what's strava?

Triangle Kebab

i've been looking through various posts on the forum, and there seems to be a fair few people tracking their rides with something called strava. What is strava? how do i use it? and is it worth doing? Forgive the novice questions but im just starting out with cycling, and if strava is something that will be of use to me then im all for giving it a try.

leshere

I have just started using Strava so no expert. It is an on line service (free if you just want the basics) that records your data and allows you and others to see it. Your cycling data needs to be collected on a device wither an I phone or one using Android for which there are apps. or form a Garmin cycling computer.
I need something like that to help motivate me in my training and to watch over my sons efforts (which are much more worthy than mine. I will add the links later.
Les the Cycling Daddy

differentstrokes87

It's a cycling app on the iPhone, its free too. I use it now and then when I'm out on the bike.

Basically records your route, time, speed, distance etc... It's pretty good and simple to use. Recently found out it records various segments of a ride which other people have saved and puts the top times into a table so that you can compare times and top speeds too which is quite good for motivation.

daveski12

I use another app to track my rides them import them into Strava so I can track my performance on the sectors as leshere said.

Here's a link to my profile so you can see the data it captures http://app.strava.com/athletes/563545

bobtbuilder

It's simply brilliant. As well as tracking your whole ride, you can see your performance over "segments" of your rides (usually hills) and see where you rank against a) your previous rides & b) other people. You can also create your own segments.

It has totally transformed my commute rides home. Now I attack the hills with much greater purpose to try and improve my times.

charliew87

Get involved. Really fun to use, makes quick 5 mile rides to the shops ridiculously competitive once you know where the segments are and it's a really good way of seeing how you progress & improve over time.

bisoner

Echoing what others have said. It's great fun and I'm spending most of my time on quick local rides reclaiming the records 'on my patch'. I'm not having some guy/gal living 50 miles away having all the local records!!!

Triangle Kebab

Thanks for the replys guys. Am i right in thinking that to use it with a phone is going to eat into my data allowance? if this is the case would it work with something like a garmin edge 800 instead?

Tom Dean

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=strava#

ShutUpLegs

I use it to track all my runs and rides, set personal records and beat my friends' times.

I can also give them Kudos for their epic 20 mile 700ft of climbing rides.

snoopsmydogg

ShutUpLegs wrote:

I can also give them Kudos for their epic 20 mile 700ft of climbing rides.

Headhuunter

Triangle Kebab wrote:

Thanks for the replys guys. Am i right in thinking that to use it with a phone is going to eat into my data allowance? if this is the case would it work with something like a garmin edge 800 instead?

Not sure about the data allowance but yes you can download to Strava from an Garmin device

bails87

IT depends how you upload the ride. It shouldn't really use any data while you're out, and then if you upload the ride once you're back home on wifi then it won't use any data uploading the record of your ride.

Data use for Strava and Endomondo is very low compared to general web browsing/youtube etc. .gpx files are tiny.

biscuit959

Yeah I think as long as you take a look at the map on it before you go out to preload the map files and upload once you get home then as others have said it won't use very much at all

I'd recommend it anyway. I was using endomondo and thought "oh this is nice, I can look at where I've been" but it didnt really do much else for me haha. But strava gives you something to aim for and if you live in san fran you can draw pretty pictures with it: http://app.strava.com/rides/13312938

Anyone in west midlands/staffs/shrops area feel free to follow me btw:) http://app.strava.com/athletes/117170
shameless I know but I just want to be popular haha

wvbarnes

I use another app to track my rides them import them into Strava so I can track my performance on the sectors as leshere said.

pollys_bott

I suspect I know the answer but is it better than Map my Ride? I've been playing around with it (MmR) and created a route to go and do next week but for some reason it thinks that it's a workout I've already done. OK, so I've been able to delete the workout and the created route is still there in my maps, but to my - admittedly anally retarded - mind having to do that is un-necessary. Does the same thing happen in Strava or does it recognise that a newly created route map is just that and it doesn't become a workout until you actually go and ride it?

Gizmodo

Pollys Bott wrote:

I suspect I know the answer but is it better than Map my Ride? I've been playing around with it (MmR) and created a route to go and do next week but for some reason it thinks that it's a workout I've already done. OK, so I've been able to delete the workout and the created route is still there in my maps, but to my - admittedly anally retarded - mind having to do that is un-necessary. Does the same thing happen in Strava or does it recognise that a newly created route map is just that and it doesn't become a workout until you actually go and ride it?

Strava is not used to plan a route, it is used to record a ride that you do and upload the data at the end of the ride. There are no routes or workouts in Strava, simply Activities that you have completed and Segments which are parts of people's rides that have been identified to compare each others times.

lotus49

Triangle Kebab wrote:

Thanks for the replys guys. Am i right in thinking that to use it with a phone is going to eat into my data allowance? if this is the case would it work with something like a garmin edge 800 instead?

It doesn't seem to use much so I don't worry about it. You don't say what sort of phone you have but on Android (Strava runs on iOS and Android) there is an app called 3G Watchdog that tracks your data usage so you could give it a go and see how much it has used. I dare say there is a similar app on the iPhone.

Unless your data allowance is very small, it's not likely to be a significant issue.

pollys_bott

Gizmodo wrote:

Strava is not used to plan a route, it is used to record a ride that you do and upload the data at the end of the ride. There are no routes or workouts in Strava, simply Activities that you have completed and Segments which are parts of people's rides that have been identified to compare each others times.

Aha... thanks for enlightening me.

smidsy

Pollys Bott wrote:

Gizmodo wrote:

Strava is not used to plan a route, it is used to record a ride that you do and upload the data at the end of the ride. There are no routes or workouts in Strava, simply Activities that you have completed and Segments which are parts of people's rides that have been identified to compare each others times.

Aha... thanks for enlightening me.

PB - I assume you ride THAT hill regularly then? Have you ever done the time trial up it?

keith57

Triangle Kebab wrote:

Thanks for the replys guys. Am i right in thinking that to use it with a phone is going to eat into my data allowance? if this is the case would it work with something like a garmin edge 800 instead?

No, when you are using the Strava app on a phone all you are doing is recording the ride, so you're using the GPS receiver, noting to do with data at all. After you finish you can choose to upload the completed ride to the website.

If you use a Garmin GPS then you have to import the GPX track of the ride to Strava using a computer.

Soon there will be a new Garmin Edge 810 which hints at having a bluetooth connection to smartphones so it might be possible to upload the Garmin ride data to Strava using your phone when the ride is finished.

pollys_bott

smidsy wrote:

PB - I assume you ride THAT hill regularly then? Have you ever done the time trial up it?

Yes, I do a fair bit around there. Plenty of punchy little climbs to string together into a good ride. Haven't made the annual hill-climb yet - last couple of years it's been on the weekend of my daughter's birthday party... 'nuff said :roll: