rickgoing

So I got a new Kestrel Evoke from Bikes Direct a little over 2 weeks. I have been able to ride 6 times as of today.

I downloaded Strava on my iphone but really don't know how to use it but when I looked at it today it said I was 4th on a segment that is part of my ride. I never would have thought I would have been towards the top of any of these things especially with a section that starts and ends uphill. I am skeptical that my numbers were even remotely competitive with anyone. Does this sound possible? FYI I am 46, 6'2" and 268 pounds. I also had a widow maker heart attack in May 2010. I am trying to loose weight and have fun.

This is what it said.

4 Rick Going Apr 16, 2013 12.9mi/h - 193W - 13:40 for a section that was 2.9 miles, avg grade .8%, elevation gain 190 feet.

The person with the fastest time did it with an avg speed of 18.6 and a little over 89 minutes.

Tel0004

4th out of how many people? I've been on segments with 15 people, and segments with over 500 people.

In my experience Strava is fairly accurate.

TrojanHorse

That's not a bad little segment... why are you skeptical? The GPS doesn't lie... much. Now you know where the target is, it looks like you have a bit of work to get up to #3. Happy riding!

Oh, and join the clyde club if you'd like, there's a bunch of us there.

https://app.strava.com/clubs/clydesda...bikeforums-net

CommuteCommando

I am second overall on a segment. There are a total of twelve riders on this segment, and it is a newly opened, little known MUP. As more people discover it, I expect my standings to drop. I am on the bottom 10% of this hill. (check out the number of users) https://app.strava.com/segments/580916

Wooden Tiger

I found Strava a bit confusing to use at first but quickly adapted to it. IMO, the distances seem fairly accurate along with average speeds, but my top speeds for the ride are always off.

I like Strava.

rickgoing

When I looked at it I thought it showed only the top 10 people...That is why I was so surprised. I thought there was probably many more especially because everytime I have taken this route I have seen others riding it.

I only have the free version so it doesn't look like I can do anything other than look at the results after and not for instance set up a segment. I have seen others on there web site near me and I have also ridden some but it didn't record my efforts?

rickgoing

I am glad you said that about top speeds. On my last ride it showed I topped out at 48 mph but the fastest I saw on my cyclometer was 38.

Brando_T.

Hey, new Strava people, there is a club for our forum - Clydesdales and Athenas: https://app.strava.com/clubs/clydesda...bikeforums-net

Feel free to join. It's quite inspirational to see the sort of rides others on this board are putting in.

IBOHUNT

I don't trust Strava for wattage (unless you have a power meter) or calories as they are, at best, a guess by S/W.

The speed and grades seem to be consistent with other sources.

Take the results shown with a grain of salt. I've seen some where there are many folks at or near the top and all on the same day. Can we say paceline boys and girls?
If it's a long uphill segment of say 3% or greater then you can bet that wind or pacelines are probably not involved. Example:

https://app.strava.com/segments/637865

1.8 miles with 608' gain (6.3%)

I ride with 4 of the top 5 and they are beasts and can absolutely believe the times. I also think that the true wattage shown is only the one with the little lightning bolt; someone correct me if I am wrong. All others are guesses.

The VAM (Meters/hr) listed is also a good indicator of how well you are doing.

I'm near the bottom on many segments Only room to go "up". Gotta love climbing.

TrojanHorse

Speaking of "as riders find the segment"....

I was right about #1100 out of 1300 people on a mountain road near me last May, now I'm #2200 out of #2500 or whatever. Talk about constant improvement!

IBOHUNT

Yowzers!

2500 people? There's 400 or so in the town I live outside of. Move as far away form that mess as you can son. That just ain't right.

TrojanHorse

I reckon there are about 14 million people in the greater LA area, and I also reckon I'm faster up that damn hill than all but 2000 of them.

IBOHUNT

And to know I whig out in a crowd of a couple hundred. Ain't a chance I'd survive out there.

Now - lets go burn up some of the bottom of them Strava segemnts.

CommuteCommando

jcahow

I have been using Strava on a Virgin Mobile Optimus Elite Android phone for about five weeks. It started out fine for the first half dozen rides but it has gone down hill from there. In the last dozen rides the Strava app has locked up three times (losing all data) and had syncing problems three times (losing all data). It seems to be getting worse as my rides are getting longer. It is no fun to be out riding 3-4+ hours and then find out you lost everything collected for the ride. It may work better on an Apple iPhone or a different Android phone but I am getting ready to uninstall it as I find it very unstable. They were responsive to my Support inquiries but offered no help in resolving my issues. I highly question the Calories used and Power numbers it calculates and I wish it kept track of associated weather for the ride (no temperature or wind data). Its a good idea but it needs work...........................

Big Pete 1982

I use the free version of Strava. There isn't much you can't do with it. You should be able to view the entire leaderboard. It could be that there are only 10 people with an official time on that segment. Or it could be that you are a bad ass stud and didn't know it until now. I know there are lots of roads around here where I see other cyclists all the time, but there aren't many using strava. There also other roads where I've never seen another bike, yet there are a few hundred times on the leaderboard.

CommuteCommando

It works a little better with a Garmin. Also since my Garmin Edge 500 has a pressure altimeter, the elevation data is more precise, though no more accurate, than elevation given by any smartphone app. Precision is important as it gives better vertical speed data. I did some simple calculations on a climb I did hauling 250 pounds (me and bike) up a a 24 foot rise in 13 seconds, and came up with 600 Watts. Strava told me it was over 1k Watt. I would really like to believe Strava, but no. . . gotta keep it real.

I suspect that the way Strava calculates calories is more straightforward, therefore more accurate (HR*time*coefficient from table for weight and BMI). Power is more difficult in that air resistance, especially over 15 mph is a big factor in how much power is being put out, and Strava assumes that all riders have the same drag coefficient and cross section area, which they most certainly do not.

I do use the calories figure in my diet planning. The calorie counter I use is called FatSecret, and you can enter "activities" like "biking easy-10mph, moderate-13 mph, fast-15mph and very fast-17mph". On a 20 mile, 800 ft climbing, ride that I can do in about 1'45" (about 15mph average), the calories Strava shows is about 50% lower than FatSecret gives for the equivalent time riding easy. The Strava number for calories is about 10% higher than the figure calculated by my Garmin, so I split the difference and use that. I enter however many minutes at "easy" will give me the equivalent calories in FatSecret. If I am consistent and eat 80% of that total, I can drop 1-2 lb/week.

hanes

Jcahow,

I'm sorry to hear you're having troubles with Strava, but making identical multiple posts in different sub forums and threads isn't really helpful.

Hope you find a training app you like.

IBOHUNT

I wouldn't use Garmin or any other S/W for food calories. I've found my Garmin Edge 500 to be off by as much as 30% when compared to kJ measured by a powermeter.
On a recent 15 mile, 1 hour ride the figures were:

Garmin = 748 Calories
Strava = 964 Calories
kJ reported by Garmin and Golden Cheetah = 1008

mr_pedro

I take it this is the ride: https://app.strava.com/activities/49074097#863495050
Only 10 people have done it and as you can see the difference in times can be measured in minutes.
You can also see that some people actually did a different route that is longer. Strava for some reason also adds those people to the segment list.

Strava is what it is and just like with any prize you might win, the value depends on how difficult it was to get it and how much of it was because of your effort.
There is a segment where I am 1st out of 120, but take no pride as the segment has a few traffic lights that you need to catch all green to stand a chance.
On another segment I am very happy to be 36 out of 155 as I improved my time with 8 seconds and went from 51 to 36.

jcahow

I did a search on Strava looking for some threads where people that were using it to see what their experiences were. I posted across multiple sub forums because I wanted to interact with as many Strava users as possible to see if anyone was experiencing the same issues. I will decide if it was helpful............................

chasm54

He was being polite. Making identical posts in multiple forums is prohibited in the forum guidelines, where you will see it described as "spamming".

jcahow

If other people are going to post about the same product (Strava) and their experiences with it across multiple forums then replying to those posts similarly across a few forums is a very loose interpretation of spamming. I have seen far worse things here.

If he wants to complain about spamming then say that and do not tell me it was not helpful as that is for me to decide..........................

JReade

Your poor "." key must be getting worn out.

................

volosong

Rick, why are you so surprised? You're on a Kestrel bike!

Pick a day when the wind is with you and I'd bet you can get up to third on the list. Enjoy your Kestrel. They are some of the most underrated bikes available today. They got some really nice models this year. It's hard to resist "upgrading".