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Gocycle reinvented the wheel, we reinvented the app
Blog / Brand Technology

Gocycle reinvented the wheel, we reinvented the app

How we made a seriously cool e-bike - the Gocycle - even cooler with a new app.

It’s a bit like the chicken and the egg thing. Which is more important – the bike or the app?

All aspects of cycling from the most vaguely competitive to the Tour de France have been taken by storm by Strava. If you aren’t a cyclist, know this about Strava: Cyclists compete on road segments which they record on their phone or cycle satnav.  For a lot of cyclists this is at least half the fun of riding.  You can use the data to train, compete for King of the Mountain or just record your rides. Recently Strava was updated to allow people to compete ‘live’ on segments (expect to see many head-down cyclists out there, eyes glued to their Garmin – they are taking part in the virtual Tour de France). 

We are huge fans of the impact that new technology can have on existing products so we were pretty enthusiastic when we found that our client, electric bike manufacturers Gocycle, had an app (we think that Richard Thorpe at Gocycle re-invented both the bicycle and the wheel). But we also couldn’t wait to get our hands on the app and do more with it. That the Gocycle had an app at all was quite cool. To our knowledge it is the only e-bike that has an app, a great app could make it even cooler. 

So why should an e-bike have an app? Well you can configure the Gocycle to suit you or your mood. Want just a bit of an electric boost and the battery to last a long time? Select ‘Eco’ mode. You can even fine tune to adjust both when the motor kicks in (legally you have to be pedalling for this to happen, and max speed is limited to 15.5mph) and how much kick it gives you when it does. Or – for those times when legal limitations don’t apply (oh you know, when you’re riding round an airfield for instance) you can either remove the 15.5mph limit and/or remove the need to pedal at all. Just pressing the suitably coloured red power button on the handlebar (this is definitely our favourite mode, and no of course we wouldn’t use it to breeze to the shops in Godalming at nearly 30mph). 

But the app did have a bit of a Beta appearance about it. 

So armed with a lot of Gocycle riding experience, keen cyclists on the team (and yes, Strava users), a team of developers and a team of designers, Pull was well equipped to take the app to its next stage. 

Here’s what the app looks like now:

Users can switch between km. and miles, and we know owners are already boasting of hitting equivalent mpg values of over 1,000. How good is that for eco bragging rights

Users can also take advantage of Gran Turismo-style sliders to customise their ride as described above: 

And set the maximum assisted speed where the need is to comply with the legal ‘Pedelec’ limit or not: 

With electric bicycles forecast to be the fastest growing vehicle segment worldwide in coming years, it has been great for Pull to be able to enhance the owner experience of the coolest e-bike on the market. The Gocycle is hugely improved – without even having to improve the Gocycle.

Posted 20 July 2016 by Chris Bullick

 

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