Despite the fitness/training app segment being a crowed field, with Strava continuing to reign supreme, The Breakaway app has made in-rows with serious cyclists who are data-driven and are interested in more than just cataloging their rides and looking for kudos from their peers.
For example, The Breakaway app can track Power Skills such as sprinting (under 2 minutes), attacking (2-10 minutes) and climbing (15 minutes-1 hour), subsequently breaking down the user’s strengths and weaknesses and with recommended intervals.
Launched last year by Strava alumni Jordan Kobert and Kyle Yugawa, along with former pro cyclist Christian Vande Velde, The Breakaway app has now been expended to include integration with Garmin cycling computers, as well as indoor cycling platforms like Zwift and Peloton. The app also now works with Strava too.
“Technology is best when it enhances what people are already doing,” said Kobert, who was head of Strava business development/commerce, while Yugawa was Strava’s first mobile developer. “That’s what we’re trying to do at The Breakaway. Not change behavior, but help with what you’re already doing, meet you on the platform of your choice, and help you drive better habits and execution.”
“Strava has cemented its position as the social platform for athletes,” said Kobert, who was with Strava for four years. “It’s amazing, and I use it multiple times a day. We are targeting people who want to go deeper into improvement, coaching, and training. There’s room for a lot of solutions as the market is just so big and getting bigger. Also, we see ourselves as much more than a cycling app. We are certainly starting with cycling but our goal is to quickly add other sports and activities.”
Vande Velde, who’s role is to help enhance the app’s functions, has known Kobert for more than 20 years.
“I’m proud to be part of the founding team, and we’ve been working on this together for a while, and it’s been a blast,” Vande Velde said. “I never thought it could be this fun, or that we’d have such a huge opportunity in front of us. We’ve come a long way since the concept of this, but we are just getting started, and have so much planned to help people grow. I’ve been around cycling all my life, and now as a retired pro, I ride with people of all abilities and see the impact that a little bit of coaching or guidance can have. That’s what drew me in, and what keeps us all going every day.”
Kobert says attracting members in a crowded fitness app market is possible if you offer something that will truly improve the user’s performance.
“We can have all the go-to-market plans and acquisition strategies we want, but if you don’t build something people love, and want to tell their friends about, then you haven’t really solved a problem,” Kobert said. “Our focus is on helping people find real improvement. If we do that, we are confident in our ability to grow and impact a huge audience.”
“It’s really exciting to see both groups engage,” Kobert says about competitive outdoor cyclists and indoor cyclists. “Our goal is that this is for anyone who wants to improve, anyone who gets on their bike, indoors or out, and thinks, ‘How am I doing?'”
The Breakaway app is available for iOS devices in the Apple App Store with a monthly subscription cost of $7.99.
Joining The Breakaway allows members to:
The Breakaway
You must be logged in to post a comment.
