Going on an e-mtb ride for the first time

Markus Hallermann
Sep 4, 2018 · 6 min read

When it comes to memories, the first time is always the most important.
(Deutsche Version des Artikels: “Das erste Mal: Mit dem E-MTB auf Tour”)

In fact, ‘first times’ comprise many of our childhoods’ most memorable moments, especially considering how many new things we tried back then. As we get older, what were once exciting moments become everyday experiences, and we slowly stop storing them in our minds. That’s because the brain prefers to keep a recording of the spectacular and to forget the mundane/uncomfortable — something which is indeed a good thing.

E-mountain biking offers tourism agencies and e-bike manufacturers the opportunity to create a brand-new ‘first-time experience’. And through a combination of open data, komoot, and a wireless connection to e-bikes, a holiday maker’s first e-mtb ride can lead to a series of unforgettable events — moments that will stay with them forever.

To illustrate this point, we look at a hiker as he gears up for his very first e-mountain bike ride.

Komoot is the leading partner for outdoor experiences

Our hiker uses komoot. He knows and loves the app, and he uses it to go on trips around where he lives. Maybe he got to know komoot while browsing the App Store, or maybe a friend recommended it to him. With over 6 million registered users, komoot is by far Europe’s most successful outdoor app, being used to discover, plan and navigate outdoor adventures. The app is also an Editor’s Choice app in both the App Store and Google Play, receiving an average 4.7-star rating over 60,000 reviews. For more information on reach, click here.

At komoot, the user is always in focus. It is our mission to simplify the way people interact with the great outdoors and to empower everyone to experience more unique outdoor moments. And the success komoot has had over the years is a result of an entire team working towards this goal; working hard to build the best product for our users.

At komoot, more than 30 people are working on crafting the perfect outdoor experience. And users are delivered this from the moment they sign up, starting with the onboarding process, which our User Experience Team continually improves.

Discover new experiences with open data

When our hiker goes on vacation, he looks for new Tours when he arrives. He discovers Highlights, lets himself be navigated along new trails, and enjoys the same old reliable experience he’s used to at home. And while he’s got nothing against mountain bikers, he’s just never had a reason to swap his boots for a bike: You don’t get up those hills any easier, after all. E-biking changes that, however, and with an e-mountain bike, rides that were previously impossible for our hiker has are now feasible. He can now crank his way up steep gradients and reach the top of previously insurmountable hills — all while being in fairly ‘average’ shape.

While he’s browsing komoot, he stumbles across a hike up to a hut he’d love to visit, although he notices it’s simply too long on foot. As he browses further, however, he finds a store where he can rent e-bikes. What a stroke of luck. This is his first opportunity to get out and discover nature on an e-bike.

Display offers in the right place with open data and OpenStreetMap

Such random occurrences can actually be supported by tourism agencies, simply by leveraging OpenStreetMap and open data.

Komoot uses OpenStreetMaps as the foundation of its maps, routing, search and navigation. This ‘Wikipedia for Geodata’ is cared for by four million volunteers who continually expand the amount and quality of the information contained, building a data pool that’s simply not available from commercial providers. This allows us to provide surface and way-type information — such as whether or not a road is asphalt or gravel — and to better build relevant routes for our users.

E-bike charging stations as a part of the route planning process on komoot

Not just surface type information is added to OpenStreetMaps, however. Users can also add information regarding all of the infrastructure in an area and categorize it using tags. In fact, tourism agencies themselves can upload and publish all of their own information in OpenStreetMaps, marking things such as e-bike charging stations, hotels and e-bike rental points as points of interest. This allows tourism agencies to share this valuable info with all of the services that use OSM as the basis of their product.

And adding POIs into OSM is simple with numerous free apps facilitating the process (click here to read more). Bike-Energy, for example, marked all of their e-bike charging stations in OpenStreetMap and increased the amount of listed stations by 10%.

In contrast to providers who use proprietary data sources, komoot follows an open approach and actively supports the marking of e-bike charging stations in OSM. This means that this information is not only accessible in komoot, but in an innumerable number of apps who also leverage this data source (such as ViewRanger, Bikemap, COBI, Skobbler and Bosch). It also allows this information to be used by GPS-device manufacturers, such as Garmin, Wahoo and Sigma.

After discovering all of this, our hiker plans his first e-bike ride in komoot. He starts directly at the rental station, pedals up some steep climbs and rides past expansive panoramic viewing points. Everything is perfect — from the amount of energy he has to expend to the speed he’s traveling — and he eventually ends up at the hut; the perfect end point as it also has a charging station.

A unique Tour — Wirelessly on an e-bike

“But how does the navigation work?”, asks our new e-biker. It’s not possible to continually pull your phone of your pocket, and he doesn’t want to mount his expensive phone to his handlebars.

New e-bikes with Yamaha motors can be directly connected with komoot. This means that the navigation instructions for every Tour planned on komoot will be displayed on a Yamaha e-bike interface without any additional software.

He doesn’t have to. His rented e-bike can simply display all of his Tour’s navigational instructions directly on the built-in interface. Genius.

This is incredibly simple. In just a few steps, he can connect komoot to his e-bike using Bluetooth and see all of the navigation information he needs directly on his bike’s display. His phone can stay in his rucksack.

Connecting to supported e-bikes is simple in komoot. The entire process takes place in the app and no additional sign-up/registration is required — neither for the guest nor for the user. This makes it incredibly useful for rented e-bikes as neither device needs to be reset after use; new users just connect to the device in the komoot app when they’re ready.

Every single e-bike manufacturer can get komoot’s navigation displayed on their e-bikes’ interfaces. This allows users to seamlessly and wirelessly sync komoot — and enables better rides in the outdoors. Implementation is free and open, with the only requirement being a display with a built in Bluetooth chip (BLE). More information can be found here.

Unforgettable Moments

And our hiker? Well, he is happy. He’s enjoyed his first ever e-mountain bike ride — and everything simply worked: The surroundings, the ride itself, the bike, the navigation. He didn’t just discover nature today, he discovered a new way to experience it — and he wants to do it again.

More information:

Komoot

Komoot helps you experience more adventure. Wherever you want to explore, plan your hikes, road bike and MTB rides down to the last inch in the planner and listen to turn-by-turn voice navigation to stay on course — even when you’re offline.

Markus Hallermann

Written by

Insights and learnings as co-founder of komoot

Komoot

Komoot

Komoot helps you experience more adventure. Wherever you want to explore, plan your hikes, road bike and MTB rides down to the last inch in the planner and listen to turn-by-turn voice navigation to stay on course — even when you’re offline.

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