Strava
beatpig
Posts: 97 Member
Anyone here use Strava? Any good? I've used it a couple of times - first two times has been fantastic, but this morning recorded that I'd only done 0.5miles!
Should I continue?
Thoughts?
Should I continue?
Thoughts?
0
Replies
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I'm pretty competitive and live in an area with a lot of other racers, so I use it to keep motivated.
There is an MFP group on there: http://app.strava.com/clubs/gs-myfitnesspal
If you're using a phone app, they tend to be less reliable than the dedicated GPS units out there. One guy in our group probably loses one ride a week because his phone messed up the ride data.0 -
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Love it. I record my data via my Garmin Forerunner 310xt and Garmin Connect and then export to Strava (and Endomondo).
http://app.strava.com/athletes/1698530 -
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Every now and then it craps out on me (using an Android phone) but I love it. While I'll never earn any KOMs (we have some seriously fast folks up here) it at least motivates me to make/track personal gains. Love to see the progress over time. I've used MapmyRide, Endomondo, Sportstracker and still like Strava the best, fav app & web.
http://app.strava.com/athletes/5967510 -
I run Strava & a Polar CS200 (historical product & entry level at its best) side by side. Strava data is not really accurate, I think - the max speed is always wrong (too high) - total distance is in the acceptable ballpark figure. I still use it because of fast upload & it is more interesting to see the route on screen so until I have a dedicated bike GPS I will keep using it.0
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Oh - and it's DEFINITELY at it's best with a proper GPS rather than the various smartphone APPS...0
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I just have a samsung galaxy s2, and cannot really afford a proper GPS, and tonight on the way home it seemed to work ok. I think I will keep using it. You all have new follows from me! Christopher! Cheers btw, seems like worth sticking with until I get a gps!0
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I just have a samsung galaxy s2, and cannot really afford a proper GPS, and tonight on the way home it seemed to work ok. I think I will keep using it. You all have new follows from me! Christopher! Cheers btw, seems like worth sticking with until I get a gps!
I use Cyclemeter on my iPhone and export the .tcx file and upload that to Strava, rather than using the Starva app!0 -
I used to use cyclemeter because it would email my wife so she could track me on longer rides (for safety reasons), however I started using strava a couple of months ago, and like its features much better. However as several people have already noted, I use my Iphone and its GPS tends to miss segments, so I am now looking for a good GPS device.0
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I have the Strava app: http://www.strava.com/athletes/lou_q
I got it earlier this month and i think it works great on my LG Optimus V from Virgin mobile. The GPS works perfectly and I haven't had any data errors. The app has force closed a few times but I use the website to make any changes that the app can't handle. I like seeing the timer, distance and average speed in real time. I barely started cycling so on my mountain bike so I am no where near the speed of the road bikers but hope to pick up my speed as time goes by.0 -
The errors you saw were likely from your tracking device and not from the strava app. Super competitive people LOVE strava - and I am one of them! http://app.strava.com/athletes/1265220
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The errors you saw were likely from your tracking device and not from the strava app. Super competitive people LOVE strava - and I am one of them! http://app.strava.com/athletes/126522
Wow, that ride on the 24th is impressive!!!0 -
I swore, given the bad press, that I wouldn't use Strava and be one of those Stravassholes, but for some reason I did end up loading a ride once just to see and I love it. I have a Garmin so I don't have any issues loading. I don't think I'm super competitive but I like seeing that I improve!0
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I swore, given the bad press, that I wouldn't use Strava and be one of those Stravassholes, but for some reason I did end up loading a ride once just to see and I love it.
Strava's had bad press? Why?0 -
Strava's had bad press? Why?
Partly down to that TOOL that offed himself on a downhill run whilst chasing a record time I guess... Though having looked at one or two "serious racer types" accounts, some of the "banter" does have a tinge of the worst kind of macho cobblers that used to annoy me back when I used to race myself...
http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/06/news/family-sues-strava-over-descending-death_224889
I remember back in summer last year, there was a mandatory "updated terms of service" that gave them a loophole to avoid further cases...0 -
Strava's had bad press? Why?
Partly down to that TOOL that offed himself on a downhill run whilst chasing a record time I guess... Though having looked at one or two "serious racer types" accounts, some of the "banter" does have a tinge of the worst kind of macho cobblers that used to annoy me back when I used to race myself...
http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/06/news/family-sues-strava-over-descending-death_224889
I remember back in summer last year, there was a mandatory "updated terms of service" that gave them a loophole to avoid further cases...
Oh that?
Well, you can't legislate for 'idiots'. If some fool wants to blaze down a hill & they come off, that is surely down to them and not a website? Darwinism at work?
BTW, on that note I've just opened a website called www.GiveCloggsyAllYourMoney.co.uk - you can transfer cash by PayPal, bank transfer etc...0 -
I agree - it's just modern day natural selection at work, but hey - Strava's owned/run by Septic's isn't it ? it's just par for the course in the worlds most litigious country I suppose :shrug:0
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The Flint family should be ashamed of themselves. The deceased was traveling above the speed limit and being foolish when he died.
STRAVA is a service that is world-wide, and the family's attorney is quoted as saying:
[The family takes issue with this lack of accountability. “They assume no responsibility,” Kang said. “They don’t put cones out. They don’t have anybody monitor and see whether a course, or a specific segment, is dangerous.” ]
Hello?! The Flint family expects STRAVA to put out cones and monitor all the courses that individuals log world-wide?!
STRAVA is a great program. Don't let a couple of morons deter you from using this great tool to track your progress.0 -
I swore, given the bad press, that I wouldn't use Strava and be one of those Stravassholes, but for some reason I did end up loading a ride once just to see and I love it.
Strava's had bad press? Why?
Having a urban downhill segment is pretty stupid. Also, not only did this guy get killed but some other d-bag was chasing a Strava segment and killed pedestrian. I love Strava segments as long as it does not require you to break posted traffic laws. The good news is that you can now flag segments as dangerous and they will be removed.0 -
IMO there is no such thing as a dangerous segment; there are, however, dangerous riders. These riders will be dangerous and inconsiderate irrespective of the roads they ride. No segment requires you to break posted traffic laws. I understand that when I see one of our local segments of the annual stage race (that takes place each Labor Day weekend) it is posted under race conditions (posted/closed roads, police escorts, etc.). I don't take that as "green light" during my rides to power through it as fast as I can, beyond safety conditions, beyond my abilities. Either I'll be safe and ride another day or I'll be an idiot and hurt/kill myself or someone else.
Full disclosure... I only bother with climb segments (I enjoy climbing more than descending) or segments that form routes I use to track my overall development.0 -
As a general rule, I only aim for KOM for uphill segments or flat segments that don't have stop signs or red lights on them. I'm not going to risk my own life to beat someone.0
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I don't worry about KoM's - frankly, I'm so slow they're something of an irrelevance - I have a couple of "personal segments" set up so that Strava will tell me when I've done a quick one on my regular training loop, but if anyone with half an ounce of ability on the bike rode those segments, I'd be 20-30 minutes adrift of their time :laugh:0
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The Calorie calculation on strava seems to be off from all the other gps programs. I use endomondo on my android phone and then upload to strava.0
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The Calorie calculation on strava seems to be off from all the other gps programs. I use endomondo on my android phone and then upload to strava.
Strava isn't too bad IMHO. A lot of apps/site over-estimate hugely (including MFP!)0 -
I find Strava to be around 10% higher FOR ME, than the readings I get from my NewLeaf calibrated Garmin 800 and Powermeter setup, which is probably as close as you'll get on a day-to-day basis without riding all your miles on an ergometer!
I'm not saying it's 10% high for everyone - or anything of the sort - calorie calculations are all pretty much down to your own personal level of muscular efficiency. We can pretty much definitively measure the wattage we're producing given the correct kit. We know how long we've ridden, so we can work out how many Joules of energy we're consuming (1 joule = 1 watt/second). We can from that figure of joules get the calories used to move us along. (1 joule = 0.239005736 calories) What we CAN'T easily derive, is how efficient is our "human engine" - i.e. for every calorie of effort that goes through our rear wheel, how many does the body ACTUALLY burn. Some is wasted in heat, some is wasted in bobbing around on the bike, some is wasted in producing loads of snot, or in clearing the same... This is where ALL the websites fall down to a greater or lesser degree - because they HAVE to make certain assumptions as to that Metabolic Efficiency factor.
For example - with todays ride - http://app.strava.com/activities/40860340 as the raw data...
Energy consumption (as logged via the GPS) - 1260kj
Calorific value thereof = 1260 * 0.2339005736 = 294.714kCals
Quoted Calorie figure from Strava = 1405kCals
which say's Strava reckons I'm around 21% Metabolically efficient. (294.714/1405 = 0.20976085ish). I've Applied this calculation to half a dozen of my outdoor rides and the maths have been pretty much constant, so, my best guess is, that for me, at my particular weight and height, they reckon i'm 21% metabolically efficient.0 -
continued from above:
So - Strava reckon i'm 21% efficient then... Doing the same mathematics with the Garmin recorded results...
Energy consumption (as logged via the GPS) - 1260kj (same, obviously)
Calorific value thereof = 1260 * 0.2339005736 = 294.714kCals
Quoted Calorie figure from Garmin/NewLeaf Calculations = 1263kCals
So, the Garmin 800/New Leaf Profile has me pegged at 20.95914% for this ride - pretty close to the 21% strava has come up with I'd say.
Where the NewLeaf approach is a bit more accurate, however, is that it actually measures (via respiratory gases) how efficient you are, and how many actual calories you're burning at a range of Heart Rates. At the end of the test, you get a bunch of files, including one that you upload into the Garmin, which tells your how many Calories you burn at a given HR - it's just a XML file, and easy enough to understand, but here's the meat-and-veg of it...
I honestly don't know where they conjured up data for the Heart rates above 180 from - I peaked out at 178, so I can only assume that even here there's a certain degree of "interpolation" or "scientists guessing" going on... frankly, it's academic, as I'm sure as hell not going to be hitting HR's like that anyway :laugh:
What I did find interesting (in a geeky kind of way) was that if you look at the Fat Calories column, as soon as I hit 130bpm, I definitely get out of the "fat burning" zone, and the proportion of energy from blood/muscle glycogen goes way, way up...
(there's a fairly thorough article on the NewLeaf testing here - http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2012/01/look-at-testing-with-new-leaf-fitness.html - in case anyone wonders what the hell I'm wibbling on about!)0 -
I've actually "run the numbers" for a few of the Stravisti that I'm following, and it seems that we keep getting to that 21% figure... that's for males and females btw...0
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This is really interesting so I ran a few calculations too on my recent 3 rides...
20.982 %
20.9795%
20.9808%
Not that I know what this means...0 -
As a general rule, I only aim for KOM for uphill segments or flat segments that don't have stop signs or red lights on them. I'm not going to risk my own life to beat someone.
There is a downhill in Nottingham where the KOM is over 30MPH. Considering the way that the light system in the centre is set up the only way you can beat it is with a car, or running every single red light!0
