I certainly always use routes, and never go anywhere near bikehike. Mapsource just works for me.
For peace of mind, why not try both methods on your next long ride? Save the route out as you'd normally do with one name (so you know you have a working course you can follow), but then just save it out of mapsource as a gpx route with a different name (so you know which is which). Then on the road try following the route, and if it does give you problems then you can fall back on your old method.
Mapsource may not be pretty, but it really is all that you need (plus, of course, a reasonable mapset like City Navigator). I couldn't be doing with all this back-and-forth converting between different formats using various programs and sites. I can see the point if you haven't got mapsource and a full matching garmin mapset on your PC and device.
If somebody else provides a gps track for a ride, then I normally load that into Mapsource, then retrace it as a route myself in conjuction with the route sheet - so I've read the sheet and know any warnings, plus I can check the track.