Strava Summit

[Stretch]

They've even taken away the little summary of how many km's of activities you've done in the week. It really has become pointless. I still use it to track my equipment usage though

[The Ouzo]

They've even taken away the little summary of how many km's of activities you've done in the week. It really has become pointless. I still use it to track my equipment usage though

there really is space in the market for an independent platform that allows you to store all your ride info in the cloud with tools or the ability to add tools that allow all sorts of drill down into the data.

 

I moved to Strava because it was the closest thing to what I needed/wanted when it came to data storage and having tools/addons/plugins that could analyse my data.

[Skubarra]

there really is space in the market for an independent platform that allows you to store all your ride info in the cloud with tools or the ability to add tools that allow all sorts of drill down into the data.

 

I moved to Strava because it was the closest thing to what I needed/wanted when it came to data storage and having tools/addons/plugins that could analyse my data.

 

You mean a space in the market of people who want that feature without paying for it...

[ChrisF]

At the risk of sounding stoopid, but does that mean I need to go spend more cash on purchasing a Garmin device? I only use Polar at present, and although it is fine (for now), I am not wanting to blow a wad of cash on another recording device.

 

Actually I found the Polar website BETTER than GC ...    

 

 

Just hated how long the Polar watch took to lock onto the satelites .... 

 

 

 

In fact, if anything, my post raises the question of the sanity of buying into a single brand ... right now Lyzene seams to offer theeeee best value for money.  Next year Polar may be back on top.  Some may say Garmin has most sales purely due to Vitalty .... in this ever changing game that can change any day .....

 

 

So I agree in terms of Strava having lost their edge.

 

But also not sure of the long term answer for an independant (non-brand) way of storing our data.

[ChrisF]

You mean a space in the market of people who want that feature without paying for it...

 

For better or worse, this is the nature of the electronic era ....

 

Create something new, or significantly better than the opposition .... then make it available to the masses ..... get them hooked ..... sponsor some "influencers" to get more subscriptions .... then when you have critical mass, you add a subscription model for "extra functions", which was free the day before .... and every so often some free option magically migrate to to add value to the paid model ....

 

Some would say The Hub has taken the first baby steps on this road ....

 

Get your timing right and you can make some money ....

 

Get your timing wrong and people jump ship to the next  start-up .....

 

 

 

It must suck to be a developer ..... users have SO many options .....

[Dicky DQ]

I just reverted back to the free (read worthless) version of Strava after having the Summit subscription for the last 2 years after my subs expired and I have not renewed again. Honestly, I am struggling to see the point of using strava at all if not on the Summit version. The free version has just about buggerall that makes me want to keep using it.  

 

Now, I am not using to hunt KOM's etc. (I'm too fat and slow for that, unless I am going in a gravity assisted direction...) but I have been using to follow metrics such as annual goal progress, fitness scores etc. (again, I am fully aware that other, better apps exist) but I just found Strava to be the most convenient of the lot. Now, I need to sync to strava, but the app is worthless w.r.t. the stats I want to see, so that means switching to my pc, and then viewing Elevate App and Polar Flow to see the stats I previously saw in one place.

 

I'll wait it out to the end of the month to decide if renewing is on the cards again. As for Flyby's ja I found it mildly interesting, but I won't miss it.

 

My gripe if that the free version (from what it was prior to me using Summit) is now so devalued I am surprised that people use it at all. It is a mere shadow of its former self. Pity.

You get what you pay for. How do you expect something for nothing?

 

That said. I use the free version and Elevate (the old Stravastix) as well as Intervals.ICU what more do you want for logging training and training.

 

Both give me my training calendar, fitness and freshness etc.

 

Unless you are a yuppie wanting to spend screen time on nothing. 

 

Edit: Golden Cheetah is free and gives way much info

Edited October 19, 2020 by TDFN

[Skubarra]

For better or worse, this is the nature of the electronic era ....

 

Create something new, or significantly better than the opposition .... then make it available to the masses ..... get them hooked ..... sponsor some "influencers" to get more subscriptions .... then when you have critical mass, you add a subscription model for "extra functions", which was free the day before .... and every so often some free option magically migrate to to add value to the paid model ....

 

Some would say The Hub has taken the first baby steps on this road ....

 

Get your timing right and you can make some money ....

 

Get your timing wrong and people jump ship to the next  start-up .....

 

 

 

It must suck to be a developer ..... users have SO many options .....

 

The feature that hooked me and convinced me to pay was live segments. Makes my solo training rides far more interesting and rewarding when I'm chasing some goal (only very occasionally that goal is a KOM). Happy to pay for that, if some other free app also offer that I might consider dropping Strava.

[The Ouzo]

You mean a space in the market of people who want that feature without paying for it...

Firstly let me just state that I’ve this month handed over my R600 to Strava as my subs expired.

 

But to answer your question, yes and no.

 

For many years I used Cyclemeter to capture my rides, basic analysis was free, the they came out with elite subs that gave you more analysis. I had 3 problems with Cyclemeter

1) data was stored on your phone, thus not always backed up.

2) no web version

3) I want to analyze my data the way I want, not what you think I want.

 

So Strava was suggested to me.

At first I resisted, but I eventually I got hooked on segments.

But I liked the fact that there are plugins like intervals.icu and statshunter and various others so you can analyze data as you like.

 

I understand why they brought in the subscriptions, I just think they charge to much and crippling the free version was poor form.

[Kom]

I prefer the route tool on strava (to Garmin Connect) as well as having segments sync to my wahoo. I use elevate too, but chrome plugins mean you need to use your desktop to analyse your fitness, strava makes it easy on mobile. Then there is the training calendar etc if strava could make workouts from their plans syncable with wahoo (like with training peaks), strava would be a total one stop shop in the wahoo-verse. I think R599 a year is quite reasonable for what the product does. Flybys as a feature was cool for 5min when it launched 7yrs ago, I really didn’t see its value myself.

[Albatross]

The Flyby function is still there, its just been reset to a new default to protect your privacy.

 

Check your privacy settings to make sure that "Everybody" is selected for your Flyby preferences. If you select "Nobody" then the Flyby feature will not work for you. 

 

edit: only problem is just about everyone is on the new default of "nobody" so there are very few flybys to be seen.

Edited October 19, 2020 by Albatross

[Skubarra]

Flybys as a feature was cool for 5min when it launched 7yrs ago, I really didn’t see its value myself.

 

I like the Flyby's of races I did. Find it interesting to see who you passed or passed you along the way, where you made up time/lost some time, who got dropped from the bunch, who did the breakaway and how long it stuck, who sat at the back the whole race before heroically sprinting for the finish, who punctured etc. Tells you a lot about what happened around you while you were staring at the wheel in front of you trying to hang on.

 

But yes, now useless with the new default setting.

[Frosty]

Flybys is useful, for me, once or twice per year - when some participants think they were hard done by in their respective categories of either the MTB or Road race. They claim they were in one of the positions that allows them to claim a prize, yet the timing chip and race officials failed to pick them up on the line. That's where Flybys works well, especially when they claim they finished ahead of the winner.

 

It also helps if there's a query about someone taking a short cut. A DQ is easier to justify to the person when they took a short cut. But I don't need a premium account for that.

 

The premium account is nice to plan routes on, then export and import to GC or Komoot, especially with the StatsHunters/Veloviewer grid overlay. Makes finding those un-ridden tiles easier to find and plan a ride over that specific tile.

 

I also enjoy uploading routes to Rouvy, then riding it (virtually), or riding someone else's route like I did in lockdown (some StravArt). 

[Robbie Stewart]

You get what you pay for. How do you expect something for nothing?

 

That said. I use the free version and Elevate (the old Stravastix) as well as Intervals.ICU what more do you want for logging training and training.

 

Both give me my training calendar, fitness and freshness etc.

 

Unless you are a yuppie wanting to spend screen time on nothing. 

 

Edit: Golden Cheetah is free and gives way much info

 

I do not expect something for nothing. That is the reason I had a 2 year subscription to Summit despite not being a pro or an athlete that 'needs' the data I got from there.

 

My question was purely now that my subscription lapsed, I have not renewed yet and then noticed that since I started using summit, it seems that all the free version functionality has migrated behind the paywall. Now that I am back on the free version, there is nothing that would make me want to stay.

 

If I wanted the data I now have 2 options;

 

A) Pay for Summit again, or 

 

B) Pay for a competitor's product, i.e. TrainingPeaks, Today's Plan etc.

 

I also use Elevate, Intervals.ICU and StatsHunter and they give me a holistic picture, but the convenience of seeing at least some data on the Strava free version was still there. Now, I cannot even see basic things like how I performed on the PB I achieved today for example. 

 

And yes, I do understand the Software Development Lifecycle since I work in that environment. I am just basically annoyed as a end-user that what little functionality there once was has now also been hamstrung by a paywall. Although I understand what Strava is trying to achieve, my interpretation of their intent is as follows:

 

Pay for using our product, or piss off.

[Robbie Stewart]

Actually I found the Polar website BETTER than GC ...    

 

 

Just hated how long the Polar watch took to lock onto the satelites .... 

 

 

 

In fact, if anything, my post raises the question of the sanity of buying into a single brand ... right now Lyzene seams to offer theeeee best value for money.  Next year Polar may be back on top.  Some may say Garmin has most sales purely due to Vitalty .... in this ever changing game that can change any day .....

 

 

So I agree in terms of Strava having lost their edge.

 

But also not sure of the long term answer for an independant (non-brand) way of storing our data.

 

 

Ja look, I am not interested in keeping more than one device. I am at the early stages of having to consider a replacement for my Polar V800 which has served me well over the last 5 years or so. I am considering what else is available, but the Garmin Fenix watches are eyewatering expensive. So the jury is still out to consider alternatives.

 

My main gripe at the moment is how these tech companies are approaching the whole data issue. I am a firm believer that the data is mine, but it seems that Strava et al disagree with me on that front, even making our accumalated data available to interested parties such as city planning to use it as they see fit.

 

I am NOT a fan of that idea.

[marcfr]

Even the summit version is not what it was.

Waste of time.

 

Now that Zwift is accepted on Strava nobody goes out to ride as all Swift data is allowed on Strava and is registered on challenges. Riders getting phenomenal distance and elevation and some doing up to 170 rides for the month. Most of the top positions on leaderboards are there because of Zwift. By all means have Zwift leaderboards but don't mix with actual rubber on the road rides.

 

Would never pay for Summit.

What is even more strange is that some people upload the same Zwift ride from Zwift and from another device such as Garmin and then both count towards the leaderboards!

[porqui]

What is even more strange is that some people upload the same Zwift ride from Zwift and from another device such as Garmin and then both count towards the leaderboards!

 

That has been happening on actual rides for a very long time. People use their phone and their device(garmin etc) and upload both to Strava and "double" everything.