Hello

[SteveG]

Thanks for letting me join this forum. I got a ZumoXT
a year ago as I was fed up with my phone Navmii sending me round in circles!
I'm not sure I'm getting the best from it though.
Just some background; im 71 years old (and a real tech dinosaur) and live in lovely Lincolnshire. I've been riding more or less continuously since 1971. Current bikes are a 1987 MZ 125, a 2019 Jawa 350 2 stroke and a 2020 Royal enfield Interceptor owned from new with 44,000 miles in that time. I ride all year round and don't own a car.
Here's hoping I can find some tips with your help.
Cheers Steve

[jfheath]

Welcome to the forum and thanks for your introduction.

Zumo XT is a great bit of kit. With a few quirks.

Even if you don't use Basecamp to plan routes, there is a lot of useful information to be found in these pages.

viewtopic.php?t=1464

Anything else or that you don't understand - just ask !

[Peobody]

Greetings @SteveG, welcome to the forum. There are lots of knowledgeable, helpful, and friendly folks here. It is a great place to spend time.

[ZFtracker]

Welcome to the forum, @SteveG.

[Mzokk]

Welcome. Read and reread @jfheath's excellent guides. Charge the unit up and have a good play with it before you use it in anger.......to prevent you getting angry using it Because the unit has a battery you can do loads tests with it and simulate its behaviour from the comfort of your sofa (theres not much on the TV anyway). I'm 63 but have used Garmin devices for 20 years. The XT has a couple of "foibles" but its a good reliable unit when you get used to it. As @jfheath says if you have any problems come back and share them. The learning curve is less steep with help.

[SteveG]

Thanks for the responses. Certainly sounds like a good supportive group. I'll definitely read @jfheath's guide.
Cheers Steve

[Oop North John]

Hi and welcome. I've used Garmin GPSR's for over 20 years and they've improved in many ways, but become frustrating in others.

One thing you should take not of is the "faster" roads being used instead of the "fastest" time as I'll guess you use the XT mainly as an A to B device. There are ways to correct it, or even ignore what it's telling you. I have seen it try to route me like this < even though there was a road between the two ends of the legs, and was much quicker, and when on the "other" road the XT quickly confirmed that it was faster.

Hope you get the weather to enjoy using the XT on your bikes.

[SteveG]

Thanks Oop north John.
I've noticed the options of straight line (which may be useful to sailors and aircraft) but for a satnav designed for bikes seems pretty useless.
I've not been able to fathom the difference between fastest and shortest as they seem to give the same routes and shortest definitely isn't very often! I was under the impression that there was a "scenic" /bends type option but the adventurous route again seems to not understand my definition of adventure or interesting.
Lots to learn. Cheers Steve

[Oop North John]

Shortest, never used it myself as it usually gives routes that don't fit in with riding on a bike.

Some of the routing algorithms do challenge me at times!

Edit,

Just been playing with the Tread app, which has similar challenges to the XT with regards to fastest routes, and I suspect that shortest routes also have the problem that it chooses a route on the faster roads, even if its longer than one that does conform to avoidances. Which would explain why the OP has seen confusing shortest routing.