ThirdWheel, a Must Have App for Bikers in Nepal

Have you ever been stuck in the middle of the traffic and your starter doesn’t work? Does your bike need servicing but you feel too lazy to go to the showroom? Is it time for you to change your engine oil? These problems are a giant pain in the a**. I mean who has time for anything when you are binging Friends? But now, you can fix all these problems with an app on your smartphone. This amazing app is called ThirdWheel. Currently, their service is available only inside Kathmandu, Lalitpur, and Bhaktapur.

The Layout

The UI of ThridWheel is super-intuitive to use. There are no overly large and confusing icons. The theme they have used is a mixture of Dark Blue and White. Other than that there’s not much to talk about the design. The Top 3rd of the app is reserved for a slideshow of ThirdWheel’s various services like their accessories stores and the features of the app. The bottom two-thirds is designated for four different options: Request Servicing, Emergency Breakdown, Subscription packages, and Bike Accessories.

At the top right of the app, there are two buttons – a call button for you to call the folks at ThirdWheel and a settings button where you can log out of the app, see notifications, change your password etc. The top left has a hamburger button where you can see your profile, the bookings you made, the packages you have subscribed to, and the bikes you have registered.

The Services

The services available in the app depend upon the bike. We registered an Aprilia and only 7 different services inside the ‘request servicing’ button were available to us. For a Honda CBR-250, we had 62. That is not a typo. As you probably already guessed, the price for regular servicing for these two different two-wheelers was different.

The common services available to all the vehicles are ‘regular servicing’, ‘Helmet Cleaning’, ‘Mobil oil change’, ‘Blue Book Renew’ and the likes. For bikes like Honda CBR 250, options to fix the nitty-gritty problems like ‘speedometer cable replacement’, or ‘tappet adjustment’ is available.

12 different problems like ‘Unable to start’, ‘Clutch Wire Problem’, ‘Run out of Petrol’ are included in the emergency breakdown section which I think will be the most helpful in, you know, emergency situations.

Thoughts

I am not a biker. So, I am not in the best position to comment on the price of the services that ThirdWheel provides. But what I can say is that their ‘pick and drop’ service surely makes the tech enthusiast in me happy. I mean how cool will this scenario be: You take your bike to your office. You tick the services you want and ThirdWheel comes and picks your bike up, fixes it, drops it at your office at the same spot that they took it from and you didn’t have to break a sweat. You didn’t have to take a leave. You didn’t have to wait in a line. You didn’t have to do a single thing, except pay. It’s like a normal day at your office.

ThirdWheel is the type of startup that Nepal needs. It is an excellent example of the use of technology to solve a local problem. It’s like online shopping for bike services. The costs are up front. There are no hidden charges. And you don’t have to deal with people. If you have been frustrated with the servicing showrooms around your house, you should give ThirdWheel a chance. Also, take a look at their facebook page where they post cool articles on bike life.

Get the app on App Store for iOS and Play Store for Android.