Why We Think Cycling Communities Deserve Better Tech

Cycling has never been more popular. From casual weekend riders to hardcore club racers, more people than ever are hitting the roads, trails, and turbo trainers. But while the bikes, gear, and nutrition have evolved rapidly over the years — the tech that serves cycling communities has largely stood still.

We think it’s time for that to change.

The Problem: Forums, Feeds, and Forgotten Platforms

Most cycling communities still rely on a patchwork of outdated tools:

• Forums from the early 2000s with clunky UX
• Closed Facebook Groups with no control over data
• Strava comments that disappear into the ether
• Event spreadsheets passed around in WhatsApp

It’s not that these platforms are bad — they’ve just outlived their purpose for what modern communities need. Cyclists deserve platforms built specifically for how we ride, why we ride, and who we ride with.

Community First. Always.

Cycling isn't just a sport — it's a shared culture. Whether it's coordinating a weekend group ride, tracking club performance, or finding new routes with locals, cyclists thrive in communities.

We believe the tech supporting those communities should reflect that:

• Tools for real planning — Not just chat threads, but proper ride scheduling, weather checks, and RSVP tracking.
• Better discovery — Whether you’re new to a city or new to a bike, finding your crew shouldn't feel like detective work.
• Trust and transparency — No more shadowbans, black-box algorithms, or data sold to the highest bidder.
• Tailored experience — Not everything needs to be a “like.” Sometimes you just want to know if someone’s bringing flapjacks.

Our Approach: Built for Riders, by Riders

We’re building the Liverpool Bonk Squad site with these principles at heart — combining modern tech like Django, Supabase, and Render with a genuine understanding of cycling culture.

This means:

• Fast, mobile-friendly dashboards for ride planning and post-ride analysis
• Smart integrations (like GPX route mapping, weather forecasting, and event history)
• Membership features that are easy to use and hard to fake
• Community-led blog content, ride reports, and gear reviews

Why It Matters

When tech works well, it fades into the background. It supports the ride, rather than distracting from it. But when it doesn’t — when it’s clunky, slow, or disconnected — it becomes a barrier to the very thing it should be enabling: riding bikes together.

Cycling communities are powerful. They raise money, build friendships, inspire change, and challenge limits. We think they deserve a platform that keeps up.

And we’re building it.