I don't know whether I like Strava or not

[pjd57]

Strava is a good time management guide.
Once you do a few runs in an area you know how long it will take to get from A to B and C,D,E .

Really good if you are cycling to work or between work calls, visits etc.

 

[Stef 1]

I like seeing where I’ve been, how fast etc after a ride, but Strava killed cycling for me for a couple of years. My lovely missus gave me a flashy cycle ‘puter a couple of years ago for my 40th... with ‘live’ segments.... all of a sudden that obsessive, compulsive thing got hold of me...not trying to beat anyone else’s segments... just my own times. For a while it was fun, until my own best times got to hard to beat.... felt like I was busting a gut each ride and by mid season I was no longer enjoying it. Two or three years in a row.

No live segments now. The cycle computer shows me a pretty map whilst I ride and strava waits till I can be bothered to log on at home..... which is still most days. At least I’m enjoying the riding again!

 

[fatjel]

I use it to look back where I’ve been , and is useful for seeing how far each bikes gone.
Oh and the distance and climbing challenges are fun.
Have never felt the need to go fast which is lucky cos I cannot.
Best way to get a KOM is to make a new segment.

 

[Racing roadkill]

It makes route plotting and sharing easy. A lot of it is pointless / a bit of fun, depending on your viewpoint. Some people take it far too seriously, regarding features like the eponymous KOM / QOM thing. With the advent of better E-bikes, these really are pointless exercises for the most part now. It’s like all these types of app based things, it’s different strokes for different folks, and if it gets irritating, no one is forcing anyone to use it ( a fact that is often overlooked) and you can always stop using it / delete it.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I do a lot of rides without recording them, whisper, dont tell anyone, or they will tell me I didn't do them.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Strava is a good time management guide.
Once you do a few runs in an area you know how long it will take to get from A to B and C,D,E ..

Whilst that's true, I can just as easily time a journey using the stopwatch feature on my phone, or even the really old-fashioned way by noting the time on my (analogue) watch at the start and finish of any given trip. Once you've timed a journey once, you know what the ball-park figure is, plus or minus a bit according to weather, wind, and rider enthusiasm. For the non-competitive commuter or leisure rider, a variation of minute here and there is of no importance anyway.

 

[Gravity Aided]

I use it and VeloViewer to log my rides, but I don't get into the competition aspects of Strava. Just need it to keep statistics.

 

[Jody]

Whilst that's true, I can just as easily time a journey using the stopwatch feature on my phone, or even the really old-fashioned way by noting the time on my (analogue) watch at the start and finish of any given trip.

You would rather use a stop watch and remember each place you ride in a given time (or log it in a spreadsheet). Just turn GPS on, press start and it does the rest for you every time you go on each particular route/segment and will show you your progress over the years. Its really good for the stats it can give you.

Personally I like Strava if you don't get caught up in the segment times. Yes it good to see how you compare but there are so many ways to cheat the system, so it has to be just for fun.

 

[Alan O]

You would rather use a stop watch and remember each place you ride in a given time (or log it in a spreadsheet). Just turn GPS on, press start and it does the rest for you every time you go on each particular route/segment and will show you your progress over the years. Its really good for the stats it can give you.

Personally I like Strava if you don't get caught up in the segment times. Yes it good to see how you compare but there are so many ways to cheat the system, so it has to be just for fun.

I've been cycling (on and off) for around 45 years, and I've never had any trouble remembering how long it takes to get to my common destinations. And now that I use (and really like) Strava, I still never need it for that purpose. For example, I'm heading out somewhere Sunday morning, and I just know it'll take me about 20 minutes to get there - I'll allow 30.

 

[NorthernDave]

I don't use Strava but I do use Garmin Connect and I agree with a lot of the sentiment already posted.
I've got a 25km loop from home and for a while I kept trying to do it in an hour (my usual moving average is normally 13.something mph) until one day I got home, absolutely on my chinstrap and with a time of 1h 4m. I'd spent pretty much the entire ride head down, getting het up at junctions waiting for a gap, not taking in any of my surroundings, not enjoying myself and all I'd achieved was being knackered and sense of disappointment for not beating the hour. I was becoming obsessed with times when in all honesty I was never going to be a KoM and was allowing that to spoil the joy.

Since then I've just used it to log rides, provide maps for "Your Ride Today" and the occasional quiet satisfaction of a PB. I'll still have the odd silly session over a segment, but that's a very minor point of being out for a ride now and I'm enjoying things much more.

 

[johnnyb47]

Once again thanks for all the great replies. After reading all the posts I'm now going to use Strava just to record my rides and not as a tool to try and compete against others. I will just have to make a conscious effort not to get "sucked into" trying to be competitive and turning a nice enjoyable ride into a hard slog. After all I'm no spring chicken anymore and think I should leave the racing to the younger guys/gals lol.
Once again thank you all for your highly valued advice and views :-) :-)

 

[bpsmith]

Where’s everyone’s willpower I would like to know?

Why can’t there be rides where you gun it and try and get the KOM and rides where you chill regardless?

Each has its place. Who wants the KOM anyway? There’s nowhere good to go from there.

The journey IS the destination.

 

[Mr Celine]

PS the Strava app on phones is way off what a real GPS device records...

One of my three KOMs is mainly a result of this phenomenon rather than my incredible speed and power.

 

[xzenonuk]

i use it and i do not even know what koms are, i just use it to see what my average speed was and keep track of mileage and routes, when i come back from a ride and get asked where did you go? i just hand my phone over with the strava data and map, instead of explaining every where i have been

some times i look at the map after a ride and think ahh i could of went that way etc

 

[Brandane]

A cycling buddy of mine has become a bit of a slave to Strava to the extent that he used to send me links to every ride he had done, including some sort of video replay showing the ride on a map. He would get annoyed that I didn't give kudos (as I find that sort of stuff a bit naff). Eventually I had to subtley tell him I was "NFI" and the links stopped.

I use a Garmin, but only download the results if a) I can be bothered, and b) It's a ride of some interest. I don't for example bother with my short daily commute. I still have good old fashioned CatsEye computers on each bike to record total mileage.
Oh, and all my Strava rides are private by default as I can't see why anyone else would be interested in my rides unless they have stalker tendencies. "Kudos" is to me as saying hello to fellow cyclists is to @ianrauk .