Spotcycle 101

Learn to use Spotcycle with these how-to's!

NOTE: To optimize your Spotcycle mobile experience, ensure you enable your smartphone's GPS feature from your device's settings menu. Your device should also have a live Internet connection.

Spotcycle accounts

To maximize your Spotcycle experience, you need to create a Spotcycle account. Register now!

Bike stations

Searching for bike stations
Sorting bike stations
Managing bike stations: Android devices
Managing bike stations: iPhone/iPod devices

Bike stations

To display bike stations on a map:

From the Spotcycle menu bar, select the Map tab.
A map will appear with the bike stations available on your bike share system mapped out. The icons indicate bike and bike dock availability.
To view the bike station details, tap on the desired bike station to view its status, and then tap on its contextual menu.

The Station Info view appears.

To list all bike stations available in your bike share scheme:

From the Spotcycle menu bar, select the Stations tab.
A list of bike stations available on your bike share system appears.

The pie chart icons next to the names of the bike stations indicate the bike (red) and bike dock (blue) availabilty.

Searching for bike stations

You can search for a bike station by typing a few letters in the name of the bike station in the Search field.

Sorting bike stations

Tap on the Sort button to sort bike stations by proximity, bike or bike dock availability, or alphabetically.

To display a list of 10 nearby bike stations:

From the Spotcycle menu bar, select the Nearby tab.
A list of 10 nearby bike stations appears.
The pie chart icons indicate the bike (red) and bike dock (blue) availabilty.

To view your current location:

In the Map view, from the Spotcycle menu bar, tap on the Locate button.

Managing bike stations

Adding bike stations to your favorites

Android devices

On an Android device, you need to add bike stations to an existing group or create a new group. To do so:

Press on the menu button on your Android device to access the Spotcycle menu bar, and then select the Favorites tab.
In the Favorites view, you can to create a new group of favorites or access an existing group.

To create a new group of favorites:

Press on the menu button to access to access the Spotcycle menu bar, and then select the Favorites tab.
The Favorites view appears.
Tap on Add (+) to create a new group of favorites, enter a name in the Name field and then tap on Save. The favorites group will be empty.

To access your existing groups of favorites:

Select the group to which you want to add bike stations.
In Favorites view, select the group of favorites to which you want to add bike stations, press on the device's menu button to access the Edit menu, and then tap on Add (+).
The list of bike stations appears.
From the list of bike stations, select the bike stations you want to add and then tap on Save.
The bike stations will be saved to the group of favorites.

To add bike stations from the Map view:

From the Map view, tap on the bike station you want to add.
The bike station name appears.
Tap on the contextual menu to display the bike station details.
In the Station Info view, press on the device's menu button, and then tap on Add (+).
The list of favorite groups appears.
Select the group of favorites to which you want to add the bike station and then tap on Save.

To access your favorite bike stations:

From the Spotcycle menu bar, select the Favorites tab.
The list of groups of favorite bike stations appears.

iPhone/iPod devices

To create a new group of favorites:

Tap on the Favorites tab.
The Favorites view appears.
Tap on Create a new group (+) to create a new group of favorites, enter a name in the Name field and then tap on Save. The favorites group will be empty.

To access your existing groups of favorites:

Select the group to which you want to add bike stations.
In Favorites view, select the group of favorites to which you want to add bike stations and then then tap on Add station(s) to the group (+).
The list of bike stations appears.
From the list of bike stations, select the bike stations you want to add and then tap on Save.
The bike stations will be saved to the group of favorites.

To add bike stations from the Map view:

From the Map view, tap on the bike station you want to add.
The bike station name appears.
Tap on the contextual menu to display the bike station details.
In the Station Info view, tap on Add to a favorite group (+).
The list of favorite groups appears.
Select the group of favorites to which you want to add the bike station and then tap on Save.

All devices

To access your favorite bike stations:

From the Spotcycle menu bar, select the Favorites tab.
The list of groups of favorite bike stations appears.

Bike routes

(Spotcycle ver.3.0 and up)

NOTE: To create or manage bike routes, you need to sign into your Spotcycle account (or create one if you haven't already done so).

To create a bike route:

From the Spotcycle menu bar, select the More tab, and then select Bike routes.
In the Bike Routes view, select My bike routes and then select Create new bike route.
When you are ready to record your bike route, tap on Start.
As you bike along your route, the GPS feature on your device will map out your bike route on the map.
You can tap on Pause at anytime to temporarily pause recording.
When you have finished recording your bike route, tap on Stop.
The Route Info view appears.
In the Route Info view, enter a name and description (optional) for your bike route. You can optionally also set the privacy settings, assign the route to a category (or categories), or annotate points of interest.
Tap on Submit to save the bike route.

To add annotations to your bike route:

From the Bike Routes view, select My bike routes.
Select the bike route to which you want to add annotations, and then select Annotations.
The Edit Points of Interest view appears.
Tap on Add point of interest.
The Annotation Types view appears.
From the list, select a type of annotation for your point of interest, then hold and drag it to the appropriate location on the map.
Tap on the annotation's contextual menu to edit its details (caption, description).
Repeat steps 2 to 4 for each annotation you want to add, and then return to the Bike Route Info view.
Tap on Submit to save your bike route with annotations. It will appear in the list of bike routes in My bike routes.

To search for bike routes:

From the Spotcycle menu bar, select the More tab, and the select Bike routes.
In the Bike Routes view, select Search routes.
Enter the required information in the fields and then tap on Search.

To try out a shared bike route:

From the Spotcycle menu bar, select the More tab, and the select Bike routes.
Search or browse for a bike route (Top Rated, Most recent routes, Browse by category, Search), and then select it.
The bike route appears in Map view for you to view.

To rate a bike route:

From the list of shared bike routes in the Spotcycle community, select a bike route you want to rate and then tap on More Info.
In Route Info view, tap on the Rating button, select your rating on the star meter, and then return to the Route Info view to save the rating.

NOTE: You can only rate bike routes shared by other members (that is, you cannot rate your own bike routes).

To edit your bike routes or annotations:

From your computer or tablet, sign into your Spotcycle account on the Spotcycle website.
Locate and view your saved bike routes and then tap on Edit.
Edit the information for your bike route or annotation(s) as required.

Bookmarking bike routes

To bookmark a bike route from the Spotcycle community:

From the list of shared bike routes in the Spotcycle community, select a bike route you want to bookmark and then tap on More Info.
In Route Info view, tap on the Bookmark button to bookmark the bike route.

NOTE: You can only bookmark bike routes shared by other members (that is, you cannot bookmark your own bike routes).

To remove a bike route from your bookmarks:

Select a bike route. In Route Info view, tap on More Info. Tap on the Bookmark button to remove the bookmark.

To view bookmarked bike routes:

From the Bike Routes view, select My bike routes, and then Bookmarks to display a list of bookmarked bike routes.

Sharing bike routes

You can share bike routes you've created or bookmarked with your social network or by email. To share your bike routes:

From the Bike Routes view, select My bike routes.
Select the bike route that you want to share, and then tap on the More Info button.
The Route Info view appears.
Tap on the button corresponding to the method by which you want to share your bike route:
Twitter. Bike route will be tweeted as a link.
Facebook. Bike route will be posted on your wall.
Email. Bike route will be sent as a link.
Note that you will need to be signed into your social network account to share your bike route via Twitter or Facebook.
Add a personal message to your post (optional) and then tap on Send to share the bike route.