Originally Posted by
DrIsotope
That's not how it works at all. Strava ignores any auto-pause setting other than on or off. It will default any uploaded file with auto-pause on to pause only at 0mph, and its threshold is very, very small. Any forward movement is registered as moving time, and can easily tack 3-4 minutes onto the course of an urban ride.
If you see people with a higher average speed, they've likely manually input their wheel diameter in as larger than it actually is, or routinely change wheels/tires, which makes speed readings (and therefore distance) fluctuate. Pre-speed sensor, my Garmin 520 would routinely read about 0.2mph low. I had to manually distance correct every activity on Strava. Without a speed sensor, you can't spoof your speed by using auto-pause. You have to rely on GPS errors/inaccuracy. Maybe ride under a lot of trees.
I don’t believe Strava ignores data that is uploaded to it. If that were the case everyone on the same ride would have the same average.
The auto pause feature at a determined speed is designed to give the rider a better idea of their rolling average, which can be much different than their actual average due to stops (stop signs, traffic lights) and traffic. You can see this phenomenon when you view analysis on Strava. The speed graph will show what your slowest speed is. If it’s set to freeze at 3-9 mph, everything below that number is not factored for overall average. It can make a big difference when everyone else using a Wahoo or Garmin (on zero threshold) pauses exactly one second after you hit 0 mph.