- Neil, now I don't know about you,
but I rarely go anywhere without my mobile phone.
- Exactly - Especially on a bike ride.
Because I want to record my ride,
I want to check my stats.
And, obviously, I want to get some good instabaggers.
Yeah, super useful.
And especially with these mountain bike apps
- Oh, yeah.
- You can use them to really boost
your mountain bike experience.
- Yeah, it's true.
So here's a rundown of a few of our favorites.
(tires crunching)
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Now perhaps the most common cycling app
on the market is Strava.
Loved by many for how it records and shares your rides,
it can also provide valuable training insight,
and it can create some friendly competition
when you're both battling it out
for king and queen of the mountain.
- [Neil] Yeah, and some pretty unfriendly competition,
if you're anything like my mates,
trying to steal each other's KOMs.
- [Jess] That's true. Very frustrating.
One great feature of Strava
is being able to find new trails near you
by using Segment Explore.
This shows you riding segments in a specific area,
so it's great for uncovering those gnarly single tracks
that may be lurking just over those trees.
- Until recently, Strava had a premium package,
which was a paid-for service.
However, this is now being restructured as Strava Summit,
which offers three different tiers of features
to suit your needs.
These tiers start at one pound 58 or $2.99 per month,
but they can be stacked so you unlock more than one.
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Komoot, now I'm going to be using this
on my upcoming trip to Iceland,
and it's a relative newcomer to the app market,
and it's an activity route planner.
So before you set off,
you can use the GPS function to locate your position,
then add in a destination and Komoot will map your way.
There are a number of options for mapping your ride,
like adjusting your fitness level,
preferred terrain,
and type of ride,
so you can tailor it as much as you want.
- Now Komoot offers turn-by-turn directions,
so you never miss beat or a berm.
But once you've completed your route,
Komoot saves it as a planned journey,
and then it records your activity as completed tours,
which can be then shared with other users of the app.
You can then upload photos and notes to your route,
so that other users can see points of interest
and get some inspiration for their own adventures.
- Cool, like it!
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MTB Project.
Now this is a worldwide trail database
with a large proportion of the trails
being added by its own users.
Currently, there are over 126,000 miles of trails
registered on the MTB Project app,
and you can download specific regions for free,
which is perfect if you're going on a biking holiday
or if you wanna further explore your local area.
- Even through GPS location,
it does track your movement,
but the app works offline as well,
for when you really go off-grid.
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Now onto some practical first aid,
and the Red Cross app is perfect for that.
So even if you don't ride bikes,
this app is actually really handy to have readily available,
as it will guide you through what to do
in a number of situations,
with everything from bleeding to broken bones.
As well as written instructions,
there are videos and animations
to help guide you through a first-aid situation.
Now the app also has a built-in checklist
that are there to help you prepare for most things.
But really, it's an app that's reassuring to have handy,
but hopefully one that you'll never actually use.
- I try to ensure all my friends have that app
when they come to ride with me.
And it's available internationally,
with regional-specific features.
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Bike Repair.
Now, maintaining, servicing, or fixing your bike
can be a little daunting.
Obviously, you can use our videos,
but if you want an app,
you can use this Bike Repair app.
It's got your back.
So it provides step-by-step instructions
for a huge variety of mechanical problems on your bike.
It's clear, easy to follow,
and even has a what-to-wear guide
for how to layer in different temperatures.
- That will be perfect for your Iceland trip!
- Yeah, a bit nerdy, but pretty helpful.
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- Now, Trail Tips.
Now, Neil, do you ever come across
something in the trail that you think,
"Oh, I could actually do with a bit of help
"getting down this"?
- No.
- Thought not.
Well, I do sometimes.
So if you're a bit like me
and you wanna finesse your techniques
or learn some new tricks entirely,
then the Trail Tips app is just for you.
Created by Sebastian Johnson and Andrew Shandro,
the app offers to help all abilities,
from basic level to more advanced guidance,
including how to pull off some gnarly shapes.
No need for signal nor WiFi,
this app of tricks can be at your pocketside
for each ride.
Now the app is free to install,
but there are optional in-app purchases
with individual skills from just 99p,
or the full package from two pounds 79.
- Andrew Shandro is a former World Cup
racer and legend, actually.
- So you're in good hands.
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- Dark Sky Weather.
The weather plays a vital role in your ride.
How to plan, what to wear, what to pack,
and even where to go.
So having a good weather app is pretty essential.
The Dark Sky app uses your current location
to not only display the weather and the forecast,
but shows you heat maps as well.
- Perhaps the coolest feature of this app
is the ability to set alerts,
which allows the app to notify you
if rain is on its way to your location,
or if the temperature is gonna plummet overnight.
Especially good for bikepacking.
- Cool.
If I know rain's on the way, I'm out of here.
Don't ride in wet weather. - Yeah, exactly.
Gives you enough time to find shelter, at least.
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- This app uses your GPS data
and overlays your ride on a 3D map for animation.
It's a pretty cool app for sharing
your ride activity with others,
and gives you a great overview of where you've been.
- Yeah, just don't overshare.
Really, no one cares.
- Yeah, it's cool to see where you've been,
but when someone else sends me that,
it's just super boring.
- Yeah, exactly.
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- Zwift is an interactive training tool for cyclists,
connecting your indoor training gear
to the virtual world of over 100 kilometers of roads.
No off-road at the moment, unfortunately.
The software can run on either your computer or via iOS,
and as a companion app,
it runs on your phone to help you choose your route,
say hello to other riders,
and even give you more stats.
- Cool.
It's a virtual world that lets you train and interact
with thousands of other riders around the world,
and makes turbo training a much more engaging,
and, dare I say, fun thing to do?
- Yeah, it's great for when you can't get out on the bike,
and this has been my winter savior.
From just riding the mountains,
to structured training workouts,
and even social rides.
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- And last but not least,
we have Instagram.
And now, I don't know about you,
but I do love to throw up a couple of photos
of me on my bike
trying to look gnarly and cool.
Also, I love using the app to follow
other riders, races, teams,
and just keep up to date with what's happening
in the mountain bike world.
- Absolutely! How many followers you got?
- Uh, 25,000.
- That's a lot. That's not as many as me.
- Ugh, whatever you say.
- And of course, the last app is YouTube.
You're probably watching us on the app at the moment.
- Yep. - Get involved.
Hit our like button.
Subscribe, if you haven't already,
if you wanna see a couple more videos of us on YouTube,
click over there for our top ten tips
for mountain bike beginners,
and over there for how to do your first
mountain bike race.
- That is a good one.