🗺️
Rides on a map
Every upcoming ride around you, pinned on the map — yours in one colour, everyone else's in another — with finish points marked.
How it works
From riding solo to “see you at the start”
Three steps. No club membership, no forum threads, no waiting for an admin to let you in.
🗺️
1 · Find a ride near you
Open the map or Explore. Every ride shows its type, pace, start time, meeting point and spots left — filter to Road, Mountain, Gravel, Casual or Race.
⚡
2 · Join and say hi
Tap Join. You're instantly in the ride's group chat, with a reminder one hour before the start. Or post your own ride in two minutes.
🚴
3 · Ride, record, repeat
Follow the group live on the road, record the ride on iPhone or Apple Watch, and add the riders you clicked with as buddies.
Everything in one appFind riders. Ride together.
Find riders. Ride together.
Record every kilometre.
CycleBuddy replaces the three things you're juggling — the ride finder, the group chat that never works, and the tracker.
🔎
Explore feed
Rides as cards, soonest first: “in 3h”, pace, meeting point, spots left. Filter by Road, Mountain, Gravel, Casual or Race.
⚡
One-tap join
Tap Join and you're in — straight into the group chat, with a reminder an hour before the start. Leave just as easily.
📍
Post your own ride
Tap a start and finish, pick the type, date and 2–50 riders, add notes, toggle round trip — and invite friends by message.
💬
Group chat & DMs
A chat for every ride with one-tap replies like “Running 5 min late” and “Flat tire, need help!”, plus one-to-one messages.
🛰️
Live group rides
When the organiser starts the ride, join navigation and see how many riders are on the road with you, with live speed and distance.
⏱️
Ride recorder
GPS recording in the background: distance, moving time, average and top speed, climbing and calories. Stops don't drag your average down.
⌚
Apple Watch app
Record an outdoor ride from your wrist — speed, heart rate, calories and GPS route — even with your phone left at home.
❤️
Apple Health
Rides save as cycling workouts and count toward your rings. Resting heart rate, VO₂ max and your real pace feed back into your plans.
🧭
Ride planner
Climbing, riding time, Easy-to-Epic difficulty, carbs and water per hour, bottles, weather and real café stops at each break.
☕
Places along the way
Cafés, restaurants, water stops, bike shops, parks and historic places near you — with ratings, opening hours and “Add to route”.
🛡️
Safety built in
Report or block any rider in two taps. Blocked riders vanish from your rides, chats and map, and your body stats stay private.
Discover
Your crew is already out there
The map and the Explore feed show real, joinable rides around you. Each card tells you what you need before you commit — so a moderate rider never accidentally rolls out with the racers.
Easy 16–20 km/hModerate 21–26Fast 27–32Racing 32+
- Road, Mountain, Gravel, Casual and Race rides
- Start time, meeting point and spots left on every card
- A reminder one hour before rides you've joined
- Share any ride with a map link: “Join me on CycleBuddy!”
🚴
Sunday Morning LoopRoad · Moderate · 6 of 10 riders
Connect
The group chat that actually works
Every ride gets its own chat, so the meeting point never gets buried under 80 messages about something else. On the morning of the ride, one tap says it all.
On my way! 🚴I'm here!Running 5 min lateAt the meeting point
- Push alerts when someone joins or messages
- Direct messages and ride-buddy requests
- Tap a notification to land on the exact ride or chat
👥
4 riders on the road with youLive group navigation
Places
The coffee stop is half the point
Explore shows what's worth stopping for near you — with photos, star ratings, price level, open or closed, phone and directions. Found a great café? Add it to your route as a stop.
☕ Café & Bakery🍽️ Restaurants💧 Water stops🔧 Bike shops🌳 Parks & trails🏛️ Historic places
☕
Café du Vélo · Open★ 4.7 · 120 m off route
Ride planner
A ride coach in your pocket
Tap a start and a finish. CycleBuddy works out the route and builds a plan around your body and the climb ahead — so you know when to eat, how much to carry, and where to stop for coffee.
EasyModerateHardEpic
30–60 gcarbs per hour
500–750 mlwater per hour
+10–30%water above 25 °C
45–55 minshort breaks
1.5 kmcafés near each stop
3 ridesthen plans use your real pace
- Climbing measured from real elevation data
- Pace adjusted for climbing, age, fitness and sex
- Weather at the start, bottles to carry, lunch stop on 4h+ rides
- Separate route planner with via stops and turn-by-turn
🧭
62 km · 740 m climbing · Hard4 × 750 ml bottles · 2 café stops
Tracking
It records the ride, too
No second app needed for what you just rode.
Every ride, every number
Hit record and CycleBuddy follows your route in the background, filtering out GPS noise so your numbers are honest. Rides are named for you — Morning ride, Evening ride — and land in your log.
- Distance, moving and elapsed time, stopped time
- Average and max speed, pace per km, metres climbed, calories
- “This week” totals and change versus last week
- Saved to Apple Health as a cycling workout
- Last 8 weeks of distance and speed, plus all-time totals PRO
📈
This week · 86 km+18% vs last week
Your body, in the plan
Connect Apple Health and CycleBuddy reads your real fitness picture — not a guess — and your recorded rides count toward your Activity rings.
- Resting heart rate against your own 30-day baseline: Recovered, Steady or Not recovered
- VO₂ max, km this week and your average speed at a glance
- After three rides, plans use the speed you actually hold
❤️
Recovered · 52 bpm restingApple Health
New · Apple Watch
Leave the phone.
Leave the phone.
Take the ride.
The CycleBuddy Watch app records an outdoor ride straight from your wrist — and it's waiting in your CycleBuddy log when you get home, with no duplicates.
- Distance, time, live speed and heart rate
- Calories and your full GPS route
- Pause, resume and finish with one tap
- Saves to Apple Health automatically
Every kind of rider
If you ride, you belong
Weekend warriors, commuters, gravel grinders, café racers and night owls.
Make it yours
Eight themes. Try one — this page follows.
Tap a colour. In the app, map lines, buttons and charts all follow your pick. Now showing: Violet.
SystemLightDark
Free & Pro
The network is free. Forever.
A ride-finding app only works when riders can find each other — so everything that connects you costs nothing. Pro is for riders who want a coach, not just a crew.
CycleBuddy
Free
No card, no trial, no catch.
- Find, join and post group rides
- Group chat, DMs and ride buddies
- Live group-ride navigation
- Ride recording on iPhone & Apple Watch
- Apple Health sync and weekly stats
- Nearby cafés, water stops & bike shops
- 3 ride plans and 3 saved routes
- All 8 themes, light and dark mode
OPTIONAL
CycleBuddy Pro
Everything, plus
Upgrade inside the app, only if you want it.
- Unlimited ride plans
- Unlimited saved routes
- Last 8 weeks of distance and speed
- All-time totals: distance, time, climb, calories
You'll only see an upgrade screen when you reach a limit — and you can close it and keep riding.
Start free, upgrade laterHow it compares
Built for the part before the ride
Strava and Komoot are great at recording and routing. CycleBuddy is built to get you riding with people.
| What you get | CycleBuddy | Strava | Komoot | Facebook groups |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Find group rides near you and join in one tap | ✓ | ◐ | — | ◐ |
| Post a ride others nearby can join | ✓ | ◐ | — | ✓ |
| Group chat for each ride, with quick replies | ✓ | — | — | ◐ |
| See the riders on the road with you during a group ride | ✓ | ◐ | — | — |
| GPS ride recording with Apple Health | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Apple Watch ride recording | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Ride plan: fuel, water, breaks and café stops | ✓ | — | ◐ | — |
| Finding riders and joining rides is free | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
✓ yes · ◐ partly or with workarounds · — not available. Based on each product's publicly listed features, September 2026.
From the blog
Ride smarter, ride together
Guides on finding riding partners, group-ride etiquette and getting more from every kilometre.
Guide
How to Find Cycling Partners Near You (The Easy Way)
Read article →Group rides
“Group Rides Near Me”: The Best Way to Actually Find One
Read article →
Comparison
The Best Apps to Find Cycling Partners in 2026
Read article →Comparison
CycleBuddy vs Strava: Track Your Ride or Find Your Crew?
Read article →Beginners
Group Rides for Beginners: Everything You Need to Know
Read article →
Community
How to Make Friends Through Cycling
Read article →FAQ
Questions, answered
How do I find cycling partners near me?
Open CycleBuddy and the map shows upcoming group rides around you, colour-coded so yours stand out. Explore lists the same rides as cards you can filter by Road, Mountain, Gravel, Casual or Race, with start time, pace, meeting point and spots left. Tap one, tap Join, and you're in the group chat.
Is CycleBuddy free?
Yes. Finding and joining rides, posting your own, group chat and direct messages, ride buddies, GPS ride recording, Apple Health and Apple Watch, weekly stats and nearby places are all free. Your first three ride plans and three saved routes are free too. CycleBuddy Pro is optional.
What does CycleBuddy Pro add?
Unlimited ride plans, unlimited saved routes, and your last-eight-weeks charts of distance and average speed plus all-time totals for distance, time, climbing and calories. You only see an upgrade screen when you reach a limit, and you can close it and keep riding.
Can CycleBuddy track my rides?
Yes. Hit record for distance, moving time, average and top speed, metres climbed and calories. Recording keeps running in the background, stops don't drag your average down, and every ride lands in your log and in Apple Health as a cycling workout.
Does it work with Apple Watch?
Yes. The CycleBuddy Watch app records an outdoor ride from your wrist — distance, time, live speed, heart rate, calories and your GPS route — even with your phone left at home. It saves to Apple Health and appears in your CycleBuddy log automatically, without duplicates.
What does the ride planner do?
Pick a start and finish and CycleBuddy works out the route, climbing, riding time and total time with breaks, a difficulty rating from Easy to Epic, carbs and water per hour, how many bottles to carry, the weather at the start, and real cafés near each break. Pace is adjusted for the climbing and for your age, fitness and sex, and after three rides it uses the speed you actually hold, read from Apple Health.
How is this different from Strava?
Strava is brilliant at recording rides after they happen. CycleBuddy is built for the part before: finding a ride near you, joining it, and talking to the group. It records rides too, and saves them to Apple Health, so it can sit alongside Strava or replace it.
Can I create my own group ride?
Yes, in about two minutes. Tap a start and finish on the map, choose the ride type, date, time and 2–50 riders, add notes, and post it. It appears on the map and in Explore for riders nearby, and friends you invite get a direct message.
Who can see my location?
Your position is shared live only with riders in a group ride you've joined, while that ride's navigation is running. Your age, weight and height stay private, and you can report or block anyone — blocked riders disappear from your rides, chats and map.
What paces and ride types are there?
Road, Mountain, Gravel, Casual and Race rides, in four pace bands: Easy 16–20 km/h, Moderate 21–26, Fast 27–32 and Racing 32+. Every ride card shows its pace, so you always know what you're joining.
Can I change how the app looks?
Yes. Choose System, Light or Dark and one of eight accent colours — Violet, Electric Blue, Sunset, Crimson, Volt, Forest, Ocean or Graphite. Build your avatar from a colour, initials or an emoji, and add your country flag.
Does CycleBuddy work in my country?
Yes, worldwide. The map centres on wherever you are, so it works at home and when you travel with your bike. The app is in English.
What if there are no rides near me yet?
Post the first one. It takes two minutes, it goes on the map for every CycleBuddy rider nearby, and one organiser is how every local crew starts.
Is CycleBuddy on Android?
CycleBuddy is on iPhone and Apple Watch today. Android is on the roadmap.
Your next ride buddy is
closer than you think.
Download CycleBuddy free, open the map and find a ride near you this weekend.
Download on the App Store