*Komoot* A fantastic bike tour planning tool, similar to RideWithGPS et all, but I like how it shows the road surface. What’s The Best Tent For Cycle Touring & Bikepacking? Great list, some nice new one for me — Windy is perfect, and some classics. Zwift is an app for cyclists, runners, and triathletes that makes indoor training fun. Also, agreed with Jeff, above. Here a few campsite app for North America. Has an impressive layer with water taps on it and some nice routing features. It’s volunteer-run, so consider a donation if you find it useful. Often best to download relevant data st home. Rotate your phone to landscape orientation and the word or phrase you’ve translated will be enlarged to fullscreen, allowing you to brandish it at a roadside noodle stand while trying to order a stir-fry with ‘no onions’ in it. A must-have for navigation-challenged riders, Ride With GPS has audio cues available to paid users to help navigate routes. Such is the competitive nature of this market that other apps are likely to replace those listed in future years. (See also Komoot below.). A previous version of this article recommended Wikitude as a very early example of an augmented reality (AR) app, in which you could point a compatible device’s camera at the landscape around you and the app put labels on what you were looking at. However, it is not to be confused with a social network, navigation, or route-planning app, so look elsewhere if that’s what you’re after. The Premium version gives you all of this, plus advanced route editing, custom cue sheets, stationary bike support and private segments. *Pocket Earth* (iOS only, sorry) has become my favourite map. It looks like the map is showing together with the elevation profile. AnkiDroid / AnkiMobile (Android/iOS), Sky Map and DropBox. Apple has done some amazing things in the world of tech, but it can’t beat Google at mapping. Strava: Currently the standard app for all cycling enthusiasts. Best app for tracking your activity - Strava. There is no dedicated app available, but the site is very well mobile-optimised, so there’s no reason to stop tracking on the go. PerfPRO is the best choice when you need a studio solution to connect multiple bikes, power meters and smart trainers to the same PC. If you’re struggling to find a good cycling app then we’ve got it covered. Discover our review of the best cycling apps for home fitness. – with a very active community behind it. These apps will help with that: I’ve tuned into the finer details of the weather in recent years as a result of spending too much time in the mountains, and this has spilled over into cycle touring. Affiliate links help me keep my blog 100% free to read. Recently cycled through Spain,France and Belgium and although paper maps ( Michelin Regional) have always been my preference, I now find them harder to come by. The fact that we have included our own bike repair app, co-authored by Haynes and BikeRadar’s finest tech minds, should come as no surprise. Revolut is exceptional. The original cycle touring hospitality exchange platform might not have taken off quite like Couchsurfing did post-buyout, but it didn’t really need to (and many would argue it was for the best anyway). Great in combination with Brouter as a routing machine. With the Giant E-bike App, it is now possible to tune your motor settings and choose a support ratio most suitable for your riding style and terrain. “The World’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Fitness” - Fast Company. In some really off-grid parts of the world, these are still the best maps you can get. The apps accompanying the open-source flashcard platform Anki allow you to memorise things effectively on the go via the proven learning technique of spaced repetition. Relying on crowd-sourced information, the app has more than 161,000 trails around the world and includes conditions reports, live tracking, and even points of interest, such as bike shops, in case you need a spare tube. It isn’t without its flaws. For further information and support, please contact the developers directly. Of particular interest to the cycle tourist is the ability to filter by airline, which as we all know can make a huge difference at the check-in desk depending on the baggage policy of the carrier in question (a topic for another article, perhaps). Beyond augmented reality, there are also – at the time of writing – approximately 2,036,020km of route films to ‘ride’ on, which should keep you entertained for several lifetimes. The moving map not only shows your progress over the route, but also pinpoints where you hit your top speed and the elevation profile, as well as any photos you may have taken along the way. It´s the same app under a different name as the mapy.cz app! Wahoo Fitness makes cycling, running, and fitness apps to connect you to your workout via the device you have with you always - your smartphone! It was my first tour, and — had I been sans Garmin — I would have just put my faith in the good old paper map we had with us a lot earlier and paid attention to the rough direction of travel, and where the balance was between an interesting and direct route. It pairs easily with Bluetooth sensors, such as heart-rate monitors, speed sensors and progressive power meters, including Stages. Regardless of your ability, Strava is an excellent cycling tracker. There are thousands of free VPN apps out there, most of which are full of malware and security holes and whose developers are out to sell your browsing data to the highest bidder. thanks. Fitness Apps are great way to interact with other like-minded athletes all on one device. Using our math and physics engine we will output the best possible power based plan to allow you to have the fastest bike split possible given the course conditions and any power limitations. Rather than hosting a database of user-submitted routes, komoot uses OpenStreetMap data to calculate an optimal route (via any number of points) for road cycling, touring, or mountain biking. by David Arthur @davearthur. What’s The Best Camping Stove For Cycle Touring & Bikepacking? I would suggest ViewRanger as a more up-to-date alternative; specifically its Skyline feature which, as the name suggests, will attempt to label features of the landscape such as mountain peaks and lakes, place names, and other prominent waypoints. Pre-empt this by installing a VPN (virtual private network) app and setting it up in advance. I haven’t included any specific recommendations here as they change so frequently, but TechRadar have an updated list for 2019. The app works as an astute coach who closely keeps an eye on your workout and offers … 6 of the Best Free Cycling Apps. Tom there’s an app called Rome2rio it gives every travel option to any destination so if you ride to somewhere and dont want to make it a round trip or want to start somewhere and ride back home its a great resource. Hannah Fox picks 7 free cycling apps that can track your ride to give you extra motivation, help with route planning or other useful features. I can’t comment on Viewranger as I haven’t used it. You can start/stop rides with your iPhone earphone remote button, too (if you choose to ride with headphones), and integrated Google Maps can assist you in unfamiliar areas. You took a picture of the trail map near the car park, but you’re not totally sure where you are, so you make a call and go left because you think the trailhead is in that direction. Only slight drawback is calculating a route requires a connection. Smartphones offer a wealth of information at your fingertips and there’s no shortage of apps aimed at cyclists, but sometimes it can be difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff. an actual person hosts you in their home and cooks you breakfast). Komoot also features curated highlights, as suggested by local riders and Komoot ambassadors. If you would rather plan your own adventure, komoot makes that easier, too. Strava pivoted heavily towards a subscriber model in May 2020, putting formerly free features such as segment leaderboards and route planning behind a paywall. Plug a card reader into your phone or otherwise connect with a compatible ‘proper’ camera, copy the images over, and it’ll do the same thing. GPX import and export ist possible. Tacx Blog. Was macht das Wetter, wo liegt der Trail? It won’t cache the terrain view, which makes it difficult or impossible to estimate a route’s elevation profile if you don’t have a data connection. If you own a bike, the chances are you're also a fan of technology, gadgets or puncture repair kits. Viewranger provides similar mapping functionality to Backcountry Navigator but for iOS too, and with the addition of a community feature that allows you to see what routes other users have uploaded in a given area. Luckily Spain supports bike routes. And the apps is updated regularly with good customer support. The best cycling apps in 2020. I mean all proper paper maps do. Gaia is expensive, MotionX is not very intuitive but you get used to it. The real-time feature, which tells you how fast you are tracking on a selected segment, such as the local hard climb, works on smartphones but also newer Garmin Edge and Wahoo computers, too. Updated Tacx Training app. There is a max however, but it’s possible to delete some maps and download new ones. Best turbo trainer workouts and sessions to improve your cycling Best exercise bikes 2020: Keep fit this winter Zwift: How to get set up and how to make the most of the virtual app Updated: Dec 21, 2020. Handy if you want to share them later. Sometimes – oftentimes – you need to take a plane, train or bus to get yourself and your bike from A to B before or after you ride it. Once you’ve started your route, it will give you speed, distance travelled, distance remaining and allows for easy on the fly route changes. If you want you can use IOS App for Roadtrippers https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ezroadtrips/id1455625472 Simply Connect and Go. Yes, Maps.Me supplies distances for offline generated routes. Thanks a lot Tom. For the ones looking for an offline maps app, Magic Earth is the best I’ve ever used. All of the app’s main functionality will then work offline, including bicycle-optimised routing. Though we’ve already awarded Trailforks our unofficial crown for best mountain bike trail database app, MTB Project comes in a close second, and it’s rapidly gaining momentum. This is my 2020 update of an article first published in 2012, detailing what in my opinion are the most useful free smartphone apps for the cycle tourist or bikepacker right now. Hi Tom in 2006 I cycled around Europe and used cycling map books. Zwift, Sufferfest, Tacx…. But on the other hand, they can stop twittering, Instagramming — whenever they want without any recriminations. For planning on the pc I often use bikemaps.net or Komoot, but Osmand allows full offline routing. Has been stable and reliable enough for long trips too. Indoor cycling can get boring - but there's a host of training apps out there that can make it fun. If you’ve ever had a cycling coach, you’ve probably used TrainingPeaks. How To Assemble A Fix-Anything Cycle Touring or Bikepacking Toolkit, A Truly Biblical List Of Heavy-Duty World Expedition Bikes, Why You Don’t Need Any Of That Expensive Gear, The Rest Of My Advice On Bikes & Equipment, Off-Road Across Mongolia By Mountain Bike, Here’s a full write-up of my experience with Starling, How To Build The Ultimate Round-The-World Expedition Touring Bike (With Pictures). Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. It would make it easier to use offline. Using a range of videos, quizzes and step-by-step advice, the First Aid by British Red Cross app helps you learn how to deal with common first aid emergencies, as well as being an invaluable reference when things go wrong. E-MOUNTAINBIKE is the leading e-mtb magazine: E-mountainbike reviews, current news, exciting travel stories and practical tips - digital & free! Bicycle gps art for best bike gps navigation app. Subscribe today and get the next 3 issues of your favourite cycling magazine for just £5! When it comes to searching for and booking flights, I tend to default to Kayak, mainly for its extensive filtering capabilities, as well as because it usually turns up the cheapest tickets, especially if your dates are flexible. Click here to read more about how I use affiliate links. My travels of late have tended to involve a slightly more complicated financial picture than the ‘spend as little as possible, preferably nothing’ approach of my earlier cycle tours. The much-improved current version of the WarmShowers app makes searching for willing hosts that much easier, with an interface that’s arguably better and more user-friendly than the website itself. Thank you. Runtastic has two bike specific apps in both free and pro versions (at least for iPhone). I have found Runkeeper pretty smart! Know also that they charge accommodation providers a lot – if you want to support small businesses over massive corporations, it might be better to do your research here but then walk in and pay cash. PeakFinder’s line-drawing views and the way you can get info on how far away a peak is, it’s height etc. Loads of powerful features, it’s essentially a card for pre-loading with multiple currencies (purchased at wholesale rates!) BCN features no routing or sat-nav style navigation features, being more oriented towards GPS users on foot in the backcountry, but the ability to download a variety of basemaps, including the OpenCycleMap and Thunderforest Outdoor styles, makes it invaluable for remote or mountainous rides. All rides uploaded to Strava deliver automatic rankings of your times over popular stretches of road and trail – known as ‘segments’ in Strava-speak – along with a GPS map of where you rode. I mainly ask because the latter is free, whereas PeakFinder is paid-for. Best cycling apps | 18 of the best iPhone and Android apps to download, Best bike computer | top-rated GPS cycle computers, Strava leaderboards and routes no longer free | Subscription model the future for fitness platform, putting formerly free features such as segment leaderboards and route planning behind a paywall, Best smart trainer: top-rated interactive turbo trainers, Best bicycle phone mounts: buyer’s guide and recommendations, First Aid by British Red Cross for Android, your long-distance heroes that bit easier, Make sure your bike is safe to ride with the M check, Matthew Loveridge’s Gear of the Year 2020, Fix your bike with our Road Bike Manual app, Zwift just gained a new competitor, and it’s free, MyWindsock takes Strava nerdiness to the next level, Best bike phone holder: 6 popular phone cases and mounts tested. Having (hurriedly, admittedly) attempted to plan routes on Komoot and load them to my garmin for a tour of Portugal (north border to south coast — it was amazing), I found I went on crazily indirect routes. Planning a phone guided trip across France atm for sept. Hav you or others suggestions for an app to enable dot watching? The free version works like a Strava without segments; it’s effective, but this app really shines if you subscri… I know that this app is more oriented to the sports community, but some of its features are very useful. I use the route planner to plan ahead, and then I’ll export the GPX onto Maps.me or Google Maps. We’ve written this blog for those of you who want to add an interactive element to your home cycling workouts. What3words takes a unique approach to finding, sharing and navigating to a precise location, having assigned every single 3m x 3m square in the world with a unique combination of three words. All the maps at least include a scale. UK: http://www.sustrans.org.uk/ (App available), hi Fabian, could you give some more details how did you plan your route? I am going to have a bike tour from Berlin to south italy and back over Spain france and … Keeping your photos backed up is another story, however…. The world of bike-tech is moving fast: From the material used in the construction of the frame to E-bikes to the wearable technology and other accessories now flooding the market (see smart helmets), there's plenty for cycling-geeks to get excited about. Stählerner Work-Out, große Hilfe und spaßiges Spiel. You’re riding a new trail network, you’ve been out for a few hours, it’s hot, you’re tired and ready for a rest, when you come to a fork in the trail. Cycling apps have changed the world of cycling. Komoot’s route planner for cycling and mountain biking trips will plan a cycle route based on the type of bike you intend on using. It is the only finance app that I recommend. Used it all over Europe so far, but compared it with detailed paper maps of the Pamir HWY area and Cuba, and it looks that no tiny road or track is missing. Turns out, you’ve picked the wrong one, and this trail takes you deeper into the forest – you’re now a bit lost and try and backtrack to get home. Low-budget hostels are underrepresented at Booking.com (perhaps because they can’t afford the fees), but Hostelworld steps in to fill this niche. Given that im leaving in Munich now, it sounds pretty interesting . Bikemap ist die größte Fahrradroutensammlung der Welt. Tracking and sharing of tracks is also possible and simple. The best indoor cycling apps Zwift and TrainerRoad are the apps we have gravitated towards when using the turbo trainer. And remember, these are our recommendations, so make sure to add your own in the comments. You can create and share your own routes in the app, download other people’s tracks or just explore the riding around you. For me the best thing about it is that I can record, day-by-day, my touring trips, adding all the POI along the route, lodging, and even the means of transportation, it’s very very complete, you have to give it a try to see its full potential. +1 for GPS Logger (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mendhak.gpslogger), especially for long recordings: can be configured to use very little of system resources. I’ve kept record of all my transaction since 2015, every cent. Ride for long enough and you’ll inevitably reach a country where some website or app or service you rely on has been blocked by the government. While you can use Strava like a cycle computer on your phone, most riders use a separate GPS computer to record and upload their rides and then use the app to see what their friends are up to. New to this? You’ll be wanting to communicate while you’re on the road, both to the people you meet and to the people back home. Especially in the West, you’ll find way more cheap beds here than through the usual booking sites. Strava serves as a database and at the same time as a competition platform, as users can set up so-called KOMs. The UK’s newest fee-free overseas spending debit card provider, Starling Bank, relies on this app to communicate with its customers.