BikeOTB is not just an app. It’s a platform for cyclists, bike shops and the bicycle brands. For those of us who are riders, it is an app for bicycle configuration that allows us to access and update components and fit measurements for our bikes. It will also include a ride scheduler for your ride group plus the ability to link in a meaningful way with your favorite bike shops and brands. (Graphic #1) These "links" are set and managed by you. For the bike shops and brands, there is a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) interface to provide updates about new gear, events, maintenance reminders, ride coordination and rewards for achievements with those riders who "link" with them. Bicycle industry statistics reveal that twenty five percent of cyclists ride regularly and maintain their equipment meticulously. If you include yourself as a member of this bracket or want to be, then BikeOTB is for you. While there are numerous applications for tracking mileage and fitness, no one has developed an application to assist with the upkeep, tracking and replacement of components on bicycles. As a rider, it’s no fun going “Over the Bars”, but with this application your bike will ascend over the bars and as it does, provide access to configuration anytime you need it. 

Graphic 1: Concept wire frames for BikeOTB App

$70K Goal – Bike configuration

A minimum of $70K allows us to start coding with an estimated launch within 4-6 months. BikeOTB will initially launch as an iOS application. We believe that rider membership and industry adoption will allow us to self-fund an Android version within a year. The first version of the application will allow riders to build, update and store your bike(s) configuration and fit measurements right on their smart phone. To make this task easier, we are working with component manufacturers to load their catalogs into the BikeOTB database so that a simple part number would pre-populate essential fields such as weight and more. Our longer term view is to work with bike builders to pre-populate componentry so that when customers buy a bike new from the shop, they can download the build by simply keying in the serial number.

$100K Stretch – Ride Scheduling

An incremental $30K will ensure that we can include a dedicated ride scheduling tool. If riding with a group or team is a priority in your life, you know that coordinating a ride is a dynamic process with negotiation for alternatives a regular theme. “We should do hill work - I want to get some miles in today - I can only ride in the morning Saturday” Email and social sites just don’t provide a streamlined solution for organizing the when and where of ride logistics. We feel so strongly about this feature that even if we don’t hit the incremental $30K stretch goal, we will do everything we can to incorporate it into the first version of the application.

$130K Stretch – Super Sized

A second increment of $30K would allow us to build a companion web site that would provide access to riders’ bike’s configuration and ride scheduling on a larger PC screen with additional viewing and editing options.

$200K Stretch Goal

Finally, an incremental $70K would allow us to build out the first version of BikeCRM. BikeCRM is the web Interface for bike retailers and brands with dashboards and messaging tools to deliver updates about new gear, events, maintenance reminders, ride coordination and rewards for achievements with those riders who "link" with them. The CRM tool will enable the brands and bike shops to provide incentives to riders to get into the bike shop more frequently. But more importantly, the most successful systems in the world are symbiotic. The involvement of the bike industry in the BikeOTB platform will yield a system that perpetuates investment and growth.