Digital EPO is a website that allows you to ‘enhance’ your ride data before you share it with your friends, teammates and so on. It lets you cheat, basically.
Countless riders have gone to great lengths over the years to convince people that they’re better than they actually are. Often that involves drugs, but drugs cost money, they’re potentially dangerous, and you run the risk of a ban. If you’re going to cheat, Digital EPO is an altogether less hazardous way of doing it.
Why go to all the trouble and pain of training and actually working up a sweat? You simply need to go for a ride at whatever intensity you like, upload your ride to GarminConnect or a similar performance-tracking website, then export it out as a TCX file.
Then you upload it to the Digital EPO website, entering the amount of ‘juice’ you want to add to your ride. So, you can increase your speed, lower your heart rate, or increase the amount of climbing you’ve done. Then you can upload the file to Strava or something similar and bask in your undeserved glory.
As an exercise in Mickey taking, we reckon it’s quite funny. They say that you know you’ve made it when people start lampooning you, so we guess that means Strava has definitely hit the big time.
We can’t see it going down too well with people who take their KOMs seriously, though. In fact, we'd urge you not to get involved. Cheats never prosper – ask multi-millionaire Lance Armstrong. Oh no, hang on, that doesn't work.
Anyway, check it out here: http://digitalepo.com/
[Apologies if you saw this months ago, by the way, but it's a new one on us and well worth sharing].
61 thoughts on “Digital EPO: smash your Strava times… by cheating”
Weekend full of KOM’s then…
Weekend full of KOM’s then…
Tested it to see if it works,
Tested it to see if it works, slow, but can confirm it does work. Have now deleted the URL from memory, never want to see it again.
If everyone starts using it we’ll never be able to trust Strava times
David Arthur wrote:If
You say that as if we can trust them now 😕
Dear Dog! So Strava is even
Dear Dog! So Strava is even more unreliable a guide to performance than even I had suspected!
mad_scot_rider wrote:Dear
I only use Strava to measure my own performance and pretty much ignore it when it compares me to others.
yep, i like strava to test
yep, i like strava to test myself against my own times…although don’t get me wrong…when i got a 6th overall in a sprint the other day i was pretty chuffed. not bad for a 41 year old with a year of road cycling in my legs 😉
I swear half the KOMs are by
I swear half the KOMs are by people on/in motor-vehicles anyway, but there are some sad ****ers who will ruin the whole thing by using this site as well. 🙁
There should be a strava section for boris bikes, I’d get a few KOMs for that 😀
kie7077 wrote:I swear half
It’s pretty easy to tell if the segment has been done in a car/mbike as the overall ride or part of ride just does not add up.
There are segments where it’s possible to do 70-80kph over a mile or w/e if you are drafting, though sometimes you get just the right conditions and can also get some ridiculous speeds.
ps there are deffo no “KOM” segments in London! 😀
Now making it even easier to
Now making it even easier to convince yourself the reason you’re not even top 20 is nothing to do with you sucking… 👿
more reason to abide rule
more reason to abide rule number 5 of the velominati and just get on with it now that strava will be just about as tainted as Vini-Fantini
How pathetic do you have to
How pathetic do you have to be to boost your ‘performance’ that way? Answer: VERY!
Use of this clearly rates you
Use of this clearly rates you as the douchiest of douchebags!
Until there is someway to detect its use, I expect the uptake to be pretty prevalent amongst those with self-esteem issues and/or sexual organs below societal norms!
I had to go test it. It works
I had to go test it. It works well…I wonder how the guy will feel when he gets the “your KoM has been taken” for the second time by me, then goes to look at its not been taken at all 👿
Virtual cheating in virtual
Virtual cheating in virtual racing; a pleasing symmetry.
Plus one for the old
Plus one for the old fashioned stop watch!!
Maybe Strava could deal with
Maybe Strava could deal with this by looking for consistency over a given period – an equivalent of a biological passport. Would also be nice to get rid of the car driven KOMs.
I cant think of anything to
I cant think of anything to prevent digital EPO. IMO this will not be detected nor it will be prevented unless someone creates a computer software to detect it.
But with regards to people cheating by using cars and motor bikes, would it help if Strava makes KOM a monthly thing? what i mean is segment KOM’s are reset every month to give way to other riders to post new KOM’s(the previous months KOM’s stays in the archive of course).
In this way we would know who is consistently doing KOM’s in a particular segment. and it may also prevent people from creating fake KOM’s on their cars or motor bikes. unless they are sad low life people who waste their time making fake KOM’s just to take a piss on genuine KOM’s.
just a thought
denzzz28 wrote:But with
You can already filter leaderboards to ‘today’, ‘this week’, ‘this month’, ‘this year’. You just don’t get any achievement associated with it.
Amusing . . . nearly as funny
Amusing . . . nearly as funny as some of the “real” performances I’ve seen by riders on Strava itself.
This webiste has been around
This webiste has been around for a while and there are other similar sites out there. We have a chap round here who blatantly uses it. Every solo ride results in at least two new KOM’s on the local routes. But when he’s out with his club, or on an officially timed sportive he’s consistently last out of his peers. We have a name for him and it rhymes with hat.
Sc**w carbon wheels. All they
Sc**w carbon wheels. All they gave me was a 5% higher speed on a steep hill near my house X( DigitalEPO is the real deal. My speed went up almost 25% in no time!!!
Peter Sagan, Mark Cavendish etc. BE AFRAID. Be VERY afraid.
Seems like a way to save gas
Seems like a way to save gas and get your KoM I guess.. Funny article, lol’d at Lance.
Is it Cat?
Is it Cat?
The guy leading the
The guy leading the Junedoggle has taken it a bit far…18,000km in 4 days!
Eric Anders; A.K.A. Co-Pilot
Eric Anders; A.K.A. Co-Pilot Anders of US Airlines….or could be a truck driver doing a sh*t load of amphetamines <:P
Would never use it, but
Would never use it, but tempted against my KOM stalker! I am sure he followed mine around and smashed them. It’s an empty victory for him as I really slow.
Am I the only one that found
Am I the only one that found this article really funny? I don’t use Strava, but one of their free competitors, Mapmyride GPS. It’s great, I regularly get KOM points because no-one else in my area actually uses it (despite my user name) 🙂
(No subject)
(|:
What happened to going for a
What happened to going for a cycle to just enjoy it
Cars are for amateurs.
I
Cars are for amateurs.
I came across this one while looking for hills to climb (I really need the practice).
http://app.strava.com/segments/2389526
It had me really confused for a while until I zoomed in and realised it started at an airfield. Does make it kind of hard to compete…
so I’m taking all those
so I’m taking all those pharmacuetical preparations and training like a dog for nothing?
Bloody cheats X(
I can only think of the look
I can only think of the look on some Pros face as his KOM goes to some fat faced chump digitally morphing his ride time.
Daniel Lloyd has the KOM on Boxhill. It would be interesting to see if it pushes them to the edge.
Don’t really care. If you’re
Don’t really care. If you’re insecure enough to need to do it, then fine, go for it. Any system anywhere that relies on user-entered data has to accept that some of that data will be bogus.
There were guys I knew 25 years ago who used to deliberately enter larger wheel diameters into their sigma or cateye bike computers so they could “show” that they had the highest top speed at the end of a ride.
Probably made by a rather
Probably made by a rather large chappie with an aversion to sunlight and exercise. No thanks.
It is a shame but Strava has
It is a shame but Strava has never been a true reflection of performance. Group rides or TT bikes as well as inaccurate data recording have always meant you take these things with a pinch of salt.
All around the country there are club TTs where you can just turn up and find out how you stack up, there are plenty of guys and girls on road bikes. Added bonus is you get to talk to real people.
According to Strava, I’m
According to Strava, I’m faster than Road.cc staffer John Whittington up a local 4 in 1. This is the same bloke who usually laps me twice at local cyclocross races.
While the accuracy of it remains so duff, I think the ire of the people having their KOMs taken away from them remains misplaced.
Really only use strava as a
Really only use strava as a training aid. To be honest at 50 my days of serious competition are long gone. However do know lots of riders who take it seriously feel this mocks them and it’s not funny.
crash144019 wrote:However do
Anyone taking Strava “seriously” deserves to be mocked. It’s fun to show off the odd KOM to mates, or a bit of light hearted ribbing of clubmates but taking it seriously is another matter. I’m a heavy user, but if someone wishes to take my KOM through a program, good luck to them. I’ll give them a bashing up the same hill next time i see them in my sights.
karlowen wrote:crash144019
Says the guy with Strava data all over his signature!
[ducks]
Not surprised at all, some of
Not surprised at all, some of the climb times on my local hills are done at an average of 25mph!?
This is precisely one of
This is precisely one of those scenarios where the IT security folks probably recommended encryption ages ago. The business people in Strava promptly said “Encryption? Who the heck would want to hack this stuff?”
….
It is rather irritating, I’m mostly just out for personal bests and trying to beat my clubmates, but if I can swing a top 10 or a KOM occasionally, that’s nice.
This is precisely one of
Encryption woudn’t prevent this. You could make it a bit more complicated, but I there’s no clear way to stop people submittied dishonest reports to strava. Strava might try programing the strava app to use a secret code to sign the report, but then people with rooted/jailbroken phones could copy the secret from strava and use it to sign their made up report.
Interesting reading all these
Interesting reading all these angry comments – I guess we now really know how some top non drugging athletes feel. If nothing else this site has probably done more to make me realise the impact of doping than anything I’ve come across. WADA should sponsor it
I’m aware of Strava being
I’m aware of Strava being used from cars and motorbikes but can anyone explain these times?
italianbikesnob wrote:I’m
GPS data error. I have had times where I’ve forgot to stop the timer when I’ve gone in my flat and it clocks ridiculous speeds despite not moving.
zanf wrote:italianbikesnob
Depends on the segment but that may be a tt that is 6 laps of something and strava does sometimes take one lap as the full lap and hence thinks you did it 6 times faster than you actually did (hence avg speed of 25mph becomes 150mph)
Strava just isn’t smart enough to work those out (although in its defence it would have to be pretty smart to do that automatically!)
Ahh, this one’s been around
Ahh, this one’s been around for a while and I presume is used by all those so desperate to get a KoM they’ll cut corners on the road and trail. I do a lot of MTBing and we’ve all seen ‘strava’ lines on the trails.
All boils down to a lack of respect, unwillingness to actually train and the desire for recognition – something that can be applied to a lot more than Strava!
THAT is extremely sad, KOM
THAT is extremely sad, KOM are good for a laugh down the pub, and as a small pat on the back after competing with thousands across a busy london section. but anyone taking it seriously needs to get a life, because to be quite honest any phone GPS tracking app(strava, garmin etc) isnt 100% accurate anyway!!!!
if u r going to “juice” your rides u shud be out competing for real, not wanking off in your bedroom over made up stats on a made up race!!! its all in your head!
oh, and i love the way the site calls it “juice”, come on, be honest, its cheating, lol. dont try n make the cheater feel less bad about it, if your going to cheat may as well be honest with yourself. calling it a different name wont make the facts change!
Only sad misguided riders
Only sad misguided riders take their KOMs seriously. You know the type, not fit enough to actually race so act like they are racing on some “pay-to-ride on a road you can ride on for free” sportive. But heh they are not beating anyone on a sportive because the riders they pass are not racing.
Several riders in our club would smash the KOMs near me but are not interested in 1: Strava 2: even having a computer on their bike (e.g Andy Wilkinson being one)
I hold several KOMs with 100s of riders behind me. But 85%+ just rode the segment unknowingly and are not actually competing AND I often have a gale force tail wind.
No One is a KOM without favourable conditions.
So My “Juice” is the MET office App !!! wind direction X(
I feel the need to point
I feel the need to point something out to some commenters.
The Digital EPO site: it’s a joke.
Mat Brett wrote:I feel the
Beat me to it!
Mat Brett wrote:I feel the
Someone (Gkam?) said they tested it and it does what it says though, right?
Regardless, I notice the ‘Skata’ parody site which it links to, is then one massive link back here, regarding the legal nonsense surrounding that chap dying trying to regain a KOM – you knocked all this up yourselves didn’t you? 😀 😕
notfastenough
oh yeah. wondered how we were getting traffic back from them…
and no, we didn’t make it. promise.
Interesting how some of the
Interesting how some of the folks mocking those who take Strava too seriously have the veloviewer banner 😕
I use Strava to benchmark my
I use Strava to benchmark my own performance mainly. Never had a KoM and never likely to.
But I do notice there appears to be a 0.5 mile of a difference between Strava and my Garmin performances.
Strava being slower. :/
I see someone has already
I see someone has already ridden 9 times and done 11,000km in that time on the latest Strava challenge. It’s a shame that people feel like messing Strava up.
You get out it what you want, your own personal challenges, but it looks like jealousy and competitiveness (and anti-competitiveness) win out.
I guess some people want us to all be the same or not bother comparing people because they fear comparison.
to be fair, you do get the
to be fair, you do get the odd glitch. For some reason the gps trace will send you half way round the world for a moment.
I’ve just lost a KOM but
I’ve just lost a KOM but kudos for whacking my time. Anyone who has to cheat on their times is a fucking loser. Suffer like a real man.
This is a fantastic resource
This is a fantastic resource for anyone wishing to boost their performance without the health risks of actually doing epo. Has anyone come across a digital testosterone? The combined effect would put you bang on top of leader boards with no nasty blood thickening etc.
Always hated Strava, always
Always hated Strava, always thought it was a bit snide and this proves it.
Beating the other man to the chequered flag or stopping the timekeepers watch is the way to go.
2 points. One is that this
2 points. One is that this looks like a thread by misers, as no one has “liked” any of the previous 60 comments, two, the May climbing challenge “Everest no filter Climbing challenge” is currently being led by Rayo Boursier who has “climbed” 19911m in 3 days apparently, yet there’s no recent activity this week from him. He did climb 72000m last week though. Surely Strava must notice this..