Is Strava a useful reflection of ability?
Comments
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As a measure of ability Cycling Weekly have recently launched the RitMo score which acts like a golf handicap for cyclists taking into account hills and miles ridden.
I've only just signed up so don't know too much about it yet but depending on the calculations that you use it may be a good way to benchmark your own ability. Here's the link.
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/lat ... -know.html0 -
bernithebiker wrote:There are so many factors at play, that it's hard to accurately compare to other riders;
1. Wind
2. Group or not?
3. Total ride distance
4. Quality of the riders in your area.
As a rough guide for a 2km hill, top times in our area are;
2% - 35km/h
3% - 33km/h
4% - 30km/h
5% - 28km/h
6% - 25km/h
^ this
Strava is mainly a bit of fun for your average rider, and can show roughly how you stack up, but there are so many variables to take into account that it can never be flawless unless you go down the route of power meter (most consistent variable) and premium subscription- not really what most people would want to do
Take a look at most leader boards and there will be a stack of times at the top on the same day or within a few days of each other (favourable wind) then if you click on one it will often be a group ride or race.
The strava created power isn't accurate as it is based on speed/weight/distance which does not take into account weather or road conditions etc or nice cars to draft. As an example, two days in a row did the same loop this week, first day with someone else who I towed, soft pedalled, and coasted for at various times to wait for him- not an ego boost, I'm 3 stones lighter so I should be quicker. Same ride the next day, consistent effort throughout, come home and find I'm slower.... Wtf..... Go to garmin connect instead and find the wind was 10kmph stronger and from the sw not w meaning I didn't get full tail wind home, and exposed part was dead into the wind.
Strava is best for just comparing your own performances.... Filter the results so its just yours and see if there is a trend of getting quicker.... But don't forget that you may have been on short, long, recovery rides etc at the time. It's meaningless without context.
It's true that the only way you can really tell is a tt, but weather can change during one of them (see tour de Suisse prologue) or a race where it's the same day, same conditions, and everyone is racing0
