Bike Repair review

We review Bike Repair, an iPhone app that keeps your cycle in full working order and teaches you a thing or two about mechanical tinkering

Even if you don’t particularly buy into the whole New Year resolution thing, it’s hard to deny that January feels like a good time to make a few changes. December is a month where we break from our normal routines, which makes the New Year feel like it’s ready for a shake up, and after the overindulgence of Christmas, that shake up generally includes some form of diet and exercise.

And let’s be honest: We all have a bike in the garage that’s not been used for 18 months, despite us regularly promising ourselves that we’re “going to get out on it more”. Well, there’s no better time to make good on that promise, and the iPhone’s Bike Repair app is here to make it possible.

As its name suggests, this is a maintenance and inspection guide to getting yourself back in the saddle. The app contains an impressive 38 step-by-step guides, which break the bicycle down into essential aspects and explains how they work and how to keep them working.

For example, the Wheels section explains how to change an inner tube (might sound obvious, but that’s not the case if you’ve never done it before), and how to change the rim tape. Breaks rubbing on the wheel? There’s a guide that explains not only how to fix it, but what’s causing the problem, which helps immensely in building you investigative knowledge of bike maintenance.

Getting to your problem is handled well within the app, through something of an elimination and selection exercise that ultimately hones in on the issue. You begin by selecting the general area of the problem, such as the chain or handlebars, and then selecting the kind of operation required. This could be replacing the chain, inspecting it, or cleaning it.

The guides take the form of great quality photos of the parts in question, clearly labelled with the required procedure. Essential parts are labelled with arrows, and good advice is thrown in wherever possible and pertinent. The image-heavy nature of the guides makes them very easy to follow, even if you’re not usually technically minded. Indeed, by using photos rather than schematics, Bike Repair offers an experience that’s geared more for the novice than the professional bike repair engineer.

One of the reasons a bike continues to go unused is because it needs servicing, but performing the work yourself not only makes you feel more secure when going out and about - given that you now have a better understanding of how to fix the machine should it break down on you - there’s a distinct satisfaction that comes from getting some grease on your hands.

Feeling more connected to your newly repaired bike is likely to keep you riding it, and alongside a puncture repair kit and a hand pump, Bike Repair is an essential part of your riding gear.

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