Strava KOM's for everyone! Certain e-bikes officially legalized for bike paths in CA
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Is it o.k. to wear a pro team kit while going for KOM on an MUP on an E-bike?
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The entire top 10 list was over 30 MPH... Most of them were returning from a nearby MTB area, and turned onto the freeway at the top of the hill.
So, I knocked those off.
It still left the top 5 at over 20 mph, most without HR/Cadence/Power.
I may look at them closer, but the top 25 are between 18.0 and 20.7, so the grouping makes it look believable. I'm doubting they are e-bikes and won't put in the time to evaluate the actual acceleration profiles to see if they look bicycle like.
There is an option of doing a "flying start" vs a stopped start on the segment, but I only saw a couple that did the flying start.
Anyway, there are some MTB riders that are too lazy to crop their rides. But, I'll give the rest the benefit of the doubt. Drafting behind a car, motorcycle, E-Bike, or in a group of riders??? That is just too much to worry about
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However his are basically hotrods, and I can see from the thread that that's not the case ("governed at...") in general.
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I see a fair number of people commuting on electric bikes during the week including quite a few of the Specialized models. The local Specialized shop has like four of them on the floor so they must sell pretty well. The guys on the Specialized ones pass me on my aero road bike and I don't even mind it. That said, the biggest idiots I've seen on bikes have been riding e-bikes. I'm talking Darwin award level stupidity. That's saying a lot around here where the homeless people like to bolt 2-stroke motors onto bikes and it's common to see people riding in the bike lane, on their beach cruisers, staring down at their smartphones.
#31
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Is it okay to blow up a KOM with a 30+ mph tailwind, or maybe drafting a truck? How can you tell those?
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#33
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I totally changed my cycling when I found Strava. I had never even heard of it until July of this year. I am very competitive, so I totally use it to motivate myself. I have reported what have obviously been cars. Like one was 350 miles in 5 hours, avg speed 70 mph. Strava gets them removed pretty quick. I am not a fan of ebikes. What is the point? Why bother??? Too me it is lazy, but that is just my opinion.
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I just found a new ½ mile Strava hill climb segment yesterday.
The entire top 10 list was over 30 MPH... Most of them were returning from a nearby MTB area, and turned onto the freeway at the top of the hill.
So, I knocked those off.
It still left the top 5 at over 20 mph, most without HR/Cadence/Power.
I may look at them closer, but the top 25 are between 18.0 and 20.7, so the grouping makes it look believable. I'm doubting they are e-bikes and won't put in the time to evaluate the actual acceleration profiles to see if they look bicycle like.
There is an option of doing a "flying start" vs a stopped start on the segment, but I only saw a couple that did the flying start.
Anyway, there are some MTB riders that are too lazy to crop their rides. But, I'll give the rest the benefit of the doubt. Drafting behind a car, motorcycle, E-Bike, or in a group of riders??? That is just too much to worry about
The entire top 10 list was over 30 MPH... Most of them were returning from a nearby MTB area, and turned onto the freeway at the top of the hill.
So, I knocked those off.
It still left the top 5 at over 20 mph, most without HR/Cadence/Power.
I may look at them closer, but the top 25 are between 18.0 and 20.7, so the grouping makes it look believable. I'm doubting they are e-bikes and won't put in the time to evaluate the actual acceleration profiles to see if they look bicycle like.
There is an option of doing a "flying start" vs a stopped start on the segment, but I only saw a couple that did the flying start.
Anyway, there are some MTB riders that are too lazy to crop their rides. But, I'll give the rest the benefit of the doubt. Drafting behind a car, motorcycle, E-Bike, or in a group of riders??? That is just too much to worry about
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Same with leadout trains.
It's one thing to blatantly cheat, it's another to use tactics to help you win the race.
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GH
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#39
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I saw someone posting about getting a KOM in a Velomobile (faired recumbent). Slightly downhill with a tailwind. Probably will take an ebike to break it. I think Strava is going to have to rethink the KOM business. It used to be more fun when mere mortals could hold a KOM, but now it's not really possible for most of us. So how do they replace that driver to their traffic?
#40
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I saw someone posting about getting a KOM in a Velomobile (faired recumbent). Slightly downhill with a tailwind. Probably will take an ebike to break it. I think Strava is going to have to rethink the KOM business. It used to be more fun when mere mortals could hold a KOM, but now it's not really possible for most of us. So how do they replace that driver to their traffic?
#41
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I saw someone posting about getting a KOM in a Velomobile (faired recumbent). Slightly downhill with a tailwind. Probably will take an ebike to break it. I think Strava is going to have to rethink the KOM business. It used to be more fun when mere mortals could hold a KOM, but now it's not really possible for most of us.
For premium members, they already let you breakdown the leader board by age and weight. No reason why they couldn't add classifications for special types of bikes. It might be slightly less depressing if some of the guys on time trial bikes with KOMs on flat and downhill segments got removed from some of my favorite roads but I'm still going to be far behind the rest of the leaders unless I catch the perfect draft.
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They pretty much already have that with the "2015 KOM" and the fastest time today on the leaderboard, but nobody cares about it. Most people feel like it's an empty achievement since you probably got it while the fast guys were taking a rest day or riding somewhere else. A lot of people are simply happy with setting PRs on segments.
#43
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I've passed e bikes uphill without a whole lot of effort.
They don't have the power to weight ratio.
Typical ebike might have a 250-350 watt or so motor. So you're adding 350 watts max, but you're adding 30 pounds of weight or so. Given that your typical bike rider is likely starting with w/kg under 2 you're not going to be blowing people away up steep hills.
Also you're only capable of putting out power at that level for an hour or less typically.
https://www.electricbike.com/watt-hours/
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Last edited by merlinextraligh; 10-28-15 at 09:58 AM.
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I saw someone posting about getting a KOM in a Velomobile (faired recumbent). Slightly downhill with a tailwind. Probably will take an ebike to break it. I think Strava is going to have to rethink the KOM business. It used to be more fun when mere mortals could hold a KOM, but now it's not really possible for most of us. So how do they replace that driver to their traffic?
I ride an unfaired but very aero recumbent, and can take practically any of the flat segments of any length around me (ignoring the super short sprints). The only ones that give me fits are held by a TT-bike with a tailwind. Few of the KOMs are held by pacelines.
But Strava is very hands off, though they do explicitly say no e-bikes, motor-paced (so no drafting a truck) or "fully-faired vehicles(velomobiles)" belong on the standard leaderboards. I have a faired recumbent (it isn't considered a velomobile -- in the community those are a very specific type of vehicle), but I don't usually post those rides to Strava.
https://strava.zendesk.com/entries/2...ava-Guidelines
#45
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#47
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Cycling is all about being opportunistic. Formally arranging someone to motor-pace you is not being opportunistic. A truck driver is not going to monitor his rear view to help you stay in his draft nor is he going to try and hold a steady or even maintainable speed for you. Uphill, anything but an oversize load truck is going to drop a cyclist in short order, and that oversize truck is more likely to slow you down than help even on flat roads.
I see drafting a truck as being much taking advantage of an opportunistic tailwind or nearby cyclist to gain a little advantage. Your faired recumbent isn't always an advantage so I see nothing wrong with it either. Motor-pacing is always an advantage and doesn't just present itself at times. Totally different, to me :-)
I see drafting a truck as being much taking advantage of an opportunistic tailwind or nearby cyclist to gain a little advantage. Your faired recumbent isn't always an advantage so I see nothing wrong with it either. Motor-pacing is always an advantage and doesn't just present itself at times. Totally different, to me :-)
#48
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Strava already as a few activity categories. It would be possible for them to create a plethora of categories.
A couple of issues. With creating a velomobile category. I wonder how many are in my city. Less than a half a dozen. Hard to cater to so few.
I have read complaints of MTBs using STRAVA on trails parallel to roads, and getting their times blasted by the roadies on the road, not the trail where the segment was defined, so differentiating MTBs from road bikes might help some. What about the Hybrids and Cross bikes?
Also, so many people seem to have an inability to differentiate between a bicycle and a car. Do you think they would actually get the categories correct?
At least around here, I just take everything with a grain of salt. I have fun, but I don't worry about it too much.
- Walking
- Running
- MTB
- Standard Bike
- Recumbent without flaring
- Recumbent with flaring
- Velomobile
- Various drafting options
A couple of issues. With creating a velomobile category. I wonder how many are in my city. Less than a half a dozen. Hard to cater to so few.
I have read complaints of MTBs using STRAVA on trails parallel to roads, and getting their times blasted by the roadies on the road, not the trail where the segment was defined, so differentiating MTBs from road bikes might help some. What about the Hybrids and Cross bikes?
Also, so many people seem to have an inability to differentiate between a bicycle and a car. Do you think they would actually get the categories correct?
At least around here, I just take everything with a grain of salt. I have fun, but I don't worry about it too much.
#49
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Strava has few rules. Feel free to cheat. If you cheat high enough in the leaderboard, other users will scrutinize your ride and flag you. Get flagged enough while cheating and you'll probably lose interest, or be banned. I've had a couple of my rides flagged, but since they're within the limited rules, I just click on the "trust me" button and it is resolved.
Ride more, surf internets less.
#50
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This thread makes me want to ride in a pace line if I can pick up few mph from drafting.