As Strava hates e-bikes....

fenwick458

Active member
Oct 6, 2020
295
187
Cumbria
Ended up creating all my own ebike ones. I find Strava really helps with my fitness, tracking how I'm riding so I push myself harder to beat my best times puhing beyond the limiter.

The ebike MTB segments are a bit of a joke though, as some of the riders are de-restricted so hard to really compare your times against others, just against yourself.

Yeah I have found a couple local to me where the KOM's average speed is 35km/hr up hill for 3-4 minutes. I'd be interested to see what sort of ebike (and rider) can do that!!
even if there wasn't derestricted riders, theres a whole load of motor power outputs and settings it makes comparing very hard. only ones worth looking at are the downhills
 

Tubby G

❤️‍🔥 Hot Stuff ❤️‍🔥
Dec 15, 2020
2,696
5,421
North Yorkshire
It’s fun to just post a ride in the normal section and see how long it stays ?

View attachment 55659

I have a confession to make. I’ve used Strava since it’s humble beginnings and watched it grow into this competitive virtual segment & KOM race app which IMO was mainly by the road bike crew. I use Strava mostly as a diary to log activities and I’m actually quite fascinated by the gps patterns you can create, max speeds & elevations

Anyway, I log all my motorbike rides in Strava. I’d often finish a days ride with around 50+ KOM’s shortly followed by multiple notifications for flagged rides, which just made me laugh. I thoroughly enjoyed upsetting the competitive road bikers

My favourite was the Tour De Yorkshire. After the event they would put on a sportive day where all the amateur road bikers would do the course. The morning after the sportive I did the route on my motorbike. I gained myself over 140 KOM’s that day shortly followed after by days & days of complaints. Oh how I laughed

I finally gave up recording motorbike rides as ‘cycling’ on Strava and switched them to ebike rides instead as I figured no one would be bothered about that. They weren’t, until around a couple of years ago, and I started getting rides flagged by keen ebikers, complaining I’d taken their KOM on a motorbike

If I record a motorbike ride now I save it as private, so I’m no longer upsetting anyone
 

Bravestarr

Member
Apr 26, 2019
38
78
Fife, Scotland
I have a confession to make. I’ve used Strava since it’s humble beginnings and watched it grow into this competitive virtual segment & KOM race app which IMO was mainly by the road bike crew. I use Strava mostly as a diary to log activities and I’m actually quite fascinated by the gps patterns you can create, max speeds & elevations

Anyway, I log all my motorbike rides in Strava. I’d often finish a days ride with around 50+ KOM’s shortly followed by multiple notifications for flagged rides, which just made me laugh. I thoroughly enjoyed upsetting the competitive road bikers

My favourite was the Tour De Yorkshire. After the event they would put on a sportive day where all the amateur road bikers would do the course. The morning after the sportive I did the route on my motorbike. I gained myself over 140 KOM’s that day shortly followed after by days & days of complaints. Oh how I laughed

I finally gave up recording motorbike rides as ‘cycling’ on Strava and switched them to ebike rides instead as I figured no one would be bothered about that. They weren’t, until around a couple of years ago, and I started getting rides flagged by keen ebikers, complaining I’d taken their KOM on a motorbike

If I record a motorbike ride now I save it as private, so I’m no longer upsetting anyone

Don't take this the wrong way but what a royal prat you are!
 

Tubby G

❤️‍🔥 Hot Stuff ❤️‍🔥
Dec 15, 2020
2,696
5,421
North Yorkshire
Don't take this the wrong way but what a royal prat you are!

Haha don’t worry, I’m not easily offended. I said it was a confession

My dislike for Strava ‘competitiveness’ was born from living near a particularly fast ‘segment’ which my young boys used to walk home from school on. A downhill route that road bikers would be clocking up 40+ mph on to gain their KOM. They wouldn’t stop for traffic lights, or for children crossing the road, just to get their Strava KOM

My revenge was a childish game of taking their KOM’s - at the end of the day Strava is just a free app, yet people take it so seriously
 

7869hodgy

Well-known member
Jul 15, 2020
395
628
Reading
I've never used Strava ..and never will ..just as I've never used Facebook / Twitter / Snapchat ..etc ..
This forum, WhatsApp & Viewranger ( I don't share & don't follow) are the only social media platforms I use ..and that suits me just fine ..I don't really care how fast I get up a hill ..as long as I get up the hill..and if you can get up there quicker..well I'm happy for you

I started using Strava early doors. 5 of us were training for a South Downs Way ride and it was great tool to see improvement in fitness/segments times and also was a platform for us to congratulate each other or berate each other for not training enough.

Getting a KOM is a hit of dopamine in the moment and means nothing in reality other than you’ve had a good ride that day.

I think it is good to have KOMS to aim for but sometimes they are impossible to achieve for one reason or another so just knowing you’ve beaten your own time should be enough.

Sad to hear it causes conflict, something I find hard to understand.

It’s a cause of banter amongst my mates but that’s it.
 

Hamina

E*POWAH Master
Mar 22, 2020
500
396
FIN
I have a confession to make. I’ve used Strava since it’s humble beginnings and watched it grow into this competitive virtual segment & KOM race app which IMO was mainly by the road bike crew. I use Strava mostly as a diary to log activities and I’m actually quite fascinated by the gps patterns you can create, max speeds & elevations

Anyway, I log all my motorbike rides in Strava. I’d often finish a days ride with around 50+ KOM’s shortly followed by multiple notifications for flagged rides, which just made me laugh. I thoroughly enjoyed upsetting the competitive road bikers

What you have done is just pure stupidity.

It's different to ride passively with wrong activity for own purposes but to actively and public using wrong category to mess with some ranking doesn't make sense. If you have problem on someone trying to achieve something on some random internet based application e.g. Strava then keep it as your own business.

Contact your local officials if there's some traffic safety related problems.
 
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Tubby G

❤️‍🔥 Hot Stuff ❤️‍🔥
Dec 15, 2020
2,696
5,421
North Yorkshire
What you have done is just pure stupidity.

It's different to ride passively with wrong activity for own purposes but to actively and public using wrong category to mess with some ranking doesn't make sense. If you have problem on someone trying to achieve something on some random internet based application e.g. Strava then keep it as your own business.

Contact your local officials if there's some traffic safety related problems.

As I said, it was a confession, and I was using Strava long before they added the segments and KOM’s. It’s only a free app, not really something to be upset about is it

I did write to Strava and ask them to include a section for powered vehicles, and their reply was that it would encourage people to break speed limits so they couldn’t! Contradicts the fact that push bikes were clocking up illegal speeds

There are no similar apps to use for motorbikes for plotting gps routes, so now we have to set activities to private so as not to upset the die hard competitive types that want to fixate on KOMs. I’d say that’s stupid
 

Tubby G

❤️‍🔥 Hot Stuff ❤️‍🔥
Dec 15, 2020
2,696
5,421
North Yorkshire
As I said, it was a confession, and I was using Strava long before they added the segments and KOM’s. It’s only a free app, not really something to be upset about is it

I did write to Strava and ask them to include a section for powered vehicles, and their reply was that it would encourage people to break speed limits so they couldn’t! Contradicts the fact that push bikes were clocking up illegal speeds

There are no similar apps to use for motorbikes for plotting gps routes, so now we have to set activities to private so as not to upset the die hard competitive types that want to fixate on KOMs. I’d say that’s stupid

Strava have sorted it now anyway, they charge a subscription if you want to use it in a competitive manner to see your leaderboard data and KOM’s. For everyone else, it’s still just a free gps tracking app
 

jimbob

Active member
Aug 3, 2020
523
433
East UK
I like using strava as a way of tracking mileage and altitude I've done. It also links to another app I use which keeps a track of component life (a bit sad possibly, but I like data!).

Cant care too much about KoMs, although occasionally interesting to see where I rank. Its never high though...
 

Jimbo Vills

E*POWAH Master
Subscriber
May 15, 2020
805
1,429
Kent
There are no similar apps to use for motorbikes for plotting gps routes, so now we have to set activities to private so as not to upset the die hard competitive types that want to fixate on KOMs. I’d say that’s stupid

Have a look at calimoto I haven't used this as don't ride on the road these days but my pal rates it...
 

Tubby G

❤️‍🔥 Hot Stuff ❤️‍🔥
Dec 15, 2020
2,696
5,421
North Yorkshire
Just so you know too, there’s hundreds of segments that have been created for motorbikes on Strava, but under ‘e-mtb’ category. There’s a one mile stretch of dual carriageway near me where the KOM is at around 23 seconds which is around 140mph ish. A guy on a ZXR holds that one

Another famous route near me is the Helmsley TT. A wonderful stretch of road through the North Yorkshire Moors to Stokesley. Unfortunately this one is quite dangerous and there are many accidents on this route per year. Guys are racing and recording on Strava all the time. I don’t participate in any of that, I call that stupid
 

MrSimmo

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Apr 24, 2020
1,096
1,047
The Trail.
Present company excluded, I find Strava just full of roadie and KOM swinging jobsworths. I did a few rides on my Ebike when I got it (set in ebike mode on Strava) - it saved the rides, promptly made them public although I'd set the setting to keep private. Within hours endless complaints from KOM holders, who I'd never met, about cheating and formal complaints to Strava to look into rides. Those knobs then started arguing amongst themselves in the comments about how each other was cheating and how they were taking special substances to beat others. I only logged the ride so I'd remember the route as it was a good one!

Fast forward few months and a female friend of mine found out that some weirdo was stalking her by finding out where she was riding regularly and then started "accidentally" appearing on each of her solo rides. She's dumped use of the platform as a result. Yes she could have made the rides private but public/private doesn't seem to work 100% on Strava.

Fast forward again to finding out that Strava dont encrypt data on their platform and dont provide multi-factor authentication (something which is pretty much a must do for health/location data), then a massive increase in thieves using the platform to find locations of equipment storage...

Needless to say I dumped it.
 

Tubby G

❤️‍🔥 Hot Stuff ❤️‍🔥
Dec 15, 2020
2,696
5,421
North Yorkshire
Present company excluded, I find Strava just full of roadie and KOM swinging jobsworths. I did a few rides on my Ebike when I got it (set in ebike mode on Strava) - it saved the rides, promptly made them public although I'd set the setting to keep private. Within hours endless complaints from KOM holders, who I'd never met, about cheating and formal complaints to Strava to look into rides. Those knobs then started arguing amongst themselves in the comments about how each other was cheating and how they were taking special substances to beat others. I only logged the ride so I'd remember the route as it was a good one!

Fast forward few months and a female friend of mine found out that some weirdo was stalking her by finding out where she was riding regularly and then started "accidentally" appearing on each of her solo rides. She's dumped use of the platform as a result. Yes she could have made the rides private but public/private doesn't seem to work 100% on Strava.

Fast forward again to finding out that Strava dont encrypt data on their platform and dont provide multi-factor authentication (something which is pretty much a must do for health/location data), then a massive increase in thieves using the platform to find locations of equipment storage...

Needless to say I dumped it.

Yes my GF has attracted a few ‘stalkers’ on Strava, one even messaged her on messenger app which was a bit weird and worrying
 

Zimmerframe

MUPPET
Subscriber
Jun 12, 2019
14,028
20,818
Brittany, France
Uh oh .. looks like we're getting Strava SPAM now ... either that or young ladies are stalking me .... Spam it is then ..

Screenshot 2021-03-18 at 09.56.57.png
 

Tubby G

❤️‍🔥 Hot Stuff ❤️‍🔥
Dec 15, 2020
2,696
5,421
North Yorkshire
And by coincidence, on a short ride I did yesterday, which I happened to gain a 4th place KOM (woo hoo but I seriously don’t care) the guy that holds the KOM, which I did in 2 mins 37 at an average of 12.5mph, did it in 25 seconds at a speed of 79mph

Here’s his activity, with a top speed of 100mph (Sorry Geoff Kelley - I don’t know you and I’m not shaming you, in fact I think you’re a top geezer and will give you a high five if I ever meet you in this virtual Strava world!)

42AC490B-19DB-4981-94E8-5B607ACA86B4.jpeg
 

Zimmerframe

MUPPET
Subscriber
Jun 12, 2019
14,028
20,818
Brittany, France
Looks like he forgot to stop his strava and then didn't crop his ride .. 150km's with peaks of 160kph would be one hell of a battery and a hell of a set of legs ..

Screenshot 2021-03-18 at 12.41.41.png

Screenshot 2021-03-18 at 12.42.01.png


Jumped in the car after about 25kms.

You should "comment" him and ask him to crop it .. I know you've done it in the past, but I'm not sure why people record their bike/car trips on strava - he was doing 100mph .. so literally is presenting the GPS evidence to the police that he was speeding !

Or you could just flag it as "partly in vehicle" but it takes strava months to deal with flags at the moment. He looks keen and is a fellow emtber so it would be fairer to comment than flag.
 

Tubby G

❤️‍🔥 Hot Stuff ❤️‍🔥
Dec 15, 2020
2,696
5,421
North Yorkshire
Looks like he forgot to stop his strava and then didn't crop his ride .. 150km's with peaks of 160kph would be one hell of a battery and a hell of a set of legs ..

View attachment 55953
View attachment 55954

Jumped in the car after about 25kms.

You should "comment" him and ask him to crop it .. I know you've done it in the past, but I'm not sure why people record their bike/car trips on strava - he was doing 100mph .. so literally is presenting the GPS evidence to the police that he was speeding !

Or you could just flag it as "partly in vehicle" but it takes strava months to deal with flags at the moment. He looks keen and is a fellow emtber so it would be fairer to comment than flag.

Well analysed. I just presumed he jumped on his motorbike and had a blast to Guisborough and back. I can’t speak for all motorbikers, but many now hide their activities for exactly the reason that their activities are now being noticed by road (push) bikers who get pissy about KOM’s being taken and reporting them. Last thing anyone wants is online evidence of unlawful speeds

I really don’t understand why people are so protective over Strava and KOM’s - it’s just a free app, available to everyone and anyone. There are no ‘rules’. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest if a KOM is taken by a motorbike, a horse rider, a tractor driver, a jet fighter (that reminds me I had a ride flagged once when I recorded a flight from Turkey to Leeds :LOL: )

I suppose we’re all different though and some people take life very seriously
 

Zimmerframe

MUPPET
Subscriber
Jun 12, 2019
14,028
20,818
Brittany, France
I really don’t understand why people are so protective over Strava and KOM’s
I guess for most of us it's just a social way to see where you've been and share the experiences with friends, or see what friends are upto in other places/countries. It's also a cool way to see pictures from around the world ! I also like it to track if my technique is improving (or if I'm developing a technique .. :) )

But a lot of people take it seriously, probably stemming from a roadie historic thing ? Some people work their arses off for those KOM's, so they've earned them - for them it's an achievement from sweat and tears - so understandable that for them, it's not reasonable if someone cheats. It's their passion - so it has value in their lives.

As you say, we're all different and see things differently. We're all human, so ultimately bias and dumb and will only see things from our perspective, because that's what our lives and experiences have formed us into. Someone who collects Mamod steam tractors would probably think MTBers are off their heads. Where as most MTBers would wonder why someone would want to spend all Sunday playing with a tiny steam whistle ..
 

sunstoner

Active member
Aug 2, 2020
173
102
Nottinghamshire
I have Strava but havent used it a great deal. Its komoot for me. Its spot on for logging rides and finding new trails anywhere. Something to look forward too once this lockdown has sodded orf!
 

Tubby G

❤️‍🔥 Hot Stuff ❤️‍🔥
Dec 15, 2020
2,696
5,421
North Yorkshire
I have Strava but havent used it a great deal. Its komoot for me. Its spot on for logging rides and finding new trails anywhere. Something to look forward too once this lockdown has sodded orf!

I like Komoot too, and use it for planning & plotting rides and then transfer the created gpx file to my Garmin device on the bike for simple directions in case we miss a turning for a track or trail

I use Strava as more of a social media platform for saving photos & activities, kind of like a photo album of weekend warrior adventures with a map & gps patterns

You can download gpx files from Strava too from other people’s activities if you see one you like the look of, and then transfer that to the Garmin

Alternatively you could just not have any apps or tracking devices and just simply ride the bike ?
 

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