Bikes and census

A bike on CrankPal is more than a make and a model: it is the list of its components, the condition of each one, the kilometres ridden and everything you have ever touched on it. Wear predictions, replacement quotes and customer reminders all come out of that list.

The list lives under Customers›Bikes and is searchable by make, model or owner. Bikes themselves, though, are added from the customer record, not from here.

Adding a bike#

From the Registered bikes panel on a customer record. The first thing you see is the model catalogue search: type two characters of make and model and known models appear, with year and build.

Picking a catalogue model fills in make, model, year, type and the e-bike flag for you, and enables the Pre-fill components from the model tick box: the bike is then created with component slots already derived from that model's specification. It is the fastest way to avoid starting from a blank page.

If the model isn't there, fill it in by hand: make and model are required, year, type, frame serial and the e-bike flag are optional.

The component census#

Recording a census means telling CrankPal which parts are on the bike and what condition they're in. It takes time the first time, then it pays for itself: from then on you know what is about to run out, you build a quote in a minute, and the customer gets reminders at the right moment instead of at random.

1. Start the census

   On the bike record, Components tab, press Start census. Answer five questions: bike type, brakes (disc or rim), drivetrain, suspension and, if you know it, the groupset. There's a tick box for e-bikes too.

2. Check the slots that were generated

   CrankPal creates the slots that bike should have: wheels, brakes, cassette, derailleur, chain, chainset, fork, saddle, cockpit, frame, plus battery and motor for an e-bike. If you add a component later, the button becomes Generate missing slots.

3. Go over the bike part by part

   In the Diagram view you tap a component and pick one of three states: Good, Halfway, Needs replacing. Three taps, no percentage to invent. The arrows take you to the next slot without going back.

4. Add detail where it matters

   From Details you enter the part's name/model and brand. From the Full card you can also take a photo, see the kilometres ridden since it was fitted, and read its inspection history.

The List view shows the same components grouped by assembly (drivetrain, brakes, wheels, cockpit, frame and fork, e-bike), with the health percentage, estimated kilometres and the date it was fitted.

Every component carries a note of where the data came from: verified by you, estimated, from the model specification, or from the catalogue. It tells you how far to trust it.

If the device has a microphone, the Voice button lets you dictate the condition while your hands are on the bike: you say the state and move on to the next part without touching the screen.

Replacing a component#

When one or more parts are at Needs replacing, a panel appears above the components with the count and a Generate a single quote button: it builds one quote with a line for each part plus a labour line, and takes you there to finish prices and hours. Better than one quote per part.

When the part is actually fitted, use Mark as replaced on the component's full card. You can scan or type the part's barcode: if it is in the catalogue, name, brand and cost fill themselves in. On confirmation the component's health goes back to new, its kilometres restart from zero and the replacement appears in the log. If you got it wrong, Undo replacement is right there.

The full card also shows the suggested part: the catalogue part linked to that slot, with an indicative price, your stock level and the supplier — so you know straight away whether you have it or need to order it.

Wear prediction and real kilometres#

Under the components there's a line saying what the estimate is based on: your workshop's own model, the network model, or the baseline estimate, along with how many assessments you have given and the average error in kilometres. It is a stated estimate, not an oracle.

The Assess real condition · train the AI button opens a screen where, for each component you have actually inspected, you pick between As new, Good, Worn and End of life, and say whether you replaced it and why (wear, damage, upgrade). You only fill in what you looked at. Each assessment corrects the estimate on that bike and improves the model.

Kilometres come from the cyclist's rides, in the Rides tab: Strava, Garmin and rides logged in the app.

Without real kilometres, predictions stay estimates based on bike type and expected component life: they work, but far less well.

The frame tag#

At the top of the Components tab there's the Frame tag card. You can bind a QR/NFC tag to the bike: type the code or, on a phone, scan it with the camera.

What it's for: anyone who scans that code — the customer, or whoever finds the bike — lands straight on that bike's page in the customer portal, without logging in. A tag that isn't bound yet leads to the bike registration page instead.

Tags reach the workshop through CrankPal in batches: you can only bind a tag that is free or assigned to your workshop. If the code is already bound to another bike, or isn't yours, the app says so instead of overwriting it.

History, e-bikes and work orders#

The bike record gathers everything about that bike in separate tabs.

• Service history — the timeline of maintenance, replacements, repairs and inspections, each with date, kilometres, who did it, cost and a link to the work order. You can also log a job by hand with New job.
• Replacements — just the parts that were changed, with date, kilometres and cost.
• Work orders — the orders for that bike with status and total. See Work orders.
• Upcoming — future bookings already in the diary.
• E-bike — appears when the bike is registered as an e-bike: motor, firmware, battery serial and capacity, charge cycles, battery health and warranty expiry. If health drops below 70% or cycles go past 500, the card suggests offering a capacity test.

At the top the bike has an overall health ring and five figures: total kilometres, jobs, replacements, amount spent and components at risk.

Bike fitting#

The Bike fitting tab records the customer's position: session type (static, dynamic with video, professional), the goal, thirteen bike measurements — saddle height and setback, bar reach and drop, stem, spacers, bar width, crank length, cleat position and rotation — and six body measurements.

From the second session onwards, the history shows what changed since last time, measurement by measurement. Every session prints to PDF and the customer finds it in the app. You can also set a reminder for the next check.

If the customer turns up with a report from external fitting software, Import PDF tries to pull the measurements out and pre-fill the position; the PDF stays attached to the history either way. If it recognises nothing, it tells you and shows you the extracted text instead of inventing numbers.

Creating, editing or deleting a bike fitting requires the manage_fittings permission. Viewing them does not.

Common problems#