New Software Helps Mountain-Bike Enthusiasts with Repair and Maintenance

Tires gone flat? Brakes need tightening? Spare tire around the middle?

For mountain-bike enthusiasts, faculty at Rochester Institute of Technology helped create interactive CD-ROM software that directly helps with the first two repairs and, by getting you pedaling again, can improve your physique.

The software, Break It, Fix It, Ride It 1.0, assists bikers with repair and maintenance using breakthrough dual-format CD-ROM technology. RIT information technology faculty and a student worked with two Rochester firms—Break It, Fix It, Ride It Inc. and Anabasis Software—to develop interface design and software tools for the multimedia CD-ROM.

The software recently received a rating of 4.5 out of five from Macworld magazine, which praises it for its comprehensiveness, "friendly and highly intuitive" interface, ease of navigation ("a breeze"), tutorial and price. Describing it as a "toolkit in a CD," the magazine’s review says, "Break It, Fix It, Ride It . . . is one of the most practical and worthwhile investments for the mountain bike enthusiast"—even for those whose biking takes them no farther than an urban park.

The software, the first project for the companies, was unveiled at the International Bicycle Expo, Sept. 30–Oct. 3 in Las Vegas. A second version, for road bikes, is scheduled for release next April.

"We’re really happy with this first product and expect to involve RIT students in more projects," says Stephen Jacobs, RIT assistant professor of information technology.

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Note: Break It, Fix It, Ride It 1.0 is available for Macintosh and Windows computers. It retails for $29.95. For more information, visit www.bfr-it.com. To read the complete Macworld review, visit www.macworld.com/2001/11/reviews/breakfixride.html.