Defensive Pedal

Defensive Pedal

About this app

Cycle your city with confidence. Defensive Pedal is a bike navigation app that calculates cycling routes up to 110% safer than default bike directions. Built for urban cyclists — commuters and recreational riders — it uses real road-risk data to find safer paths, warns you about hazards reported by other cyclists in real time, and keeps an eye on the weather and air quality along your route.

WHY DEFENSIVE PEDAL

Google Maps and Waze were not built for cyclists. They send you down six-lane roads because they are the shortest line on the map. Defensive Pedal treats every street as a risk score — not just a distance — and finds cycling routes that keep you on calmer, safer roads whenever possible. On a typical urban trip, our safety-optimized routes reduce your exposure to high-risk roads by up to 110% compared with default cycling directions. You stay in control: pick Safe, Fast, or Flat routing depending on how you feel today.

SAFETY-FIRST ROUTING
- Safety-scored routes built from real road-risk data — up to 110% less exposure to high-risk roads than default cycling navigation
- Three route modes in one tap: Safe (avoids high-risk roads), Fast (shortest time), Flat (avoids hills)
- Risk distribution chart for every route so you can see exactly what you are riding into
- Elevation profile with total climb, descent, and gradient
- Option to avoid unpaved surfaces if you are on a road bike

LIVE HAZARD AWARENESS
- Community hazard reports — potholes, construction, broken glass, dangerous junctions — dropped and voted on by other cyclists
- Alerts pop up as you approach a reported hazard
- Confirm or dismiss hazards in one tap to keep the map accurate for everyone

WEATHER AND AIR QUALITY
- Current and forecast weather for your location, built into the planning screen
- European Air Quality Index, PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and ozone readings so you can plan around pollution spikes
- Optional daily weather notification to help you plan your commute

BIKE-SPECIFIC POINTS OF INTEREST
- Bicycle parking spots, rental stations, and repair shops pinned on the map
- Water fountains, public restrooms, and transit connections for longer rides

NAVIGATION THAT FEELS NATURAL
- 3D course-up camera that follows you as you ride
- Clear turn-by-turn voice guidance
- Dark mode during navigation to reduce glare at night and save battery
- One-tap recenter to jump back to your position after panning the map

PROGRESS AND COMMUNITY
- Trip history with full GPS replay, distance, duration, elevation, and safety score
- XP, streaks, and badges that reward regular riding
- Neighborhood leaderboards to compare with other local cyclists
- City Heartbeat dashboard showing your city's cycling pulse
- Share your best rides to the community feed; like, react, and comment

BUILT FOR YOUR CITY
- Offline map packs so navigation keeps working with no data
- Light, dark, and system themes
- Works on any Android phone with GPS

WHO IT IS FOR
- You commute to work by bike and want routes that do not feel like a stunt
- You ride recreationally and want to discover calmer streets
- You are new to urban cycling and want a gentler introduction to city riding
- You care about the air you breathe and the weather you ride in

PRICE
Free to download and use. Advanced features will become available in an optional paid plan later, but the core safe-routing, hazard alerts, and navigation will stay free.

PRIVACY AND TRUST
Defensive Pedal is operated by Antifragil SRL, a company based in Romania. We comply with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), never sell your personal data, and never run advertising inside the app. You can delete your account and all associated data at any time from our website.

START RIDING SMARTER

Your next commute could be your safest one yet. Download Defensive Pedal and ride defensively.

What’s new

What's new:
- Safe routing across Europe: 31 countries (EU, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland), including cross-border routes.
- The app now works worldwide — outside Europe you can join the waitlist for your country.
- See calories burned on every ride; set your weight in Profile.
- Safety quiz now matches your country's road rules.
- Risk scores visible without an account.
- More reliable ride recording, plus many fixes.