OSM - not getting the best route!
 

Sorry for the title! Got an Oregon recently (first gps so be nice) and put on an OSM for my local area (are planning a RTW) to test it out. Asking for a simple trip from A to B and it is certainly not throwing out the best way to get there. Sure, nothing beats local knowledge but I don't want to be banging around a strange town the long way.
Question: is there a way to optimize the routing or is this simply the way things are when you are a cheap-skate and rely on free maps? Is biting the bullet and getting paid maps going to save some angst later on?

If it's any consolation, I get similar results with my garmin nuvi 205w and I have got used to that; it's still an annoyance though when you can see on the map that there is a route that you think is a better choice but the Garmin knows better.
It does as you describe with either the OSM selected or the inbuilt garmin map or when using a purchased garmin map (on a SD card) that contains the whole of Europe, so I have assumed that it is to do with the garmin operating system.
I have tried fiddling with the garmin settings - avoid this, that and the other - but it appears to make no difference to how the garmin selects a route.

I had been considering making a post like yours, but I have just got used to how the damn thing works and I kind of ignore it except for getting around cities/towns that I don't know. I'll be interested to see if anyone has better ideas about how to use a garmin. :innocent:

If you don't know the city then it will get you to where you are going, just because YOU know shortcuts and faster routes, does not mean it can read your mind.

When you start travelling, you will be glad to follow along.

Of course, just ride your normal short cuts and it will recalcualte as it goes

Incidentally, I prefer the OSM maps for the UK (and France) which contain far more detail than the equivalent garmin mapping for the same area - the former look like "proper" maps with detail showing away from just the side of the highways.

Eventually the garmin nuvi 205w recalculates, after many miles of riding with the sat nav telling me to make a U turn to go back to the point where I deviated from the righteous path of the software.