As Jam bo says – relative performance is where it is at for me, both against myself and my friends. Adds an edge but we are all (with one exception 🙄 🙂 :-)) aware that there will be variations in the accuracy of the data.
I am actually not to bad on trail/dh sections but being quite old and rather heavy it is actually getting into the top 30% on a climb that really makes me happy. It started out being the top 60% so Strava can be a good motivational tool.
But the main thing I use it for is to log my mileage, I believe it may have been Ton that stated he wanted to do a certain amount of miles a week, this inspired me so I set a goal of 50 miles a week which pretty much meant riding twice as much as the previous year. I was bang on schedule to till a damaged cartlidge in the knee but I am back on the bike now and looking forward to trying to get the 400 miles I am behind back.
As for electric assist bikes, i was doing some work around a 74 year old fellas house, he showed me his old steel bikes he was racing back in the 70s… then he wheeled out his new electric assist bike, then his twin brother arrived with his and they went out for a 40 miler… brilliant.
Saw an old guy (approx 80) riding round Friston on a years old shopper with a motor last summer, he was on the trails not the fireroad, with his moth eaten colly in tow.
Bit of an essay!! Time for some Ben and Jerrys