You don't need Garmin hardware to use their web platform. It's probably too cumbersome to want to use without one because you would have to upload your ride data manually vs just saving it on the device and having it sync over the air automagically. But if you were willing to do that, they provide a training log, segments, route planning, automatic route creation, popularity heat maps, and a whole lot of etc.

I started their 60 day free trial. I think that’s notice enough.

I don’t get the hoopla. The core functionality for most people has been uploading rides, seeing what rides their friends are doing and tracking segment PRs. I’d argue that most people are unaffected by this change. Actually I think the biggest change is making route builder Premium only. That was really handy for me. So it factors into my decision for sure.

I, personally, do target segments (unsuccessfully) and I’ve been meaning to get Summit for a while, with all of their analysis and tracking features. So it’s probably worth $60 a year for me. If I suddenly were hurting for cash, I would have no issue using the free version of strava.

I've had a premium Strava account for many years. I only use that one for our tandem rides, which are 90% of my outdoor riding, and 100% of my stoker's. I also have a free Strava account which I only use for my singles, maybe 10 posts to that account/year. I don't care that much about my numbers on my single, since outdoor rides on it don't figure into my year's training. I never upload anything except outdoor rides to Strava.

I like Strava fine. One problem I've noticed in the past couple weeks is that sometimes the file import function doesn't work. It gets the file, but then doesn't do anything with it. An irritation of using any group platform like Strava is that other people can change things you use regularly, like segment boundaries. If course I could just make some segments private.

Bingo bango.

It doesn't matter whether we say cell phone or landline - it's not an option or a frivolity or entertainment (at least, one is). Connectivity to work, family, doctors, etc is not an option and is a major service to my life. Virtual leaderboards? Cool, but I can do that on Garmin, and will now. It's like trying to say "you pay for electricity, why won't you pay for Strava?", except that cell phones are somehow still seen as a sign of elitism or discretionary spending in 2020. Strava, by comparison, is quite clearly not at all a necessity.

Yup, I'm a programmer. I work for a bank, doing fairly boring work that brings value to our clients and, in turn, my bosses. That's why they pay me to do it.

Maybe you'd pay for social media. Personally, I barely touch social media anyway. Would you pay for literally every website you hit? Come on man, be realistic. Not every geek with a website deserves "just the price of a cup of coffee per month". It's amazing those words are still uttered unironically.

If they don't want people using the product for free, they shouldn't make it available for free. That's fine. But I'm not sure why you think the notion of using a free service for free is odd.

If they want people (or just me) to pay, they need to act like a business doing things reliably, with features that can be counted on. They don't act like a company; they still act like a couple of guys in a garage turning things on and off when their feelings are hurt.

Again, the fact that they haven't made money yet is telling. Maybe they will now, but I doubt it.

I don't pay for it.
 

I could be tempted to pay if they added new features to the paid version, but taking away features from the free version will not make me pay for it.

Glad we agree on the basic premise. I have no problem with people who say it isn't worth $X/month. We all make similar calculations about everything we buy (or don't). I have a problem with the folks who object to the very notion of charging for a service.

BB

Straw man argument. You don't like Strava. I get it. Since you don't like Strava, why do you care enough to post complaints about Strava here (which is social media, FWIW)? There are dozens of services I don't like. I have no idea whether they charge too much because I don't use them.

Have a great day, hope your employers continue to value your services enough to pay your salaries/fees/commissions.

FWIW, I wasn't talking about phones- that has nothing to do with Strava. Cell phones have been around since the mid 80's. Landline phones for obviously our whole lives. Texting since the mid 90s.
I was referring to smartphones, apps, mobile data plans and wifi, and the associated cost of such that enables us to check the weather, look at a map, track a ride, etc. To be honest though, I don't even run Strava on my cell phone though I think I do have the app. I always use the PC. Paying for Strava is very much basically the same as paying for software which is all mostly subscription based now. Adobe Photoshop runs about $20 per month, Microsoft office is $100/year, Autocad is about $1700 per year. If you think Strava is worth it, then subscribe. If not, then don't.

Since it’s been free I understand some don’t want to pay.

Suppose Google decided to charge a small monthly fee of $5 for your searches and gmail. I guarantee people would be up in arms. Unhappiness comes from unmet expectations.

A straw man argument is arguing against something the other person didn't say. You said if you like a service, you'd pay. Where's the line? I liked Strava well enough to use them a bit, but the critical factor you're willfully not understanding is my lack of trust in them. They capriciously drop features and support, which means I have zero incentive to pay for a service which I do not trust to continue in the future. Also, once I hand over a dollar, my tolerance for bugs drops considerably, as I go from a guest to a client.

And yes, I've pointed out that this place is social media several times myself. However, in this context, I was referring to the Social Media companies. Surely you understand context?

And yes, my employers will continue to value my services. Thank you for your concern for my well-being, sarcastic as it comes off.

If you want to make a segment type thing in Golden Cheetah. Right click on the Interval you want to make a segment of in the Interval Pane of the Sidebar and select 'Create a Route Segment'. Then you can name and save that segment, so it should show up in every activity that has that segment of road or virtual road, just like strava. To compare all of your times drag and drop it into the Compare Pane to do comparisons of the Data Graphs (later edit - I renamed the 'Performance' Chart -> 'Data Graphs' which makes more sense as a title to me for a bunch of graphs).

some pictures showing Golden Cheetah segments in action - https://imgur.com/a/YiOsW24

If Google decided to charge, I could make a reasoned decision as to whether the price being asked was worth the service being offered. There's certainly no reasonable reason to expect them to provide a service for free. As it happens, they get their revenue without charging for services, and that model has worked well for them. Time will tell if Strava's model works in the long run. I suspect their advertising revenue was coming up short, hence the fees for features.

BB

I know what you're trying to talk about, and I'm directly shooting down your attempt to split smartphones from "phones", be they the almost-nonexistent feature phones or landlines, to attempt to make a smartphone a frivolous expenditure. Phones are a fundamental utility essential to functioning in modern society; Strava is (at best) a game. and one beset by cheaters and bugs. One is a need, the other is blatantly not.

However, I'll let y'all keep playing domestique for Strava. Carry that water.

Yes it is.

Yes I did.

Just try and forget smartphones for a moment. I apologize if I brought us to this unimportant tangent. I do use Strava but really never open up it on my phone.

As I mentioned, I don't even use my phone for really anything related to cycling, for any app. Except maybe Epic Ride (Darksky weather mixed with a RWGPS route)..and I guess the Garmin app shoots off my ride details after I hit save on my head unit. I also don't give a hoot for any of the leaderboard, KOM stuff. I think I've already said I use it for my own ride and health analysis, and I use the segment stuff for comparing myself to myself.

I'm not a Strava domestique, but will say that of the 3 apps I do run (on my PC) - Garmin Connect, RWGPS, and Strava, I do like it best for metrics presentation and performance tracking. FWIW, I also pay for Ride wGPS, for the map generation and because my club relies on it. As others have asked in this thread, what else is out there that offers similar functionality and reporting and doesn't cost more or now costs less?

I like Strava. I follow one of my brothers and one of my sisters, and they follow me. That’s it. I don’t care about other riders that I don’t know, as far as connecting or following them. I just like to track my rides and segments, and I like the data I get. It’s useful to me and pretty darned easy to pull. Worth my money. I don’t get why people are so upset about it. Free market, you can use other software if you don’t like Strava, right? Man, I thought *I* was serious about my training, but the vitriol and rage in this thread has shown me that I clearly need to up my passive-aggressive efforts.

Connect.

Honestly it's like a better version of Strava if you don't care about competing with strangers.

Unfortunately you have to use the desktop version for the power curve.

Non-paying nor will I ever pay. I'd rather have ads and keep it like it was.

I mostly use Strava for the social benefits. I've been paying for Training Peaks for years for actual data analysis, and I guess I'd rather not pay for two things which will be substantially similar. On the other hand, I'm halfway through a local socially-distant TT series that depends on Strava. I will probably sign up for the free trial and then drop it.

It's almost the end of the day, May 19th, and none of these changes have happened yet. Hurry TF up with the changes already, Strava, I wanna see how awful the free version is so I can delete my account already...

​​​​​​Anybody who disagrees with me is an ogre that eats babies.

See? That wasn't so hard.

Have the changes already gone into effect? I don't notice any difference.

There is an 150.0.1 update to the app in que, but I have not taken it as I wonder if it will make this effective at least for just the app.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7d7c340539.jpg

That is an absurd question and you should be laughed at for even deciding to type it.
You clearly don't understand what the term 'freeloader' means. Strava allows for free accounts, so it isnt freeloading if someone uses the service for free.

Do better.

I echo your comments about Golden Cheetah. I have the application sitting on my computer desktop and I have yet to figure out a way to look at my results. The few times I have loaded and reviewed my rides, I'm left more confused than ever. Garmin Connect does what I need and I'm content. I'll stick with it.

I heard on the GCN Show it drops in two weeks .

seems pretty simple...either it's worth it to you or it isn't. however you decide to interface with it-or don't, the tech goalposts are always moving away from you...
choose/utilize/maximize another app/provider that supplies what you need/want and hope/pray it's cheaper and endures.

That is actually pretty helpful, thanks. I will dig into it more this weekend, I have a long one coming up.

that’s an absurd reply. Do better.