diff --git a/routes.go b/routes.go
index 35bed9d..858da78 100644
--- a/routes.go
+++ b/routes.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package mesh
 import (
 	"math"
 	"sync"
+	"time"
 )
 
 type unicastRoutes map[PeerName]PeerName
@@ -11,23 +12,29 @@ type broadcastRoutes map[PeerName][]PeerName
 // routes aggregates unicast and broadcast routes for our peer.
 type routes struct {
 	sync.RWMutex
-	ourself      *localPeer
-	peers        *Peers
-	onChange     []func()
-	unicast      unicastRoutes
-	unicastAll   unicastRoutes // [1]
-	broadcast    broadcastRoutes
-	broadcastAll broadcastRoutes // [1]
-	recalc       chan<- *struct{}
-	wait         chan chan struct{}
-	action       chan<- func()
+	ourself       *localPeer
+	peers         *Peers
+	onChange      []func()
+	unicast       unicastRoutes
+	unicastAll    unicastRoutes // [1]
+	broadcast     broadcastRoutes
+	broadcastAll  broadcastRoutes // [1]
+	recalcTimer   *time.Timer
+	pendingRecalc bool
+	wait          chan chan struct{}
+	action        chan<- func()
 	// [1] based on *all* connections, not just established &
 	// symmetric ones
 }
 
+const (
+	// We defer recalculation requests by up to 100ms, in order to
+	// coalesce multiple recalcs together.
+	recalcDeferTime = 100 * time.Millisecond
+)
+
 // newRoutes returns a usable Routes based on the LocalPeer and existing Peers.
 func newRoutes(ourself *localPeer, peers *Peers) *routes {
-	recalculate := make(chan *struct{}, 1)
 	wait := make(chan chan struct{})
 	action := make(chan func())
 	r := &routes{
@@ -37,11 +44,12 @@ func newRoutes(ourself *localPeer, peers *Peers) *routes {
 		unicastAll:   unicastRoutes{ourself.Name: UnknownPeerName},
 		broadcast:    broadcastRoutes{ourself.Name: []PeerName{}},
 		broadcastAll: broadcastRoutes{ourself.Name: []PeerName{}},
-		recalc:       recalculate,
+		recalcTimer:  time.NewTimer(time.Hour),
 		wait:         wait,
 		action:       action,
 	}
-	go r.run(recalculate, wait, action)
+	r.recalcTimer.Stop()
+	go r.run(wait, action)
 	return r
 }
 
@@ -156,13 +164,18 @@ func (r *routes) randomNeighbours(except PeerName) []PeerName {
 // can effectively be made synchronous with a subsequent call to
 // EnsureRecalculated.
 func (r *routes) recalculate() {
-	// The use of a 1-capacity channel in combination with the
-	// non-blocking send is an optimisation that results in multiple
-	// requests being coalesced.
-	select {
-	case r.recalc <- nil:
-	default:
+	r.Lock()
+	if !r.pendingRecalc {
+		r.recalcTimer.Reset(recalcDeferTime)
+		r.pendingRecalc = true
 	}
+	r.Unlock()
+}
+
+func (r *routes) clearPendingRecalcFlag() {
+	r.Lock()
+	r.pendingRecalc = false
+	r.Unlock()
 }
 
 // EnsureRecalculated waits for any preceding Recalculate requests to finish.
@@ -178,16 +191,20 @@ func (r *routes) ensureRecalculated() {
 	<-done
 }
 
-func (r *routes) run(recalculate <-chan *struct{}, wait <-chan chan struct{}, action <-chan func()) {
+func (r *routes) run(wait <-chan chan struct{}, action <-chan func()) {
 	for {
 		select {
-		case <-recalculate:
+		case <-r.recalcTimer.C:
+			r.clearPendingRecalcFlag()
 			r.calculate()
 		case done := <-wait:
-			select {
-			case <-recalculate:
+			r.Lock()
+			pending := r.pendingRecalc
+			r.Unlock()
+			if pending {
+				<-r.recalcTimer.C
+				r.clearPendingRecalcFlag()
 				r.calculate()
-			default:
 			}
 			close(done)
 		case f := <-action:
@@ -196,6 +213,8 @@ func (r *routes) run(recalculate <-chan *struct{}, wait <-chan chan struct{}, ac
 	}
 }
 
+// Calculate unicast and broadcast routes from r.ourself, and reset
+// the broadcast route cache.
 func (r *routes) calculate() {
 	r.peers.RLock()
 	r.ourself.RLock()