Best cycling apps

Replaces a dedicated bike computer, customizable ride display, accurate speed and distance, cadence and heart rate sensor support, black background readable in sunlight, reasonable battery use, no subscription, responsive developer

Occasionally shuts down mid-ride on long rides, cadence sensor stopped being detected for some, calories calculated without body weight, requests for voice announcements of speed and distance

Cyclists who do not want to buy a separate computer and are fine mounting their phone on the bars

Maps and elevation profiles, cross-linked riders and teams, coverage of the big tours, responsive support, fair price and charity support

Live map lags and misses chase groups, stage results take forever, Pro purchase not always recognized, constant forced updates, part of the content locked behind payment

Cycling fans who want to follow the Tour de France and other major races live during the stage

Weather along the whole route not just one point, planning long rides, temperature at altitude in the mountains, wind and temperature forecast before starting, ties into Strava and Ride With GPS

Errors and crashes when linking Ride With GPS, weak rain forecasts, free window ends too fast, accuracy dropped after switching to Apple Weather, small layout glitches

For riders doing long and mountain routes who want to know the weather across the whole course ahead of time, not just at the start.

Coverage of all races of the season in one place, stage results and overall standings, team and rider profiles, tracking favorite riders, fresh news and frequent updates

Ads remain even after buying Premium, no women's races, data sometimes appears only after the finish, no live in-race results, slow loading

Road racing fans who want to see results in one place and follow their favorite riders all season.

Class booking, widget reminders, viewing the studio floor map, sharing schedules with friends, instructors and studio atmosphere

Reviews are mostly about the studio, not the app, so it is hard to judge the actual app features

People who already attend RIDE studio and want an easy way to book classes and track their schedule

Real road video instead of avatars, huge variety of routes worldwide, picture quality after updates, ability to ride familiar real courses, keeps you motivated on the trainer in winter

Update 7.0.5 won't let you log in, downloaded rides get lost and eat storage, frequent crashes and freezes, doesn't work with some older iPads, trouble exporting .fit files to Garmin

Cyclists on an indoor trainer who care about riding real roads of the world rather than a game world, and who can tolerate rough edges after updates.

Finding local group rides, organizing and posting your own rides, the sense of a living cycling community in town, an easy way to find people to ride with at home or on the road

Frequent crashes, forced sign-in on every launch with no Face ID, failures while filling out the mandatory profile, uploaded photos rotating 90 degrees, pushy requests to leave a review, value only exists where a community has already gathered

For riders who love group cycling and live in a city where a community has already formed on this app.

Route planning and heat maps, club and head-unit syncing, responsive support, library of ready routes

Planner makes many routing errors, weak on gravel and mtb, collections don't sync between phone and tablet, drains battery fast, much locked behind payment

Road cyclists and bike clubs who plan routes ahead and share them

Low price and lots for free, rich choice of workouts, simple clear look, responsive developer Alex, Apple Watch app, training plans, works as a replacement for pricey trainers

Crashes when saving a workout and mid-interval losing the session, no power and cadence sync to Apple Health and Garmin Connect, unreliable ramp test, rough power-match with the trainer, confusion between the web version and the app

For people training on a smart trainer at home who want structured workouts cheaper than Zwift and TrainerRoad, if they can ride out the crashes.

Full control of your own data and export, deep configuration, sensor support, fast support, years of stable service

Intrusive video ads and pop-ups before the start, sharp price hike with no warning, mid-ride crashes, lost history, inaccurate distance

Meticulous cyclists who care about full control of their own data and fine-grained configuration

Audio with no screen and no yelling, live instructors you can pick by name, music selection, different workout lengths, help with anxiety and motivation

Paid yearly access stops opening with an account-does-not-exist error, silent support that only replies with a robot, no video to see your form, new classes are repetitive and predictable, crashes after an update

People who love spinning to music with a live instructor and do not want to look at a screen during a workout

Simple pace time distance tracking, years of stable service, familiar interface

Calories decrease on climbs, GPS drifts and cuts through houses, heavy battery drain, ads even in the paid version, demands login with no signal, removed years of history

People who want a rock-solid familiar ride tracker with no extra frills

Minimalism with nothing extra, ease of use, path map, accuracy against mile markers, free with no ads

Pause stops miles but not time, distance freezes or counts while paused, crashes past 300 miles, clock runs fast, date overlaps distance in the log, sometimes trips don't save

Anyone who wants a simple distance tracker for walking, cycling or driving with no extras

Replacing an expensive bike computer, connecting to all sensors and heart-rate, a good-looking and customizable screen, sending data to Apple Fitness, Strava live segments

Trial silently becomes a paid yearly subscription with a charge, drains the phone battery fast, once skipped recording a ride section, heavy ads even in the basic version, activity tracking for ads with no opt-out, navigation routes through parking lots

Cyclists who want to turn their phone into a bike computer and connect all sensors without buying a separate device

It's free, big readable screen for older riders, per-mile splits and best-mile time, voice distance callouts, saving the route map, syncing to Apple Health, built-in music access

Requires Always location permission not just While Using, recorded rides get lost on crash or if closed before saving, GPS sometimes stops picking up signal, confusing save screen, built-in player conflicts with Apple Music

For solitary cyclists who want a simple free ride tracker with no social feed or subscription, especially those who value a big readable screen.

Minimalist device instead of a phone on the handlebars, screen readable in any light and angle, simple point-to-point navigation, works without internet, gpx route import, compass and ride tracking

Outdated maps lead you into construction and past bike lanes, route loses position mid-way and sends you into traffic, weak route planning on a computer, no landscape mode, some features paid on top of the device price

Motorcyclists and cyclists who want minimalist navigation without a phone on the handlebars and are willing to occasionally check the map when routing fails.

Utter simplicity of start-record, clean interface, miles, time, pace, and ride map, nothing extra, reasonable price, works even for non-cycling like a wheelchair or horseback

Spontaneous pauses and crashes mid-ride lose the mileage, distance is 10-20 percent inaccurate, heavily drains the battery, locks a once-free app and even lifetime purchases behind a subscription, history gets lost

People who want a dead-simple counter of miles and time with no extra metrics, and who keep an eye out so the app doesn't pause itself.

Builds and adjusts a training plan automatically, real gains in power and FTP, good value around ten a month, wide choice of workouts and goals for specific events, easy to export workouts to a head unit

Sliders and buttons do not always respond, plan must be topped up manually through many taps, cannot import or export a route as GPX, forces workouts through Strava, confusing start screen with space reserved for subscribing, odd load calculation suggesting extra rest days, shows rides from other regions

Cyclists who want an inexpensive automatic training plan and do not need route import

Live rivals and watt-based races, winter fitness building, gamification and route scenery

An update before every ride sometimes an hour long, bots in races, heart rate and data lost behind scenery, two separate apps, crashes on Apple TV

Cyclists who train seriously at home and love racing against real people

Virtual races and gamification, motivation to stack up miles, medals and rewards for completion, supportive community, variety of routes and themes

Paid medals and shirts arrive late or never, support unreachable, app crashes, Apple Health sync breaks, miles often entered by hand, no plus-size shirts, rewards cut back

People who want game-like motivation to run or ride regularly through virtual races and a medal collection

Years of workout history, planning and saving routes, comparing runs on the same route, simplicity, works even for a scooter and longboard

Familiar features moved behind a paid subscription, intrusive pay pop-ups over the screen, weight field jumps to impossible numbers, freezing on newer iPhones, support does not respond

People who have tracked runs and rides for years and value a simple tracker with a route map

Beautiful virtual scenery around the world, reading speed with the camera without sensors, coached tours, video quality, relief from boredom on the treadmill and exercise bike

Cannot turn off coaching in favor of nature sounds, buffering and stutter when streaming to a TV, trails stitched from pieces rather than one route, sound drops out and the app becomes useless, freezing at login, price increases

People who get bored on the treadmill or exercise bike and want to work out amid beautiful views from around the world

Flexible setup of any intervals and pace, audio cues for heart rate zones, a decade-long training archive, works with external Stryd and Polar sensors, records straight from iPhone without a watch, works without connectivity

Freezes on Apple Watch mid-run and loses all data, has fallen behind iOS and watchOS updates, sound became barely audible, crashes when trying to take a photo, developer doesn't respond and no updates in a year

Long-time runners who care about flexible intervals and heart rate audio cues, and who can tolerate watch freezes or run with an iPhone.

Big readable screen with clear numbers, simplicity, route map with per-mile distance, helps hold cadence, paid version removes ads and records every ride, cheap to buy

Aggressive ads in the free version down to casino banners and ads mid-ride, stops recording when backgrounded or when it loses location, distance consistently underreported versus Apple Watch and Garmin, asks for a card, doesn't save elevation change

For people who want a cheap simple bike computer with a big screen and are willing to buy the paid version to kill the ads and record every ride.

Real filmed routes worldwide, beautiful scenery, workouts and plans deliver noticeable fitness gains, shadow riders and challenges motivate, team listens to users, cheaper than the main competitor

Crashes mid-ride on Apple TV and iPad, update takes 15 minutes right before the start, other riders' avatars glitch on route, confusing login and profile setup, disputes over charges and subscription suspension, no lap function on a route

People who want to ride real world routes on a smart trainer in winter instead of game graphics

Routes through quiet streets and neighborhoods away from traffic, waypoints at a gas station or shop, finds new routes you'd never plan yourself, regular updates, battery-saving OLED mode, clean interface

Routes lead onto impassable overgrown trails, private property and dangerous spots, inaccurate distances, freezes mid-ride and loses data, fails to save rides, server errors, voice directions go silent, many features locked behind a paid subscription

City cyclists who want a planner for quiet routes around familiar areas, not blind navigation through unknown terrain.

Color-coded trail difficulty, offline maps, trail photos and videos in reviews, finds trails at a newbie's level

Almost everything locked behind an expensive fee, intrusive banners and 'buy pro' demands over the screen, clunky route editor, freezes and crashes, dated interface

Mountain bikers who want the main trail reference and don't mind paying for pro

Structured plans and workouts, yoga, mobility and strength library, non-gamified serious approach, good annual-subscription value

Hangs on the logo after updates, database corrupts, videos stutter and cut out, workouts don't save, erg mode holds wrong power, no Apple TV app, no captions on some videos

Serious cyclists and triathletes who want structured plans without gamification and already own a smart trainer

Clear heart-rate picture and heart-rate zones, working with heart-rate monitors and Apple Watch, editing workouts and calories, years of reliability for spinning

Forced account creation just to record a workout, location always on and draining battery, GPS drifts after updates, connection to Polar and Garmin monitors breaks, silent support, data does not always sync to Strava

Spin and cardio fans who need to see their heart rate and heart-rate zones during a workout

Ride logging and e-bike motor tuning, heart rate from Apple Watch, firmware updates, does everything many need

Lost features in the move from the old app and hasn't restored them in two years, glitchy watch app loses the phone connection, overstates elevation gain, useless without a Specialized e-bike

Owners of Specialized Turbo Levo and Tero e-bikes for motor tuning and ride logging

Clean simple screen, works without a subscription, can save and name a route, reads speed and cadence sensor on the trainer, easy mileage counting

Timer doubles the time and won't pause, ride cuts off mid-way, GPS track draws you riding through houses and ponds, screen dims during a ride, developer doesn't answer emails

People who want the simplest possible counter of miles and time with no subscription, and who can overlook the broken timer and silent support.

Free instead of the pricier Zwift, good structured workouts and plans, professional trainer videos, stable for workouts for some, leaderboard flags and podiums motivate

Huge update and re-download of the same 9 GB of maps on nearly every launch, freezes and drops offline mid-ride, connection drops to the trainer, cadence sensor detected as a power device and breaks erg mode, lag on Apple TV and Windows devices, dull graphics, unresponsive support

People who want to train on a trainer for free and will tolerate endless map re-downloads

Accuracy and reliability of the pedals themselves, long battery, easy firmware updates, easy first-time setup

Does not work without internet, pedals often are not found in the app, no auto-connect to already-paired pedals, an extra activation-confirm step on every launch, little explanation of what a firmware update adds

Owners of Favero Assioma power pedals who need to calibrate them and update firmware

Simple clear interface, accurate speed and distance, exactly the data you need with no clutter

Buried in pop-up ads, the free version stores only one ride, save is blocked with no upfront notice of payment, stops on pause, treats easy and hard routes the same

People who want a simple accurate tracker and will pay to remove ads and keep their history

Minimalism and simplicity, pretty ride graphs, tracks distance and speed well on a healthy phone, nice touches like the snail icon

Speed spikes and impossible elevation gain, GPS signal loss, paid version reverts to free, won't save more than 10 rides, loses history on phone change, no heart-rate link to Apple Watch or Fitbit

Casual cyclists who want a simple distance-and-speed tracker without extras

Virtual routes across countries, medals for finishing, planting trees for milestones, motivation to keep moving, doing challenges together with loved ones

Layout stuck on iPhone 5 size, lag and crashes, needs reinstalling, sync with Apple Watch, Health and Garmin keeps breaking, manual mile entry often fails, support is slow to reply

People motivated by virtual challenges with medals who will tolerate a clunky app for the concept

Customizable ride display, pleasant dark mode, accurate speed average speed and distance, end-of-ride summary, works stably for years for some

Recording stops on a call or app switch, purchased lifetime Pro fails or asks for money again, ads even after paying, miles-kilometers and weight confusion, temperature frozen on one value, freezes, unresponsive support

People who want a simple customizable speed and distance tracker without sensors

Simple clean interface, accurate speed and distance stats, one-time purchase instead of a subscription

Freezes and wipes all ride history after reinstall, suddenly locks on a payment screen with no exit, no live map during the ride, loses data on pause

People who want the simplest possible ride tracker and can risk losing their history

Works with inexpensive XOSS and Cycplus GPS computers, lots of data for little money, nice ride map in Strava, simple fast export when it works

Connection to the bike computer drops, rides do not appear in the list though marked synced, support silent for weeks, cannot record an indoor ride because it is tied to GPS, ignores the imperial units choice, dated graphics and loud unclear beeps

Owners of inexpensive XOSS and Cycplus computers willing to fight flaky sync

Beautiful breakdown of a rider's strengths and weaknesses, AI coach, clear visualization of power by interval, planning the training week, The Feed credit

Zwift and Strava connection hasn't worked for months, rides don't pull in automatically, coach throws errors and wrong data, incorrectly detects FTP, support doesn't respond, duplicates what Strava and Wahoo give for free

Cyclists with a power meter who want a beautiful fitness breakdown and an AI coach, if they're willing to risk an abandoned product with broken sync.

Controlling Di2 shifting from the screen, pulling data off the e-bike, deep screen customization, it's free, ties into Strava and sensors

Crashes mid-ride corrupting or deleting the recording, battery shown as bars not a numeric percentage, no Apple Watch support, can't import a GPX route, loses connection to the display, no Apple Health sync

For owners of Shimano Di2 bikes and e-bikes who need to control shifting and see data for free, if they can tolerate crashes.

Simple distance and time tracking over hills, works for dog walks, accuracy on long distances

The end-of-ride ad won't close without a phone restart, demands internet even in the woods, loses data on pause, demands payment to save after a dozen rides, won't push data to Health

Beginner cyclists for simple ride tracking, as long as they have a signal nearby

Workouts tailored to a specific treadmill with gradual progression, scenic walking routes, keeps you motivated to continue

Freezes and crashes, screen jams sideways, workouts do not save, routes cut out at 92 percent, drops Apple Watch link and Health and Fitbit sync, every update wrecks your custom workouts

Owners of a compatible smart treadmill who want structured, progressively harder walking workouts

The rider community and photo sharing, the daily ride log, working with the bike itself, the app when everything works as intended

Ride sync drops out, wrong track and elevation, connection drops mid-ride losing ride data, broken Apple login, anti-tamper alarm does not sound, no way to search for users

Owners of Aventon e-bikes who want a native ride log and a connection to the community

Quickly making a nice image with workout numbers for social media, simplicity, ready-made themes, adding text and stickers to a ride photo

Connection to Strava, Runkeeper, and Fitbit constantly breaks, pulls wrong numbers, the app goes blank and won't open, few themes and settings, hoards gigabytes of old images, paid features stay locked, looks abandoned

Runners and cyclists who want to post their workout stats nicely on social media, if the sync works at all.

The best cycling magazine, few ads, deep articles on riders and their journeys, reads nicely on iPad, recent redesign made the interface more modern per some reviews

Cannot read purchased issues offline, demands a weekly account sign-in or access disappears, it is a photo of pages not an iPhone layout, confusing navigation and unclear buttons, tiny font, new issues appear in the app later than in print, crashes on launch for some

Rouleur magazine subscribers who value the content and will tolerate a clumsy reader with forced sign-in

Live and recorded classes, instructors by name, real fitness change, variety of programs and styles

The bike won't auto-connect without starting a class, ride data often won't show, no freestyle mode without a subscription, a bike you bought demands a monthly fee to sync, crashes and dropped connections

Echelon bike owners who care about instructor-led classes and are fine with a subscription

Diverse catalog of high-end bikes, sustainable secondhand idea, smooth selling process when the flow works

Expensive overseas shipping and transit damage, no seller packaging quality check, support goes silent on problems, fee creeps up without warning, deals falling through with fake sellers, card and Apple Pay payment failures

Cyclists willing to buy or sell a used bike on the secondhand market and accept the shipping risks

Bike service reminders, rear radar with on-screen alerts, connecting to sensors over Bluetooth, integration with Apple Fitness and Garmin

Drains the phone battery fast, inflates speed and distance, sharing a ride sends a promo video instead of a link, no Apple Watch version, loses sensor connection and stalls on pause, does not show battery or assist mode during a ride

Owners of Cannondale bikes who care about service reminders and working with the radar and sensors

The idea of a smart bike computer on the phone, maps, music, and pedal-assist control in one, phone charging on the go, works with Apple Watch, useful on long trips

Compass off by 90 degrees for years, doesn't work in portrait mode, loses Bluetooth connection and gets stuck on the splash screen, splits one ride into several segments, no Trek wheel sizes in inches, silent Bosch support

Owners of Bosch-system e-bikes who want a phone instead of a bike computer and can put up with a raw, buggy app.

Fine-tuning the e-bike motor, in-ride map with pinch and rotate, basic sensor configuration

Won't hold connection to the bike or reconnect after a pause, crashes on ride history, pushy sign-up demanding height, weight and location, no Apple Watch heart rate, no export to Apple Health or Strava, firmware updates only at the shop

Trek e-bike owners who need to tune the motor and sensors from their phone

The idea of a cycling social network, finding ride buddies and clubs, chat and feed, Strava connection, responsive dev team per some reviews

Verification code email never arrives, impossible to log in or create an account, crashes on launch after the rename to Jagz, pay-to-ride-with-guides model puts people off, insecure API per a software engineer, few real people in the app, pushy notifications

People curious about the cycling-social idea who will risk a raw, partly broken app

Recording ICG bike workouts at the gym, power metrics from the bike, in-ride motivation, auto-fill when the bike is connected

Won't connect to the bike and loses the link, workouts don't record or vanish after ninety minutes, Strava export fails or sends incomplete data, freezes on coaching, numbers disagree with the bike console

People who take spin classes on ICG equipment and want to log power and progress to Strava

Store catalog and easy bike search, garage tab with specs, fine-tuning when the flow works

Missing the promised assembly instructions, videos locked behind a QR code you don't have before the bike arrives, login loop, serial number won't scan, account page freezes the app, blank widget, no Chinese or other languages

Canyon bike owners who want to keep a garage of their bikes and browse the store

The magazine content itself, layout closer to the printed issue, reading on the go on iPhone and iPad

The new version broke what used to work, issues won't download, crashes even on iPad Pro, no landscape mode on iPad, forces you to log in again and re-buy purchased issues, lots of ads

Only devoted readers of the print Bicycling magazine who will tolerate a clunky reader for the sake of the content.