The Best Cycling Apps To Download For Your Next Ride Out

Strava 

For those using their new found love with cycling as a way of stepping up their fitness regime, Strava is a great cycling app that’ll help you track your activity. It shows you how your form is but more importantly how you can improve your cycling style for the next ride out. It also maps out your favourite routes and helps you keep on track through analysing your training steps with all of the stats. And the best part? It’s free. 

Strava is also great for those of you who are keen runners too, making it incredibly easy to use and popular with triathlon trainers as it can help you track your running regime and swimming pace. You can connect with fellow Strava users and compete against one another as you strive to achieve your triathlon or purely cycling goals.

Google Maps

As silly and simple as it sounds, your best friend when cycling is always going to be Google Maps. 

It’s no doubt one of the most used apps in all existence, but if you somehow haven’t used it before (where have you been living?!), the premise is incredibly simple. Put in your destination or favourite route, pop in your airpods and listen to the audio directions as you whizz out on your way.

TrainingPeaks

For those real cycling enthusiasts, or just fitness fanatics in general, TrainingPeaks is your best bet for reaching your athletic goals. The app works around your ability and pushes you to new limits through their training plans. The in-built calendar features help to track your progress and will see you reaching your cycling goals in no time.

Komoot

Those who live for the adventure and can’t wait to get back out into the wilderness post-lockdown should download Komoot for directions on mountain bike trails and off-road cycling routes. While Google Maps is great for city cyclists, Komoot goes one step further, taking  your fitness levels and how bike-friendly and easily accessible routes are into consideration.

One thing we love about Komoot is that you don’t have to be ‘online’ to have access to every trail, track, path or road, so it’s great for mountain biking enthusiasts or when your pesky signal goes.

MapMyRide

Helping you to stay on top form and shape is MapMyRide. Wherever you’re starting, no matter how many miles or kilometres you are able to cycle, you’ll be given direct feedback on your performance and how you can improve your cycling stride for the next time. You’ll find out how many minutes you managed, how many miles you battled through and how many calories you burnt during your workout. If you’re feeling competitive you can connect with your friends and challenge them to a cycling battle.

Cyclemeter

Expect maps, intervals, laps, zones, training plans and splits when you sign up for the Cyclemeter app. 

This handy cycle app will see you training your cycling, running, walking, skiing and other fitness abilities all at the touch of a button. You’ll be able to analyse and examine carefully your spilt, interval and zone performance, and learn how to improve your abilities for the next practise. You can even listen to your state automatically at the time of your practise which will help you motivate yourself and push yourself harder during your circuit.

Bikemap

Boasting over five million cycling routes, and 100,000 of them in England alone, Bikemap is constantly updated to keep you informed about the best routes, tracks and paths near you. 

You can filter through the routes, choosing ones that are best suited for your ability, whether you’re looking for the length, ascent or even the popularity too. There’s in-built audio navigation too which is perfect when you’re finding your feet on the route or if you’re known for making the occasional (or often) wrong turn. They also have a premium option which allows you to download the maps and audio navigation offline, and the ability to optimise your routes depending on your bike style too, which is really handy if you’re new to the cycling world.

Fitmeter Bike Basic

Tracking, tracking and more tracking. Fitmeter Bike Basic helps you to, well, track your progress as an amateur cyclist (or fitness fanatic if you’ve been playing this game for a while now). The app records all of your cycling history, from split times to top speeds, pause times to your average speed and performance, and lets you see how well you’re progressing from the moment you download the app.

Zwift

Zwift is unlike any other cycling app we’ve seen before. Combining the fun and excitement of video games with the vigorous training techniques cycling enthusiasts must endure, if you’re seriously into cycling as not just a hobby, but a passion, Zwift will help you achieve your goals single handedly, without the need for any other apps in tow. 

While you step foot into the immersive worlds of cycling training and treadmill workouts, you’ll also be following huge training plans designed by some of the best coaches from around the world to create the workout right for you.

Santander Cycles

Due to the outbreak of coronavirus, please hire bikes with caution, putting yours and others safety first

Love cycling but don’t have the room for your own bike? You’ll want to hire one of the Santander bikes. The Santander Cycles app makes your life a whole lot easier when it comes to hiring, giving you release codes so you can nip off on your adventure or commute to work quicker. You can use the app to search for local docking stations, as well as London landmarks and street names too.

ViewRanger

Those in search of a local or further afield cycle route, ViewRanger helps you locate the one that suits your needs, helping you to navigate without feeling under pressure or not knowing your next turn. There is also the option to use augmented reality routes which will show you the right direction in real life, rather than randomly following a pathway that could easily be mistaken for another. It’s great for using on-the-go and even when your signal falters as the app works offline too.

Safety always comes first so to use these cycling apps you’ll need to invest in a bike phone holder. These are a few of our favourite options to get you on your cycling journey safely.