strava or mapmyride???

Mapmyride is great for discovering good riding roads and new routes. I use it a lot when visiting different cities with my bike and trying to find good rides. It's also very convenient for sharing routes and rides with friends, just plot a ride on the map, perhaps add descriptions and a cue sheet, set it to public viewing and email the link to folks.

Strava can do some of the same, but around here the thing that really keeps Strava interesting is the virtual competition and leader board for defined Strava segments. It can be very addictive to chase Strava KOM (or QOM) segments or at least to track your performances and try to beat your personal records on different segments. I suppose there's an element of that on Mapmyride as well, but at least around here it's Strava that has really owned that virtual racing niche. The way Strava identifies 'segments' that can be part of much longer and even part of very different rides and tracking performances for just those segments is pretty brilliant on their part.

-Dave

I've been using MapMyRide since late last year. I find it very useful for tracking all my rides, total mileage, etc.

I'm told that there are several apps out there for my iPhone that do even more but I haven't bothered to look at them yet. Cycle Meter was one that was suggested and it's relatively cheap.

The one drawback is that they are a battery suck! I used one on a century ride in June and ran out of juice at about 92 miles. Not sure what the coverage was though; we were up in the Blue Ridge Mountains for about 45 miles so that may have caused extra usage.

Brian in VA

thanks, ill be using strava tonight and see how it goes, and then next ride ill try mapmyride see which one i like better, but ive been looking at strava and it looks like ill probably settle with that one

I have been using Strava for over a year and really like it. The segments are good for tracking your own performance over commonly used stretches of road.

The problems with strava is that I always feel like I need to go fast and because of a early very windy season for me, I racked up a lot of KOMs. Now the wind is picking up again and more riders are on the road, many of them with Strava - every day I lose a KOM, every day I get that "uh-oh" email. Some KOM hogs will wait for favorable weather, take a very leisurely ride to the segment, ride hard for a minute or two and then leisurely ride home.

Strava also handles elevation data poorly. My garmin 405cx does not have an altimiter, so USGS data is used for elevation which is good. Many of my ridemates have units with altimiters, strava uses the altimiter data apparently without checks for errors or consistency. This can cause wierd results. My rides usually have 1/2 the climb as my ridemates. There is a 1 mile stretch of flat road that became a CAT 4 climb because the barometric pressure must have shifted during someones ride. I had Strava fix it, but now it shows my highest climb as 24 feet.

Despite the frustration, it is a tool that has helped me to go faster.

What do you want to do? Train? Tour? Race? Figure out how to get home?

I used to use Map MyRide but since I know the routes around my area I now use WahooFitness and the ant+ sensors for heart, speed, and cadence. I upload to Strava to track my hours and miles. I also gauge my fitness progress with Strava. I'm getting back into the sport after a too long hiatus.
I also use Ride with GPS to look for new and longer routes for a century this fall, checking out the elevation and such.

Different tools for different uses.

good luck
mdr

Map my ride works for me. I love it for all the tracking and also the added extras that I can get that will attach to my I phone.

I've heard quite a few people say that MapMyRide wasn't as responsive as Strava on the bike, but I can't say as I don't use either on the bike. I do use Strava at home but only so that a friend/riding partner in Arizona can track my rides and I his....since I no longer live in Arizona. I don't know how it works during a ride, but whenever I've planned rides on it I've found MapMyRide to show gradients and cumulative ascent values significantly less than the actual values.

Mapmyride is good for planning routes, though I tend to use bikeroutetoaster, which is very simple but works brilliantly.

But strava has a whole host of other features as mentioned above, and also here: andbethere.blogspot.itthe strava phenomenon.htmlOpen ↗

The whole segment concept is a real winner [IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif[/IMG]

Hello, i'm a student from University of Madeira (Portugal), can you please help me and take this survey from MapMyRide? Its very important to me Thanks pt.surveymonkey.comVZKDTYZOpen ↗

I've been using STRAVA, Map My Ride, Training Peaks and Cateye Atlas. STRAVA, Cateye Atlas and Training Peaks all get a file directly uploaded from my computer. MMR gets a .GPX file upload from my hard drive (after it was exported from the computer). I use the basic/free versions of each website.

STRAVA reports the most climbing, by far. Often it is 2X the numbers seen on Cateye Atlas or Training Peaks. MMR falls in the middle, usually. STRAVA also reports higher calorie numbers.

MMR has the best/easiest to use file editing functions.
STRAVA, as Dave stated above, is the site most used for virtual competition. It's probably the most popular overall too.
Cateye Atlas has a nice 'ride replay' function where you can watch your heart rate and cadence vs. terrain during a virtual re-ride of your route.
Training Peaks is the most esoteric of the sites IMO. I just play around with it every now and again.

STRAVA and Cateye Atlas give me the best combination of numbers to track training and results with. YMMV.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by maydog
I have been using Strava for over a year and really like it. The segments are good for tracking your own performance over commonly used stretches of road.

The problems with strava is that I always feel like I need to go fast and because of a early very windy season for me, I racked up a lot of KOMs. Now the wind is picking up again and more riders are on the road, many of them with Strava - every day I lose a KOM, every day I get that "uh-oh" email. Some KOM hogs will wait for favorable weather, take a very leisurely ride to the segment, ride hard for a minute or two and then leisurely ride home.

Strava also handles elevation data poorly. My garmin 405cx does not have an altimiter, so USGS data is used for elevation which is good. Many of my ridemates have units with altimiters, strava uses the altimiter data apparently without checks for errors or consistency. This can cause wierd results. My rides usually have 1/2 the climb as my ridemates. There is a 1 mile stretch of flat road that became a CAT 4 climb because the barometric pressure must have shifted during someones ride. I had Strava fix it, but now it shows my highest climb as 24 feet.

Despite the frustration, it is a tool that has helped me to go faster.

I don't take the KOM's too seriously, you can download a little program and juice-up your ride to look faster.

I held a KOM over 6 miles with an incline of around 2% and lost it the other day against someone averaging 38 mph, yeah right!!!

"...and lost it the other day against someone averaging 38 mph..."

Maybe he did what I've accidentally done...left the computer on/recording while the bike was in the car. My bad!

Did the rider get towed up that climb in a group? Was there a 20 MPH tailwind blowing on that flat leg? Did the computer freak out and skew the data file? You are correct not to take the segments seriously. There are too many variables.

Strava will keep recording in a car. I had a friend go on her first ride on a real road bike. Moved up from a twist grip comfort bike to a CAAD 8 and her first 25 mile ride she avg 19 mph with a top speed of 67 mph on a flat route. LOL

"...with a top speed of 67 mph on a flat route."

A new QOM!!!

STRAVA has been chopping 1 to 2 miles off my last couple rides. No clue 'why'. Cateye Atlas, TP and MMR all report distance numbers that match my odometer readings pretty close to the tenth of a mile.

When I have left the computer on/recording in the car and have uploaded the ride file (which includes the car travel part until edited in STRAVE, Cateye Atlas or MMR), the auto-travelled part of the course has been mapped as both a straight line from the point where I got off the bike to home and as a 'made up' route the software generated using local roads!

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Mr645
Strava will keep recording in a car. I had a friend go on her first ride on a real road bike. Moved up from a twist grip comfort bike to a CAAD 8 and her first 25 mile ride she avg 19 mph with a top speed of 67 mph on a flat route. LOL

Thats a good way to get to the top of segments. Tailwind doping is also very effective.

If you like motivation use Strava. If you like to focus on fitness. . Calorie count etc... go for MMR. I used MMR before but switched to strava. I guesss I transitioned from fitness focused ride, to speed focused. Only downside for me with Strava, it doesn't announce info as you ride, compare to mmr. Hope strava updates with this function.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by ambal

Thats a good way to get to the top of segments. Tailwind doping is also very effective.

There will always be cheaters, linky:

digitalepo.comdigitalepo.comOpen ↗

"There will always be cheaters, linky:"

digitalepo.comdigitalepo.comOpen ↗

I think I need the real deal!

Also, Digital EPO can be detected by the vampires...er...the software engineers!

http://www.scarletfire.co.uk/2013/06/how-to-tell-if-someone-used-digital-epo-to-cheat-on-strava/

Pretending to go fast and get KOMs is not nearly as fun as actually going fast and getting KOMs.

BTW, I don't think the method for detecting strava cheats mentioned above is reliable. My Timex watch data will, from time to time, insert periodic spikes in the speed data - I figure that it must be a GPS issue or firmware bug.

If I cared to, I am sure that I could write a script to create undetectable fake or juiced data. Looks like digital EPO is a quick hack to the data.

Besides, who wants to build up a rep that they cant back up in person.