Zumo User Forums

I’ve been using my Garmin Zumo XT for a while now, and while I generally love how reliable it is on most of my rides, I’ve noticed something odd during longer trips. The issue tends to pop up after several hours of riding when I need it the most, and I’m not sure if anyone else has experienced the same thing.

Here’s what happens: I’ll be cruising along, following the Zumo XT, and it’ll suggest a turn that feels off. I trust it anyway because, well, it’s the Zumo, right? But then, I find myself in a totally different area than expected. This has happened more than once, and it’s not like I’m in the middle of nowhere – these are decently mapped roads. It’s so frustrating when I’m trying to keep a tight schedule, and suddenly I’m rerouting because it took me on some unnecessary detour.

At first, I thought it was a simple GPS delay, but I’ve seen this happen even when the signal is strong, and the satellite connection seems fine. It’s mostly in areas where the roads are a bit twisty or there are several smaller intersections close together. But honestly, even in more straightforward locations, I’ve seen the same issue. I’ve triple-checked my settings to make sure I’m not doing something silly like avoiding highways or tolls when I don’t need to.

I was actually inspired by the "Where Am I" feature because I figured, if the device can pinpoint my exact location so well, why isn’t it able to keep me on track during my ride? The feature itself acts as a real-time location display tool, showing exactly where you are at any given moment. The idea behind it is great, and in fact, I’ve used it in a few tight situations where I needed to figure out where I was exactly. That feature alone has saved me a few times, and I’m grateful for it. But I’m starting to wonder if there’s some sort of glitch when switching between regular navigation and location-based features. It feels like the two don’t always communicate seamlessly, if that makes sense?

I’m curious if anyone else has run into this problem on longer rides, especially when you’re navigating through more complicated road systems. Is it something I’m missing in the settings? I don’t think it’s a software issue since everything is up to date, but I’m open to hearing other opinions on what could be going wrong. Could it have something to do with the way the Zumo XT calculates longer routes versus shorter ones?

I’m not trying to bash the device – I genuinely love the Garmin Zumo XT overall, especially for the great screen and how easy it is to see while riding. It’s just these random detours that make me question its reliability sometimes, and it’s throwing me off when I’m planning my longer trips. I’d really love to hear how others handle similar issues, or if anyone has some ideas on tweaking the settings or what to look out for.

What do you think? Am I alone in this, or is there something I can adjust to make the Zumo XT more reliable during extended trips?

Welcome to the forum @GeetaVina

The XT is an excellent device but you have to learn how to make it behave, otherwise it is like a naughty puppy.

Do you have Explore Set up.

First of all - you have to decide whether or not you want to have Explore set up. When you first get it, is strongly suggests that you have to say yes to it, but you don't. I keep switching mine between having Explore set up and not - mainly so that I can help people on here. But really I prefer to not have it set up.

The link below takes you to a series of pages about having Explore set up or not, how to recognise whether it is set up, and how to get rid of it if you want to.

https://www.zumouserforums.co.uk/app.php/ZXT-P55

The XT is capable of display a track as well as a route. The track stays put, but the route may be recalculated as you ride along - especially if it comes across traffic, road closures, or perhaps you had to deviate from the route.

Many route planning programs will create a track of your route once you have planned it, and both can be loaded into the XT. With both showing, the route will cover the track - but when the original track goes one way and the route goes off another way - you have a choice. The track is what you planned. The route is the recalculated version.

That is the first thing - find out how to display routes and tracks.

Choose your routing program carefully.

Many people shy away from Basecamp. Goodness knows why because it is absolutely the best tool for the job. There is no other route planning program that can do everything that Basecamp can do. Yes it has some little quirks and you have to work with it. But not as much as you have to with other programs. That is my very considered opinion, but it is your choice. If you have tried it and are already horrified by this statement, then we can work with whatever software you prefer to use. I know that the forum owner - @Stu - swears by MyRouteApp. I have lifetime membership and I swear at it ! We have different needs - and that is perfectly OK.

Know that The Zumo XT tends to head for Faster Roads.

You have a couple of options - Faster time or Shorter Distance. It's not much of a choice, because Shorter Distance has a tendency to take you down little narrow side roads simply to cut off a corner. Faster time does not mean the Fastest time. The XT's job is to get you to the next route point. It seems that if there is a faster road , ie major road, nearby - one that will eventually take you to the next route point, it prefers to head for that - rather than take a nice quiet fast minor road that would get you there 30 minute earlier.

This means that you have to take care with the map and use Via Points and shaping points in order to steer your route away from main roads.

Learn how to plot points sensibly.

Use Via Points for places that you will definitley pass through, staging posts, and coffee breaks. Use Shaping points for the rest.
Typically on a long day's ride I will have a Start, Finish, and morning, lunch and afternoon breaks. These will all be Via Points. The rest will be carefully placed shaping points. With practice you can create a fairly rigid route without having to plot points every mile.

https://www.zumouserforums.co.uk/app.php/ZXT-P04


Now some quirky behaviour - to prevent

The Zumo is prone to doing something really stupid with routes that have not been created on the XT's built in Route Planner. This is any route that is created in Basecamp, MyRouteApp, Kurviger, Google, etc and saved as a GPX file to put into the Zumo memory.

In certain circumstances, if the route is recalculated, then the navigation starts to behave differently. Suppose you have road works so you have to deviate from the plotted route. It will tell you to turn round and go back. *** Which is the right thing to do. But it remembers where you were when it told you to turn back. And the next time you ignore its instructions it works out how to get you back to that remembered point (***) and gives a new instruction and remembers that point. Repeat.

Very quickly it has got into a routine from which it cannot esacpe.

So your job after loading up a route into the XT is to do something to prevent that from happening - Stop the RUT behaviour.

https://www.zumouserforums.co.uk/app.php/ZXT-P103


Avoid pressing Skip.

It causes issues as you continue to ride if you do. If you have to press it, then a little later, restart the route and select closest entry point.

Never put your start point at the start

By that I mean that if your start point is in a hotel car park, or at home, or where you meet up with a group of friends for a ride, then when you set off there is a very good chance that you will not actually pass through the start point. Either it was behind you, or the XT hadn't got an accurate positional fix from the satellites, or the XT hadn't powered up in time, or the start point was inaccuratly placed.

No - Put it up the road - somewhere that you will definitely pass through after you have started riding, after you have called in for a fresh tank of fuel; avoided the road works in the town centre; missed the road sign hidden behind the bus that you were overtaking, ...

If you are in a town - they often have ring roads around the outside so that traffic does not have to go through the centre of the town - place your start point on the road that you will be riding after you have got beyond the ring road. The satnav will work out where you are and its first job will be to get you to that start point. Once you have passed the start, the XT will announce your arrival and continue navigating from there.


That's it for now. All of the links that I have given are part of this lengthy series of web pages.

https://www.zumouserforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=1464

Anything at all that you need to know, just ask.