BikeParkPRO – The First GPS App Built Specifically For Bike Park Riders
Mon 23rd May, 2016 @ 3:30 pm
A real viable alternative to Strava? BikeParkPRO claims to be the first GPS app built specifically to cater to the needs of bike park riders looking to track their rides, push their riding and compete with their friends. So how does it stack up against other tracking and performance apps?
The First GPS App Built Specifically For Bike Park Riders!
We all know riders use GPS tracking apps at bike parks. And if you’re one of the many riders that like to track their every move on the mountain, there are plenty of options available. But, most of these (and certainly the most popular ones), were designed for a different user group, namely road cycling and running. Industrious mountain bikers adopted these products for the trails, and this has divided opinions amongst riders – just look at the fuss caused by Strava… ‘don’t get stressed about stats man, just ride for the flow and the lifestyle!’ It’s a fair point, but the fact remains there is a demand; love it or hate it, plenty of riders want to track their rides, monitor progression, and engage in a bit of friendly competition. So now there’s BikeParkPRO. A real viable alternative to Strava – GPS tracking and statistics built specifically for the bike park community.
BikeParkPRO is of course available on iOS (click here) and on Android (click here). It’s FREE to download, and you can use it just like Strava without ever having to pay anything. However, for the more committed riders, you can upgrade to the BikeParkPRO Season Pass – a full 12 months of advanced features and benefits. Great value as it’s significantly cheaper than a Pro Strava account, and the benefits are things that will actually appeal to bike park riders. Prizes from recognized bike brands, and actual bike park season passes for example. The other more generic platforms don’t do this; it’s a clear benefit of BikeParkPRO’s niche market. Plus there’s the increased quality of trail data, but we’ll come to that later on…
BPRO Features
So how does it actually work? Well there is a unique feature right off the bat that’s pretty cool… show up at practically any gravity bike park in the world, select the RECORD screen, and the app will automatically detect which bike park you happen to be at, and give you a nice little welcome message so you know you’re on the right track! Then just hit record, put your phone back in your pocket, and get riding – a set-and-forget concept. At the end of the session, stop the recording and you’ll be prompted to upload your data. You’ll need Wi-Fi or a data connection for this bit, which is standard GPS app functionality of course, but you can save it for later if necessary. You’ll then see your ride stats and a map overview of where you’ve been. And then there’s the #BPRO Shred Sheet – a cool graphical summary of the key stats from your riding session, which you can ping out on your Facebook or Twitter profile to brag to the world about your bike park shredding!
The BikeParkPRO Website
No self-respecting App is complete without a partner web platform. Log in at http://www.BikeParkPRO.com using the same details that you use for the App of course (Facebook or email as you like), and you’ll be greeted with your ride summaries, and all your cumulative statistics from your bike park visits. And regarding those stats, one key difference that you might spot is that your uplift data is automatically discarded. No DH rider wants to be claiming a few thousand feet of vertical ‘climbing’ on their profile after a day of gnarly descending at the bike park (a la Strava), so you won’t get that here!
And then there are the Leaderboards… this is where you get to see how you stack up against the rest of the BikeParkPRO community. Of course there are leaderboards for all the trails – that’s standard, and equivalent to the ‘segments’ you all know and love (or hate!). But rather than multiple randomly named segments created by various different people, the core data is actively managed. So there’s one leaderboard per trail, and it actually coincides with the correct start and end points of that trail.
But there’s more to the Leaderboard concept with BikeParkPRO, as it will appeal not only to the fastest riders, but also to those with the riding stamina. You’ll find leaderboards for total laps, total vertical, and the number of sessions you record – additional metrics that are far more meaningful to the bike park community and can prove that you’re much more of a park rider than the next guy or girl!
Trail Analysis And High Res Data
Earlier on we mentioned the increased quality of the trail data. Well this needs a bit of explaining. One of the advanced features of BikeParkPRO is the trail matching. Your ‘Lap Story’ gives you a breakdown of each trail you ride on a lap-by-lap basis, distinguishing between trails you ride only in part, and those you ride from the defined start to end points without jumping off to another trail. So this gives you a clear picture of what you rode on each lap.
This is made possible by the quality of the core trail data stored ‘behind the scenes’. Every time you upload your recorded data, it’s compared to the stored data for that particular bike park in order to determine which specific trails you rode. The more accurate that data is, then the better the match. And the core data for BikeParkPRO is of significantly higher quality than you will find on any other platform. Often provided by the bike parks themselves, the data is further improved by the BPRO team so that it represents the absolute best possible accuracy and resolution to do the job it’s intended to do. This not only gives a greater accuracy of trail matching; it also means the fastest times that you record for the Trail Leaderboards are far more accurate in terms of representing the real end to end trail.
Win A Season Pass To The Bike Park Of Your Choice
There’s huge potential here for an interactive community that’s tailored specifically to the bike park world, so you can expect a lot more features and developments over the coming months. And there are benefits to getting involved at an early stage. Upgrade to the BikeParkPRO Season Pass right now and you’ll automatically be entered in to the prize draw to win a season pass to the bike park of your choice – any bike park, anywhere in the world.
And it doesn’t stop there. You can massively increase your chances of winning by hitting the 20/20 challenge! If you achieve 20 laps OR 20,000 ft. of vertical descent using the app, at any gravity bike park (i.e. those bike parks with uplifts and are on the App), then you’ll get an extra 20 (yes twenty!) entries in to the contest. So get out and ride! And here’s a reminder of the benefits of being a BikeParkPRO Season Pass holder, just so you’re clear…
*Standard user will actually get their first 3 recorded sessions processed for their lap story trail breakdown.
Summary
So finally, bike park riders have a platform they can call their own, and that can give them exactly what they want. You can use BikeParkPRO at any gravity bike park, even if you do not see it listed on the locations page on the website as a participating bike park. You can still record a session and your data will be kept safe and secure, so when that bike park does come online (and they all will eventually!), all your stats, leaderboard positions, and lap stories will be available right from the start!
Don’t hold back from giving your feedback. The clear intent is to build something that bike park riders actually want; tailored features for an interactive bike park community. So if you have suggestions or ideas for what you might like to see, then drop them a line at info@bikeparkpro.com. And in the meantime, get shredding those laps…
