# Strava cheats



## Milzy (3 Jan 2018)

I’ve had more KOMS stolen. One steep hill slashed by over 5 minutes. Physically impossible on a push bike. He’s used a motorcycle or a car. Can you still flag people? It’s getting ridiculous now!!


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## Markymark (3 Jan 2018)

I’d find it easier not to care.


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## DCLane (3 Jan 2018)

Flag it. There's a few round here that are using e-bikes and claiming KOM's.

IMO if they want to 'claim' they're the quickest that way there must be other things wrong in their lives.


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## vickster (3 Jan 2018)

Go out and drive the segments in a faster car when there’s no traffic  (keeeping it plausible and under the speed limit of course)


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## Milzy (3 Jan 2018)

They’re even doing the runners segments on ebikes.


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## Mugshot (3 Jan 2018)

Milzy said:


> I’ve had more KOMS stolen. One steep hill slashed by over 5 minutes. Physically impossible on a push bike.


Whilst I don't think I've lost a KOM this way I have seen on a number of climbs times that I have thought were totally unrealistic, then I've had the opportunity to ride with some of the people that have set the times and thought, yeah ok, fair enough.


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## vickster (3 Jan 2018)

Just ignore others on public segments. Simply try to improve your own times. Or create your own segments and keep them private

Or get your own ebike


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## Rooster1 (3 Jan 2018)

I blame e-bikes


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## Milzy (3 Jan 2018)

There’s one huge hill that somebody did in 40 seconds. Me and a mate still think that would take some doing in a fast car. The mind boggles!!


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## vickster (3 Jan 2018)

Milzy said:


> There’s one huge hill that somebody did in 40 seconds. Me and a mate still think that would take some doing in a fast car. The mind boggles!!


Just report him...and comment publicly


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## Dirk (3 Jan 2018)

My mates missus had an off on gravel last year and was recording the ride using Strava on her phone. She forgot to stop the ride after she fell and it continued to record as she was being taken to Worcester hospital in the back of an ambulance. The ride was very impressive with QoMs all the way for about 15 miles. 
Someone commented and flagged the ride within seconds of it being uploaded.


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## jefmcg (3 Jan 2018)

Maybe no one is "stealing" or "cheating". Maybe it's just someone using an e-bike who wants to use strava and hasn't noticed there's an "e-bike ride" option and isn't even aware of KOMs.

Aside: In August I got a QOM on a train. When I saved the ride I named it "oops, train" and intended to crop it when I got home. It was flagged well before the end of my admittedly long train journey.


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## Drago (3 Jan 2018)

What's a Stavra?


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## Welsh wheels (3 Jan 2018)

Milzy said:


> I’ve had more KOMS stolen. One steep hill slashed by over 5 minutes. Physically impossible on a push bike. He’s used a motorcycle or a car. Can you still flag people? It’s getting ridiculous now!!


One way would be to ditch the app and make strava only useable on a garmin, wahoo or similar. I don't want that to happen though, because then I would have to buy said device


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## burntoutbanger (3 Jan 2018)

I had a ride of mine flagged. 

I was riding along the road but GPS inconsistencies put me on a nearby bridleway where I must have smashed the genuine KoM (and I wasn't even trying). I'm assuming this has happened numerous times to many different rides as I wasn't aware of the inconsistency at the time.

When, some months later, the ride got flagged the Strava bods were fantastic and just removed my time on that segment letting me keep the rest of the ride. 

In summary, while I'm sure people do go out to cheat the system I'd just like to point out that some times innocent mistakes can happen.

P.S. Just remembered I'm in a top ten position over a local bridge too with, I think, a time of four seconds. The bridge is approx 75 metres long with a right angle turn both on and off. The KoM is two seconds! There's no way anyone in the top ten is genuine imo. Still waiting to be flagged on that one.


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## GrumpyGregry (3 Jan 2018)

Milzy said:


> They’re even doing the runners segments on ebikes.


"They've" been doing runners segments on bikes since Strava started. Who gives a tosh.?


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## Globalti (3 Jan 2018)

Like some others on this thread I really don't give a tinker's cuss. For me Strava is just another symptom of our self-obsessed, emotionally incontinent world. What's wrong with discretion?


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## HLaB (3 Jan 2018)

I lost a KOM a while back by over 5mins and it was genuine. Turns out it was a stupid long segment that I didn't know had existed and the new KOM was a semi pro.

That said I've given up caring about KOM's a long time back and am only concerned with comparing my efforts, I find RWGPS better for that.


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## Cycleops (3 Jan 2018)

Drago said:


> What's a Stavra?


Could be the guy that runs the local kebab shop.


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## Donger (3 Jan 2018)

According to Strava I have a lifetime total of 0.0 miles. Don't care. Only use it to plan routes, not to record them. There will always be some idiots out there cheating like mad to try to impress. Worse still are the suburban housing estate sprint sections where everyone seems to go mad for no apparent reason and forget all about road safety exactly where it matters most. Just chill.


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## Supersuperleeds (3 Jan 2018)

You do occasionally see genuine errors. I had one ride where I took two koms, the slowest at 80+mph average. I hid that ride from the leaderboards


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## screenman (3 Jan 2018)

Pretend racing, much like those sportive things, if you want the truth stick a number on your back.


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## Supersuperleeds (3 Jan 2018)

screenman said:


> Pretend racing, much like those sportive things, if you want the truth stick a number on your back.



Maybe for some, but for a lot of us it is a good way to record our rides and share them with others.


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## vickster (3 Jan 2018)

Supersuperleeds said:


> Maybe for some, but for a lot of us it is a good way to record our rides and share them with others.


This


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## Apollonius (3 Jan 2018)

Strava is whatever you make it - like life, I suppose, he said philosophically. Between the fanaticism of "Get a KoM by any means" and " Have nothing to do with it" there is a constructive middle position. Use it wisely - it will tell you about yourself.


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## Cuchilo (3 Jan 2018)

I find strava a bit of fun and interesting to look back on . I will flag a ride if i think its been done by car though as i detest cheats / dishonesty !


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## screenman (3 Jan 2018)

Supersuperleeds said:


> Maybe for some, but for a lot of us it is a good way to record our rides and share them with others.



I am not disagreeing with that, but the cheaters and many others think it is a race, it is not.


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## Apollonius (3 Jan 2018)

screenman said:


> I am not disagreeing with that, but the cheaters and many others think it is a race, it is not.


Why shouldn't it be used in that way if people wish to? There is no obligation to join in. Use it how you want, is my view.


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## Mr Celine (3 Jan 2018)

Dirk said:


> My mates missus had an off on gravel last year and was recording the ride using Strava on her phone. She forgot to stop the ride after she fell and it continued to record as she was being taken to Worcester hospital in the back of an ambulance. The ride was very impressive with QoMs all the way for about 15 miles.
> Someone commented and flagged the ride within seconds of it being uploaded.



The same thing happened to Mrs Celine when we went out for an evening bimble in August. I left her sitting by the road, sprinted the mile back home, drove back, picked up her and her bike and then drove her the two miles to the hospital. Two QOMs, top speed 75 mph. 
The genuine holder of those QOMs complained within 5 minutes of Mrs C uploading the ride, at which time she was trying to edit out the offending segments. 
A 10 mile bimble at 10 mph followed by a long stop then a high speed dash ending at the hospital? I think I would have left that a bit longer before querying it.


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## kipster (3 Jan 2018)

I've noticed that occasionally strava messes up, I got a KOM a couple of weeks ago by 20 seconds! On strava my average speed was 29mph, my fastest speed 23mph, not sure how that could happen but it does. I flagged the ride.


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## Cuchilo (3 Jan 2018)

Apollonius said:


> Why shouldn't it be used in that way if people wish to? There is no obligation to join in. Use it how you want, is my view.


Because racing on public roads when you're the only one racing is a bit pathetic ?


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## Mugshot (3 Jan 2018)

Mr Celine said:


> The same thing happened to Mrs Celine when we went out for an evening bimble in August. I left her sitting by the road, sprinted the mile back home, drove back, picked up her and her bike and then drove her the two miles to the hospital. Two QOMs, top speed 75 mph.
> The genuine holder of those QOMs complained within 5 minutes of Mrs C uploading the ride, at which time she was trying to edit out the offending segments.
> A 10 mile bimble at 10 mph followed by a long stop then a high speed dash ending at the hospital? I think I would have left that a bit longer before querying it.


I swear I've had a glitch reported before I've even uploaded the ride! They're quick on the trigger some people.


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## HLaB (3 Jan 2018)

Mr Celine said:


> The same thing happened to Mrs Celine when we went out for an evening bimble in August. I left her sitting by the road, sprinted the mile back home, drove back, picked up her and her bike and then drove her the two miles to the hospital. Two QOMs, top speed 75 mph.
> The genuine holder of those QOMs complained within 5 minutes of Mrs C uploading the ride, at which time she was trying to edit out the offending segments.
> A 10 mile bimble at 10 mph followed by a long stop then a high speed dash ending at the hospital? I think I would have left that a bit longer before querying it.


Three years ago (or thereabouts) I was knocked off in London and finished the ride in an Ambulance (fortunately after getting checked out by the Paramedics they agreed I didn't need to go to Hospital). I got a couple of 2nd and 4th paces but I titled the ride as such (Last 5miles in an Ambulance) with a note it'd have to be cropped when I got back to a PC. Some sad people had flagged it before I even had a chance too.

Contrastingly a few years before when I was still fit I got an 'Uh Oh'. So I checked the blokes ride and noticed that one of his group said their ride had ended a crash (ambulance) too. I was quick to ask him if he was OK and thankfully he was quick to respond too. He was very apologetic about the KOM but I wasn't cared I just wanted to ensure he was OK.


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## Hacienda71 (3 Jan 2018)

Some blokes called Stannard and Tenant seem to have a lot of KOM's around here. Their rides all seem a bit too quick, might have to flag them. One of the rides seems to have been on some sportive called the TOB.. .. They should go and pin numbers on their backs and do some proper racing.


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## themosquitoking (3 Jan 2018)

Globalti said:


> Like some others on this thread I really don't give a tinker's cuss. For me Strava is just another symptom of our self-obsessed, emotionally incontinent world. What's wrong with discretion?


Discretion gets you very few likes.


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## Andrew_P (3 Jan 2018)

I got knocked off my only KOM, fair play to them I was doing 43mph it was really windy and I recall it clearly felt like I was flying. Its a fast bit of road anyway with a downhill bit so not really even a KOM There were 4 of us sitting on 43mph I got the KOM by date been there since 2011 out of nearly 3000 riders got the email in April, actually he is a tosser :-) the top 20 reads like the top 20 local club riders bet they all thought I had done it in car especially as I have a low exercise HR but most of the other segments were inline.

One other irritant which in hindsight was funny, I set up my commute as a segment just so I would get notified when I had done it in a top 3 time, leaving out the last bit of ride but include the right turn in to the road and work entrance, I know for a fact they would never go the route other than KOM hunting, so I deleted the segment and made another as private :-)


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## Ming the Merciless (3 Jan 2018)

I have a public segment that is 5 hill repeats. I am the only one on it since I set it up two years ago. I use it as a good measure of my fitness.


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## bpsmith (3 Jan 2018)

I like to create longer segments covering multiple climbs or stretches of undulating roads. It’s harder for those that hit individual climbs and burn out. I think it’s generally all good fun tbh.

Ironically, some of those who Strava bash people for taking it too serious, actually take the Strava bashing to new levels of seriousness. 

Edit: Take the Strava W@@@ers Twitter for example. It exists only because of Strava. The irony is amazing.


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## MrGrumpy (4 Jan 2018)

Gave up caring along time ago about Strava KOMs. Actually thinking of making all my rides/runs private or just retiring my account. Everything is on my Garmin Connect anyway, distances rode/run are of more interest now.


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## steveindenmark (4 Jan 2018)

Im sat laughing at this. I love the Strava wars.

I am not a paid up member but like to use it to keep in touch with guys i know in foreign parts. They are very serious ultra distance riders. But we use it to post photos of the best cake we can find.

But if you do want Strava cheats. I would vote for all those who sit and cycle in their living room during winter and then post it as a ride. I am sure I could ride 50km in my living room every night. Its a bit different after a days work when it is pitch black, belting with rain and freezing cold.

Someone was telling me how they had climbed Stelvio at the weekend. I told them not to be daft. I know its covered in snow at this time of the year.


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## 400bhp (4 Jan 2018)

Hacienda71 said:


> Some blokes called Stannard and Tenant seem to have a lot of KOM's around here. Their rides all seem a bit too quick, might have to flag them. One of the rides seems to have been on some sportive called the TOB.. .. They should go and pin numbers on their backs and do some proper racing.



Oh, and that Long Hill KoM of Stannards was done on a solo ride probably. How dare he.

We saw Stannard out on the road on NYD coincidentally.


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## Drago (4 Jan 2018)

Another good reason not to own a smartphone.


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## Mugshot (4 Jan 2018)

Drago said:


> Another good reason not to own a smartphone.


What is?


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## Globalti (4 Jan 2018)

What IS good about Strava is the way it accumulates the records and shows them on the Strava Heatmap of the world. This is fascinating as it shows where people have the time and the money and the energy to go out cycling or running for no reason other than for fun. You also get some interesting results where, for example, hang gliders have recorded their day on Strava as on Parlick Pike just north of Longridge. 

Edit: Just looked at this and I see that they have improved the Heatmap massively; it now shows marine and winter activities as well as running and cycling. Here:

https://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#13.91/-2.63365/53.90659/hot/ride


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## Soltydog (4 Jan 2018)

jefmcg said:


> Aside: In August I got a QOM on a train. When I saved the ride I named it "oops, train" and intended to crop it when I got home. It was flagged well before the end of my admittedly long train journey.



Unless there's a cycle path/road running alongside the railway I suspect all times will be on the train, unless someone has risked life & limb cycling along the tracks 

My wife used to use strava to record horse rides & would often forget to stop recording when she got back into the horsebox  Don't think any of her 'rides' were flagged as she doesn't drive that fast  although we have his & hers matching Koms/Qoms on one segment, but my time is quicker than hers  30.3mph v 25.9mph 

I spent a while chasing KOMs a couple of years ago, but found it taking some of the enjoyment out of cycling, so now just cycle for enjoyment & don't give a rats ass about what time / ave speed I'm running at, good luck to those that do though


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## Drago (4 Jan 2018)

Mugshot said:


> What is?



Competitive social media.


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## Mugshot (4 Jan 2018)

Drago said:


> Competitive social media.


It's not obligatory to join them.


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## Venod (4 Jan 2018)

steveindenmark said:


> I would vote for all those who sit and cycle in their living room during winter and then post it as a ride.



I record all my turbo rides on Strava, I like to compare my times with my real life efforts, I have ridden the Holme Moss climb a lot of times in real life and all my turbo times have been slower going up, but quicker coming down (no worries about bends pot holes or traffic) I also have ridden the Stelvio on the turbo (but not in real life) 2hours 42min for 16.8 mile uphill, I won't be doing that one often. 

I have taken downhill KOM's on the turbo but never uphill ones (I have uphill ones in real life) if I take a KOM on the turbo I remove myself from the leader boards.

I stopped using Strava for most of last spring/summer but am now using it again now I am back on the turbo, I think you should use it how you like and not take it too seriously.

Its the same with Zwift a great platform if you like that sort of thing but don't take it too seriously.


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## macky (4 Jan 2018)

I’ve lost running crowns to cyclists umpteen times. 
I can’t understand why they title them as “run to work” when it’s clear they’ve peddled. 
Lost a title the other day and the chap titled it “first run this year” he’d run 32mile at an average 3:55min per mile. 
Breaking world records at 1mile, 5km, 10km, 10m, half marathon and full marathon. I don’t flag them, I leave them for their mates to take the p155 out of them. 
I had a cycling one taken off once. There’s a nice down hill section near me and it’s been relayed using super smooth tarmac. I managed 39mph but it got accused of using a car. Funny though as there’s average cameras along that road and limit is 30mph. I put that down to jealously.


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## Drago (4 Jan 2018)

Mugshot said:


> It's not obligatory to join them.



Damn straight it ain't.


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## MrGrumpy (4 Jan 2018)

Soltydog said:


> Unless there's a cycle path/road running alongside the railway I suspect all times will be on the train, unless someone has risked life & limb cycling along the tracks
> 
> My wife used to use strava to record horse rides & would often forget to stop recording when she got back into the horsebox  Don't think any of her 'rides' were flagged as she doesn't drive that fast  although we have his & hers matching Koms/Qoms on one segment, but my time is quicker than hers  30.3mph v 25.9mph
> 
> I spent a while chasing KOMs a couple of years ago, but found it taking some of the enjoyment out of cycling, so now just cycle for enjoyment & don't give a rats ass about what time / ave speed I'm running at, good luck to those that do though



amen to the last comment ! I got caught up early on in Strava, on besting everything round about that I could, fun at the time I suppose. However I do not bother anymore, save my energy on the bike so I can run


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## Mile195 (4 Jan 2018)

I quite like Strava, and find it a useful motivational tool. If I'm 50/50 about going out for a ride, the thought that "strava is watching" helps sway me the other way. In reality, nobody on Strava is watching, and no-one really cares whether I cycle or take the motorbike to work that day and I know that. However, it still makes me put in a few more miles than I might otherwise do where the weather's a bit rubbish or something.
I don't, however, chase KOM's. I'm quicker than most commuters, but nothing like quick enough to take a KOM on any of the high-use roads that I, and presumably also lots of very much faster people, use regularly.
I find a much better gauge of performance is looking at the leaderboard of a given segment for that particular day. That way you know you were all riding under the same conditions - traffic, wind, temperature etc.

Personally I don't think Strava should hold "all time" leader boards at all. I really think any best time should drop off a public leaderboard after a rolling year. It becomes irrelevant who was in the top 10, five years ago. They may well have set it in car, ridden it with an 80 mph tailwind, or since given up cycling, or possibly even died (or a combination of the four). Dropping off after a year might stop some of the arguments too.


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## Lee_M (4 Jan 2018)

Try being old and unfit. I think my highest position anywhere is about 250th.

I just measure against myself. Much less stressful


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## Drago (4 Jan 2018)

Lee_M said:


> Try being old and unfit. I think my highest position anywhere is about 250th.
> 
> I just measure against myself. Much less stressful



Exactly! Its pointless that a 260lb 193cm 49 year old male like me gets uppity because some 25 year old 5'7" racing snake went faster than me. I use Garmin to record rides, and don't partake at all in any befriending of others or competitive riding. As I get older its harder to keep up with my younger self, and that's all the incentive I need.


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## vickster (4 Jan 2018)

I do have a handful of QOMs but most from a few years ago when I was fitter and lighter! Round here there are so many cyclists and indeed clubs using the roads I ride on, getting anywhere on notable segments as a lone rider is extremely unlikely. A top half is pretty good tbh!

I’m never actually going to be fastest up any hill so QoM is a misnomer in my case anyhow


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## steveindenmark (4 Jan 2018)

Afnug said:


> I also have ridden the Stelvio on the turbo (but not in real life) 2hours 42min for 16.8 mile uphill, I won't be doing that one often.



How many motorbikes, tour coaches and fools with caravans tried to kill you on the hairpins? If they dont add those in, its not very realistic.

Thinking about that. I think you may have found a better way to ride Stelvio.


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## bpsmith (4 Jan 2018)

steveindenmark said:


> Im sat laughing at this. I love the Strava wars.
> 
> I am not a paid up member but like to use it to keep in touch with guys i know in foreign parts. They are very serious ultra distance riders. But we use it to post photos of the best cake we can find.
> 
> ...


That’s the big tgat I find most interesting. The guy has climbed the Stelvio “virtually” and may well have put more effort in than someone who ventured outside, yet he’s ridiculed.

We gently rib a mate who uses Zwift to do very specific training plans ready for the next step towards qualifying for the Kona Iron Man. He’s used it to get through 2 Iron Man competitions already. Strangely enough he didn’t fall over as soon as he ventured out into the “real world” and has certainly gained hugely in his fitness over the past year.

Who’s laughing I wonder?


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## bpsmith (4 Jan 2018)

There’s leaderboards for Current Year as well as All Time remember.


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## steveindenmark (4 Jan 2018)

bpsmith said:


> That’s the big tgat I find most interesting. The guy has climbed the Stelvio “virtually” and may well have put more effort in than someone who ventured outside, yet he’s ridiculed.
> 
> We gently rib a mate who uses Zwift to do very specific training plans ready for the next step towards qualifying for the Kona Iron Man. He’s used it to get through 2 Iron Man competitions already. Strangely enough he didn’t fall over as soon as he ventured out into the “real world” and has certainly gained hugely in his fitness over the past year.
> 
> Who’s laughing I wonder?



I dont know. Who is laughing? Like you say. It is gentle ribbing. Nobody is being ridiculed. 

Strava is a training device and we are all allowed to use it as we wish. But only if you have a sense of humour.


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## steveindenmark (4 Jan 2018)

Dogtrousers said:


> I resent that. It's grumpyist.


Report it to the mods


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## Venod (4 Jan 2018)

steveindenmark said:


> How many motorbikes, tour coaches and fools with caravans tried to kill you on the hairpins?



There were far too many motorbikes for my liking, a real life Stelvio ride must be deafening, fortunately in my garage it sounded like a Spotify playlist.


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## steveindenmark (4 Jan 2018)

Afnug said:


> There were far too many motorbikes for my liking, a real life Stelvio ride must be deafening, fortunately in my garage it sounded like a Spotify playlist.


Really?? Or are you pulling my leg?


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## Venod (4 Jan 2018)

steveindenmark said:


> Really?? Or are you pulling my leg?



It is a Tacx film of the Stelvio climb playing on my old 32" TV via my laptop, it controls your trainer in sync with the film, all the traffic is visible but not heard, I was listening to Spotify streamed from my phone through an old Hifi set up that sounds great.

So no, I am not pulling your leg.

https://tacx.com/product/tacx-software/


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## Johnno260 (4 Jan 2018)

I use Strava to compete against myself I don't give a rats about what others have done.


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## Soltydog (4 Jan 2018)

bpsmith said:


> That’s the big tgat I find most interesting. The guy has climbed the Stelvio “virtually” and may well have put more effort in than someone who ventured outside, yet he’s ridiculed.
> 
> We gently rib a mate who uses Zwift to do very specific training plans ready for the next step towards qualifying for the Kona Iron Man. He’s used it to get through 2 Iron Man competitions already. Strangely enough he didn’t fall over as soon as he ventured out into the “real world” and has certainly gained hugely in his fitness over the past year.
> 
> Who’s laughing I wonder?



Don't think anyone is ribbing those who use strava &/or Zwift, it's just the ones who cheat by whatever means  
Training for something specific/competition I would imagine that they could be very useful tools, but reckon 90% of users are just general folk like myself using it for general fitness & a very small majority doing anything they can to get a KOM. I once looked at segments on Zwift & there's so many ways to cheat that, but some of the top times were over 100mph  Even riding indoors with no wind resistance on a turbo/rollers I doubt many if any cyclists could get close to 100mph without stupid gearing. Whilst spending an hour on Zwift earlier, think it was the Volcano KOM? 2.7miles ave gradient of 5% & the fastest time was 4 mins 7 secs (40mph ish) ???The next fastest times were all around the 8 min mark, so I suspect someone hasn't got some settings quite right somewhere


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## bpsmith (4 Jan 2018)

Soltydog said:


> Don't think anyone is ribbing those who use strava &/or Zwift, it's just the ones who cheat by whatever means
> Training for something specific/competition I would imagine that they could be very useful tools, but reckon 90% of users are just general folk like myself using it for general fitness & a very small majority doing anything they can to get a KOM. I once looked at segments on Zwift & there's so many ways to cheat that, but some of the top times were over 100mph  Even riding indoors with no wind resistance on a turbo/rollers I doubt many if any cyclists could get close to 100mph without stupid gearing. Whilst spending an hour on Zwift earlier, think it was the Volcano KOM? 2.7miles ave gradient of 5% & the fastest time was 4 mins 7 secs (40mph ish) ???The next fastest times were all around the 8 min mark, so I suspect someone hasn't got some settings quite right somewhere


Well, it appears to be intermingled in this thread and elsewhere. Some refer to cheating, as above, whilst others refer to Turbo rides of real world places as cheating too.

You’re definitely right in the cheating bit though. Some fiddling going on for sure. I personally don’t see the point in that tbh.


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## huwsparky (4 Jan 2018)

bpsmith said:


> Well, it appears to be intermingled in this thread and elsewhere. Some refer to cheating, as above, whilst others refer to Turbo rides of real world places as cheating too.
> 
> You’re definitely right in the cheating bit though. Some fiddling going on for sure. I personally don’t see the point in that tbh.



The main gripe people have with virtual rides as I make it out is recording it as milage, me included. I ride more indoors this time of year and don't record the milage as I don't want it to interfere with 'milage' total. How hard the workout has no bearing, it's a workout, not a bike ride.

I've had a few KOM's stolen over time (illegitimately), I've never flagged any of them, a few of them someone else must have flagged or the rides deleted as they seem to be back in my possession. I'm not really bothered either way personally.


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## MasterDabber (4 Jan 2018)

huwsparky said:


> The main gripe people have with virtual rides as I make it out is recording it as milage, me included. I ride more indoors this time of year and don't record the milage as I don't want it to interfere with 'milage' total. How hard the workout has no bearing, it's a workout, not a bike ride.
> 
> I've had a few KOM's stolen over time (illegitimately), I've never flagged any of them, a few of them someone else must have flagged or the rides deleted as they seem to be back in my possession. I'm not really bothered either way personally.



No VR ride should appear on real life segments. All VR rides should be defined as such when the ride is uploaded. There are VR only segments that may mirror RL segments but rides and times etc should always be totally separate. There's no excuse for the VR rider to screw up the RL segments.
Programs like BigRingVR will automatically upload their VR rides to Strava already defined as VR ride.


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## Venod (4 Jan 2018)

huwsparky said:


> The main gripe people have with virtual rides as I make it out is recording it as milage, me included.



I have no problem with recording miles done on the turbo, last winter I rode Lejog from GPX files, I peddled all of the way no freewheeling as in real life, but no headwinds or tailwinds, I recorded it all as mileage done, probably slower than I would have been in real life.


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## bpsmith (4 Jan 2018)

MasterDabber said:


> No VR ride should appear on real life segments. All VR rides should be defined as such when the ride is uploaded. There are VR only segments that may mirror RL segments but rides and times etc should always be totally separate. There's no excuse for the VR rider to screw up the RL segments.
> Programs like BigRingVR will automatically upload their VR rides to Strava already defined as VR ride.


I personally think that miles are miles, so would include any Turbo mileage @huwsparky.

I absolutely wouldn’t expect Virtual Rides to have any affect on real world segments though. That’s clearly not on. Is that even possible?


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## Dor (4 Jan 2018)

Cuchilo said:


> Because racing on public roads when you're the only one racing is a bit pathetic ?


No different to riding a TT then


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## MasterDabber (4 Jan 2018)

bpsmith said:


> I personally think that miles are miles, so would include any Turbo mileage @huwsparky.
> 
> I absolutely wouldn’t expect Virtual Rides to have any affect on real world segments though. That’s clearly not on. Is that even possible?


Yes, it's possible if the ride isn't tagged as a Virtual ride.

Or someone changes the tag from Virtual ride to Ride


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## Tim Hall (4 Jan 2018)

Dogtrousers said:


> Are there virtual segments? I'm sure there will be, if they don't already exist. Like fastest up Olympus Mons.


You'd need to tweak the model for wind resistance. Or would it matter, as everyone would be equally wrong.


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## MasterDabber (4 Jan 2018)

Dogtrousers said:


> Are there virtual segments? I'm sure there will be, if they don't already exist. Like fastest up Olympus Mons.


Yes, there are loads of segments which mirror real world segments plus there are imaginary virtual segments on Zwift.


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## pjd57 (4 Jan 2018)

Turbo , Zwift etc are fine if that's your thing.
But they don't really compare to real miles on real roads , potholes , vans, buses and all.

So I ignore all the virtual stuff


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## jefmcg (4 Jan 2018)

I'm way behind on smart trainers, so.... questions, starting with:

You can sit on a turbo in your conservatory, and produce a gpx file as if you just climbed Mont Ventoux?


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## huwsparky (4 Jan 2018)

bpsmith said:


> I personally think that miles are miles, so would include any Turbo mileage @huwsparky.


I don't have a problem with that. I just like looking at my milage tally and knowing that they were done on the road. I keep a seperate log for trainer data but I only look at time and intensity. I don't look at any trainer work as a bike ride, it's just a workout to me. But, I appreciate that how I look at cycling is different to most.


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## Milkfloat (4 Jan 2018)

jefmcg said:


> I'm way behind on smart trainers, so.... questions, starting with:
> 
> You can sit on a turbo in your conservatory, and produce a gpx file as if you just climbed Mont Ventoux?



Yes, however, to save you the effort I can email one if you want.


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## Venod (4 Jan 2018)

jefmcg said:


> You can sit on a turbo in your conservatory, and produce a gpx file as if you just climbed Mont Ventoux?



Yes there are films of Ventoux that will produce a tcx or gpx file, it will set the resistance as if you are on the road (on a smart trainer) or you can use a GPX file of the route this will also set your resistance and record your time.


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## Salty seadog (4 Jan 2018)

Drago said:


> What's a Stavra?



A Greek Garmin?


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## subaqua (4 Jan 2018)

Some people need to get a life . 

Somebody whined at me on endomondo when the GPS satellites had a bit of a brain fart a few years ago ... 

Which showed me riding a bike to the Azores in less than 60 seconds then whizzing over to North Africa before continuing along the regents canal ..


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## Pumpkin the robot (6 Jan 2018)

huwsparky said:


> The main gripe people have with virtual rides as I make it out is recording it as milage, me included. I ride more indoors this time of year and don't record the milage as I don't want it to interfere with 'milage' total. How hard the workout has no bearing, it's a workout, not a bike ride..



Most of the people that I know that record their virtual miles manage about 2 or 3mph more on their trainer than they ever manage in the real world, so they gain quite a bit of mileage over the winter. Not that it matters to me, they are only cheating themselves.


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## Soltydog (6 Jan 2018)

Martin Archer said:


> Most of the people that I know that record their virtual miles manage about 2 or 3mph more on their trainer than they ever manage in the real world, so they gain quite a bit of mileage over the winter. Not that it matters to me, they are only cheating themselves.



Funnily enough yesterday I did a real ride for the 1st time in a week or so, I've been on Zwift whilst the weather's poor & I reckon for the same effort on the flat I was 2-3 mph slower in the real world than Zwift would show, but with wind/road resistance etc that is probably about right, but I've bought a desk fan now to use whilst on the turbo, so that'll give me the wind resistance & maybe slow me down a bit


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## Tom B (6 Jan 2018)

Drago said:


> What's a Stavra?



A couple of christmas' ago the family cyclists and runners were discussing the years activities at a christmas gathering when one chap who is far from a strava user asked the father in law who the Italian lad that he keeps going cycling with was ( he posts his Strava activity on face ache) when we all looked puzzled he pulled up on his phone a post saying "Chris was Cycling with Strava".


Back on topic, there is a couple of lad around here that has the Stava name "James Ebiker" and "Charlie Ebiker" they then go around thrashing everyones uphill KOMs and are nowhere on the more techincal sections.

Someone has a few beers then flags them.


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## huwsparky (6 Jan 2018)

Martin Archer said:


> Most of the people that I know that record their virtual miles manage about 2 or 3mph more on their trainer than they ever manage in the real world, so they gain quite a bit of mileage over the winter. Not that it matters to me, they are only cheating themselves.


Wattbike the same, 250w for an hour will see you over 25mph. I need to be doing a minimum of 300w on the road to get near that!


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## Kernow_T (7 Jan 2018)

If you're fast enough to get KOM/QOM, surely your fast enough not to care if some scrote averages 35mph up a 6% hill in his lowered Renault 5


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## Adam4868 (9 Jan 2018)

https://www.strava.com/activities/1345710278/overview
My have a go at this Strava.........nah.


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## jefmcg (9 Jan 2018)

Martin Archer said:


> Not that it matters to me, they are only cheating using strava in a way that suits themselves


FTFY


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## classic33 (9 Jan 2018)

Globalti said:


> What IS good about Strava is the way it accumulates the records and shows them on the Strava Heatmap of the world. This is fascinating as it shows where people have the time and the money and the energy to go out cycling or running for no reason other than for fun. You also get some interesting results where, for example, hang gliders have recorded their day on Strava as on Parlick Pike just north of Longridge.
> 
> Edit: Just looked at this and I see that they have improved the Heatmap massively; it now shows marine and winter activities as well as running and cycling. Here:
> 
> https://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#13.91/-2.63365/53.90659/hot/ride


Any way of finding out direction of travel?

How accurate is it distance wise. Some follow no track or path, let alone road.


There's a few local ones that ET had to had a hand in. They've flown on some sections.


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## Globalti (10 Jan 2018)

The Strava heatmap is composed from thousands of individual records, all accumulated together. There's no way of knowing which way they travelled and of course some do not follow tracks or roads because they were running across open country or even flying a glider or hang-glider, as you can see. For me it's as much a sociological measure as a geographical record because it shows where in the world people have time and disposable income. Most of Africa is blank.


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## Venod (10 Jan 2018)

Martin Archer said:


> Most of the people that I know that record their virtual miles manage about 2 or 3mph more on their trainer than they ever manage in the real world



I would say that,s about right for a flat or mildly a rolling course (winter timings) but I find I am a lot slower on the uphills on the turbo and although faster on the downhills it doesn't make up for time lost on the uphills, the times on the turbo are very close to my summer times, I am comparing GPX rides of real routes done on the turbo not Zwift rides.


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## MiK1138 (10 Jan 2018)

Drago said:


> What's a Stavra?


Scandinavian Salad I think or it could be an Ikea sideboard


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## MontyVeda (10 Jan 2018)

Milzy said:


> I’ve had more KOMS stolen. *One steep hill slashed by over 5 minutes. Physically impossible on a push bike.* He’s used a motorcycle or a car. Can you still flag people? It’s getting ridiculous now!!



It could have been @blazed


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## classic33 (10 Jan 2018)

MontyVeda said:


> It could have been @blazed


Not here any more.


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## Milkfloat (10 Jan 2018)

classic33 said:


> Not here any more.



Well not under that username anyway.


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## Tim Hall (10 Jan 2018)

MontyVeda said:


> It could have been @blazed





classic33 said:


> Not here any more.





Milkfloat said:


> Well not under that username anyway.


Have you ever seen blazed and @Drago in the same room together? Well have you?


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## classic33 (10 Jan 2018)

Tim Hall said:


> Have you ever seen blazed and @Drago in the same room together? Well have you?


Drago has always said he's over 200lb, whilst Blazed was bothered about dropping below 200lb, weightwise.


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## Drago (10 Jan 2018)

260lb and proud! No lightweight weakling in my life!



Kernow_T said:


> If you're fast enough to get KOM/QOM, surely your fast enough not to care if some scrote averages 35mph up a 6% hill in his lowered Renault 5



I'd be impressed that a Renfault 5 could get up a 6% hill.


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## Jason (10 Jan 2018)

Drago said:


> What's a Stavra?



a really old Stravros


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## classic33 (11 Jan 2018)

M62 anyone?


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## Rupie (12 Jan 2018)

generally most Strava times are cheat times. People post moving times. This doesnt take into account getiing stopped at junctions, lights, and also stops for coffee, cake and rest on the way around. I ride is the total time from door to door, otherwise we would all be resting every 20 minutes to get a better time.


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## R_nger (12 Jan 2018)

Dogtrousers said:


> I take your point, and I kind of agree, but it's not true that "People post moving times". People just post GPS tracks. You don't really have an option to post anything else. Strava itself strips out what it considers to be stopped times.
> 
> RideWithGPS by the way does give you your overall speed, It does so in a slightly funny form as pace, in min/km rather than speed in km/h. I put in a feature request to get kmh overall displayed. I had quite a nice conversation with the RWGPS person who, it turned out, did randonneuring and appreciated my question. But nothing happened.



I must be doing something wrong...I can see lots of data on my RideWIthGPS rides, including Avg Speed in kph - all on the "metrics" tab (my rides are automatically uploaded to RideWithGPS from Garmin Connect).


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## bpsmith (13 Jan 2018)

Rupie said:


> generally most Strava times are cheat times. People post moving times. This doesnt take into account getiing stopped at junctions, lights, and also stops for coffee, cake and rest on the way around. I ride is the total time from door to door, otherwise we would all be resting every 20 minutes to get a better time.


Not everyone stops whilst cycling. It’s not “real cycling” if there’s a coffee stop.


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## screenman (13 Jan 2018)

I cannot remember the last time I stopped when out for a ride, certainly a long time ago.


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## MrGrumpy (13 Jan 2018)

If you add in the StravaX extension into Chrome , you get a raft of stats . Which is interesting if your a data freak. My moving average for the commute can be quite a high 18-19 mph , in spring summer. However the average as measured overall can be 16ish and it’s all due to stop start once I hit Edinburgh city outskirts . 
Anyway I gave up on leaderboards a couple of years back . I was in the top 10 for a lot of segments but now I really don’t give a stuff where I am, don’t even bother looking .


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## Supersuperleeds (13 Jan 2018)

Rupie said:


> generally most Strava times are cheat times. People post moving times. This doesnt take into account getiing stopped at junctions, lights, and also stops for coffee, cake and rest on the way around. I ride is the total time from door to door, otherwise we would all be resting every 20 minutes to get a better time.



Strava segments are total time taken.


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## HLaB (13 Jan 2018)

There down under too


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## classic33 (13 Jan 2018)

HLaB said:


> There down under too
> 
> View attachment 391418


Blazed's Australian cousin?


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## DRM (14 Jan 2018)

classic33 said:


> M62 anyone?
> View attachment 391095



Amazing how many people put their bike on the car carrier and forget to turn the Garmin off, IIRC didn't someone get done for speeding for just such a thing, put their ride on Strava for all to see, including the car journey home in excess of the speed limits, I'm sure it was an MP too.


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## Milzy (14 Jan 2018)

Soltydog said:


> Don't think anyone is ribbing those who use strava &/or Zwift, it's just the ones who cheat by whatever means
> Training for something specific/competition I would imagine that they could be very useful tools, but reckon 90% of users are just general folk like myself using it for general fitness & a very small majority doing anything they can to get a KOM. I once looked at segments on Zwift & there's so many ways to cheat that, but some of the top times were over 100mph  Even riding indoors with no wind resistance on a turbo/rollers I doubt many if any cyclists could get close to 100mph without stupid gearing. Whilst spending an hour on Zwift earlier, think it was the Volcano KOM? 2.7miles ave gradient of 5% & the fastest time was 4 mins 7 secs (40mph ish) ???The next fastest times were all around the 8 min mark, so I suspect someone hasn't got some settings quite right somewhere


Zwift is a whole different conversation. I feel proud to be out riding in the cold like the last British hard man Wayne Randall. As others are in the house on Zwift.


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## Johnno260 (15 Jan 2018)

for water breaking during a ride and a quick breather I never pause Strava.

My high street is a complete lottery on the time, if you hit all the red lights you're doomed! haha


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## jefmcg (15 Jan 2018)

Johnno260 said:


> for water breaking during a ride and a quick breather I never pause Strava.


That makes little difference. Strava puts the pauses in whether you do it manually or not.


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## MasterDabber (15 Jan 2018)

To complicate things a little more, Strava say (and I quote).......
To add a bit more detail to the way Strava calculates stopped time (so not the actual stopped time)......

_*"Strava considers a point "not moving" if your speed is less than 0.3 meters/sec (0.67 mph), but we don't start accumulating resting time unless you're "not moving" for at least 15 seconds".*_

Basically, if you are doing a lot of short stops Strava will under calculate the time the you are actually stopped.


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## Ming the Merciless (15 Jan 2018)

If only I was fast enough to care about Strava chats


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## Johnno260 (15 Jan 2018)

jefmcg said:


> That makes little difference. Strava puts the pauses in whether you do it manually or not.



ah ok, well still, I'm never going to be fast enough for a KOM and I prefer just seeing I have improved.


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## bpsmith (15 Jan 2018)

I like the year to date tables personally. Did a few climbs yesterday and was pleased to see my, and my mates, times were fastest for the year. 58 people had done the climb, so happy with that.

It’s proper early yet, and we weren’t going all out, but nice to get a feel for how you relate to others at this time of year.


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## HLaB (17 Jan 2018)

Lol, I've lost my KOM on the Coll de Rates by over 12minutes. They must've been cheating and the 1275 other people


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## Ming the Merciless (17 Jan 2018)

I like seeing who amongst my friends has been down my local roads and when. It's nice when you see a friend has discovered one of your favourite lanes.


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## jefmcg (17 Jan 2018)

Johnno260 said:


> ah ok, well still, I'm never going to be fast enough for a KOM and I prefer just seeing I have improved.


KOM are elapsed times, it's only overall ride time time that is moving.


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## 400bhp (18 Jan 2018)

HLaB said:


> Lol, I've lost my KOM on the Coll de Rates by over 12minutes. They must've been cheating and the 1275 other people



Nice climb that


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## Drago (18 Jan 2018)

YukonBoy said:


> I like seeing who amongst my friends has been down my local roads and when. It's nice when you see a friend has discovered one of your favourite lanes.



So do I, so I talk to them occasionally.


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## johnnyb47 (18 Jan 2018)

Cycling Weekly have just uploaded a YouTube clip titled "top 5 strava cheats"
It's a tongue in cheek clip which is quite funny.
I like the cheat of where he threw is garmin out in front of him near the top of the hill to get a better kom :-) :-)


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## jefmcg (18 Jan 2018)

johnnyb47 said:


> Cycling Weekly have just uploaded a YouTube clip titled "top 5 strava cheats"



View: https://youtu.be/q8KerESQlE8


Quite funny, ignoring the use of the g-word in the first breath.


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## tallliman (20 Jan 2018)

Other industries have wind assisted kom's: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/norwegian-breaks-transatlantic-speed-record/


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