haven't experienced any). Don't know about the XT2.

BTW, 1 and 2 above are good practices because the XT and XT2 will automatically recalculate a route when a road closure is detected. You can not control this. Road closure detections are notoriously erroneous which makes this behaviour very annoying, especially when the route around a closure is absurd (very common in my experience with the XT).

[Protonhound]

Thank you for your very concise reply. I appreciate you taking the time to do this and now I have one less thing to think about. Since I stick to paved roads I'll just not use it. I noticed that if I keep going past a designated stop the XT2 just keeps following the rest of the route without having an attitude about it

[Protonhound]

Since I'm not installing my Zumo on my current bike but on the new one I'm getting this spring I've been taking it with me in the car to get used to it. I'm using Tread to create the routes and found that the skip function actually works very well leaving all shaping and way points intact. Maybe if used as intended with the Tread app it works as intended. Maybe creating maps in Basecamp, which the XT2 does not support, and then trying to get the XT2 to comply is using the wrong tools? I'm not into geeking out on this any more than I have to and my Galaxy S23 Ultra's S-Pen works great for route creation in Tread.

[Peobody]

I am curious how the Tread app would make any difference in how the device reacts when skipping a via point. On the XT, skipping a point results in the recalculation of the remainder of the route. That recalculation does not change any of the remaining via or shaping points, but it can change the route between them, at least for a route created in Basecamp. AFAIK, the XT2 does the same recalculation after a skip but perhaps there is something about the Tread route that caused it to be treated differently.

With Basecamp, routes transferred to a device contain all of the route points but also many, many breadcrumb points. The device then follows the breadcrumbs rather than calculating a route. Those breadcrumbs are lost whenever anything occurs that results in the recalculation of the route (off-route, point skipped, road closure). When the happens, the device then creates what it determines as the best route between route points. That route may not be on the roads you intended to ride (eg: your original route was along on a secondary road but the recalc routes you on a parallel highway, or, your route intentionally went through a town but the recalc routes you around it). The unknown is how a route created in the Tread app differs from one created in Basecamp. This is irrelevant to anyone who is satisfied with the device determining the route between route points.