Advice on Using Strava
wayne93117
Posts: 6
Newb here trying to figure out the best way to use Strava while I ride.
Do most people just carry their phones in their jersey pockets? Do you sync it with a cycling computer? If so which one works and is reasonably priced?
Lastly, I've heard that you can pre load or use someone else's route in Strava to give you turn by turn while you ride. What computer can do this or is there a way to get turn by turn in your headphones?
Thanks
Do most people just carry their phones in their jersey pockets? Do you sync it with a cycling computer? If so which one works and is reasonably priced?
Lastly, I've heard that you can pre load or use someone else's route in Strava to give you turn by turn while you ride. What computer can do this or is there a way to get turn by turn in your headphones?
Thanks
0
Posts
You could always work out some routes on an ordinary paper map beforehand.
Several GPS-based computers will sync with your Strava account. These are listed on the Strava website. These are generally stand-alone devices though- you don't need the phone as well.
It is not practical to use the phone on your handlebars to display Strava data as you ride - it will kill your battery.
There is a device called the Wahoo Rflkt that is not GPS enabled but acts as a repeater of the phone data on your handlebars. The phone provides the GPS signal, the Wahoo gives you speed, time etc while your phone display is turned off.
Strava itself won't do this but there is a free Android app called Locus maps. You can export a Strava route to Locus maps, and Locus will give you turn-by-turn directions through tour headphones .
Start it. Put in pocket. Check out the data at home.
There's several ways to do it. The cheapest (if you have a smartphone) is you download the app to your phone and press start before you ride and then leave it with the screen off in your jersey pocket. That way the battery drain will be minimal.
If you want data on your handlebars then a GPS cycling computer is best, but reasonably priced can mean anything. I think the Garmin 520 at £190 is reasonably priced, you may not.
I have a galaxy ace 2 (used solely for cycling) in an arm band on my left arm and use Strava for almost every ride, GPS switched on, i also have bluetooth switched on to connect to my HR monitor and play music for the duration of my rides. Sometimes i need to double check my navigation but other than that the screen stays off for the majority of the ride.
I was out for 4, 1/2 hours on my last ride with a 30 min coffee stop (paused the music but used the internet) and got back with over 30% of the battery left.
One point: i've never heard it recommended to use headphones when cycling. (my music comes out of the speakers)
If you don't want to run to a cycle computer then phone in your back pocket with something like a Cateye cheap computer on your stem, which is what I used for many years. But yes there is a big advantage in seeing your HR in front of you.
That's why I use a Wahoo RFLKT. The phone does all the GPS donkey-work using the Wahoo fitness app, but with the screen off. It sends the pertinent data by Bluetooth to the easy-to-see, small, robust, waterproof RFLKT mounted on the bars. 3 hours of use will drop my iPhone 5c by about 20% battery. The single cell battery in the RFLKT lasts forever. Phone gets started, then put somewhere safe (either in my jersey pocket on the road or in a toptube bag on the MTB).
The RFLKT is configurable in terms of what data is on the screen and you can (although I don't, yet) hook up a speed, cadence and/or HR monitor to the phone and get all the data live on the RFLKT. I used to pair it with the Strava app but this support has been dropped by Strava, but using the Wahoo app makes the RFLKT a much better experience anyway and at the end of the ride I simply upload the workout from Wahoo to Strava and it is all there as it would be if I has used Strava for the recording.
I realise this is not the be-all and end-all but for me it suffices for now, since I already have an iPhone and the RFLKT was acquired cheap on eBay. It even comes with three mounts, so the stem mount stays on the MTB and the out-front mount is on the road bike (leaving the quarter-turn mount still in the box).
I'll add that when I first started I just used the Strava app on my iPhone and pocketed it until the end of the ride. This worked well enough for me but I do find having at least basic data on view quite useful (eg ride length, time of day, distance covered etc).
Cannondale Synapse alloy with 'guards for the winter roads
Fuji Altamira 2.7 for the summer roads
Trek 830 Mountain Track frame turned into a gravel bike - for anywhere & everywhere
Not interested in seeing my average speed or heart rate during the ride. I do have a small computer mounted on my stem to give me current speed and cadence.
Another vote for the RFLKT+. Definitely don't bother with any of the stuff about it being directly supported in Strava: the Wahoo fitness app is perfectly good and upload to Strava at the end of your ride is pretty much seamless.
The one thing it's missing is the live segments feature but I can live without that.
It can also display incoming texts (at least the first few words anyway), and can give turn by turn directions to a downloaded route (although I have yet to use this successfully on Garmin Connect!). It's a very basic unit, extremely compact (about the size of a large watch face) and you can get one for less than £100 - in fact Aldi did them for £80!
It only mainly gives distance, speed and time elapsed, but that's all I wanted, but I think you can get HRM info if you go for the associated accessories.