tempocyclist

It totally was.

I'm actually not even sure what Strava premium features I use over the free version. I should probably look into that.

retswerb

There are a couple that I'd like to have, but it already wasn't worth the price to me prior to the increase — and certainly isn't now. I'll stay free. The app works as an easy tracker and gets my data into veloviewer and wandrer.earth which are what I actually want to see.

msu2001la

I didn't know there was an option to do it monthly vs annual. I just checked (because I honestly had no idea which one I was on) and it looks like mine is annual.

pdlamb

Reminds me of kindergarten Econ, where the professor asked the class to bid on apples. Most of us bid 10-25 cents per apple (yes, that was a long time ago), but one guy bid $20 for an apple, which would have maximized the professor's profit.

So maybe the answer is to raise the price to $175 million per year, and make all their money off Mr. Musk's subscription until he loses a lawsuit and cancels his subscription, too.

Strava is making my decision easy. Last year I was looking at Strava and Ride with GPS costs and couldn't decide which one to cancel; so I dithered, and both of them auto-renewed. This year the decision will be easy. But, oh, darn, I'll lose both of my local legends. Boo. hoo.

msu2001la

For people suggesting they will leave Strava over the price increase, I'm curious which other product will you use instead and how much it costs?
If you get no value out of the Strava premium features or don't use them, why are you paying at any price rather than just using the free Strava version?

base2 

Strava doesn't show premium users anything new that the device or service that sync'd the data doesn't already show.

Golden Cheetah does all the personal fitness data-junkie stuff better.
Garmin Connect is comprehensive & has a passable route planner.
Ride With GPS has the route planner to beat.

What Strava really offered was a one dimensional user experience (kudos) for inane efforts based on the promise of FOMO of others epic rides, pictures.

The real question is: "What does Strava offer that is worth paying for?" Camaraderie? You can get a more meaningful version of that in real life from the people you rode with.

mstateglfr 

Strava shows me others who rode that day/year and how they did. It shows me people who I know or know of and routes they are riding. Its a social connection.
I have hooked onto a couple different groups for some fast group rides because I found out about the rides thru looking at others on Strava, seeing its a regular group ride, and contacting someone I kinda sorta know for details. I would have never otherwise known about those rides. I am actually looking forward to participating in them every now and then this spring and summer and plan to bring someone else to some of the group rides.

I havent ever felt FOMO from Strava.

Black wallnut 

Nice attempt to tangent off this thread. Fell free to spin off a new thread with that question.

I am not surprised at the reaction I have received here. Yes prices go up, sometimes they go down. Sometimes Strava makes changes to features so that there is less value after a change, for example any segments remotely close to down hill were gutted a couple years ago. Some "features" don't work correctly and in spite of users turning off the "feature" it continues... again a couple years ago with Local Legend notification.

I seem to also recall a price increase a couple years ago.

Not like it really matters I used to be an annual subscriber, for years. I adopted the platform rather early in my area. A couple of years ago I cancelled. Last summer they offered a free (re)trial. I decided at the end that it was adding enough to pay for it. For me it is a matter of principal. If their reasoning is to increase annual subscriptions I can understand their perspective. I don't support such ploys. If the savings are enough then I will go for the less costly option, but only if I mostly agree with their ethics.

To the folks that say "why would anyone buy monthly?" Do you buy a dozen eggs at a time? one pound of burger or other small quantity of protein or do you buy the whole critter? Do you buy a 12 ounce package of bacon or the whole slab? I am going to guess that most buy small quantities of most every thing rather than bulk in spite of the fact that buying in bulk will save you money.

Eric F 

I like Strava because of the social networking aspect of in conjunction with the fitness component. I've reconnected with friends that I used to ride with before my 15-year break from the bike, and have now ridden with again - a social media connection became a real- life connection. I enjoy seeing rides other people are taking that might give me an idea for where I might want to also ride. I enjoy seeing the rides of my friends who have moved away, and I no longer get to share real-life experiences with. I'm looking at doing a big gravel ride in April, and was able to find full route details from someone who did the ride last year, and now have a better idea of what to expect, and how to prepare. I agree that mapping and route planning is Strava isn't anything special, but I like the segments feature, and the ability to track my own progress, as well as compare to others. Maybe other platforms offer the same feature (I don't know). It's the combination of all these things that make it valuable to me.

If Strava isn't something you enjoy, or don't get any value from, fine. Don't use it. Your value judgements don't equal my value judgements.

LarrySellerz

The demographic that pays for strava premium probably won't mind the price increase as a group, or atleast thats strava's reasoning. I agree that its bs though, heck a Runescape membership is like 13$ a month now when it used to be 5$.

blacknbluebikes 

I have a lot of problems, and, glad to say, $4 a month is not one of them.

Eric F 

The difference is that my Stava subscription isn't perishable, and doesn't go rancid after sitting around for 12 months. I tend to buy things in the largest quantity that makes economical sense for the rate at which it gets used, as well as factors like storage space. Paying monthly - and costing me more than 2x as much - for a service that I use all year long, multiple times per week, just doesn't make much sense to me.

If you don't like how they do business, don't use the product. Your choice.

Black wallnut 

Your answer tells me you have reasons for how you shop. Is it that big of a leap to think that folks that pay monthly have reasons for so doing as well? Before the price increase monthly was not 2x as much! After the increase it still is not "more than 2x as much" your math skills are poor. Close but no water bottle.

msu2001la

Costco has built a successful business empire around this idea, so the answer to your question is "yes", lots of people buy groceries and other items in bulk to save money.
Strava isn't the same as a physical item that needs to be stockpiled though. It's more like a magazine or newspaper (or the online equivalent). Most media companies offer the option to buy smaller chunks at a time, for people who don't want an annual subscription and it typically costs a little more. Strava doesn't seem unique in this regard.

Eric F 

I didn't say anything about before or after the price increase. Using the "after" rate of $80/year = $6.66/mo. The "after" rate of $14.99/mo is more than 2x $6.66. There's no problem with my math.

If people have reasons to pay monthly, that's their choice. With it comes the decision to absorb the increase, if they want to continue to use the product. As for Strava, part of this is simple business - the product is worth what people will pay for it.

EDIT: I see that I was using the incorrect monthly rate. You are correct. The increase is not more than 2x the monthly rate when comparing to annual. It's 1.8 (msu2001la does the math below).

Koyote

That concept is price elasticity of demand, and it's taught in college level economics because it is key to understanding how firms can maximize revenue; and if the marginal cost (cost per additional user) is nearly zero (as it is for Strava), maximizing revenue is almost identical to maximizing profit. As long as the % of lost customers is smaller than the % price increase, they will do better financially. I'll bet that a company like Strava has done enough market research to predict, with a high level of certainty, that this will be the outcome.

I spent five years living in a small city with NO other cyclists, and so that virtual camaraderie was nice. I've also lived in three different states in the past twenty years, and Strava allows me to keep in contact with some old riding friends. Sure, there are other platforms for this -- but Strava is the one that my friends and I are all using.

msu2001la

Before the price increase:
$8/mo x 12 = $96/yr
Annual was $60.
Monthly was 1.6x as much as annual.

After the price increase:
$12/mo x 12 = $144 (50% increase)
Annual is $80 (30% increase)
Monthly is now 1.8x as much as annual.

The incentive for annual subscribers is higher, but not by that much.

Koyote

I just paid six bucks for a latte. I didn't even know how much I was paying for Strava until I read this thread -- and I still don't care how much it costs.

superdex

This.



That's simple math. Buy the annual.

msu2001la

Agree 100%. I mostly use Strava on a personal level to keep track of what my riding buddies are up to when we aren't riding together. Also it's fun to follow a few pros during big stage races to check out their data.
Strava motivates me and provides a sense of accountability.

I also use Strava for other purposes - I use the heat maps and Strava Metro as part of my professional work, which provides data on bike usage across different cities.

msu2001la

This is the first time Strava has increased rates since 2009.
Strava Apologizes for Its Recent Price Hike - Outside Online

pdlamb

I joined because of the heat map. I tried to post all my in-town rides with the hope of making the city planners aware that hey, people ride bikes in this city.

I went premium because my wife wanted to have some way to know about where I was on the bike, so the live tracker feature kept me in.

Of course RWGPS has a tracker now, plus better navigation tools and a broader base of rides. So I'm not giving much up to stop paying for Strava.

As always, YMMV.

genejockey 

One might use the same metaphor to ask whether you buy your eggs one at a time, vs by the dozen. Do you buy a pound of burger, or just enough to make one burger? Or a single slice of bacon versus the package? Are you concerned that the Strava premium you buy will go bad in the fridge if you don't use it up in a timely fashion?

The other thing worth noting is that when you buy in bulk a la Costco, you pay less per pound or item, so you should expect to pay more for items purchased in smaller quantities.

njkayaker

Valid question...

... fails to answer it (or provide any insight into why people would pay for Strava monthly).

msu2001la

When I was in college, I worked at a liquor store in a sketchy area.

We sold lots of single cigarettes and airplane size shooter liquor bottles to people, many of whom would come in multiple times a day to make those same purchases over and over. It would've been far cheaper to save up and buy a full pack of cigarettes and a pint of liquor, but they never wanted to commit to that level of saving/spending.

I wonder how many of those people went on to become Strava Monthly subscribers?