IIRC, if their account -or the activity- is set to 'private', it won't show up on the FlyBys.

 

Dunno about trends. Lately I've been considering dropping it since it's been using about 12-15% of my phone battery per hour with the screen off.

 

They turned off Fly-By as the default a while ago, almost nobody turns it back on.

When I look at the daily segment counts for Sope Creek they're higher every year. Average daily Strava segment count this time a few years ago was 20-30 and now it's 50+ every day (I remember back when it would be 10 or less!). Road segments on the Silver Comet, MtR trail are similar.

Generally, I think it's like a lot of things in cycling and returning to trend from Pre-COVID. 2020-2023/24 was an anomaly and 2018-2019 are more relevant for taking the pulse, IMO.

 

I don't even know about fly-bys, and I am a paid subscriber (to be able to make routes)! And my account is set to Private , so only my 15 connections can see them, unless I change the access to a ride, in order to share with someone new.
I just like to see where I have ridden so I can repeat or not go back, depending. I don't track segments or leader boards, etc. But I am likely going to drop the Strava subscription and make new routes with Komoot or RWGPS in the near future.

 

Yes

 

Dumb phones are trending.

My wife has never done social media, and it shows (in a good way). She tried Facebook like 15-20 yrs ago and right away thought it was one of the stupidest things ever, especially after dudes from high school (she graduated '84) started 'friending' her.

We're slowly going from being tethered to technology to being chained to it, myself included.

My Garmin has taken a beating, messed up screen, short battery life. I felt like I had to buy a new one. Then I remembered how liberating it felt when I stopped racing and threw my hrm in the trash 25 yrs ago.

I still use free Strava on my pixel (in my pocket), but when I ride my mountain bike these days, nothing on the bars but a timberbell. HRM is in a drawer, not the bin, but I'm having more fun without the extra crap. Also, the cheapest Garmin is $200. Probably made in China for $5;
However,

You'll only pry my Levo w/mastermind tcu from my cold dead hands 🙃

But yeah, F that HRM right off on either bike.

 

Not necessarily dying, but their recent changes in subscription levels/features has probably caused a lot of people to not be as excited about it. Basically their split their user base into the handful of serious contenders/racers and a large group of people who question the need to use the service at all. It wasn't wise.

I still use it just to log rides, but if they get any more limited I might just stick with the Garmin SW. Basically I want to know how many miles I ride per year, on which bikes, and compare the last ride with the other folks I rode with over a post-ride beer. I never do any analysis.

 

Strava is a joke in these parts. One of these days a real cyclist is going to die chasing these KOMs I set on my Surron.

 

I think it probably is dying to a degree.

The people I follow don't tend to upload rides often. Some of them ride a LOT. They just don't post everything they ride. I dunno if they record everything and then just keep most of it buried unless they have something interesting they want to post, if they record everything, but only upload the interesting stuff (and delete the rest), or if they only choose to record a small amount of what they do. It's probably different for everybody.

I use my Garmin all the time, though honestly I also question recording everything anymore. I do it more out of habit than anything. When I plug in my Garmin to charge at my computer, it uploads everything, and that gets sent to Strava. I have considered stopping those automatic transfers because Strava doesn't really do anything worthwhile that I'm not already getting from Garmin Connect or RideWithGPS. I did notice recently that RWGPS has tightened up its route creation on free accounts. Annoying, but I like their route creation better than others I've tried. Haven't looked at Komoot, but I guess I should and compare.

 

Am I alone in more than occasionally riding only to take peoples KOMs away from them?

 

Nope.

But I think fewer people do it now. Between GPS track errors, trail re-routes over the years, and e-bikes, the leaderboards have become a bit of a mess.

 

I have a Garmin Fenix 6 that records my rides and uploads to Strave. I have a sensor on my wheels cause I noticed ya get jipped of miles and MPH just with Garmin. I use the free app just to record my rides and milage for the year. I have like 12 local followers who I follow back out of courtesy I guess. I'll never get a KOM and I like to see how I do on different bikes at different times of the year.

 

I used Strava for a couple years and realized it wasn't making me happy. My pre-Strava self focused on having a laugh with my friends, cleaning tech sections and generally feeling a good flow on the trails. In the Strava era people, inlcuding myself, were focused on meaningless stats and the gamification of mountain biking. I stopped posting to Strava a few years ago and have not regretted it.

I have a laugh now when I ask someone about their ride and their reply is X KMs and Y metres climbing. No, but how was the ride?????

 

I used Strava for a couple years and realized it wasn't making me happy. My pre-Strava self focused on having a laugh with my friends, cleaning tech sections and generally feeling a good flow on the trails. In the Strava era people, inlcuding myself, were focused on meaningless stats and the gamification of mountain biking. I stopped posting to Strava a few years ago and have not regretted it.

This. There were fun times with Strava when it came to racing friends on segments, but ultimately, I didn't want to race them. I wanted to be able to stop and see the sites. I wanted to enjoy the woods, and not be concerned about whether or not my effort was my best effort.

I still have Strava (free), but I haven't used it in a long time. I actually like it when people ask me how far I rode, and I have no idea.

 

No

 

It still gets a lot of use where I live, although I've never tried the fly-by feature. I've learned of several trails that aren't the more well-known ones by following other locals, and have gotten info about trail conditions. I've also been using the beacon text feature to let my wife know where I am in case I stuff it into a tree and bonk my head or something.

 

Another interesting thing with Strava where I live is that we use it to police our trail system. There is a large section of our system that the land owners have closed. Couple that with seasonal closures due to mud season, and it is easy to see who is riding when and where they shouldn't be. Strava's ability to message users makes it easy to send them a friendly message to ride elsewhere when needed.

 

I tried to Strava when I stopped to take a picture it stopped. That was when I stopped using it. I do look to see what friends are riding.

 

It's definitely popular here.

I like it for finding new trails. I follow some riders who are a lot better than me and see what they're up to in the area. Also use the heat map.

It's also really motivating when I see that I beat some PRs. Tracking time, miles, and elevation is one that I don't need strava for but that's an important one too.

 

I only use it to log rides/miles for maintenance and see how I’m doing, in general fitness stats. Right now it says “you’re still fat and it’s June”

I couldn’t care less about the social features.

 

laughs in the unreality that Strava has become

 

Hey, Lucky Satellites count too.

 

I use it to log my climbing data and do enjoy chasing KOMs if they’re my type of segments. Lots of people still using it here, probably more than ever, and it’s highly competitive.

 

I only use it now if I want to know how many vert meters a new track i'm riding is.

 

Use it to track maintenance and progress on trails that I ride regularly. Couldn't possibly care less about being a KOM but want to know how I'm tracking. I think it is extremely cheap for the value it provides me. I don't care about the social aspect but oblige others who do and that's not a burden for me. I find it interesting that people wanted to quit because they were too tied to stats. I tend to look at it occasionally to see where I stand and update which bike I was on so that it goes to my maintenance app but it has no bearing on how fun a ride is or what I do on a ride. If I felt like that I'd do the same thing and quit it.

 

I never track any of my rides. I just ride. I understand why some people do, but it’s not for me. I only use Trailforks, Strava or others to plan my route. Then I just use screenshots of the maps while I’m out riding in unfamiliar territory.

 

my Strava account where I have a huge following of 11,

1 of 11 here LOL!

Strava still really popular here, I have the paid version but probably won't be re-newing it next go around. I think it's $90/year now? Totally not worth it. Always pushing some new "challenge" so you have a one in a million chance to win some crappy prize.

And I only started to use the pay version after they took away access to the leaderboards and the compare rides feature, what a bait and switch that was. Also the stuffing of social/political issues in my face, just report the ride info Strava! So I'll definitely keep using the free version so I can track my progress on pr's but that's all.

 

I only use Strava to keep track of my rides.
Also to have some numbers to base servicing the suspension and lubing the chain off, lol.