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Strava PRs now meaningless! :(

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  • December 1, 2017 at 10:26 am #27893
    DaveE128

    I used to enjoy looking at Strava “achievements” after a ride – if I saw that I had ridden up a sizeable hill faster than I ever had before, it gave me encouragement that my fitness might be improving.

    Unfortunately Strava have introduced a new “feature” where you get given a PR “achievement” whenever you ride a segment for the first time. Given that I like to try to explore new roads as often as possible, and I’ve had a pretty good try at most of the segments on my commute and favourite rides, this means that most of the “PRs” I get now are not PRs at all, but new segments. It used to be that if I got home and found my ride had loads of PRs, that I’d been riding significantly faster than usual, which is always encouraging. But now I’ve got totally bored of looking at “achievements” post-ride because most of them are meaningless. It also means I don’t give Kudos to friends when they get lots of PRs for the same reason.

    Anyone else bothered by this? I’m considering turning off segment matching for future rides.

    Nobody ever seriously said “I did my best time ever on that loop” the first time they rode it, did they?! What nonsense!

    So for me, Strava has lost a lot of its appeal due to one very silly little change. I strongly suspect that they have introduced this change for technical reasons rather than to improve user experience.

    If you fancy telling Strava that you think this is dumb too, see here:

    https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/115000625890-PR-achievements-on-first-attempt

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  • December 9, 2017 at 5:45 pm #907067
    0
    FatAndFurious

    The Stravistix plug-in lets

    The Stravistix plug-in lets you see how each segment time compares to your PB and Year PB, and if it’s the first time you’ve ridden a segment, it just shows “1X” in those stats.

    So ignore the little summary at top and scroll down to the segment list and see how many green (i.e. PB) times you get in the deltaPR column.

     

    December 5, 2017 at 10:46 am #907065
    0
    2tommy2

    this is getting out of hand!

    I use strava more or less as a social-network-boasting-thing

    When I want know if I’m improving I use the km-avgHR-avgSpeed-thing

    If I get 20 to 30 PR’s on a single recovery ride the system must be crooked anyhow 🙂

     

     

    December 4, 2017 at 3:47 pm #907063
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    Kapelmuur

    I started riding in my mid

    I started riding in my mid 60s and used Strava just to check my own rides and to enjoy the fact that during my first couple of years I was getting faster.    Nevertheless, I was always toward the bottom of the leaderboards so I paid for Premium membership so that I could compare myself with others in the 65+ age group.   It made me feel better to be in the top half of the table!

    As I approached 70 I was unhappy with the fact that the age leaderboards stopped at 65, so I wrote to Strava suggesting 70+ leaderboards.   Nothing happened, so I cancelled my Premium membership.

    Now I see that a 70+ option has been added, so they do listen.   (Not that I’m taking credit for the change).

     

    December 4, 2017 at 3:29 pm #907061
    0
    DaveE128

    StoopidUserName wrote:

    StoopidUserName wrote:
    Can’t see how this is that big a deal unless you’re constantly doing new routes? Even then it’s something you could get used to? Lots of niggles with the Strava app and site (they are inconsistent with each other for one) but ultimately, the vast majority of people don’t pay a penny towards it – you have a right to request they improve things, you have no right to moan unless you’re paying them in my opinion.

    Yup, agreed about the payment thing. I’ve been a premium member for years now as I thought it was a service worth paying for, even if the premium features have limited value for me. It’s now got to the point though that I’m frustrated enough with the direction they are going (not listening to users any more, mostly) that I’ve downgraded. This issue was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me.

    You don’t actually even have to be doing new routes to get nonsense PRs – just someone somewhere created a new segment since you last rode it. I try to ride new roads as often as possible as I like to explore and get some variety.

    Whether you do it often or not, it’s still silly that when you go to a new place, every segment is a PR, even if you were riding slower than you ever have before.

    December 4, 2017 at 3:24 pm #907059
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    DaveE128
    DrG82 wrote:
    The stupic sectors which take a very specific route and lead down dead ends to someones house irritate me. What’s the point of having a KOM if only one person is ever likely to want to go that way?

    I’ve had a search around my area to find silly sectors to try and steal these peoples KOMs just to annoy them.

    And don’t start me on sectors which rely on you either getting really really lucky or going through a load of red lights.

    Assuming you mean segments, I agree on all fronts except the irritating bit! I think it’s just amusing to “steal” the KoM! 😉 I’ve no issue with people creating moderate obscure segments – many will never get a KoM any other way – but making them go through traffic lights etc is just stupid. I think you can flag segments like this.

    There are a few near me called things like “last bit home” which shows that the person who created it has some combination of (a) no idea what a segment is, (b) zero ability to see anything from anyone else’s perspective and/or (c) missed the option to make a segment private!

    You can always hide the dumb segments…

    What really gets my goat is people creating segments that start and stop in dumb places, and other schoolboy errors described here:

    https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/216918227-Optimizing-Segment-Creation-how-to-create-good-segments

    December 4, 2017 at 2:59 pm #907057
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    DrG82

    The stupic sectors which take

    The stupic sectors which take a very specific route and lead down dead ends to someones house irritate me. What’s the point of having a KOM if only one person is ever likely to want to go that way?

    I’ve had a search around my area to find silly sectors to try and steal these peoples KOMs just to annoy them.

    And don’t start me on sectors which rely on you either getting really really lucky or going through a load of red lights.

    December 4, 2017 at 2:04 pm #907055
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    andyp

    abusivemonk wrote:

    abusivemonk wrote:
    This is not the most annoying thing about Strava. Daily, I lose a KOM to someone in an ebike. I have to flag it constantly. Koms have become meaningless now with the event of ebikes.

     

    ‘I have to flag it constantly’. No, you don’t. You *choose* to flag it.

     

    ‘Koms have become meaningless…’ They always were. If you’re that competitive, join a race.

     

     

    December 2, 2017 at 5:37 pm #907053
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    wycombewheeler

    StoopidUserName wrote:

    StoopidUserName wrote:
    Can’t see how this is that big a deal unless you’re constantly doing new routes? Even then it’s something you could get used to?

    Lots of niggles with the Strava app and site (they are inconsistent with each other for one) but ultimately, the vast majority of people don’t pay a penny towards it – you have a right to request they improve things, you have no right to moan unless you’re paying them in my opinion.


    I often do new routes and when I do it’s nice to see the overlaps with previous rides, but the only stand out from the chaff if you are slower.

    December 2, 2017 at 5:07 pm #907051
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    EddyBerckx

    Can’t see how this is that
    Can’t see how this is that big a deal unless you’re constantly doing new routes? Even then it’s something you could get used to?

    Lots of niggles with the Strava app and site (they are inconsistent with each other for one) but ultimately, the vast majority of people don’t pay a penny towards it – you have a right to request they improve things, you have no right to moan unless you’re paying them in my opinion.

    December 2, 2017 at 3:36 pm #907049
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    abusivemonk

    Duncann wrote:

    Duncann wrote:

    abusivemonk wrote:
    This is not the most annoying thing about Strava. Daily, I lose a KOM to someone in an ebike. I have to flag it constantly. Koms have become meaningless now with the event of ebikes.

    Is this what’s called a “humblebrag”…?

    Ha. I wish. I haven’t got many, so I treasure the ones I have. I worked so hard to get my first one. Targeted it everytime I went for a ride for over two years.

    December 2, 2017 at 2:12 pm #907047
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    Dnnnnnn

    abusivemonk wrote:

    abusivemonk wrote:
    This is not the most annoying thing about Strava. Daily, I lose a KOM to someone in an ebike. I have to flag it constantly. Koms have become meaningless now with the event of ebikes.

    Is this what’s called a “humblebrag”…?

    December 2, 2017 at 1:24 pm #907045
    0
    The Rake
    srchar wrote:
    Yorkshire wallet wrote:
    srchar wrote:

    They need a new name. They are not bikes.

    Mopeds? Cheating bastards?

    Aren’t all bikes called eBikes up your way YW?

     

    chapeau

    December 2, 2017 at 11:05 am #907043
    0
    fenix

    Some people get worked up
    Some people get worked up easily. It’s not good for you. Go out for a ride.
    Oh…

    December 2, 2017 at 10:39 am #907041
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    davel

    Chris Hayes wrote:

    Chris Hayes wrote:

     ‘Devil’s avocado’ – probably a millenial Freudian-slip! 

    Millennial… I wish.

    December 2, 2017 at 10:08 am #907039
    0
    CygnusX1

    srchar wrote:

    srchar wrote:

    Yorkshire wallet wrote:
    srchar wrote:

    They need a new name. They are not bikes.

    Mopeds? Cheating bastards?

    Aren’t all bikes called eBikes up your way YW?


    eBikeGum :#

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