Viewing 29 posts - 1 through 29 (of 29 total)
  • Using Strava to choose your next bike
  • roverpig
    Full Member

    One thing you can say for Strava is that it gives you a relatively unbiased measure of your performance on different segments. So, in theory, you could use it to analyse your strengths and weaknesses and use that information to help you choose your next bike. But I’m not sure that works in practice.

    Looking at my own data I see a very clear pattern; I tend to place in the top third (or even top quarter) on pretty much all climbs, but bottom third (or even bottom quarter) on most descents. Now I have no problem with this. Being 50 and riding a relatively heavy FS bike I’m surprised that I’m doing as well as I am on the climbs and I’m well aware that my preference is to push a bit on the way up and just take it easy on the way down. But the logical conclusion of being faster up than down would be that I could go for a bigger bike, right? But I’m already mincing about on tame trails on a Five, a bike I never come close to doing justice. So, would a 160mm monster really be the way to go? It doesn’t make sense, but the data don’t lie, so the error probably lies in my interpretation.

    richmtb
    Full Member

    If you are using Strava data to support you buying decision then I think you have your conclusion backwards.

    You obviously enjoy climbing so buy a bike that’s better suited to it than an Orange 5. A slightly more XC focussed full-suss (say a 120mm travel 29er) would speed up the climbs and make the descents more interesting at the speed you ride them.

    whitestone
    Free Member

    I’m assuming that you “know” the descents rather than first time down them? I’d say that the logical conclusion would be to get a lighter bike to improve your uphill times since your downhill times are dictated by you rather than the bike and are unlikely to improve without a huge IV dose of rule #5 😛

    Edit: beaten to it by richmtb!

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    scotroutes
    Full Member

    Or you could interpret it the other way; if you are a strong climber get a lighter bike and just mince down the descents as you’re not making use of what you have anyway.

    mikeep
    Free Member

    Shortlist bikes -> test bikes -> pick the one you have the most fun on. F%^k strava.

    thestabiliser
    Free Member

    Get an E-bike for the downs, turn it off on the way up

    robinlaidlaw
    Free Member

    Another vote for the approach that if you aren’t actually racing, get a bike that flatters your strengths.

    NewRetroTom
    Full Member

    Test bikes while using strava.
    Ignore results.
    Buy the one that made you smile the most.

    no_eyed_deer
    Free Member

    Do people actually do this?

    You do realise that Strava is just a bit of a joke?

    Surely, the most important thing is to ride the bike that is most fun to ride, not some weird notion of which makes you fastest on some fantasy fictitious leaderboard.

    Seriously..? 😯

    Digital EPO, trail conditions and Motocross bikes – just for a start – simply discredit Strava as even a thing.

    Ditch the Five – if you want to go fast. I don’t use mine for ‘fast’, but it does bring more of a smile to my face than probably any of my other bikes, when I’m in the mood for that entertainingly-flexy-clattering-bag-of-spanners-filing-cabinet-riding style it brings… 😀

    roverpig
    Full Member

    Thanks folks. I knew that if there was a different way of looking at the data then you guys would find it 🙂

    I guess I was thinking that the goal should be to be equally good/bad both up and down, so I should go for a bike that would be faster going down, even if there was a penalty going up.

    But you are right, I enjoy the climbs and the rate limiting step on the way down isn’t the bike. It never is, but it’s particularly true in my case. I could ride down a lot faster on the bike I have. In fact there are some segments (outliers) where I was obviously in the mood to go for it and I’ve propelled myself into a more repectable position on the leaderboard. But the simple fact (and I should probably wisper this) is that I don’t particularly enjoy going downhill fast. I’ve worked hard to gain the altitute so I like to just relax and enjoy the ride down (even stopping to admire the view).

    So, actually, I had it backwards. The data are really just confirmation that I should be on a more XC focussed bike.

    Thanks.

    ps. I realise that my overly analytical approach is going to wind some folk up and for that I appologise. It was just meant to be a bit of fun.

    tenacious_doug
    Free Member

    I used it when I demoed multiple bikes as the best way of analysing times. I rode roughly the same loop on each bike over multiple months so was good for a record. I enjoy racing and beating my mates so speed was certainly a factor for me, but secondary to enjoyment.

    no_eyed_deer
    Free Member

    a bit of fun

    Sorry – I am probably feeling a bit grumpy this morning, so I defaulted to the typical STWer-type.. 😐

    A bit of fun I approve of.

    Fun is good.. 🙂

    roverpig
    Full Member

    No offence taken. I realise the inherent stupiduty in trying to use numbers to quantify fun. But the numbers are there and I can’t go for a ride right now, so I tought it might be fun to see if they were trying to tell me anything, other than “you suck” 🙂

    emyr
    Full Member

    Possible that your FS is flatterring your descending ability; maybe you’d benefit from 6 months of learning to read lines on a hardtail then switch back.

    Or do what I did and get a fat bike.

    Rubber_Buccaneer
    Full Member

    1. Choose bike
    2. Find means to justify your choice (Strava is fine but there are others)

    njee20
    Free Member

    Or you could interpret it the other way; if you are a strong climber get a lighter bike and just mince down the descents as you’re not making use of what you have anyway.

    This. I enjoy climbing, and having a bike that excels at what I enjoy is preferable to one which flatters my weaknesses IMO. I can get down the hills, sometimes not that slowly with what I’ve got, and I’m happy with that!

    D0NK
    Full Member

    Another vote for the approach that if you aren’t actually racing, get a bike that flatters your strengths.

    +1 but rather than strengths I’d say interests, if you love downhills get something gnar-ier. Love the ups? get a light bike that climbs well. It’s only if you need to keep up with/beat others that you have to compensate for your weaknesses. No point having a downhill bike if you don’t like downhilling.

    Strava is ok for comparing against yourself but terrible for everyone else. All the uphills KOMs will have been done on CX or racey 29ers in summer with a huge tailwind, all the downhill KOMs will have been set on DH bike when the trail was in best condition, before those ruts appeared etc.

    taxi25
    Free Member

    I’m a bit like you Op, 50+ and off road Strava says I go up better than I go down, at least on the more technical or jumpy descents. I’ve given up trying to improve on those type of descents and got a carbon x/c race f/s 29er, with a dropper post. It’s brilliant, the ups are fun, smoother descents and rocky tracks can be ridden at eye watering speed 😯 best of all it’s so light and accelerates so well you can keep your speed up on flattish undulating trails and make them fun aswell.

    roverpig
    Full Member

    I get the argument about playing to your strengths and maybe my Strava times should be taken as a sign that a more XC focussed bike would suit me better, but two things put me off this conclusion. First, my 26″ Five clearly isn’t that bad as an XC bike if a 50 year old bloke can ride it up hill faster than plenty of folk half his age. Second, I have to come down as well. While I may not be getting anywhere near the limits of the Five I still appreciate the confidence it gives me. Would I enjoy the descents as much on some twitchy XC bike or would I be spending the whole descent worried that I was about to crash?

    MTB-Idle
    Free Member

    a slight tangent but seeing as this thread seems to have run it’s course hopefully it’s okay.

    Can I see on Strava what distance I have ridden each bike this year?

    I’ve only got the freebie version and I can see on my profile the various total distances for each of my bikes but is there a simple way to break it down by year?

    Muchos gracias

    roverpig
    Full Member

    Veloviewer does this very nicely, but you have to pay for it now. Shame, why can’t (other) people work for free 🙂

    chakaping
    Free Member

    Alternatively, see what the segment KOM holder was riding and get one of those.

    MTB-Idle
    Free Member

    roverpig
    Veloviewer does this very nicely, but you have to pay for it now. Shame, why can’t (other) people work for free

    Yup, interestingly enough I was watching the Vuelta highlights yesterday and they showed the last climb profile with the tag ‘supplied by Veloviewer’. thought that was interesting and great publicity.

    I think it’s a one man show over at VV isn’t it?

    prawny
    Full Member

    I’m in the top 10% on the climbs most of the time on my voodoo bizango, imagine how fast you could be? I tell you what, I’m willing to do a straight swap, no no, it’s fine, I insist. Pop me an email 8)

    emyr
    Full Member

    Veloviewer is a bargain. Think of it as buying the guy a pint every other month.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    I guess I was thinking that the goal should be to be equally good/bad both up and down

    Er no.

    The top times on the descents are probably youngsters without fear on DH bikes who’ve pushed up. Don’t chase them.

    deanfbm
    Free Member

    Buy a bike designed for what you ride, simple.

    If you’re one of the slower ones, as mentioned above, a bigger bike might get you a tiny gain on the downs, your ability is going to be the overwhelming factor.

    What is normally overlooked too is speed/fun on the flatter stuff too, which more bike inevitably robs you of.

    chakaping
    Free Member

    The top times on the descents are probably youngsters without fear on DH bikes who’ve pushed up. Don’t chase them.

    Sadly Strava usually reveals they are in my (middle) age category, just faster than me.

    Strava also usually reveals that DH bikes are slower unless it’s an actual DH track. And steep.

    deviant
    Free Member

    I get the argument about playing to your strengths and maybe my Strava times should be taken as a sign that a more XC focussed bike would suit me better, but two things put me off this conclusion. First, my 26″ Five clearly isn’t that bad as an XC bike if a 50 year old bloke can ride it up hill faster than plenty of folk half his age. Second, I have to come down as well. While I may not be getting anywhere near the limits of the Five I still appreciate the confidence it gives me. Would I enjoy the descents as much on some twitchy XC bike or would I be spending the whole descent worried that I was about to crash?

    There are now slack angled short travel 29ers (like the Orange Segment) that will allow you to play to your strengths and climb better than the 5 but also take care of you on the descents.
    I think most manufacturers now offer something like this as a lot of riders have finally twigged that they don’t need 140-160mm at each end to ride their usual trails, look at the plethora of mismatched travel bikes out there now offering big forks for hard hitting descending but keeping things taut and efficient out back with far less travel….for most UK trail riders these kind of bikes would arguably be better than the long travel beast you typically see on the trails these days.

    You don’t have to go from one extreme to another and get a twitchy XC type bike, there is a healthy range of mid travel trail bikes out there offering more refined suspension systems like FSR/Horst/4-bar/DW-link etc that will climb more efficiently than your 5 but still descend confidently and competently allowing you to gain confidence in that weaker area.

    If you like the 5 and I was in your position I’d get a Segment, seems perfect for what you want, try and grab a test ride somewhere.

Viewing 29 posts - 1 through 29 (of 29 total)

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