Share your profile and bikes

Sharing on WatchMy.bike has two layers. First you publish a public
profile at watchmy.bike/p/<your-username>. Then you choose which
of your bikes are visible on it, and which (if any) you want to share
under their own URLs at watchmy.bike/b/<bike-id>.

Nothing is public by default — every step is opt-in.

1. Publish your public profile

Open Settings → Public Profile.

1. Pick a username. This becomes your public URL: e.g.
   watchmy.bike/p/marien. Usernames are lowercase and unique;
   the form will tell you if one is taken.
2. Configure the privacy toggles below (all default to off):
   • Show real name — display the name from your profile
     instead of just the username.
   • Show location — display the city/country from your
     profile.
   • Show costs — show purchase prices and total build costs
     on your bike pages. Off keeps prices private even on
     published bikes.
3. Click Publish Profile. Your URL is live immediately.

Once published, the same page lets you Update & Republish after
toggling settings, or Unpublish to take everything offline. The
URL stops working as soon as you unpublish — anyone with the link
gets a 404.

Username cooldown

You can change your username, but there's a cooldown afterwards
(shown on the form). This prevents people from cycling through
URLs and squatting names. If your username is mid-cooldown, the
field is read-only and the unlock date is shown.

2. Share individual bikes

Each bike is published separately. Open the bike detail page and
go to the Sharing tab.

You'll see two cards:

• Your public profile — confirms whether your profile is
  published. If not, it links you back to Settings; you can't
  share a bike without a profile to host it on.
• Public sharing — the per-bike controls.

Click Publish on the public-sharing card to create the bike's
public page at watchmy.bike/b/<bike-id>. The card then shows:

• The full public URL with copy/share buttons.
• A Preview button that opens the public page in a new tab.
• A List in directory toggle (see below).
• An Unpublish button to retract the bike at any time.

You can publish as many bikes as your plan allows. Unpublished
bikes never appear anywhere public — neither on your profile nor
in the directory.

List in directory (optional)

Once a bike is published, the List in directory toggle adds it
to the public bike directory at watchmy.bike/bikes (browse-able
by all visitors). Off means the bike is reachable only by people
who have the direct URL or visit your profile.

Use this when:

• You want strangers to discover your build.
• You're showcasing a notable component setup.

Leave it off when:

• You only want to share with friends via the link.
• You don't want the bike showing up on a list of all bikes.

What gets shown publicly

A published bike shows: name, make/model/type, photos, components
with their installation dates and (current or lifetime) distance,
links, and notes. Costs only appear if Show costs is on at the
profile level. Components flagged as retired or set as
hidden-from-profile stay private.

3. Customise the look (Alloy / Carbon)

Below the privacy toggles in Settings → Public Profile you'll
find the Public page theme picker. The default is a clean
light theme that everyone gets free. Custom themes are an Alloy /
Carbon feature — pick one and your /p/... and /b/... pages
inherit those colours.

You can preview the same themes in Settings → Themes even on
the free Steel plan, but they only apply to your private interface
there. Sharing the theming on public pages requires the upgrade.

Carbon adds custom branding on top of theme selection. See
Subscription plans.

Quick reference

Privacy summary

• Sharing is fully opt-in at every layer (profile, bike,
  directory, theme).
• You can unpublish at any time. URLs stop resolving immediately.
• Costs and personal details (real name, location) are gated by
  separate toggles — you can publish a bike list without ever
  exposing them.
• Components marked as retired or hidden-from-profile never appear
  on public pages even if the bike is published.

If you change your mind later, none of this is destructive — your
data and history stay intact whether the page is live or not.