krobinson103

I've used mine screen on for 12 hours plus. The secret is to have a booster battery topping it up. $30-$40 will get you one these days, You can even get a solar powered 5000mah battery booster not much bigger than the phone itself. I've also used a small 12v power source running through a usb converter for a car. Lots of options for keeping the phone going.

NMBuff

Google could definitely replicate what Strava has done. However, if they were to ever buy Strava it's because cyclists are already users of the system, including yours truly. I don't want to have to "migrate" to Google+ when all of my riding buddies are using Strava while I'm on G+.

Hiro11

Smartphone in the back pocket, cheap Cateye on the bars. Most people are already carrying their phone anyway.This is a better point. I find this hard to believe.

Overall, I think Strava is the tip of the iceberg for what's possible with this type of app. Live tracking, better group management / social features, training route tracking, virtual racing / tortoise & hare, decentralized challenges / randoneur, crash sensing and automated emergency contact, blue tooth linkage to small handlebar devices etc, etc, etc. Given the generality of a smartphone's function and the fact that a large numebr of people already own one, there's so much you could do.

RT

To get HR data, you need no more than you need for a Garmin unit. I use the Polar Wearlink+. Smartphone if you don't need to see your data live, Garmin if you do.

I got sidtracked too, as this thread is about Strava. AFAIK, Strava is a post-ride tool unless you are using the app, so the argument is moot. How one collects the data is whole nother thread.

Cactuskid

Edge 500 - upload to strava, follow some riders in my club...I like map interface better in RIDEGPS... but club uses strava sooo...don't care to use smartphone for rides

X-LinkedRider

I can honestly say, strava is such a motivational tool and it always keeps me wanting to ride more, for longer and go faster. Even gets me to ride 25-30 miles when there is snow on the ground. This shot is from my ride this afternoon.

thisisbenji

This.

THSdrummer

I can understand your friends point of view, but it may be a bit extreme. If people want to have fun with the Strava segments, I don't have an issue with it. Unless I need a workout for the day, I personally won't participate in the segments.

I prefer in-person competition though.

X-LinkedRider

The segments are a double edge sword. Sometimes you have to avoid trying to climb the segment leaderboard to save the rest of the ride. Also I find that some people will ride out just to beat on a segment and then go home. Makes it pretty hard for people doing 30+ miles before or after a segment to try and keep up. Not to mention certain people you know sit in a car with their garmin on and blow up the segment.

To the second point, there isn't always somebody around in person and trying to improve on certain sections might be what I am after sometimes.

thisisbenji

It's pretty easy to tell if somebody was in their car with a Garmin since you can typically view the rest of their ride. The thing that I believe makes segments useless is the wind, no two days are the same. Different conditions can lead to drastically different times. I know for a fact that every leader board I'm at the top of or close to the top was due to it being extremely windy out.

roadCruiser76

Everyone always points out the difference that the wind makes, and this is certainly true to a point. However, when you have a segment that has been ridden a large number of times, eventually the wind factor cancels out as a large number of people will have ridden the segment with favorable winds. So, when the segment is new the people who do it on a day with a stiff tailwind get the advantage, but eventually a stronger rider is going to hit the segment when he has a tailwind too, and will probably get the KOM. Where I live it is fairly common to have a windy day so any rider who wants to tackle a particular segment wouldn't have to wait too long until a day comes with favorable winds.

RT

Like I said - wind on Strava is like padding your golf score. It may all be relative, but not at all representative of how strong of a rider you are.

roadCruiser76

Well at least in my case I have power and heart rate data posted also, so others can see if I truly "earned" the segment.

maxine

Rain . . .

I love my Samsung Galaxy SIII to death, and it has some awesome navigational features, but when it rides with me, it's double bagged in Ziplocs. I guess I could always try one of those deep-sea-diving phone cases . . . But I'd rather just rely on a unit that's designed to take some all-weather abuse.

somedood

Strava is a great motivational tool for me. It makes segments so easy to track, and when I get a PR on a segment it lets me know right away. I can see my training progress throughout the season and compare it to the previous year with really little effort, and my riding/racing buddies can see the progress we are all making. It is a great site. The KOM stuff is really cool, and times are obviously relative for that segment only. I like seeing how fast strong riders are.

I have my phone in a ziploc baggie for sweat protection while in a jersey pocket. I tried using another cyclometer for realtime data, and my phone for data logging only but I didn't get all the information I wanted real-time. By the time I added a HR monitor and cadence sensor I get much worse battery life, a larger device and a worse screen than a garmin 500 for close to the same price. Another advantage is that I don't have to worry about it locking up (so far at least) and the GPS is more accurate than on my particular smartphone (samsung galaxy s 4). I don't have to have data for the GPS to lock either, but I do have my phone send my GPS location every 5 mins to google latitude so my wife knows where I am.

The garmin is a specialized device, and a smartphone is more general purpose. For some it works well, but for with the type of time I spend on the bike from both commuting and training the garmin has worked out much better for me than the phone did. Some people that want a larger screen like the garmin 800 might be ok with a smartphone that has a really, really big battery.

kaiserboy

+1

thisisbenji

I see where you are coming from and I suppose it depends on where you live. Here in Illinois we have some pretty huge varieties of different wind directions, that are normally pretty strong. The wind is so strong that all of our local rides are on roads that run through wind farms. The problem is that the wind isn't usually a tail wind as it changes directions frequently.

So yes, over time it will probably balance it's self out, but it makes it hard to use the segment times as any sort of comparison because you don't know how fast the wind speed was when the current KoM was set.

For example, if I set a KoM with 30 MPH winds, but my buddy beats it with 20 MPH winds, then who did more work?

Dunbar

I just started using Strava mainly to track mileage. But I do like the ability to access rides later from a computer and how easy it is to share a ride summary with others. Between the pros, ringers and cheats here in SoCal I doubt I'll ever get a KoM

tctdvm

Strava (well GPS) changed the way I ride and 'track' my fitness.
I used to leave my house, get settled in, reset the cheap Strada Cadence CPU and HAMMER! all the way till I slammed on my brakes in the driveway to stop the clock. My Ave speed at the end was all I had.
When I started using Strava, I would warm up a bit first, and then hit Segments hard. More like interval training.
Now I ride with a PT so I'm much more conscious of targeting power.

I like Strava all around. Mostly social.

I find guys that share similar times with me on the hill segments, closely match my Watts:Kilo. Many of the athletes I ride with now are a direct result of 'planting a seed' on Strava first and then proving myself on actual rides.


Up hills is all that matters to me, so I think wind is a non-issue. TTT'ing is just as dumb as a tail wind.. no one ever complains about that.
Besides, the fact that the wind shifts around gives the local athletes an edge. Some other sites have built in a handicap for local riders. I think the wind takes care of that.



People get all worked up when someone takes a KOM from them. I get excited. Especially when they live near me... New Riding Partner!

T

tctdvm

Also, I work for myself, so I am a slave to my clients. That means I can rarely plan ahead or sign up for races more than a day in advance. Strava lets me hit some of the race routes when I can and still be 'seen' by the other riders I know. Obviously not the same, but nice to be involved virtually at least.

T

Jandro 

OP, your friend sounds like a prick. Riding in the Bay Area and being a frequent user of Strava, I can tell you with 100% confidence that the cyclists around here that are on the top of the leader boards are anything but 'wimps who are too afraid to race'. Maybe he'd like to go tell that to Ted King and see how that goes over. The cycling community and racing community here is strong and Strava is a fantastic tool for self-improvement, self-motivation, and finding friends.

Sounds like your friend regards cycling as a job, which is silly unless he is actually getting paid to do it. I ride with lots of cat 1-4 racers and they all agree that a) riding bikes should be fun b) Strava is awesome and c) people who take racing too seriously are annoying.

Seattle Forrest

I've never used Strava. I just go out and ride my bike.

Hiro11

I'm not sure I take your point. Almost all of the KOMs I've personally set or seen set were set with a strong tailwind. This is no one's "fault", it just happens naturally. Steep climbing segments (of which there are very few here in suburban Chicago) are the exception. Also, I've seen a fair number of KOMs set by people who were drafting. The point is that KOMs are fun but basically meaningless as a guage of who put forth the best effort over a given course.

mprelaw

I can get well over 6 hours of battery life out of my phone using Strava, if I start with a full charge.

The problem with the android app is that it's notoriously inaccurate. I've done rides with others using Garmins, and have found up to a 2 mph (slower, of course) discrepancy in speed, and up to 1000' of climbing. Same route, same time, in a group the whole way. Even when my wife and I ride together at her pace, using our own phones, which are identical model Sprint LGs, she's faster than me, and outclimbs me.

RT

Having previously owned a Garmin Edge 500, I found that the problem isn't in the hardware, it is in how the app interprets the data. You can upload a TCX or GPX to Garmin Connect, Strava, SportyPal, Endomondo, Sports Tracker and get different numbers on all of them. No two will match.