Cyclists & Strava

BigLicks67

I know there are a lot of cyclists on this forum, so can someone skool me on Strava. Is it free, what equipment do you need and subjective I know, how useful do you find it? 

Bron_Yr_Aur

It's free, and you can start just by using your phone if you don't have a garmin/wahoo gps thingy. I like it as I find it motivating and it's quite nice to save pics of your rides etc.

DougCoda

You can download Strava onto your phone for free and go from there or use a smart watch or cycle computer. With a phone it'll generally be stuck in your pocket so you'll only be able to see your data when you stop unless you get a phone mount for your bike but they always look a bit dodgy to me..

It's a great tool, lots of data, PB's Cups, KOMs etc are all good motivational tools and I've met quite a few local riders through it so it's good on the social side too.

stickyfiddle

My boss loves it. He has a Garmin watch but AFAIK you just need anything with GPS - phone, watch etc

BigLicks67

I've got an old VDO wireless computer on the bike so in the first instance I'd probably use it with an Android phone and stick it in the jersey pocket as per @DougCoda.

ESBlonde

Also something called Endemondo, I've used it on android phones. Free (Odd pop up adv when you open it). Keeps reasonable records, you can view your account on a PC. It's motivational and you can add music while you walk/run/cycle as well as add pics etc. I'm sure there are other options out there.

joneve

Yep, just need a phone to download it to if you don't have a garmin or similar to sync it to. It's the best of all the fitness/trackign apps I've found. as a premium option if you so wish, but the free one is perfect. 

littlegreenman

As above, I love it. Just whack it on your phone and off you go. Only downside I'd say is that the estimated power is totally inaccurate, but you only need power data if you're doing serious training and actually race.

The monthly challenges can be a good motivation to get out there too.

PhilW1

I started cycling a 7mile commute work to get healthy,de-stress and get out of the Birmingham rush hour traffic.This was great until someone recommended  Strava .This turned a nice relaxing ride into a constant battle to beat my pb’s and get the best section times and became just as bad as driving, so I ditched it and now just enjoy the ride.....
except when it’s freeziing cold and pissing down!
I don’t think Strava’s any good for commuting but for serious road training I imagine it’s ideal.

stimpsonslostson

PhilW1 said:

I started cycling a 7mile commute work to get healthy,de-stress and get out of the Birmingham rush hour traffic.This was great until someone recommended  Strava .This turned a nice relaxing ride into a constant battle to beat my pb’s and get the best section times and became just as bad as driving, so I ditched it and now just enjoy the ride.....
except when it’s freeziing cold and pissing down!
I don’t think Strava’s any good for commuting but for serious road training I imagine it’s ideal.

Wisdom awarded. I ditched my run tracker app and NIke Watch for the same reason- I exercise to relax. I commute by bike to avoid the frustration of traffic and driving. I don’t want anything that adds ANY stress/competition to these times. 

BigLicks67

stimpsonslostson said:

PhilW1 said:

I started cycling a 7mile commute work to get healthy,de-stress and get out of the Birmingham rush hour traffic.This was great until someone recommended  Strava .This turned a nice relaxing ride into a constant battle to beat my pb’s and get the best section times and became just as bad as driving, so I ditched it and now just enjoy the ride.....
except when it’s freeziing cold and pissing down!
I don’t think Strava’s any good for commuting but for serious road training I imagine it’s ideal.

Wisdom awarded. I ditched my run tracker app and NIke Watch for the same reason- I exercise to relax. I commute by bike to avoid the frustration of traffic and driving. I don’t want anything that adds ANY stress/competition to these times. 

I cycle to work also, but TBH I probably wouldn't use Strava for that. I was more just looking at mapping my weekend rides in the new year.

ewal

Strava has it's uses but there's plenty of alternatives if you are only want to track your own rides/ performance. Where Strava comes in to its own are the social aspects - people you know giving you kudos and what not, compare performance on segments etc. That, as with all social media, is a bit of a double-edged sword.

I actually think I preferred the days when I used the likes of Sport Tracks and Garmin Training Center. But then I'm a grumpy old lone wolf cyclist with nae mates.

BigMonka

I’m a big Strava fan, been using it to track all my rides for about 6years now - its great to watch your total miles figure increase.
I get what people are saying about makin the commute more stressful, but the flip side is that it’s great how you can make every ride count as a training session, but then I’m lucking that my commute is 7miles on country lanes before I get to the gridlock traffic.

joneve

BigMonka said:

I’m a big Strava fan, been using it to track all my rides for about 6years now - its great to watch your total miles figure increase.
I get what people are saying about makin the commute more stressful, but the flip side is that it’s great how you can make every ride count as a training session, but then I’m lucking that my commute is 7miles on country lanes before I get to the gridlock traffic.

all of this. Helps motivate me for training too, which is handy when you've got specific event(s) you're training for. 

You can also add the kit you use, so you know how many miles you're doing with specific trainers/bike.

I'm coming up to 400 miles in my current running shoes, so know I'll need to replace them in the next couple of months. 

BigMonka

joneve said:

BigMonka said:

I’m a big Strava fan, been using it to track all my rides for about 6years now - its great to watch your total miles figure increase.
I get what people are saying about makin the commute more stressful, but the flip side is that it’s great how you can make every ride count as a training session, but then I’m lucking that my commute is 7miles on country lanes before I get to the gridlock traffic.

all of this. Helps motivate me for training too, which is handy when you've got specific event(s) you're training for. 

You can also add the kit you use, so you know how many miles you're doing with specific trainers/bike.

I'm coming up to 400 miles in my current running shoes, so know I'll need to replace them in the next couple of months. 

Yeah, that's a nice feature too. I have a label set up for when I'm out cycling with my daughter (on her own bike) - she's just turned 8 and has done 184.8miles with me this year 

BigLicks67

Anyone used Strava as well as an existing bike computer as my distance measure seems to be 1 km out on my commute yesterday, between the 2 devices.

axisus

I tried Strava, and various other trackers. For me the best of the bunch is Runkeeper, which I use for running, cycling and walking. 

BigMonka

BigLicks67 said:

Anyone used Strava as well as an existing bike computer as my distance measure seems to be 1 km out on my commute yesterday, between the 2 devices.

What type of bike computer is it? If it's one that's based on wheel revolutions then the GPS of strava is likely to be more accurate as the circumference of the wheel needs to be very accurate on a bike computer to be useful. Changes in tyre and even tyre pressure will change the accuracy, whereas GPS is what it is...
Having said that have a check of the Strava route and make sure that it's a nice clean and smooth line. On my old android phone it would occassionally put in a spurious GPS reading somewhere in the middle of the North Sea and so say that I'd done 1000miles in a second! I've also found that which pocket I put my phone in can vary the GPS consistency and then it ends up with a very jagged route on the map that looks like I've been zig-zagging across the road.

littlegreenman

BigLicks67 said:

Anyone used Strava as well as an existing bike computer as my distance measure seems to be 1 km out on my commute yesterday, between the 2 devices.

Strava often uses GPS waypoints, which is why there's the option of manually correcting your data. It's in the FAQ's.

BigLicks67

BigMonka said:

BigLicks67 said:

Anyone used Strava as well as an existing bike computer as my distance measure seems to be 1 km out on my commute yesterday, between the 2 devices.

What type of bike computer is it? If it's one that's based on wheel revolutions then the GPS of strava is likely to be more accurate as the circumference of the wheel needs to be very accurate on a bike computer to be useful. Changes in tyre and even tyre pressure will change the accuracy, whereas GPS is what it is...
Having said that have a check of the Strava route and make sure that it's a nice clean and smooth line. On my old android phone it would occassionally put in a spurious GPS reading somewhere in the middle of the North Sea and so say that I'd done 1000miles in a second! I've also found that which pocket I put my phone in can vary the GPS consistency and then it ends up with a very jagged route on the map that looks like I've been zig-zagging across the road.

On this occasion it was a Sigma wired computer and distance on it was the further one. The route looks pretty smooth on Strava so I suppose I should take that as the more accurate of the two. Obviously, in the past I had no way of checking how accurate the Sigma was.

thermionic

You could have calibrated the Sigma reasonably accurately by measuring the circumference - mark on the ground and the tyre, ride forward for one wheel revolution and measure the distance. Take an average of maybe 5 or even 10 such measurements. Using this, you'll get a much more accurate measurement of the distance travelled than what Strava thinks is the sum of many distances between estimated points.