Beacon on Strava

Patch · Post by **Patch** » 26 May 2013 11:59

In case anybody hasn't noticed there is a growing and lively Beacon club on strava. Join it and you can keep tabs on how much training they are doing.

David Cole · Post by **David Cole** » 26 May 2013 15:06

Chris
I usually put my rides on Facebook via Garmin Connect. Do you have to track your rides via your mobile phone to go onto Strava?
Dave

laurence_cooley · Post by **laurence_cooley** » 26 May 2013 16:27

David Cole wrote:Chris
I usually put my rides on Facebook via Garmin Connect. Do you have to track your rides via your mobile phone to go onto Strava?
Dave

No, there's a Strava app but you can also upload directly from a Garmin Dave.

Tim · Post by **Tim** » 26 May 2013 18:01

I now use strava instead of Garmin connect. V easy to upload from Garmin to strava site. Then one click on strava site or strava app on phone to upload/share a ride to FB/Twitter/email

David Cole · Post by **David Cole** » 27 May 2013 09:16

Thanks for this, I've now signed up to Strava and I have another question.
When I put my rides on Facebook It's usually things like clubruns and training rides, but not commuting or shopping trips. What do other people do?
Dave

martin mc · Post by **martin mc** » 27 May 2013 09:31

Dave, there's a Beacon club page on Strava which you can join at http://app.strava.com/clubs/beacon-rcc .Here you can see rides by other Beacon members who are on Strava.

Patch · Post by **Patch** » 27 May 2013 10:01

Whatever you feel Dave. Myself I put all my rides up but probably not shopping.

laurence_cooley · Post by **laurence_cooley** » 27 May 2013 10:03

I put everything on Strava so I know my mileage for the year, but I would only post the odd ride to Facebook. I think there's an option to post everything to Facebook automatically, so I just turned that off.

Philmondo · Post by **Philmondo** » 27 May 2013 11:05

I've got out of the habit of using Strava lately, but I think I will start uploading my rides again

Andy Terry · Post by **Andy Terry** » 27 May 2013 11:17

My advice - use Strava, not Facebook or Garmin Connect

David Cole · Post by **David Cole** » 27 May 2013 18:35

My advice - use Strava, not Facebook or Garmin Connect

Why is yhat Andy?

Dave

Andy Terry · Post by **Andy Terry** » 27 May 2013 18:53

Garmin Connect does not make sharing so easy - you can't export GPX for example. And Facebook is, well, it's just Facebook. I suppose if you want all your 'friends' to know about your rides it's OK - if you prefer to just share that with fellow cyclists then Strava is the place.

Plus everyone in the Beacon is on Strava (OK, slight exaggeration there)

Grogz · Post by **Grogz** » 27 May 2013 19:07

laurence_cooley wrote:I put everything on Strava so I know my mileage for the year, but I would only post the odd ride to Facebook. I think there's an option to post everything to Facebook automatically, so I just turned that off.

What qualifies as an odd ride, Laurence?

George · Post by **George** » 27 May 2013 19:09

Dave,

Like the others, I feel Strava is a preferable way of sharing data: nice clean interface, intuitive controls, quick access to what you want.

It's worth saying that Strava is a self-contained sharing platform. When you upload a ride, all your followers see it in their Strava activity feed (unless you make it private). So it's questionable whether there's a real need to additionally share via platforms such as Facebook. I suppose it comes down to whether your non-cycling friends (who probably aren't on Strava) are likely to be interested in your rides. If you do decide to share on other platforms, it's very easy: just tick a box.

A lot of members of the Beacon group share some of their more 'interesting' rides on other platforms as well, but not their everyday rides. Personally, although I include links on my photographic diary pages, I don't usually share my ride data directly, because I don't think that my non-cycling friends are all that bothered (and, to a non-cyclist, it easily looks as if you're showing off).

Moss · Post by **Moss** » 27 May 2013 19:10

You can have Strava automatically be updated from Garmin Connect by using the garminsync.com service.

I use it to keep Strava and Runkeeper up to date. Means I have everything thing where I want it without having to push to several services.

laurence_cooley · Post by **laurence_cooley** » 27 May 2013 19:38

Grogz wrote:What qualifies as an odd ride, Laurence?

Not sure exactly, but I reckon that next Saturday's might be one.

David Cole · Post by **David Cole** » 27 May 2013 19:44

Maybe it's the way I have Strava set up - I only joined today, but it does not record heart rate, whereas Garmin Connect does.

Dave

laurence_cooley · Post by **laurence_cooley** » 27 May 2013 20:07

Dave, presuming this is you, I can see your heart rate.

AlanW · Post by **AlanW** » 27 May 2013 20:26

I hate Strava..........

Andy Terry · Post by **Andy Terry** » 27 May 2013 20:32

laurence_cooley wrote:Dave, presuming this is you, I can see your heart rate.

Yep - it's definitely ticking.

Moss · Post by **Moss** » 27 May 2013 21:50

Dave, you don't have to stop using connect anyway I use both. Just use http://www.garminsync.com/ to share the data for you. It takes under 15mins for titled rides and around 40mins for untitled ones to give you chance to title them before they get pushed out to other services.

David Cole · Post by **David Cole** » 28 May 2013 08:40

I don't usually share my ride data directly, because I don't think that my non-cycling friends are all that bothered (and, to a non-cyclist, it easily looks as if you're showing off).

George that's why I put my rides on Facebook to show off to non-cycling friends

Dave, presuming this is you, I can see your heart rate.

Yes I see it now Laurence, I was looking for a graph rather than a list of numbers. I find that the Strava app on my phone is much easier to use than on my PC.

Just use http://www.garminsync.com/ to share the data for you.

Thanks Moss. It's good to have both. Garmin Connect is in miles which I prefer to km

Dave

laurence_cooley · Post by **laurence_cooley** » 28 May 2013 09:12

If you scroll down to just below the map, there's a tab called "performance". That gives you a graph of elevation, speed, heart rate, etc. You can switch each variable on or off using the tick boxes above the graph.

You can also switch Strava to miles (:roll:) by hovering the mouse over your name up in the top-right, clicking settings on the drop-down menu and then selecting "display preferences" on the left of the screen.

David Cole · Post by **David Cole** » 28 May 2013 20:43

The learning curve is short and steep, but I'm getting there
Thanks everyone
Dave

Alistair Hey · Post by **Alistair Hey** » 28 May 2013 21:05

Garmin Connect is in miles which I prefer to km

there is a setting on strava to display miles.

Andy_Craddock · Post by **Andy_Craddock** » 29 May 2013 20:03

Strava is becoming the bain of my life. Im addicted to chasing KOM, my wife knows all about strava and segments and she doesnt even use it!

HAZBRO · Post by **HAZBRO** » 05 Jun 2013 22:09

I had to stop using it as it was ruining my training, say I would have to keep to a certain limit, I would end up going max power up a hill just to beat some guy I dont even know and get a website to tell me well done! Crazy really!
But it is brilliant and very addictive!

Andy Terry · Post by **Andy Terry** » 10 Jun 2013 20:52

Kudos!

http://app.strava.com/activities/58958702

Pedlo Mudguardo · Post by **Pedlo Mudguardo** » 10 Jun 2013 21:09

Dave your commute from Alabama deserves a lot of credit !

Glad to see you amongst the Strava Beaconites ( or should that be the Beacon Stravanites ?)

It's a lot of fun, but remember big brother is watching you !

George · Post by **George** » 10 Jun 2013 21:42

Further to my previous moan about the absurdity of Strava's wattage data: make sense of the stats in this little collection of rides along a local segment, all done on the same bike. (Bearing in mind that Strava is unaware of variables such as wind speed/direction.)

I realise that their formula for calculating watts is necessarily an approximation based on various assumptions. But how do they apply the same formula to three apparently identical data sets and come up with three significantly different results?

HAZBRO · Post by **HAZBRO** » 10 Jun 2013 22:05

How did you manage to do the same time three times in a row, I know you can be struck by lightening but who get struck twice?

Its cursed!

Andy Terry · Post by **Andy Terry** » 11 Jun 2013 08:21

George wrote:Further to my previous moan about the absurdity of Strava's wattage data: make sense of the stats in this little collection of rides along a local segment, all done on the same bike. (Bearing in mind that Strava is unaware of variables such as wind speed/direction.)

I realise that their formula for calculating watts is necessarily an approximation based on various assumptions. But how do they apply the same formula to three apparently identical data sets and come up with three significantly different results?

Have you tried asking Strava to explain it, George?

George · Post by **George** » 11 Jun 2013 10:18

Andy Terry wrote:Have you tried asking Strava to explain it, George?

No, I haven't, Andy. I was sharing my incredulity with my friends in a conversational way, rather than seeking a solution. However, now that you suggest it, I think that maybe I will see what Strava says (just to satisfy my curiosity).

laurence_cooley · Post by **laurence_cooley** » 11 Jun 2013 11:53

It will be interesting to hear what they say. The segment seems reasonably long, so one possibility could be that part of it is uphill and part of it down. If you really go for it on the uphill section (lots of watts) but then go very slowly on the downhill (not much different in power than if you went fast downhill because gravity is doing most of the work), then you could clock the same time but with very different average power?

toby · Post by **toby** » 11 Jun 2013 12:09

Their KB article explains their calculation;

https://strava.zendesk.com/entries/2095 ... lculations

.... in which their disclaimer about wind resistance, for me, renders the whole thing bit of a waste of time;

"Because we do not know wind speed or air density during your ride, we assume no environmental wind conditions and an outside temperature of 15C. The drag coefficient is determined by the type of bike you are riding (TT bikes have less drag than mountain bikes). We use a constant for surface area."

David Cole · Post by **David Cole** » 11 Jun 2013 12:10

Re wattage calculations - I forgot to add the weight of the panniers full of groceries on my shopping trip.

George · Post by **George** » 11 Jun 2013 13:42

laurence_cooley wrote:It will be interesting to hear what they say. The segment seems reasonably long, so one possibility could be that part of it is uphill and part of it down. If you really go for it on the uphill section (lots of watts) but then go very slowly on the downhill (not much different in power than if you went fast downhill because gravity is doing most of the work), then you could clock the same time but with very different average power?

I've submitted my query; I'll let you know. However, by way of clarification: the section in question is an almost flat section of lane about three miles from home. Although it is defined as a segment, 99% of the time that I ride along it, I'm just riding along it because it's on the way to somewhere else. On the 3 featured days I was just cruising; the only way I varied my effort was if I was obliged to do so by another road user, and I find it hard to imagine that that could account for a 12% discrepancy in power output.

Toby wrote:Their KB article explains their calculation;

https://strava.zendesk.com/entries/2095 ... lculations

.... in which their disclaimer about wind resistance, for me, renders the whole thing bit of a waste of time;

Yes, I read that a while ago, Toby. It is interesting in itself, but I don't think it explains my query. Like you, I don't really see much use for Strava's power figures: they are at best only as useful as speed data. But if they are inherently variable (as my experience suggests), they are a lot less useful than simple speed data. I don't therefore pay much attention to the wattage figures, but they are there on the screen whether you like it or not, and inconsistencies like this just jump out at you.

toby · Post by **toby** » 11 Jun 2013 13:55

I don't therefore pay much attention to the wattage figures, but they are there on the screen whether you like it or not, and inconsistencies like this just jump out at you.

Not true George, a ride has to be assigned to a bike, set in "My Gear" in your settings. I have not entered a bike so Strava does not attempt to calculate power for my rides.

I can see value in the functionality and adding component details to log miles per component but frankly, after a day sat in front of a screen, telling customers how to use software products correctly, I cannot be bothered. I just buy new bits when the old ones have worn out.

I've not had time to go into detail on the terms and conditions of use for Strava but I wonder how much that data will be worth to Shimano's marketing department as Strava evolves!

The Beacon Message Board

Beacon on Strava

Beacon on Strava

Strava Power Calculations

Re: Strava Power Calculations