Bah Humbug

It can also be used with a GPS watch. That's how I use it, in fact.

seypat

Me.

igosolo

What is Strava??

Seriously though, I have used it to find some really cool rides, but don't use it myself. I don't really have any friends who ride. I use Garmin Connect or whatever they are calling it now. That and my Excel spreadsheet that tracks just about everything. Much easier to sort and find stuff in Excel and also track maintenance and problems.

caloso

Same here.

Most racers are probably using Training Peaks, WKO, or Golden Cheetah for actual training data. (And no one cares about average speed.)

on the path

I used to keep track of my rides with a notebook, i.e. pen and paper. Strava makes all that easier and gives me more data to analyze. And I do like the social aspect of it. I can see where my friends are riding, and also interact with them online.

Strava is the only social media that I spend any significant time on, and I'm hardly obsessed with it. If you don't like social media I get it. If you don't like it for any reason don't do it.

Ald1 

Yes, me.

kbarch

I find it useful and amusing, and although there are some features and aspects that I do not care for, I figure it's up to me to make the best of it if I'm interested in the tracking that it offers and that power VeloViewer, which I really, really like. That's the main reason I wouldn't want to ditch it. As far as alternatives go, I figure: not worth the bother, and if they don't have Strava's flaws and annoyances, they have their own.

Zuzus pedals

I've been a slave to average recorded speed as well (not overall average speed - I couldn't possibly care any less about that). I hate recording anything that's slower than 21+ mph average and almost never record stuff that's slower than 20 mph average (unless it involves getting way up the leaderboard on a climb that's guaranteed to bog down the average speed). I get around it by only turning on the watch for the faster portion of the ride. That way I can pooter around for over an hour, do a few pickups to warm up more, then ride at tempo effort or harder for a bit and noodle back home, still getting the satisfaction of keeping the average recorded speed where I want it. Most of my rides actually average about 14-16 mph because I go incredibly slow for a long time before I'm ready to do a focused effort. Some days I never get above 15 mph if it's not down a slope and I don't even bring the watch with me at all. So I only end up recording about 1/6 of what I actually ride. One day I did 74 miles and only recorded a little over 5 of it (just to PR a 2.3-mile segment). But it's no big deal to ride that much without recording it. Strava for me is exclusively about faster riding such as segments and hard tempo, not about racking up miles, elevation gain or "tracking trends."

I still have the problem of jonesing to go hard on something too many days in a row when I know I'm going to be able to have big tailwinds for segments. Using monster tailwinds is one of the drawbacks of Cat 6.

DiabloScott

I do exactly the same rides every week. Strava is really handy for keeping track of times and totals.
If I wanted to, I could go completely anti-social, not see any of my friends' times, and not get any kudos.
I don't see any reason to ditch it.

a1penguin

https://swinny.net/Strava/ . What's *your* Eddington number (imperial)?

DrIsotope

65

kbarch

57
Climbing number is 436. Hour record is 24 Only have one KOM, and I'm the only one who's ever attempted it.

canklecat

Strava is just a useful tool for me to gauge my fitness relative to myself. I'm motivated by some local cyclists at similar ability levels but it's not particularly competitive. Just enough to get me off the sofa and on the saddle.

And a handy social networking app to keep up with local friends. There are lots of group rides at various levels here so it's handy to see what other folks are up to.

Caliper

How is that? Strava is why I've gotten rid of everything but a light (when needed) on my handlebars. Just hit record and throw the phone in a jersey pocket. It doesn't come out until I stop and hit finish.

Strava has brought a joy back to cycling for me. No more speedo on the handlebars always taunting me with average speed or cadence or anything like that. I just ride, enjoy the trip and then later see how I compare to the same segment from last ride or last year. it's great.

NameTaken

I've only been cycling since last year so I enjoy using it to track my progress. I'm not that interested in competing with others and I don't even have any friends on there but it is a nice feeling watching my times slowly catch up to the top riders in my area. When I bought my bike I was added to the LBS group so I do get invitations to group rides that way which is nice even if I don't join.

noodle soup

72

Campag4life

Me. Many I ride with are on there. I have no idea why other than to clutter their lives. I can keep up with them...lol.
Strava is the Facebook of cycling.

DomaneS5

None of my friends ride bikes, so Strava is not necessary. I'm not interested in Strava and most likely never will be.

Campag4life

I am curious what kind of group rides you go on without a speedometer on your bike? How do you know you are pulling at a constant speed when at the front of the paceline?

noodle soup

I did this a few times after my primary road bike(and Garmin) was stolen. It wasn't difficult

Campag4life

Sorry, no way. You may think you are pulling to a specific speed but you aren't....lol.
Pulling without a speedometer on your bike is disrespecting your riding friends if you take pulls at the front. Also, many groups have speed limits in different areas of the ride. For example they may have a 25mph cap on pulling because more than that would drop members of the group. Without a speedometer you have no idea what speed you are riding.

NameTaken

I do have a bike computer that I glance at while I am riding. I leave my phone in my jersey unless I stop somewhere to take a picture or get a phone call from work or the kids which is rare. That said, I have yet to actually go on one of those group rides. Honestly, the people at the shop seem very nice and understanding of newbs but being on this forum has made me almost not want to go on a group ride unless it's with people I know outside of cycling. Sorry to say it, and this is in no way directed at anyone in particular, but a lot of you people seem like overly sensitive, judgmental ******** and I'm not the type that is going to just let a person I barely know go off on me because I didn't lead the pack properly. I don't want to be angry, I don't like me when I'm angry.

noodle soup

Some people are better than you.

AZ is very flat, and if you hold the same cadence/gear, your speed doesn't drop. The first few times I had to ask if we were holding speed, but the guy behind me assured me that we were steady. The Saturday ride is the same 5-6 guys every week, and you get to know each other pretty well.

luddite_68

I agree. I use both. I use TraininPeaks to track my progress and I use Strava to be amazed by how much time everyone else has to cycle.

BillyD

Easy guys, easy . . . . no need to get into a tiff.