I found the item of my dreams in the Tchibo brochure. It was advertised between a fleece jacket and cheap jogging shoes. I had to have it, the 99 DM heart rate monitor from the coffee roaster, because it was the only way to do a proper workout. 99 Deutschmarks for a device that didn't even record, let alone display, the average heart rate? In 1996, when the first Olympic mountain bike champion (Bart Brentjens) was crowned, it was an absolutely high-tech device.
Apps replace bike computers or training plans
Today, 19 years later, every smartphone looks like a fully equipped training centre - at least with the right apps. If you're clever, you can replace your bike computer and use the apps to organise your training, seasonal planning, bike fitting and nutrition. The mobile phone itself mutates into a multifunctional computer that receives all the data from the heart rate belt, the watt system or the roller trainer. Basically an egg-laying wool-milk sow, if the batteries didn't run out of steam so quickly and the mobile phones didn't clatter on the handlebars. But that should and will change - at the latest with the Apple Watch and similar devices.
In the meantime, however, you should allow yourself to be fascinated by the possibilities of the apps. BIKE has picked out the most useful apps for your bike training from the thousands and thousands of apps in the Apple and Google app stores. We emphasised the importance of an all-round package instead of showing countless applications that can all do the same thing. And the best thing is that you have to spend far less than 99 Deutschmarks or run to Tchibo.
The best training apps for bikers at a glance
