iPhone app that shows you how to repair your bike

andreaslc

Hey guys, on Tuesday of next week (if all goes to plan), I'll be launching an app for the iPhone that shows you how to repair your bike. It will have 20 repairs from the simple stuff like punctures to the more advanced stuff like replacing a broken spoke. I've begun putting together the website over on Bike Doctor App (lots to do over the weekend!) and was wondering if I could get some early thoughts from people such as yourselves - guessing your the opinionated and knowledgeable cyclists this will appeal to. What sort of things would you like to see included? What would you expect from the app? Or just general thoughts..

Splottboy

I download one.

It say's "Go to Halfords..."

andreaslc

Not sure everyone wants to just head to Halfords to repair their bike!

UndercoverElephant

Bike doctor app wrote:

If there is a nut holding the tyre onto the rim undo it

I've never heard of a nut that holds a tyre onto a rim.

I think the app is a good idea, I hope you do well.

ThanksBye

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Bike doctor app wrote:

If there is a nut holding the tyre onto the rim undo it

I've never heard of a nut that holds a tyre onto a rim.

I think the app is a good idea, I hope you do well.

On presta valves

UndercoverElephant

Shirley that's holding the inner tube to the rim?

ThanksBye

Oh yeah,

Coriander

But if you were enough of a novice at bike maintenance to need help on repairing a puncture, then the little valve nut probably looks to you like it's holding the tyre on.

spasypaddy

amd what about users of non-twat phones?

AndyManc

The more bike apps the better.

I would concentrate on 'Emergency' repairs, when you're out on the road (or trail) and need to get home but don't have the parts to make a permanent fix.

There is a website (somewhere) that gives tips on getting you home after a breakdown, it should be worth a bit of google time to do the research.


Good luck.

.

andreaslc

AndyManc wrote:

I would concentrate on 'Emergency' repairs, when you're out on the road (or trail) and need to get home but don't have the parts to make a permanent fix.

- A very good suggestion. Definitely planning on adding this for version 2 if version 1 is well received. Hopefully will exclude advice that says "put grass in there" as someone must of been on something when they came up with that.

andreaslc

amd what about users of non-fool phones?

What phone are you using? I guess we could do an Android version if someone knows how..

pst88

My only question is what advantage would your app give over just using a web browser on the phone and going to any bike maintenance website?

spasypaddy

andreaslc wrote:

amd what about users of non-fool phones?

What phone are you using? I guess we could do an Android version if someone knows how..

well people cycle with android, blackberry, maemo, symbian and windows phones.

andreaslc

spasypaddy wrote:

well people cycle with android, blackberry, maemo, symbian and windows phones.

All in good time! Makes sense to start with most popular phone. By all means if anyone out there is an app developer for any of those platforms you can drop me a PM

Oddjob62

spasypaddy wrote:

andreaslc wrote:

amd what about users of non-fool phones?

What phone are you using? I guess we could do an Android version if someone knows how..

well people cycle with android, blackberry, maemo, symbian and windows phones.

Yes but iphone users are the most likely to buy a bike and start riding it without the slightest clue how to do even the most basic repairs.

lost_in_thought

Sounds like a great idea, wish you all the best with it!

And do one for Android!

One thought might be that you should avoid calling your repairs technical terms like 'truing a wheel'.

When I first started cycling, I wouldn't have had a clue what 'truing a wheel' was. I didn't know that when it looked like my tyre was wobbly but the wheel didn't move it was because it was out of true.

Maybe I was just an extra-muppet-y-muppet, but maybe some kind of troubleshooting style section might help...

eg. Something's wrong with my a) wheel b) handlebars-->

Wheel - is it a) wobbly b) making a funny noise...


Do you see what I mean?

Or maybe just rework the naming/provide full definitions.

andreaslc

lost_in_thought wrote:

One thought might be that you should avoid calling your repairs technical terms like 'truing a wheel'.

Maybe I was just an extra-muppet-y-muppet, but maybe some kind of troubleshooting style section might help...

I like the two suggestions. The second one would be some sort of quiz style section where you go through the quiz for the app to discover what is the problem and then suggest which repairs to follow. That could work really well.

Regarding the first one - when I first was a cyclist I had same problem. Couldn't tell you what "truing" a wheel is. Perhaps if we renamed truing a wheel to "Fixing wobbly wheels" might be appreciated by the beginners but laughed at by the more experienced!

dhope

Oddjob62 wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

andreaslc wrote:

amd what about users of non-fool phones?

What phone are you using? I guess we could do an Android version if someone knows how..

well people cycle with android, blackberry, maemo, symbian and windows phones.

Yes but iphone users are the most likely to buy a bike and start riding it without the slightest clue how to do even the most basic repairs.

Yup *strokes iPhone lovingly*

I don't think Android users get out the house though, they'll be too busy toying with *nix builds and SVN.

Seriously though, best of luck with it, I'll certainly take a look as one of the clueless iPhone sheep. Hopefully you'll sell enough or make enough through advertising to do Android, BB et al too.

jonny_trousers

So far it looks really professional and neat, which scores a lot of points. Personally I would head to the web as a first port of call if I wanted to learn a new maintainance technique, but if all the information I could possibly require was on an app, and if it was clear and concise enough for a techno-retard like me to understand, then I would gladly spend 59p on it. Do be super careful that you get all of your terminology correct: buyers will want to feel as though they are being advised by a someone in the know.

EKE_38BPM

Slight problem, your Pound sign seems to be broken, its coming up as a funny looking 'S'. Your spell check is up the spout too, it didn't tell you that the 'u' was missing from the word colour.

Enough mickey taking. It looks good and I wish you well.

lost_in_thought

andreaslc wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

One thought might be that you should avoid calling your repairs technical terms like 'truing a wheel'.

Maybe I was just an extra-muppet-y-muppet, but maybe some kind of troubleshooting style section might help...

I like the two suggestions. The second one would be some sort of quiz style section where you go through the quiz for the app to discover what is the problem and then suggest which repairs to follow. That could work really well.

Regarding the first one - when I first was a cyclist I had same problem. Couldn't tell you what "truing" a wheel is. Perhaps if we renamed truing a wheel to "Fixing wobbly wheels" might be appreciated by the beginners but laughed at by the more experienced!

Totally, I was trying to think of something that's a 'proper' term for truing a wheel, but not quite so obtuse. I failed!

jonny_trousers

Personally I would not dumb down the terminology too much: it shows you are a professional and have high standards. By all means go into greater detail on what 'truing' actually is, but the 'fixing wobbly wheels' idea as a title would leave me cold. We iPhone owners are a sophisticated lot you know!

Are you going to have links to demo videos?

acidstrato

i'd get one for the iphone, not sure how much i'd be willing to pay (if at all) as most common stuff I already know. but having access to emergency repair advice...I'm talking ray mears stuff now...I'd pay for happily

asfor how to target an audience, personally I'd just rip off a haynes manual e.g. the spanners represent a technical knowledge required

davis

acidstrato wrote:

but having access to emergency repair advice...I'm talking ray mears stuff now...I'd pay for happily

If you meant "survival"-type advice, like being in the outdoors and fashioning a working orrery from a few twigs, some string, and the skin of a dead ocelot, then there's http://www.facebook.com/SASSurvivalGuide.

Although, if you were out in the wilderness, strapped for supplies, would you have your phone charger?
There's also The teeny tiny book version, which has a *much* longer battery life.

Hooray! now you can venture into the wilderness, confident you can catch, kill, and eat a cute wild animal, perhaps even making a fetching hat from its hide.

Actually, it's a pretty useful book. Lots of practical advice, really.

Boy Lard

GGGrrrrr.

Just because I'm feeling that way out, I've decided to have a rant about the iPhone, WHICH I HATE.

It's a bloody toy for chavs that don't have the nounce to do a little bit of market research and find the mutlitude of better products on the market. Apple are just like Big Brother, they have very clever marketing techniques, they managed to get nearly every one to say IPod, when they actually meant mp3 player. AAAAhhhhh.......

...and I think they kill puppys during their research and developement. (That might not actually be true).

acidstrato

davis wrote:

acidstrato wrote:

but having access to emergency repair advice...I'm talking ray mears stuff now...I'd pay for happily

If you meant "survival"-type advice, like being in the outdoors and fashioning a working orrery from a few twigs, some string, and the skin of a dead ocelot, then there's http://www.facebook.com/SASSurvivalGuide.

Although, if you were out in the wilderness, strapped for supplies, would you have your phone charger?
There's also The teeny tiny book version, which has a *much* longer battery life.

Hooray! now you can venture into the wilderness, confident you can catch, kill, and eat a cute wild animal, perhaps even making a fetching hat from its hide.

Actually, it's a pretty useful book. Lots of practical advice, really.

battery life.... iphones don have an issue with that surely not

SAS survival guide is getting downloaded just cos...you never know

Mr Sworld

Oddjob62 wrote:

Yes but iphone users are the most likely to buy a bike and start riding it without the slightest clue how to do even the most basic repairs.

I thought all iPhone users were SS.... After all, Steve Jobs doesn't allow you to change anything (gears included)!

jonny_trousers

Boy Lard wrote:

GGGrrrrr.

Just because I'm feeling that way out, I've decided to have a rant about the iPhone, WHICH I HATE.

It's a bloody toy for chavs that don't have the nounce to do a little bit of market research and find the mutlitude of better products on the market. Apple are just like Big Brother, they have very clever marketing techniques, they managed to get nearly every one to say IPod, when they actually meant mp3 player. AAAAhhhhh.......

...and I think they kill puppys during their research and developement. (That might not actually be true).

Oh dear! Someone got a Nokia for Christmas when they really wanted an iPhone. Unlucky!

andreaslc

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

Personally I would not dumb down the terminology too much: it shows you are a professional and have high standards. By all means go into greater detail on what 'truing' actually is, but the 'fixing wobbly wheels' idea as a title would leave me cold. We iPhone owners are a sophisticated lot you know!

Are you going to have links to demo videos?

I've put a demo over on the site: http://bikedoctorapp.com/

andreaslc

4 things.......

1#
Guys just to say the App is now live! Can be downloaded from:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bike-doc ... ?mt=8&uo=4

2#
I've also added your suggestions to a blog post about to go live and I'll add that as soon as possible to the app:
http://bikedoctorapp.com/blog/

3#
It's currently 60% off so you can get it much cheaper :-) -if you do download please leave a review

4#
Main priority is to get this over to the Android for you guys - if anyone knows a developer I'm all ears!