Thanks. This is a very well-reasoned response.

What choo talking about Willis? 100+?

I find it curious that you think the speeds are "slow" given that it's dominated by actual pro racers during an actual pro race, although I bet they'd be faster if that were the only 9 miles they rode that day. It's about 2x anything I could put out as is, that's for sure. It is kind of fun to see just how much faster those guys are on a road I know reasonably well.

Strava's just a fun addition to cycling (for some), it's certainly not the end-all.

I can kinda of agree that Strava weeds out a lot of non-serious riders, as well as really serious riders, who would rather just ride for fun, or track metrics with a better system.

I also think Strava allows you to set your segments as public and private so when you ride you can compare or keep secret your times. From this i would say that a lot of the people making there times public are people who think they are quick (some probably are) and the slow people probably don't want to be last so they keep it private.

So if you look at this as a whole they greats and casual/don't know about strava/don't care about tracking get chopped and your left with middle class riders who use strava, and inside that you get a lot of people not sharing times which i would think is because the times aren't competitive, leaving only the faster strava users.

That's how i would look at this anyway, there is a good chance I am wrong.

EDIT: I just thought of this as well, segments don't need to be ridden as a whole ride either, so you can have guys who show up and ride only that segment for the specifics of getting a good time on the board, and then you can have guys who have that segment as part of a whole 100km ride. That would really skew times and speeds too.

I think you are over-thinking this. Strava defaults to public view. So unless you manually go in and make a ride/segment private it's there for anybody to see. I think it's like Facebook, many people don't realize their photos are there for anybody with a Facebook account to see unless you make them private (which very few people do.)

As far as serious vs. non-serious I see lots of amateur racers at the top of the segment leader boards here in Los Angeles.

Strava doping, not even once..

I am not too proud to admit that I've done that myself. It's all for ****s and giggles.

I have a segment set up on the park by my house. Its a half mile loop with a nice straight, some kinda twisty bits, and some uphill on the other side. Its good for mindless laps at lunchtime. I'm a novice rider and my KOM was like 2:01 or something like that.

Some dude came in and set a 1:35 on it on Friday. I mean, come on man. Did you honestly go out of your way to get that KOM on this park? Oh, wait, you have something like 200+ achievements. /sigh

well...what's wrong with that? Isn't that kind of the point of the site? I'll go and hunt down some segments on occasion...not only does it get me out exploring unfamiliar terrain, but it provides structure (of sorts) and entertainment to my training.

If I got my jollies on Strava instead of triathlon, that is exactly what I would do. I'd identify local segments with relatively low KOMs, train on it, wait until a favorable wind day, then go out and take it.

I love when I go toodling along, get home and log my miles and see that some losers are busting ass for a KOM on a skinny, winding, pedestrian-filled MUP along side a creek. On the whole, I like Strava and think that it's got some great things going for it, but some people take it too seriously.

This makes me giggle. I use Strava, but I'm literally the only (and I mean only) person using it for cycling within a 40 mile radius. I live in NW Iowa and I'd have to drive 82 miles round trip to get to the nearest segment that isn't mine.

So you have all the KOM's, eh?

That fella has some nerve.

Well...I definitely don't do this. What I mean is, I just look for segments that are around where I want to train, and plan the route around them. If it's my Thursday fun ride, or maybe my Tuesday sprinting day, I'll meter my efforts so that I can go particularly hard on those segments and see how I do.

The real value in this approach is that generally well-traveled segments are also on roads that are good for cycling, so I get a little local insight into some potential new routes. I like to avoid heavy traffic, for example.

I ignore all downhill segments though, and those that require running stop signs. There are quite a few of those, and it kinda makes me wonder who's taking such silly chances for something so pointless.

Commodus makes a good point. It's led me to find some nice routes that I wouldn't have otherwise known.

https://app.strava.com/segments/2638796

This is a weak little downhill here, but it carries on a while and you can get some good speed on it...well it runs under the interstate, where there are two lights, for the on and off ramp. If you catch those green lights you can fly, but then the whole thing ends at a redlight too. I'm not willing to blow two lights at full speed to get this KOM.

Why would anyone care for a KOM on a downhill?

I just use Strava for tracking miles. There's a lot of riders down in the area, but there's also a lot of this https://app.strava.com/segments/3253104 (ridiculous speeds with unmatched HR, and that "-1.8%" downhill is before a long straight flat) so I don't pay attention to most of it. It's all in fun though I guess.

Because downhill riding is a special skill.

Fast is fast.

Seems pointless to me, but the only Strava segments where I am even close to a KOM are downhills.

I'm using MapMyRide. There are far too many testosterone driven racers on Strava, so I've not joined as a result. While I care about comparing my performance to my previous rides over time, I'm not very interested in comparing myself to the average roadie. So long as I can keep pace on a century or complete a brevet, I'm good.

I'm slow as hell and I use Strava.

i have used strava in the past on occasion. i have a few kom's, but really i don't see much appeal due to limited power analysis (even the new fancy pants stuff is weak compared to wko+ or GC, and this one would coast me money unlike GC). i would post more, but i don't always want to post up my power files. simple stuff, no reason giving away how fat i am

edit: kom's like this ain't fun https://app.strava.com/activities/18208271#332016149