[Closed] Who's got a paid Strava Sub? (is it worth it?)

Me.

Dunno really, I've paid for it for years, just cos it seemed a bit tight not to, I could go to the free version, and not really notice tbh, hey ho.

Me.... not really no.

So much so that, now you've just mentioned it... i've cancelled it 😀

I still find the route planner to be the best one out there, heatmap is especially useful for finding new stuff. I was happy to start paying for it, I get my money's worth.

The other features aren't quite as good as Veloviewer, but in a pinch I could save £10 a year on Veloviewer and the Strava analytics would give me about 75% of the same functionality (e.g. on Veloviewer I can 'highlight' a portion of a ride to recalculate averages, useful if you're trying to work out training zones etc.). Don't think you can easily do this on Strava.

I find the fitness scores are a good way of motivating me to get off my arse if I've had a lazy week. I would object to paying the money for a service that doesn't recognise the existence of mountain bikes, but they've given me it for free by accident and I'd be minded to renew it once they realise their mistake.

Me, used it for free for so long before taking out the sub this year. The route planner is nice. Don't really use the performance data. I use it enough to think that paying is the correct way to go. Realistically services like it will not exist if people stick to the free tier.

I think it's only worth it if you want to compare yourself with others. I also got fed up with a mate thinking everything I did on Strava was aimed at beating him. I have no interest in either things so gave up my subscription and I've not missed it one bit.

I can ‘highlight’ a portion of a ride to recalculate averages, useful if you’re trying to work out training zones etc.). Don’t think you can easily do this on Strava.

you can. in analysis, highlight the section you want and it'll zoom in and recalculate averages.

No - I'm paid up for a year, and once I start regularly running again, it may become more useful, but on the bike - not really.

I use it a lot, so happy to pay the small fee for something I reckon I look at / use every day.

Yes, and just about.

Call me pathetic (or just think it and don't say anything), but I really like seeing where I sit on leaderboards.

And I like the Training Log view, which I think they removed when they cut stuff out for free members.

Dunno really, I’ve paid for it for years, just cos it seemed a bit tight not to, I could go to the free version, and not really notice tbh, hey ho.

Seems to work for you on here.

😉

Had a lot of fun with the segment/leaderboard stuff in the past, don't really use that nowadays but still happy to support them tbh, it's not a lot of dosh. The route planner is pretty good too.

No – I’m paid up for a year, and once I start regularly running again, it may become more useful, but on the bike – not really.

Good point, I do use it to analyse my running a lot, not really at all for biking. Segments locally show it's easy to cheat them, so I pay no attention to them tbh.

Like a few people I pay on the grounds that I look at it a fair bit and would prefer to pay for something I use and enjoy to help it stay afloat.

I also find the heatmaps/route planner combo really useful.

I pay purely for the ease of planning routes using heat map data. It's really handy. You could still do it with side-by-side mapping of course (the data on its own is available for free) but it's a ball-ache, that's what I used to do before the heatmap data ended up on the route planner.

I pay, party as I like some of the premium features (route maps, leader boards, training datat), partly as I like the service and think a small fee to use it is reasonable.

But as above, running is what I do most so not sure how these translate to cycling.

Like a few people I pay on the grounds that I look at it a fair bit and would prefer to pay for something I use and enjoy to help it stay afloat.

This for the cost of a pint a month

The route planning/course creation is worth paying for. Basically I have a nosey at the routes people I’m following ride. If I fancy trying one I just save the route and star it. It then appears on my Garmin.

The leaderboards I’m not bothered about.

Paid member here. took it out at the start of lockdown, as i'm sure a lot of people did, when it changed.

Route planner and heatmaps have shown me a lot of new paths for walking the dogs localy, let alone some interesting MTB routes so for that it's worth the subs fee. i like the segment feature as well, as i'm using them as a targeted training goal so thats another bonus.

i also find it more intuitive to use than both Garmin Connect and Endomondo for the stuff that i do.

worth the money, yes, for me it is.

No. And now it's less functional, I also use it less. Forget to turn it on for a ride? Meh - don't care really. I'm not fast so won't be bothering segments nowadays.

Like a few people I pay on the grounds that I look at it a fair bit and would prefer to pay for something I use and enjoy to help it stay afloat.

Forget to turn it on for a ride? Meh – don’t care really.

odd you ask this, as I have just had an email notifying me of next years subscription going up in price.

I have been paying £18.99 a year, which is fine, as I like to set goals and track leader boards etc.

But next years renewal price is £47.99. Quite the premium over what I currently pay and I wont use anymore features than the couple I already do. So it might be time to go. Which is a shame, as I enjoy using it, but only at a certain price point.

A key benefit of the heat map is that it shows all the cheeky hidden stuff that only locals know about. At least, the places that haven't enforced effective Strava bans...

I use it on every ride and each ride is named with a picture(s), it’s nice to look back and remember some, I’ve used it since 2012 and don’t mind paying the 1.2p per mile it’s cost me this year.

I pay, have done from the minute I joined as a) it's not much money and b) I don't mind paying for stuff I use.

I pay for it. I use it to record all my activities, not just riding, I like the segment comparison to beat my own times if I'm in the mood (I'm normally c1000 on leaderboards 🤣)

Just feels fair to pay the small price to use it.

I route plan in RWGPS as it links better to Wahoo for turn by turn.

It's a tiny amount compared to what I spend on cycling as a whole, and I like stats, so yes it is worth it

I think Komoot will have the beating of them for routing though, but not started to pay for that yet

Worth it for me. Heatmaps are good for finding new stuff. If I'm somewhere new I'll also find an interesting looking segment and download a good looking ride from someone high up on the leaderboards. I moved here last year and it's how I found around 75% of what I ride.

My rides don't appear on any public leaderboards, they're all set to followers only but I do like the personal leaderboard to see how I fare compared to rides I've done before.

I pay, have done from the minute I joined as a) it’s not much money and b) I don’t mind paying for stuff I use.

That. I really don't like it when something I use disappears because they havent worked out how to make it pay.  I like the heat maps for finding stuff that isn't what I do normally.  The social commenting stuff works as well with some of my friends.   I don't mind paying to avoid being swamped with ads

I think it’s only worth it if you want to compare yourself with others.

...or use the route planner, as per most of the comments above.

you can. in analysis, highlight the section you want and it’ll zoom in and recalculate averages.

Nice! Don't know why it never occurred to me to try that... Ta

I would happily pay if I got extra value out of it, but I had 3 months premium trial and didn't use anything more than usual. There's one segment I'm 2nd on and will go after the KOM in drier conditions. But it won't keep me awake not knowing.

I used to pay for quite a long time but stopped when they failed to fix so many things that were wrong.

Paid for 2 years, now on second year of unpaid and frankly see not much difference.

Bugs that were there still remains, route planner is as useless as it was before.

The best I tried is Ride with GPS in manual mode.

Cheers!
I.

I was paying but now I'm not. I used it mainly for relative effort and it helped motivate me.

I enjoy taking 'legend' from my mates, with the battle cry of 'it you can't be fast, be frequent!'.

Cancelled recently after several years premium - think it does offer you some decent stuff, but apps nowadays get to a point where too many tenners are leaving your account each month so you need a bit of a cull from time to time.

Only thing I've noticed missing is you can't immediately compare segment times. I like to see other times I've done stuff as it brings back memories - you still can if you want as it shows the date, but you'd need to get on the pc and manually find the ride.

I've just renewed for a year, with 2 free months on top.

The beacon feature is pretty useful for commuting, and I also like the training load feature so I can see how heavy a week I've had.

I've had the £18.99 "Analysis" sub for a couple of years, mainly for the power data since getting a Direto and then a 4iiii for outdoor rides, which then gives other sites ( http://www.crickles.org/ , https://power-meter.cc/home , https://mywindsock.com/ ) access to that data.

I like using the route planner, which has had some decent improvements this year, to agonise over what sort of route to do for the amount of time I have left (often sunset being the critical issue) while trying to link up a few cat4 hills.

I like looking for lane routes that I can ride and then create new categorised climb segments.

As much as I like creating segments, where I am relative to others is nothing more than a curiosity (although I make most of the segments I create public, so others might tackle them), what I'm more intrested in is are my times improving (or if there's an unfavourable wind direction, have I improved my average power).

The jump to £48.99 is disappointing, they've added some new bits this year, but not all of it is stuff that intrests me... However, I'm not sure what power stats I'll get on a free account.

There is the Black Friday deal currently on as normal of buy an annual sub for someone else and get two months extra free for yourself, maybe that will help ease the £49 pain a little.

I ride 2-3 times a week and upload and use it all the time, especially as all the folk I ride with use it as well.

I like checking out where others have been, for new routes etc.

Good value for less than a pound a week.

I've paid on and off, depends what I'm doing. I'm very much 'off' at the moment and with it requiring a paid sub just to see your activity log, I'm keeping my eye out for something else. I've got ride data on there since 2009 I think, so it's strange to consider another site, but as I've switched to more running and less analysis it's not worth paying for anything.

I don't pay because all my riding is local so don't need the route planner. Most of the segments near me are roadie so no chance getting top ten on my mtb. The off road segments I'm usually in the top ten. Not as bothered about analysis as I used to be. Opted back into the flybys but they were dead so opted back out.

Quite miss flybys seeing who I cycled past and becoming familiar with some names, did make it feel more social. Made a couple of strava friends competing on segments for KOM with tailwinds 😀

My experience of looking at many off-road segments is that the times are pretty meaningless. When you look at the actual track of some of the rides they bear no resemblance to the actual route/shape of the track of the intended segment.

Also, new off-road segments are hard to create because of the minimum distance rule that has been imposed. Whilst this probably makes sense for on-road segments it takes no account to the terrain/complexity and typical time they may take to complete.

I don't really use the stuff you have to pay for but I pay anyway. It just seems the right thing to do and it's tiny amount of money anyway.

My experience of looking at many off-road segments is that the times are pretty meaningless. When you look at the actual track of some of the rides they bear no resemblance to the actual route/shape of the track of the intended segment.

True, apart from the few that I've got KOM or top 10 on.

Those ones are obviously really accurate.

I've generally been quite down on Strava of late, despite being a long term user...

I only asked the question as I get the impression they've managed to shift a few more Sub's lately, and rather than just assume it was due to Covid triggered, fitness fads I thought I'd enquire as to whether or not they've improved their premium offering, worth taking up.

So Are people getting much more from their membership than just leader board access (Meh) and route planning? Are there not more useful training focussed features now? maybe better structured training type stuff?

The other features aren’t quite as good as Veloviewer

Ahhh, now I've got a Veloviewer account already linked to my free Strava and it's definitely a useful tool for looking at various nerdy metrics and comparison to my other meagre efforts. A couple of VV's features are obviously tied to a full Strava sub So it is sort of limited, but I'm not sure I'd gain much more from a full Strava Sub...

But I'm certainly not taking up a paid sub' to "support" strava though. It's a business FFS not a charity. If they did actually go under it would be a shame, but hardly a major upset surely?

I'm drifting towards thinking it's not really worth the asking price (for me)...

But I’m certainly not taking up a paid sub’ to “support” strava though. It’s a business FFS not a charity. If they did actually go under it would be a shame, but hardly a major upset surely?

I don't think anyone's saying you should "support" them in the way many of us buy subs for STW when we don't really need to.

If they go under they've only got themselves to blame, since they have a strong product and a near-monopoly on segment-based competitive riding.

They could certainly have done a better job of monetising what they do IMO, e.g. I suspect they would get many more paid members if they asked half or quarter as much and marketed it more effectively.

But I’m certainly not taking up a paid sub’ to “support” strava though. It’s a business FFS not a charity. If they did actually go under it would be a shame, but hardly a major upset surely?

I think the difference for me is that I would mis it

The feature that pushed me into paying was live tracking . Route planning is also good

But what I actually like is looking at where friends are cycling, running and swimming. It's the best social media for me. I could do that for free but then they'd have no income

I've ridden loads of trails that I'd never have found in a million years without Strava so I'll continue to pay, whether it's worth it is up to the individual and depends how it's used. I've heard people say it's not worth paying for but at less than £1 a week I'd have to say it has been over the years, and I paid for it before the recent changes so I'm not actually sure what the free version is like now. I used to get quite competitive with friends until it gave me a KOM up a hill that I'd pushed up, and combined with the number of e bikes being used (without Strava settings being changed) the leaderboards aren't worth taking any notice of these days. The emergency beacon feature (which I haven't set up yet but definitely should) could be worth the cost if you ride solo a lot

There is the Black Friday deal currently on as normal of buy an annual sub for someone else and get two months extra free for yourself, maybe that will help ease the £49 pain a little.

Doesn’t have to be for somebody else, you can mail yourself the code and get 14 months for yourself (it comes as two codes - possible to apply each one to your account)

But I’m certainly not taking up a paid sub’ to “support” strava though. It’s a business FFS not a charity.

Nothing to do with "supporting a charity" or whatever. It's paying a fair price for a service I use and wish to continue using.

I've just done it (well, a 99p for first 2 months thing) mainly because I wanted to use the beacon feature, but it turns out that doesn't work with Wahoo. I do like the heatmaps and I'll give the planner a go, but if that doesn't stack up against RWGPS I dunno if I'll keep it up.

Mr salmon

When I use beacon I use my phone. I also track on a Suunto watch. When I get home I delete one of the rides

Cancelled once my trial ran out, I use other apps which are far better for the performance stuff I’d actually get any use out of in the premium app so not really worth paying for again.

Actually started losing a bit of interest in it in general tbh, maybe it will pick up again for me when group rides start back up.

When I use beacon I use my phone. I also track on a Suunto watch. When I get home I delete one of the rides

Yeah, that's what I ended up doing yesterday, just a bit of an annoying workaround. Of course if Wahoo live track worked properly it would be moot!

You can use WhatsApp for location sharing. Go to start a message, click on the paperclip, location, share live location.

You can use WhatsApp for location sharing. Go to start a message, click on the paperclip, location, share live location.

I did not know that! Good tip.

Nah. I get the stats and data I need from VeloViewer. It would obviously be a great shame if Strava (which feeds VeloViewer) went away and at £19 pa I might consider chucking them a few bob. £49 pa? No way.

Hmmm, nobody's really persuaded me.

Yep Google maps/WhatsApp for location sharing with my family. I have to admit I've not bothered to setup any of the the Strava or Garmin 'stalk you buddies' tools, crash detection might be handy (but your Garmin and connect app does that without the need for Strava, right?) and I'm pretty sure she'd fail miserably to read any emergency messages anyway...

Route planning might be useful, but then there's lots of other tools to do that.
The only really unique feature is still the "social media" feed, which is still free. I like to see what friends have been up to and give 'kudos' now and then (maybe once a fortnight)... Would I pay for that? I don't pay for Facebook (directly) so probably only if it was relatively cheap I suppose...
I'm mostly of the opinion that Strava can try to monitise my shared data (within GDPR constraints) so they've had their "payment" for an activity logging/light social meeja app.

If they want more money I'm not really seeing what more they have to offer that I want at present (YMMV of course)...

But I’m certainly not taking up a paid sub’ to “support” strava though. It’s a business FFS not a charity.

Er... what is a business if not something you give money to in return for a service? What an odd statement.

I do think Strava have got a case of Silicon Valley Blindness. Apparently they employ 250 people - seriously? For a bit of software?

I find Strava really handy to identify MTB trails or loops I didnt know about and then download a GPX and go for a ride following said GPX.

Used to care more about PR's, leaderboards and beating my friends, that has faded greatly overtime.

I do think Strava have got a case of Silicon Valley Blindness. Apparently they employ 250 people – seriously? For a bit of software?

200 of them will be in HR, Accounts and Marketing.

Leaderboards are handy for me, they give me something to train for. I spent the summer of 2018 training to get a KOM, purely for the hell of it. I'm far down the leaderboard on most segments, so I am not vain about it - it's just a fun game to find a target and beat it.

Hmmm, nobody’s really persuaded me.

Again, nobody's really trying to.

I do think Strava have got a case of Silicon Valley Blindness. Apparently they employ 250 people – seriously? For a bit of software?

That's a bit naive, it's a class-leading global fitness product that's almost a household name.

How many people do you think they should employ?

Granted it's suprising they can't refine the product in a more timely and useful manner, but perhaps not enough of those 250 people are developers. Or perhaps they are the wrong kind of developers.

Er… what is a business if not something you give money to in return for a service? What an odd statement.

🙂

Interesting how far we've come that (some) people now think businesses are organisations that give stuff away for free and only Charities get given money 😉

That’s a bit naive, it’s a class-leading global fitness product that’s almost a household name.

How many people do you think they should employ?

The old 'it's just software' trope!

Granted it’s suprising they can’t refine the product in a more timely and useful manner, but perhaps not enough of those 250 people are developers. Or perhaps they are the wrong kind of developers.

I think they're good at what they do and who they want to appeal to, not sure they want to be an all singing dancing training app that may alienate a few - with all the additional resources that would require.

I do think Strava have got a case of Silicon Valley Blindness. Apparently they employ 250 people – seriously? For a bit of software?

It's not just a bit of "software" - it's a global business.

That’s a bit naive, it’s a class-leading global fitness product that’s almost a household name.

Product that is a bit of software...

What do they do that's not software, that needs that many people? Whatever they do, they clearly aren't generating enough income their costs. Yes they put their prices up but loads of people are clearly not paying, as above.

Investment and running at a loss is all well and good when you are trying to expand into a market - but they are already the market leader...

It’s not just a bit of “software” – it’s a global business.

You mean a really big Excel worksheet?

😉

You mean a really big Excel worksheet?

Hmm, I'm not that ignorant of how large businesses run their IT, as I'm sure you're aware 🙂

Route planning might be useful, but then there’s lots of other tools to do that.

Are there genuinely other tools out there that offer the heat map function? I think it's brilliant, I'll even use it so scope out trails I'll probably never ride in my life (or looking for famous trails on the north shore, you can find GMG if you look reeeeeally carefully, but 'The Wink' obviously hasn't been ridden in a looooong time).

Yeah I've been a subscriber since they started charging this year. Mostly for the route planning functionality which I use a lot, though slightly differently this year as it's mostly been local rather than trips away.
The route builder has got better in some aspects (eg. upload gpx, distinction between road & offroad) but annoyingly got worse in some others - pretty sure it's now worse at going the wrong way up 1-way streets, and I've had a lot of problems with manual plot sections suddenly fragmenting and being mapped to the closest trail when you save your ride.

Leaderboards are interesting for comparing friends, but I'm less interested in the public parts. I wouldn't pay for either alone. Access to segment leaderboards is a great way to find new routes though. And if you can find some common ground with other riders it can even help estimate timings when planning epic days away - ie find a rider who's a similar speed to you elsewhere and use their timings as a guide.

I've also started paying for Trailforks this year too, and I plan on dropping one at renewal time.

Just wait 'til you find out how many people Google or Facebook employ Molgrips, it'll blow your mind.

I’ve had a lot of problems with manual plot sections suddenly fragmenting and being mapped to the closest trail when you save your ride.

Ditto, this does annoy me actually although for the purposes of gauging distance etc. it's usually fine as it might only fragment once you save the route and go back to it.

The obvious function that they need is to be able to 'snap' a route to a heat trace, trail or no trail. Some of the heat traces I follow are obviously extremely well used (logging roads etc) but I still need to plot manually.

I’ve had a lot of problems with manual plot sections suddenly fragmenting and being mapped to the closest trail when you save your ride.

Yep, and also it got into a state where I couldn't save it, so I had to restart and lose a chunk of manual routing....

"I’m mostly of the opinion that Strava can try to monitise my shared data (within GDPR constraints) so they’ve had their “payment” for an activity logging/light social meeja app."

The trouble is that it doesn't cover the costs does it. Although accept it's up to you what you think it's worth

I think the main problem is that free Strava is too good. It's a really great App with no adverts and almost no paid content. Also paid only Strava would be less good because less mates would be on it.

I hope they find a way through

The reason I use Strava beacon is that it links to a plot of your ride updated in real time. This is going to be really useful if you have no signal if you get into diffucuilty. I think on most rides knowing my direction of travel and the route I'm on would really narrow down where I am. I think Google location sharing would give nothing for an out of range phone. But even last known position is not much use

I started the trial, forgot to cancel it and ended up with the annual payment coming out. Can't say I noticed it, but do notice the better functionality in Strava. As above, route planning is great.