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Strava cuts off leaderboard for free users, reduces third party apps

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Re: Strava cuts off leaderboard for free users, reduces third party apps

#81

Post by chihuahua »

jrockway wrote: post #79
chihuahua wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Leaderboards in popular areas are likely to be depressing. I've found some joy in tracking down Strava (cycling) segments in more out-of-the-way places and trying to post good times there. On one occasion I drove 90 minutes to the start of a 1-hour segment just to ride it and get the KOM.

I got KOM on a traffic circle in Brooklyn. I've never leaned my bike over so far in my life, it was very fun. A few weeks later someone beat my time with an average speed of 120mph. Guess they didn't have a WAAS-enabled GPS.

You can flag that 120mph ride and it will be removed. At least Strava responds to flag requests.

Re: Strava cuts off leaderboard for free users, reduces third party apps

#82

Post by astrec »

I was a Strava premium subscriber until the summit packs came along. It made little sense to maintain 2 of the 3 available subscriptions to get the 50% of features you wanted from each of the training and analysis packs, when you could just go down the road and pay a single fee to training peaks for what turned out to be a better training and a vastly superior analysis experience.

Then Strava ditched the chronological feed (it came back a month or so ago) which made sense only to those for those trying to use it for something other than seeing which of your mates ran this morning. Then came posts, and suddenly your feed was full of quasi-motivational clip art from the bloke you met one time at a park run.

And of course Strava's route planner has fallen behind those offered by Ride with GPS and Komoot, although they seem to have given it a bit of attention lately.

I don't want Strava to die, but they forgot who their customers were and went on a 2 year bender chasing casual users. It was already a big task to convince folks you burned to move their money back, but it's going to be herculean having taken the torch to them again.

Re: Strava cuts off leaderboard for free users, reduces third party apps

#83

Post by sorenjan »

dionidium wrote: post #35
markus92 wrote: post #18

Cyclists are going to revolt, everyone wants to beat their friends on their favorite hill. It was one of the features I loved most about the app as I could see myself improving compared to people I have a good reference to.

I'm a "cyclist" who absolutely loves Strava and I couldn't care any less about segments or leaderboards or beating my friends on their favorite hill. I just like to track my bike rides. I know there's a core group of hardcore cyclists who use the app like you do, but I wonder if there isn't a much wider group of people who think it's cool to track their rides and that's it.

But there's plenty of alternatives if all you want is to track your bike rides. Training Peaks, Endomondo, Garmin connect, Polar Flow, Runkeeper, Apple Health, Google Fit, RideWithGPS. There's probably a lot more I've forgotten. Strava is giving up on one of their best unique features and will be pretty much the same as everyone else in a crowded segment.

There's so much more they could do to improve the service instead, but then they haven't shown any interest in development for years. I guess this is the easiest way for a desperate management to try to squeeze some more money from the users fast. It's not a good sign for Strava users, even if they don't use the features.

Re: Strava cuts off leaderboard for free users, reduces third party apps

#84

Post by floatingatoll »

supernova87a wrote: post #71
floatingatoll wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given the nearly universally hostile comments about “squeeze and monetize”, I wonder if that approach is finally winding down. Sure would be amazing if YC refused to fund anyone who didn’t charge money from day one. “If your idea isn’t worth charging for, it isn’t worth funding for.”

That would not match the growth model that investors seem to want to see (or be fooled by). If you can't show massive adoption up front in concept, how do you choose which to invest in unless you're in it for the long haul? Which seems to be out of fashion...

Either investing is a game of skill, or it’s a game of chance.

If it’s like poker, taking away the ability to see one card from everyone’s hand doesn’t mean you automatically will lose the game. It just means you’ll be slightly less likely to win due to a lost advantage. Your break even may require an additional investment, in exchange for not making people feel ripped off.

If it’s a game of chance, adoption is completely irrelevant :)

Re: Strava cuts off leaderboard for free users, reduces third party apps

#85

Post by randomstring »

I'm a long time Strava user, I have a four digit user id. Except for the year I won a free subscription for a year, I've always paid for the service. I'm a data nerd and cyclist.

This change in Strava's policy makes me very sad because it's clear they are managing it poorly and Strava might die as a result.

Who could step in to fill the void? Garmin? No, they're just terrible at anything other than collecting raw GPS data and it's clear they don't have athletes in mind when creating features. Even when they have winning products they find ways to sabotage them. Garmin Connect is full of potential, yet fails to engage users or become a social platform.

I kinda hope Veloviewer.com steps up to fill the void. It's all about data.

Re: Strava cuts off leaderboard for free users, reduces third party apps

#86

Post by runnr_az »

fredley wrote: post #26
markus92 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Afaik Strava is more used by cyclists which is a more expensive sport. Everyone who is sort of serious uses it.

Here in the UK at least it's very popular with the running community, although I remember a few years ago it was definitely cycling-first. Would be interesting to know what the breakdown is by activities, users' primary activity type.

Same with the USA. “If it’s not on a Strava, it doesn’t count.”

Re: Strava cuts off leaderboard for free users, reduces third party apps

#88

Post by Buldak »

dionidium wrote: post #35
markus92 wrote: post #18

Cyclists are going to revolt, everyone wants to beat their friends on their favorite hill. It was one of the features I loved most about the app as I could see myself improving compared to people I have a good reference to.

I'm a "cyclist" who absolutely loves Strava and I couldn't care any less about segments or leaderboards or beating my friends on their favorite hill. I just like to track my bike rides. I know there's a core group of hardcore cyclists who use the app like you do, but I wonder if there isn't a much wider group of people who think it's cool to track their rides and that's it.

To me segments and leaderboards are largely what have made Strava stand out. Take those away and I might not have much reason to prefer Strava to Garmin Connect or any number of similar apps.

Re: Strava cuts off leaderboard for free users, reduces third party apps

#89

Post by dionidium »

Buldak wrote: post #88
dionidium wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a "cyclist" who absolutely loves Strava and I couldn't care any less about segments or leaderboards or beating my friends on their favorite hill. I just like to track my bike rides. I know there's a core group of hardcore cyclists who use the app like you do, but I wonder if there isn't a much wider group of people who think it's cool to track their rides and that's it.

To me segments and leaderboards are largely what have made Strava stand out. Take those away and I might not have much reason to prefer Strava to Garmin Connect or any number of similar apps.

You and others here are responding to this by noting that segments and leaderboards are their one defining, irreplaceable feature, which seems like a pretty strong case for charging for it :)
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