Tread app and the XT2…. Looks OK to me

[adventuredon]

Having been looking at the tread app that works with the XT 2. It appears very similar in features to MRA. All cloud synched between phone and device. In tread and on XT, you can edit sections of your planned route independently and easily. Also offers up trip advisor reports (Same as MRA) on accommodation. I think if garmin want they could prob make MRA e lesser choice.

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I’ve started you a fresh thread.

Richard

 

[Wapping]

Tread and XT2 are that good at route creation , that Basecamp is no longer needed ( so yes unsupported ).

You are not alone, apparently.

 

[John Armstrong]

Having been looking at the tread app that works with the XT 2. It appears very similar in features to MRA. All cloud synched between phone and device. In tread and on XT, you can edit sections of your planned route independently and easily. Also offers up trip advisor reports (Same as MRA) on accommodation. I think if garmin want they could prob make MRA e lesser choice.

=====

I’ve started you a fresh thread.

Richard

With my XT2 I route plan and construct waypoints in Basecamp. I find (pun intended) finding POI's in Tread to be a real PITA, making your own waypoint is easy, but usually I want a waypoint to be something of interest eg petrol station / cafe / sight and Tread seems to like hiding them, unless you know where they are.

I then export the route / waypoints from Basecamp via an e-mail to myself. I then open the email on my smartphone / tablet using Tread.

Review the route and see if it has been "adjusted" by opening it up in Tread. If it has, and I don't like the change, then add a shaping or waypoint until it does.

Open up the route and let it be calculated in the XT2 and confirm the route when calculated by the XT2 is the same as Tread one (usually is), if not try adding in an extra shaping / waypoint.

NB - The problems with Tread messing about shaping points is well known, I usually do not have shaping points in routes I export from Basecamp to my XT2 via Tread.

PS - Others have differing ways of skinning this cat! There might be better ways, but my system and its limitations it imposes is ok for me, YMMV.

 

[Wapping]

As with many things, the best advice is:

A. Find what works for YOU

B. Follow the basics of ‘Best practice’ as suggested by any app’s creators and / or the device being used

C. Use it! Many of the problems we see on these pages are encountered by bods who just expect things to work. They are then very surprised, disappointed and (sometimes) very shouty, when it doesn’t,

 

[Wapping]

With my XT2 I route plan and construct waypoints in Basecamp. I find (pun intended) finding POI's in Tread to be a real PITA, making your own waypoint is easy, but usually I want a waypoint to be something of interest eg petrol station / cafe / sight and Tread seems to like hiding them, unless you know where they are.

I then export the route / waypoints from Basecamp via an e-mail to myself. I then open the email on my smartphone / tablet using Tread.

Review the route and see if it has been "adjusted" by opening it up in Tread. If it has, and I don't like the change, then add a shaping or waypoint until it does.

Open up the route and let it be calculated in the XT2 and confirm the route when calculated by the XT2 is the same as Tread one (usually is), if not try adding in an extra shaping / waypoint.

NB - The problems with Tread messing about shaping points is well known, I usually do not have shaping points in routes I export from Basecamp to my XT2 via Tread.

PS - Others have differing ways of skinning this cat! There might be better ways, but my system and its limitations it imposes is ok for me, YMMV.

Is this because you start life in BaseCamp and then move through Tread? From the opening post, it seems that the fellow is doing everything in Tread and in Tread alone.

Is it just that Tread lacks a library of petrol stations and cafes? Or is it that Tread fundamentally alters the route you’ve created in BaseCamp or is it both?

I haven’t got an XT2 nor do I use Tread and have all but suspended use of BaseCamp, so I can’t throw any light on it.

 

[John Armstrong]

It's the both, lack of POIs to be easily found in Tread and Basecamp routes like all good Garmin's where the fastest route will take the shortest time, and Tread and the XT2 like faster roads instead.

So if the route is along a motorway, from a junction to another, then the Basecamp and XT2 route will almost certainly be the same. If the route is along a B road that parallels the motorway junctions used earlier, then it'll jump onto the motorway, even if you added a shaping point in Basecamp on the B road.

 

[Wapping]

If I read that correctly:

1. Tread always favours motorways over other lesser roads.

2. To avoid this unwanted favouritism, the solution (when creating a bespoke route in BaseCamp, to export to an XT2 via Tread) is put lots of waypoints into the route, to pin the route into place and force Tread to only take the roads you want to follow.

Right?

 

[John Armstrong]

1 - I hate the word "always", I'd prefer usually, and it's the hierarchy so motorway trumps A road which trumps B which trumps unclassified. I suspect that the XT2 (and XT for that matter) look when calculating a route for one that uses faster roads as much as possible, even though it should be looking for the quickest time. If it finds one that's sort of logical, it'll present that as the "fastest" route. I've had it where the XT looked to route me along a route like this < when going across the ends was way quicker, and after about 100m on the cross the legs route it came to the same conclusion.

2 - Enough way points in the Basecamp route to force it to behave. It still may have differences even if you do this. In which case I'd try adding a shaping point and hope that it doesn't get moved. If it does the either place the shaping point somewhere else, or add it as a waypoint. This method doesn't work for everyone, and others have different methods. Look at TripManager in the zumo users forum for more information on an alternative.

Oh for the days of the 590 when there was an easy routing experience in their construction and transfer. Pity about the screen clarity.

 

[Wapping]

Thank you.

Delete ‘always’, insert ‘usually’, which is probably, often enough.

Inserting plenty of shaping points from day one, seems to be a solution.

Question: Does this problem occur if you create the entire Route in Tread, assuming that is possible? In other words, miss out BaseCamp entirely.

 

[John Armstrong]

I insert 99.9% of any shaping points in Tread. You can do it in the XT2, but I don't find it as easy.

Creating the route in Tread means that it uses very similar routing algorithms as the XT2 so routes will probably be the same in both. This helps as you can gauge much more easily whether you want to insert a shaping / waypoint at the time of route construction. I find route construction easy in Tread, but as per the earlier posts finding POI's of interest isn't as easy as Basecamp. So one method I have used is to have waypoints imported from Basecamp, and then use them to create a route. Just realise that they, the waypoints, can disappear and then reappear at differing zoom levels. Just to make it a real PITA there seems to be no consistency in whether they show, or do not.

 

[Wapping]

Thank you.

Might it not be easier, to create everything in Tread, but have say Google Map open in a separate window, to identify the position of a cafe ot whatever? Then mark that spot, by hand on the route in Tread? That’s what I do in MyRoute’s Routeplanner and used to do in BaseCamp / MapSource. As I read it, that might well negate the risk of routes, created in BaseCamp, altering when moved through Tread.

Google is pretty up to date with its maps / locations and, not least, you can also check the location in Street View too. Of course you can also check it in MyRoute’s Routeplanner, using the Street View option. But, for the purposes of this thread, we are only talking about Tread.

 

[John Armstrong]

Glad to share some of my experience / knowledge.

I use the Basecamp POI's as a "probable" location. Medieval cathedrals don't tend to move around / get demolished much so they're fairly trustworthy, as do viewpoints on roads. But petrol stations, especially as they have sub-categories in Basecamp (which aren't shown as a difference in the XT2 etc databases) do open and close, and so I check them all in Google maps. Especially street view and take a close look at the date at the bottom for the data.

Slightly interesting, to me anyway, is this year I'll be heading down to the south of Spain to hop over to Morocco, and one of my planned routes goes via Marchena which is south west of Ecija. City Nav EU 2026.30 shows there's a bypass to the south / east of the town = 2 to 7 o'clock. Google maps and street view show no such road fully exists only the 4 to 7 o'clock. Basecamp routes along the "road" from 2 to 4 o'clock, but Tread does not. I found this as the routing was different in Basecamp to Tread and was looking at putting in a waypoint on the bypass to force it to use the 2 to 4 o'clock portion.

 

[GrinningGSer]

I send routes , from Tread , to my riding mates , who use XT . I use XT2. Both units therefore using the same shaping and same waypoints . On a 500 mile route , I can guarantee that XT2 and XT will, at least once , calculate different routes between those points , but always using those points and that is essential. The only way to reduce this is to maximise shaping points , which does become rather cluttered . So you’ll need to accept , that XT2 has different routing ideas to XT. I much prefer XT2 . It’s not an issue . So much more on offer , especially Tread.
Basecamp … that’s history now and of no use to me now . ( I do not use timed stops or timed departures ). I can no longer understand a need to continue with Basecamp.

 

[Wapping]

The one common theme seems to be: Lots of (correctly placed) shaping points and all should be well.

 

[Berin]

I send routes , from Tread , to my riding mates , who use XT . I use XT2. Both units therefore using the same shaping and same waypoints . On a 500 mile route , I can guarantee that XT2 and XT will, at least once , calculate different routes between those points , but always using those points and that is essential. The only way to reduce this is to maximise shaping points , which does become rather cluttered . So you’ll need to accept , that XT2 has different routing ideas to XT. I much prefer XT2 . It’s not an issue . So much more on offer , especially Tread.
Basecamp … that’s history now and of no use to me now . ( I do not use timed stops or timed departures ). I can no longer understand a need to continue with Basecamp.

You would still need to use Basecamp if you need to manage tracks and waypoints.

 

[Wapping]

Very few riders (on this forum at least) ever need to manage tracks. Waypoints, via points and even shaping points, are enough to confuse some.

 

[Berin]

Chap couldn’t understand why people still use Basecamp. I just explained to him why.

I fully understand that the tracks and waypoints requirement doesn’t doesn’t apply to many. I would hazard a guess that creating a route with any software isn’t a requirement for most people, who just stick a destination in and follow directions

 

[GrinningGSer]

You would still need to use Basecamp if you need to manage tracks and waypoints.

Why would I need Basecamp to manage waypoints; because I can do that with Tread ?
(Track management of no interest to me )

For those that do not know ; Tread can search locations, can create , Edit , save and move any waypoint , or shaping point , with ease . Tread has several mapping options , to include basic contour lines , satellite view etc. You can then create a route , by linking these points ( or changing their order ). All then appears , by magic , on XT2 .
Note you can also apply useful icons to waypoints , which display , both in the Tread app and the XT2. Those icons do not afaik , display on XT
Tread also easily exports the gpx file to anyone else
( in case of XT , you need to import into the Garmin Drive app)
What’s not to like? .So simple .
Oh forgot .. you can start a route to a waypoint , direct from Tread , if wished , so that XT2 calculates ( it always does its own calculation ) , as soon as powered on .

To date , you cannot start a multi waypoint route directly from Tread to XT2. You can, however , open the route , which will have auto saved on the XT2 .