Strava Changes
#201
Arizona Dessert
Join Date: Jun 2004
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Strava should have a three strikes and you are out policy for cheaters. I find I often flag the same few characters that are obviously cheating.
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#202
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Queens, NY for now...
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Interestingly, most people aren't talking about the Strava story as an example of the dysfunctional start-up and venture capital economy that currently prevails.
Early days? Make your service free to build a customer base. Profitability doesn't matter, as VC money will keep you going and make you feel like kings of the world. Eventually, however, you do have to start making money (or stop hemorrhaging it), and that's where the problems start. Chief among them, copycat competitors that are still in the early stages and can beat you on price because they aren't worried about profitability yet and have different VC money behind them. And so the cycle repeats, on and on and on...
If you are lucky, you become a big name and get some blown up valuation before things fall apart (see WeWork). If not, you just fade into obscurity (see Friendster).
Well, if they clearly communicated the alternative (watch ads or pay, your choice), that might have been different. And while they might not have had ads, there was still some nonsense like messages promoting premium or some new feature, that were basically like ads anyway (just a block of space to ignore).
Also, not all ads are created equal, at least in my eyes. I honestly don't mind ads from Campagnolo, Sidi, Fizik, Daccordi, or any bike related product. Sometimes it's actually nice to see an ad showing you a new product.
It's not at all worth the time and effort considering how many there are here. The obvious ones with ridiculous speeds are easy, but then there are the e-bike people that are harder to suss out without taking a closer look at their ride. Some of them actually put "e-bike" or something similar int the title (one guy actually included the number of the bus route he was taking, although I still have no idea why you would record a bus ride on Strava), but it's simply not worth the time or the effort.
Early days? Make your service free to build a customer base. Profitability doesn't matter, as VC money will keep you going and make you feel like kings of the world. Eventually, however, you do have to start making money (or stop hemorrhaging it), and that's where the problems start. Chief among them, copycat competitors that are still in the early stages and can beat you on price because they aren't worried about profitability yet and have different VC money behind them. And so the cycle repeats, on and on and on...
If you are lucky, you become a big name and get some blown up valuation before things fall apart (see WeWork). If not, you just fade into obscurity (see Friendster).
The Strava guys addressed that in their statement, I think. They said that they've tried ads in the feed and product promotions, and got pushback from users each time. You have to give tehm credit for maintaining such an ad-free social media platform in this day and age; compared to my Bookface or instagram feeds the lack of people trying to sell me stuff is quite refreshing on Strava.
Also, not all ads are created equal, at least in my eyes. I honestly don't mind ads from Campagnolo, Sidi, Fizik, Daccordi, or any bike related product. Sometimes it's actually nice to see an ad showing you a new product.
It's not at all worth the time and effort considering how many there are here. The obvious ones with ridiculous speeds are easy, but then there are the e-bike people that are harder to suss out without taking a closer look at their ride. Some of them actually put "e-bike" or something similar int the title (one guy actually included the number of the bus route he was taking, although I still have no idea why you would record a bus ride on Strava), but it's simply not worth the time or the effort.
#203
Old Legs
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Mass.
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I,ve been using GC, since buying my first Garmin Unit. GC sends my ride info to Strava anyway, so ok, but not paying. KB.
#204
Full Member
There is no Segment on this Route
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#206
Newbie
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#207
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: TC, MN
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Why don't we just stick to how the cheap-asses are pissed that they took away detailed Segment information, mmmm kay?
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#208
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Palm Desert, CA
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I’ve been a paying member of Strava for quite a few years. I like the simplicity, the kudos, etc. cycling for me is about the only social endeavor I have. The family does not enjoy going out or seeing others so my group rides (now that we have started again), and solo rides these last few months were fun to have Strava and stay engaged.
ive used other apps. All well and good but my preference is Strava. One of the best features for me albeit not worth the annual fee is that when I travel I search for routes where I’m going and load them onto the Garmin for turn by turn. When I was in rural VA never traveling, mapping didn’t matter one iota but now it’s been really handy.
when in LA area last year training every other week I’d bring my bike with me and found a different route every day right out of my hotel. Awesome!
ive used other apps. All well and good but my preference is Strava. One of the best features for me albeit not worth the annual fee is that when I travel I search for routes where I’m going and load them onto the Garmin for turn by turn. When I was in rural VA never traveling, mapping didn’t matter one iota but now it’s been really handy.
when in LA area last year training every other week I’d bring my bike with me and found a different route every day right out of my hotel. Awesome!
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#209
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Hudson Valley, NY
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Off-Topic Discussion
Ladies and gentlemen, I understand the desire of many of you to speak out at this time when pressing issues are confronting all of us. But we must keep in mind that this is a cycling forum, and although on many occasions we might feel the urge to stray toward discussing social issues or even what we had for dinner last night, you must resist the urge and rein it in. Just because Strava decided to make a statement on current social events does not mean that topic qualifies for discussion here. Please keep the discussions strictly on cycling content, that’s what we all come here for and that’s the way management intends it to be. Thank you for your cooperation.
I’m going to make an effort to remove the off-topic posts and allow the thread to remain open. However if the discussion drifts off-topic again we will have no choice but to close it for good.
I’m going to make an effort to remove the off-topic posts and allow the thread to remain open. However if the discussion drifts off-topic again we will have no choice but to close it for good.
__________________
See, this is why we can't have nice things. - - smarkinson
Where else but the internet can a bunch of cyclists go and be the tough guy? - - jdon
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#210
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Memphis 10
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Or become acquired by some other profitable company where your niche becomes a feature and not a stand alone product.
Interestingly, most people aren't talking about the Strava story as an example of the dysfunctional start-up and venture capital economy that currently prevails.
Early days? Make your service free to build a customer base. Profitability doesn't matter, as VC money will keep you going and make you feel like kings of the world. Eventually, however, you do have to start making money (or stop hemorrhaging it), and that's where the problems start. Chief among them, copycat competitors that are still in the early stages and can beat you on price because they aren't worried about profitability yet and have different VC money behind them. And so the cycle repeats, on and on and on...
If you are lucky, you become a big name and get some blown up valuation before things fall apart (see WeWork). If not, you just fade into obscurity (see Friendster).
Well, if they clearly communicated the alternative (watch ads or pay, your choice), that might have been different. And while they might not have had ads, there was still some nonsense like messages promoting premium or some new feature, that were basically like ads anyway (just a block of space to ignore).
Also, not all ads are created equal, at least in my eyes. I honestly don't mind ads from Campagnolo, Sidi, Fizik, Daccordi, or any bike related product. Sometimes it's actually nice to see an ad showing you a new product.
It's not at all worth the time and effort considering how many there are here. The obvious ones with ridiculous speeds are easy, but then there are the e-bike people that are harder to suss out without taking a closer look at their ride. Some of them actually put "e-bike" or something similar int the title (one guy actually included the number of the bus route he was taking, although I still have no idea why you would record a bus ride on Strava), but it's simply not worth the time or the effort.
Early days? Make your service free to build a customer base. Profitability doesn't matter, as VC money will keep you going and make you feel like kings of the world. Eventually, however, you do have to start making money (or stop hemorrhaging it), and that's where the problems start. Chief among them, copycat competitors that are still in the early stages and can beat you on price because they aren't worried about profitability yet and have different VC money behind them. And so the cycle repeats, on and on and on...
If you are lucky, you become a big name and get some blown up valuation before things fall apart (see WeWork). If not, you just fade into obscurity (see Friendster).
Well, if they clearly communicated the alternative (watch ads or pay, your choice), that might have been different. And while they might not have had ads, there was still some nonsense like messages promoting premium or some new feature, that were basically like ads anyway (just a block of space to ignore).
Also, not all ads are created equal, at least in my eyes. I honestly don't mind ads from Campagnolo, Sidi, Fizik, Daccordi, or any bike related product. Sometimes it's actually nice to see an ad showing you a new product.
It's not at all worth the time and effort considering how many there are here. The obvious ones with ridiculous speeds are easy, but then there are the e-bike people that are harder to suss out without taking a closer look at their ride. Some of them actually put "e-bike" or something similar int the title (one guy actually included the number of the bus route he was taking, although I still have no idea why you would record a bus ride on Strava), but it's simply not worth the time or the effort.
#211
Senior Member
I didn't read all of that. I did just decide to pay for another year of Strava without even really digging in to what all the premium subscription offers. I enjoy using it. If they aren't selling my data then they deserve it even more imo. I've never really personally had any issues with how it functions. Frankly, it has more functionality that I might ever use, but I'm pleased that there are options available.
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