As some have already mentioned in roundabout ways, I suspect there may be some benefit to compiling a list of alternates to Strava. I did a tiny bit of research and other comments point to some more to consider.
Outside of that, we’ve seen some comments about people using plug-ins like Strava Sauce as an alternate to Strava Subscription. I have to wonder, if this all turns bad like it seem it could… will Strava get even more ruthless about cutting ties and access with these 3rd party apps?
They’ve made a bad name in the past for some moves just like that, and if they are desperate enough (based on this massive price change and recent layoffs), I expect this isn’t the last of the crazy stuff they may do in the near future.
I forget who, it might have been Jonathan O’Keefe, but they had a good site/app before strava cut it before. Apps like veloviewer I think only work with the premium strava too now.
They’ve languished on features, they’ve outright failed at base requirements (looking at you, HRM fiasco,) their fundamental core usecase is the same today as it was at launch, and they’ve scaled company w/o income. I wouldn’t want to be on that ship. There are so many ways they could have grown to be a true hub of fitness on the internet, but they just… haven’t.
I think it’s really natural to look at these public or high-valued private SAASs and think, “Wow, surely ____ must know what they’re doing!” But when you get down granular enough, it’s just a few people in a room making decisions, and sometimes, people just aren’t that good at their jobs. This is the way the world ends. This is the way the world ends. This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.
Edit: Let me expand, because critique without creation is easy. Here’s a list of top-of-mind, value-adding features. Some of these will probably be crappy, but in 13 years of development, they could at least have made MVPs and seen how the community reacted:
Proper, well-integrated club functionality. Give clubs the ability to schedule out activities a la EventBrite. Registrations for rides. EventBrite is the de facto hub of events on the internet. The clubs I’ve been a part of keep their Facebook groups active because Strava just doesnt fascilitate high quality discussion or planning
Give clubs the ability to push messages to their members
Partner with manufacturers to offer well-timed discounts for replacement gear, when your gear reaches EOL. “Your running shoes are due for a replacement! We hope you’ve loved the last 500 miles in your Pegasuses. The new Pegasus 38 offers even more comfort, better longevity, and a more responsive ride. We’re offering 10% off exclusively for existing owners like you!”
Give local shops the ability to target ads based on who rides near them. “Need some fall-weather gear? Stop by ABC Cycles the next time you ride by!”
“Find a Friend.” Strava knows how strong I am and knows where I ride and it knows when I ride. Do some matching and make a friend-finder that pairs up people who already ride where, when, and how fast I am. Interestingly, they almost had this through the creation of their RideViewer (is that what it was called? Where you could see nearby riders.) But then they had their terrible privacy blowback, reasonably so, and shuttered it. OKAY, so they already have the ability to determine closeness, time is easy, and they could add a fitness metric. Great, boom, make a required opt-in to quell privacy concerns and you’ve instantly turned a PR nightmare into a feature that basically only you can offer and solves a major pain point (I can’t find similarly fit people near me to ride.)
And maybe these ideas are all terrible, but I just thought of them while eating lasagna and waiting for a render. Strava’s got $100+mm of VC and a decade of thought ahead of me.
99% of veloViewer is identical for both Strava Subscribers and non-Subscribers. Since mid May 2020 Strava restricted segment placings for non-Subscribers and that is also reflected in VeloViewer. For full details of difference please see this page.
Personally, I’ve been very disappointed in Strava’s business acumen over the years, like you. And while I’m happy to pay for a good, ad-free service, an increase from $60 to $80 each year will certainly trigger a review of whether I should continue to pay them, or use their free account and pay someone else for the features I want.
I’d hate to see Strava go under. Even though I think they’re dropped every ball they could find, and even some they stumbled upon, no one else really has the broad reach of connecting to nearly anyone I want, regardless of brand or equipment used, so we can keep up to date on what each is doing with their training. If they collapse, I think we as a community really lose something valuable.
But they still need to earn their money! So in general, I’m happy to pay Strava but I’ll evaluate, as always, whether I want to pay them more.
I haven’t cut financial ties yet. But that’s largely because I am on annual and it’s not set for renewal until August this year. So I get to sit and watch this mess unfold before making that call.
IIRC on another cycling forum maps for geocaching/ tile bagging are in that 1% and there was an outcry when non subscribers lost them. I can’t say for certain as I have always been a subscriber up till now.
I use Strava as a casual social media app and thus would never pay for it. If I were to pay for another training tracking app it would not be my first choice.
Hey dude. Yeah, of course a company has to be profitable! And yeah, I get how investment income works. I thought that was pretty common activity for larger companies. It’s certainly the case for many [most?] of the companies I have real life experience working with / for / in relation to.
Bottom line is I’ve got at least a dozen “high volume / high use” apps on my phone I use on the daily, are extremely well done, free, and not cluttered with adds. [I won’t use those… will anyone?] I’m sure you do too, right?
So we know it’s fully possible. So where’s the justification? I mean… other than rich people wanting more money for no reason.
Yes, I’m totally with you on companies not being more transparent about subscription price increases.
I have noticed that Strava has put a lot of investment into the running side of the app, and left a lot of us cyclists out of the party. I do have a lot of followers on Strava and follow a lot of people - basically my whole cycling community is on there - most people I know IRL and care about seeing there. No one is on Garmin Connect, and no one is on RWGPS, even though I use both.
So I do feel a twinge of pain at the thought of Strava going away, but they are kind of shooting themselves in the foot. I’m not ready to just say “FU Strava I’m out!”. I rather like the platform, actually! I’m emotionally attached.
Segments are the thing that makes strava, strava. They need to protect the integrity of them. Boot those that can’t classify their ebike ride properly. Don’t just show me a ranking, show me a distribution curve of times and where I rank. Show me which segments I’ve exceeded expectations based on historical w/kg, or where I’ve fallen short. Instead of ‘improve x seconds to move up…’, give me what ifs, like ‘10% more power, 10lbs less weight, or both would put you here’. But they won’t, because they’ve been tone deaf to their users for years.
^^^^
Yes, that’s what I meant. There is no social connection happening on Garmin Connect, even though the feature is available and we technically have accounts.
And that’s another case in point why Garmin Connect can’t fill the hole of a Strava-less world - not all my friends on Strava use Garmin products.
I mean, I like segments and nabbing the occasional KOM as much as the next rider, but it is the social aspect of seeing what all my buddies are doing that makes Strava Strava (for me).
I don’t care about segments. Strava to me is a social connection and an archive of what I’ve done (though TrainingPeaks has taken up most of that role).
It’s not something I care about much either, but their lack of work to keep this one competitive element useful to the people who do care about it frustrates me. Or put another way: My already light interest is pushed down further knowing that they’re so easy to game anyway. It doesn’t inspire me to want to get involved.
And yeah, I get how investment income works. I thought that was pretty common activity for larger companies. It’s certainly the case for many [most?] of the companies I have real life experience working with / for / in relation to.
