Bike-route nav app previewed

Despite the app not yet being available it is one of the ‘best tech’ nominees in the BikeBiz Awards. However, details on what the app will look like and what it will do have now been released.

On the new – and unfinished – BikeHub website there’s a run-down of the app features.

For a start, it will be free in the App Store. This is because the Bike Hub levy fund – co-owned by the Bicycle Association and the Association of Cycle Traders – pays into other worthy causes the bicycling world, such as Bike It, Bike Week, Beauty and the Bike and similar projects.

It was coded for Bike Hub by the app company that produced Map My Tracks, the GPS sports performance tracker (as used by the Sky professional bike team). But, unlike Map My Tracks and the plethora of other sports apps out there, the Bike Hub app won’t link to an HRM with ANT+; tell you how many donuts you’ve burnt; or Twitter your cycle ride stats.

The website says: "It does what no other app can do: it will find you the best cycle route to take. You know, with a bike. Not a car; not on foot; via velo. We think this is pretty cool (as Steve Jobs would say)."

The app also locates all bike shops in a six mile radius, thanks to a database provided by the Association of Cycle Traders, co-owners of Bike Hub

The cycle routing is done via CycleStreets.net so is bike-friendly. Want a fast route to a railway station? Choose ‘Quickest’ route and you’ll be directed to your destination via roads (although not dual carriageways or motorways). Don’t care to mingle with motorised traffic? Choose ‘Quietest’ route and the app will use CycleStreets’ OpenCycleMap to guide you along back-streets and, where available and sensible, cycle paths. (The Quietest route also tries to avoid hills).

The website said: "The app is not yet ready. We’re still working out a few kinks but we’re hoping it could be available within the next 10-14 days. We think it’ll be very popular and, before you ask, yes, an Android version is already being planned."

Screenshots for the new app can be found here.