thinking of getting on the bandwagon, what's needed to get started? do I need a device with a lot of bells and whistles? whats are the best economical choices out there?

smartphone app is the most economical. I would still be using it if not for some of my longer rides 4 hours plus. If you are under that the app works fine and probably is fine with some of the new smartphones with larger battery capacity.

I got a deal on the Garmin 800 and am using that for over 2 years. Every now and then the smartphone app was glitchy and I would have to either crop or delete rides. This was not very often in areas where gps signal got weak.

Any gps device will work that has a file that gets save to the device

Smartphone app is all that is needed.

I do use my CatEye Stealth 50 and then upload the data from that to strava. I also have a cadence/speed sensor on the bike with a heart rate monitor on my wrist when I ride. The CatEye Stealth 50 was right around $100.00 and you can use it on any bike for speed, distance, and route tracking as well as monitoring your heart rate (with an ANT + sensor that isn't supplied).

I'll give the phone a try, but I find the iPhone a bit large and distracting on the bars
Has anyone tried the Soleus products, the GPS 1.0 comes in a watch or bar mount. Going for about $60-70
Soleus GPS Draft Cycling Computer | Soleus Running

Initially I started with my smartphone, but I found the Android version of Strava very buggy. It would arbitrarily stop recording so large portions of my rides often went unrecorded; it took a lot of the intrinsic fun out of rides because I was always worried about whether the app was recording or not. I found Ride With GPS more stable. There are things I like about both, but if you don't need the social networking aspect, I like Ride With GPS more. Whichever you choose, you are able to export a GPX file and upload to the other if you so desire.

I now have a Garmin 500, but only because I got a great deal on a used one.

But also I should note that I don't record all of my rides. Mostly I record only my weekend or fun rides that I anticipate to exceed 10 miles or so. Commutes, grocery and coffee runs....no way.

Who says it's gotta be on the bars? I toss it in a back jersey pocket. Saves battery life having the screen off as well.

I use my Iphone paired with a Wahoo bluetooth speed/cadence sensor and heart rate strap. I also have the iPhone connected to Wahoo's RFLKT+ so I can throw the phone in my bag and still see all the data. Doing it this was I lose about 8% battery life per hour.

okay, I have a lot to learn, will look for a tutorial, I was thinking you have to start and stop on segments to compete with others, i guess the back pocket idea is if you know the course or just want to track your progress

I don't use strava, I use Map My Ride so I cannot comment on Strava but I can comment on using a phone for GPS. The primary issue I have had is battery life. I have a Nexus 5. I put it in a pouch so it can make it fine through a 50 mile or so ride from a full charge. I have also bought a battery backup but haven't used it yet. We ride in the open country so I have never had much of a problem losing the GPS signal. I am happy enough with using the phone I see no need to buy a purpose madebike GPS system.

I've used Strava on my Android for the past 6,000 miles, but I also use it for hiking. I've used it for 9 hour hikes, so unless your phone has major battery issues, or you're using an ancient phone with old technology (Apples) , you likely should not have any issues.

In all my rides, I have had very, very, few problems. I use the free version, and if I ever lost a ride it was usually there, just had to let it upload correctly.

I use Strava for my daily commute, climbing 3,000 feet peer day within 35 miles RT. Segments are saved automatically, you do nothing except turn it on and ride, then stop Strava when you're done. Segments, unless you're riding where no one else has been, are already in Strava. If you want to add new segments the easiest way is to ride, record with Strava, then use your computer to label new segments you've ridden, while looking at the map of the ride you just rode.

Leaving the screen on is easily the quickest way to burn battery power. When I do my longer Strava recordings, I always turn off the screen while I'm riding or hiking. You can see all my rides by friending me (TallTravel) on Strava. They are available to my friends, called followers, 60 seconds after I've stopped recording. I call also post any ride to social sites like Facebook, but the infinite detail of altitude, feet climbed, comparison to yesterday's ride, segment split times is not payed that way. That detail is available only on the Strava app and/or Strava.com. My 9 hour recording (Grand Canyon hike, rim to rim) is available for all followers to see on Strava.

Edge1000 not exactly economical

I've been using the app on my LG Android phone for the last 1,500 miles and have had only minor issues. Mainly just a little data inaccuracies or slow updating on a start of run. Over time with new updates it's gotten a lot better.

I just recently picked up the Wahoo cadence and Speed sensor, so we'll see how that goes. I would like to get a heart monitor though, I have no idea how to use it efficiently though.

NDspd, if you get a HRM, pay close attention to the protocols used. Strava, currently at least, had chosen to support only the least popular protocol set in this market, Bluetooth. Most HRM's you find support ANT+, not Bluetooth.

garmin 810 here. I wanted to have the ability to have heart rate and power.

Edge 510 for me

Apple user here. I use endomondo on my phone and it may use a % point or two of battery life per half hour of riding. No battery issues here.

Strava figures out existing segments automatically. If you want to create a new one, you do it on the website by selecting a portion of an uploaded ride. You need to start the app at the beginning of your ride and stop it at the end, but in between you never have to touch (or look at) the phone.

However, if you don't already have a cycling computer for real-time speed/distance readout, you might be better served by getting one that has GPS capability and can upload to Strava (via your PC/Mac) post-ride. If you get one that records cadence and heartrate, that data will be included in your Strava upload along with the GPS track. For certain types of training, having a historical log of that data for post-ride analysis can be useful. The Garmin 500 is the "go to" GPS bike computer. It's basic functions are accurate and reliable, it supports a wide range of ANT+ sensors, and it's reasonably priced when (frequently) discounted.

A GPS sport watch can also work. I used a Garmin Forerunner 410 for a couple years with no problems (and still use it for CX races). Support for sensors other than a HR strap may be pretty limited. Also make sure you look into the software/cables/etc. needed to get the data off the watch and onto your PC/Mac so you can upload it to Strava. Some can be quite "fiddly" and require you to buy additional accessories for connectivity.

thanks, I'll need to start pitching for the Garmin 500, seems like the easiest to get started, and like that it can double as watch, though as goofy large it can be. But first a new gopro then the Garmin...

I am using (actually still testing for use in 2015) an app [on my iPhone] called CycleMeter. It has more than I'll use... and cheap to use ($5 a year). I still just put the phone (darkened) with the app running in a ziplok bag in my jersey pocket. Then I'll compile stats later.

I am planning on some destination cycling in 2015. And hope to post a nice little map and a picture or two to my facebook wall every week or so. An attempt at bicycling advocacy... by encouraging my friends (fellow retirees) to get off the couch, get outside, and be active.

I have a work assigned iphone 6, but didn't want to spend all the extra money to get the same thing from a garmin. The iphone mount is $65. Ant sensors for speed and cadence another $80. I also had the option to use an external screen that would read strava from my iphone, but at the costs of $120 I passed.

I ended up going with a used (almost new condition) garmin edge 605 for around $80 on ebay. I loaded my maps on it and it's been great and seems to be more accurate than when I use the iphone and strava. I also use an existing watch with a HR strap to monitor HR, but my device doesn't support ant so I don't have a cadence option which is fine since I'm a new rider anyway.

If you do want ant support just pick up a garmin edge 705 and use that. In the long run seems to be better and cheaper than using a phone and strava.

Here's my cycling kit for Strava: iPhone 6 (in back jersey pocket), Wahoo BlueSCv2 speed and cadence sensor, Wahoo BlueHR heartrate strap, Wahoo RFLKT handbar readout (superior to handlebar mounted iPhone IMHO as it's always on, easy to see in daylight, and kinder to batteries than using the iPhone screen).

I'm pretty happy with this set up, so much so that my pining for a Garmin has ended. For long rides, I take along a portable phone charger that I bought from Monoprice for $20. That got me through an imperial century ride, with about 95% phone battery life remaining after the external battery ran out (I started the ride with the battery plugged into my phone so I didn't have to worry about monitoring battery level).

I use the Cyclemeter app for recording the ride and driving the RFLKT, and I turn off mobile data on the iPhone as that massively prolongs battery life when recording GPS tracks.

I started out with just my iPhone and a cheapo bike mount back when I had a iPhone 4, and that worked pretty well too!

I use Cyclemeter ($5) and it auto-exports to Strava on my iPhone 5s. I have a Wahoo Bluetooth speed/cadence ($60) and the Bluetooth RFLKT+ ($130). The phone goes in my back pocket and sits in a Mophie Spacepack ($70) that doubles the battery life and stores a lot of music.

Where did you hear that? The protocol used to communicate with your HRM has nothing to do with Strava... Depends on the device. iPhones (and probably most/all smartphones) have Bluetooth but not ANT+. My garmin edge 510 uses ANT+ and I upliad just fine to strava.

Some HRM's are Bluetooth and ant+. And there are also ANT+ receivers for smartphones.

The Strava Android app doesn't support ANT+ sensors even if your phone does. Sony and Samsung have quite a few phones with ANT+ support. So if you want to get HR data from an ANT+ HRM into your Strava data using a phone, you have to log with something other than the Strava app and then upload post-ride.

I use an iPhone for strava and have a little Garmin Geko up front for a trip calc.