how accurate is strava

[ohnovino]

The problem is with the Strava phone app, not the hardware.

I use Locus on my smartphone to record GPX tracks that I can upload to Strava: it lets you turn the recording sensitivity up so you get very accurate data.

 

[Leodis]

Dont use phones for Strava! They play havok and show your route as all over the place. It really annoys me too when someone gets a KOM with one of these devices. It isnt accurate.
Calls have been made to strictly restrict Strava to proper GPS devices. It annoys everyone who uses one when they have to flag a segment for a stupid speed.

The Young Trafficdriod strikes again. So you are telling people not to have a little fun when riding because you are obsessed with KOMs

 

[J.Primus]

If the segment is less than 100m does Strava still figure out the speed by dividing 100m by the time?
Trying to figure out why there are so many people going over 60mph on small segments in the square mile!

 

[Matthew_T]

Why bother with Strava? Why not just bimble and enjoy the ride? You might even find that you have fewer conflicts with other road users...

That would never work. Dont you know me at all?

 

[Frood42]

That would never work. Dont you know me at all?

Getting flash backs of the bus thread

 

[400bhp]

If the segment is less than 100m does Strava still figure out the speed by dividing 100m by the time?
Trying to figure out why there are so many people going over 60mph on small segments in the square mile!

I would think so, yes

probably something like: time taken between 2 co-ordinates closest to each end of the segment x segment distance /distance between 2 co-ordinates.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

I find my Garmins mostly reliable. When atmospheric conditions cause the barometric altimeter to be less reliable, it's generally consistently too low or too high, making the overall metres climbed/descended roughly the same as on a good altimeter day. Although one or two times, one of my Garmins did inform me I'd just broken the sound barrier. I just accepted the compliment .

 

[Cubist]

There is a button in the Garmin connect activity page that enables the software to check and recalculate the elevation recorded against known mapping data. If you want real elevation accuracy upload to Garmin connect then export the file manually to strava.

 

[ziggys101]

There is a button in the Garmin connect activity page that enables the software to check and recalculate the elevation recorded against known mapping data. If you want real elevation accuracy upload to Garmin connect then export the file manually to strava.

+1 this is what I do

 

[Frood42]

There is a button in the Garmin connect activity page that enables the software to check and recalculate the elevation recorded against known mapping data. If you want real elevation accuracy upload to Garmin connect then export the file manually to strava.

I was reading on the Strava website that they do the elevation checking against mapping data, I always notice that sometimes it takes a little while for my elevation to appear on some of my rides, I assumed that was the cause of the delay (elevation check and calculation).

It appears to be for non-barometric altimeters, you have to manually request the correction otherwise.

https://strava.zendesk.com/entries/20424908-How-does-Strava-calculate-elevation-gain-
https://strava.zendesk.com/entries/20965883-elevation-correction-for-your-activity

 

[4F]

Dont use phones for Strava! They play havok and show your route as all over the place. It really annoys me too when someone gets a KOM with one of these devices. It isnt accurate.
Calls have been made to strictly restrict Strava to proper GPS devices. It annoys everyone who uses one when they have to flag a segment for a stupid speed.

Sorry but that is a load of old pony. I record Strava on my I phone and have a Holux GPS running acting as a bike computer. The only difference I see is that Strava on the I phone shows a higher top speed, yet distance, average speed etc is normally spot on between the 2 devices.

I would suggest that if you have lost a KOM then you need to pedal faster rather than looking for an excuse.

 

[mark i]

I find that strava appears to mostly be accurate. There was the one occasion when I averaged 43,894 mph for 10 minutes. The phone temporarily misplaced me at the equator (0,0) and then brought it back, strangely no-one has a segment from the west midlands to a point in the Atlantic ocean so it did not seem to affect anybody!

 

[gaz]

Sorry but that is a load of old pony. I record Strava on my I phone and have a Holux GPS running acting as a bike computer. The only difference I see is that Strava on the I phone shows a higher top speed, yet distance, average speed etc is normally spot on between the 2 devices.

I would suggest that if you have lost a KOM then you need to pedal faster rather than looking for an excuse.

Matthew is half right. The phones generally record data points every 5 or so seconds, this is because they aren't designed for using data recorders at speed, just to find your current location on a map when doing things like walking.

This generally effects strava segments that are less than 1km. As the way strava makes segments and then matches them means that the distance 1 rider completes may not be the same as another rider. And with a potential 4 - 5 second delay on a short segment, that makes a big difference. However on a longer segment it isn't such an issue.

 

[4F]

Any segments less than 1 km, as well as downhill segments imho should be struck off as they really are quite pointless

 

[gaz]

I find that strava appears to mostly be accurate. There was the one occasion when I averaged 43,894 mph for 10 minutes. The phone temporarily misplaced me at the equator (0,0) and then brought it back, strangely no-one has a segment from the west midlands to a point in the Atlantic ocean so it did not seem to affect anybody!

That happened because your android device lost signal and it defaults to 0,0.