[Closed] Strava Ethical Dilema

You were fastest up the hill on a non electric bicycle. You win.

You were fastest up the hill on a non electric bicycle. You win.

That. No ethical problem here

You were fastest up the hill on a non electric bicycle. You win.

This, but also it's only Strava so nobody really GAS anyway.

Weird question. You were on a bike, therefore you win.

kayla1

Member
but also it’s only Strava so nobody really GAS anyway.

Appart from the people that get overly excited about Strava

This, but also it’s only Strava so nobody really GAS anyway.

Also this.

It means those on MTB's merely brought the wrong tool for the job. So you win, no issue.

nobody really GAS anyway

On Strava?

Nope, that's perfectly fair, almost all my local off road PR's* are on gravel/CX bikes.

*KOM's are unlikely given the population density meaning even a dull bit of bridleway will have 500+ times and every shop having a sponsored team meaning there's a lot of fast guys about.

Is this really a clever way to tell us you were faster on a road bike off road than you were on an off road bike ?

Of course its your KOM - you peddled it under your own steam.

Now, there is a steep offroad climb near me that I'm fairly sure I could run up quicker then I can cycle it.....what about that?

I lost a KOM to somebody on a horse!

You did it on a bike, you earned the KOM.

I also suggest that you heckle MTBers. "You didn't need to spend all that money" and "you dunner need them fancy bikes" as you fly past them.

Mick

Which segment is it?*

*digs out the Rocket Rons for the XC bike

Now, there is a steep offroad climb near me that I’m fairly sure I could run up quicker then I can cycle it…..what about that?

If you run up it carrying a bike then it's legit.

If you run up it carrying a bike then it’s legit.

Unless it's an e-bike.

I have a few KOMs and lots of top ten times uphill on gravel on my fixed gear bike running road tyres (segments with 2,000 times logged). On the gravel roads I ride on it is the fastest type of bike.

I don't think Strava needs categories for which type of bike you are riding (XC bike, endure bike, gravel bike, road bike etc,.) as may get a bit silly(er)

Which segment is it?

You're not catching me out that easily. It's mine, mine I tell you and if anybody complains I'll tell them STW said it was fine 🙂

It was just supposed to be a bit of fun, although it would be more fun if somebody would claim it's cheating.

Actually I do think it kind of was. I can't really claim I was on a more appropriate bike. I got a puncture in my 23mm slicks at the top and had to tiptoe along the fun bits. If I'd lost a KOM to someone like that I would probably think "did you really take a road bike on that trail just to bag a KOM, you saddo" 🙂

I don’t see a problem, you pedalled a non electric bike up a hill faster than anyone else. I don’t think there are many off-road hills I frequent I’d be quicker up on my road bike than my hardtail or full suss so fair play.

KOM’s are unlikely given the population density meaning even a dull bit of bridleway will have 500+ times and

Yeah.. mm hmm.. okay.. 😉

Which segment is it?*
*digs out the Rocket Rons for the XC bike

You could pick a fast tyre 😉

24t biggest cog, are you on Sunrace 5 speed from the 70's?

No, it's Campagnolo Record 10 speed. All the rage back in 2002 🙂 As were 53-39 doubles. Although it's actually 12-25 not 24. My mistake.

My only KOM was on my gravel bike with slicks.

You were fastest up the hill on a non electric bicycle. You win.

This, but also it’s only Strava so nobody really GAS anyway.

Apart from a good chunk of the 42 million strava users who enjoy the competition they get from the leaderboards.

Which segment is it?*

*digs out the Rocket Rons for the XC bike

Molgrips made that mistake and I pinched a KOM he was targeting 😁
He's got it back now with a time thats beyond me, but I did enjoy it at the time.

There's a segment near me called "the easiest top ten place you'll get" ironically it's creator is 12th

You were fastest up the hill, and as a bonus it will wind anyone up that gives segments a name of "Freds challenging tech climb MTBs only NO ROAD BIEKSSSS!!!!", etc.

Yeah.. mm hmm.. okay.. 😉

I have a KOM for a farm track in North Yorkshire, round here I think my best is a top 10 on a short road descent where I got lucky and managed to draft and sprint between a couple of evenly spread roadies! The KOM's are all at least 30% quicker than me even where I get into the top 10%!

Not much of an off-road trail if you can ride it on a road bike.

I've got a few KoMs, mostly on routes that nobody bothers with. I count them all.

Not much of an off-road trail if you can ride it on a road bike.

You can ride all but downhill course type trails on a road bike. It won't be the fastest bike for most of it but for uphill gravel it can be.

To be fair, it’s not much of an off road trail (so I’m probably safe from @hairyscary). That was kind of the point of the exercise. To check out the little bits of trail that wouldn’t be worth riding on an MTB but might be fun on a road bike with slightly bigger tyres. Jury is still out on that one, but the unexpected KOM made me laugh.

@hairyscary will probably break something on his bike before he gets to the top though... 🤣

I had a kom by accident by taking a gravel bike. I even stopped to take a photo!

Annoyingly i didn't even know until someone took it.

It crosses the mainroad and i think it might have been flagged as "dangerous" and that hides it or something is tgat a thing?

I think we are all missing the point here. This isn't willy waving at all.

are enough interesting bits of “gravel” to make it worth buying a gravel bike.

Hes asking for permission to buy a new gravel bike.

I managed to bag a KOM on an off-road climb

Just think how many uphill Koms he will get on a new bike 🤔

Any gravel bike recommendations for him before he changes his mind?

The gravel bike might be slower up that hill than your road bike.

That's good though. More time to enjoy it.

Don’t know about needing permission, but yes, I’m definitely at the “should I or shouldn’t I” stage with the whole gravel thing. It might make boring trails more fun, but aren’t they still just boring trails.

It might be interesting to see if wider tyres really would be faster up that climb, but my guess is that I’ll never beat that time again. Mainly because I had to cough up a lung to get up it with those gears and if I had an easier gear I’d use it.

Worst humblebrag ever.

A KOM and a KOH in one week. I’m on a roll 😀

It might make boring trails more fun, but aren’t they still just boring trails.

No, they become fun trails again. My gravel bike is great with the riding I have from my door. Although I dont bother in winter as its gone full winter roadbike now.

It might make boring trails more fun, but aren’t they still just boring trails.

If you find riding along gravel roads boring then it doesn't really matter which bike you are using, just as if you find riding along the road boring. If that is the case then cycling on road or gravel roads is probably not for you and you should find something to do on a bike that is not boring.
I enjoy riding on gravel roads and don't find it boring at all. I also enjoy riding on the road but the advantage with gravel roads is that I don't have careless drivers to contend with.
Can't say it is any more exciting on a track bike than an MTB but it is the type of bike I like riding most so ride one.

I had a few Koms back in 2010-12 as it took a while to catch on here. Then they got hoovered up one by one as pros started using it and came through on the Vuelta or Pais Vasco. Seemed unfair as they were arriving at the bottom of climbs doing 55kmh in the bunch ;P
Never managed to get this one back, for example:

A riding mate has a 20k flat KOM from around that time, from when he was racing in Elite. It's a local testers' segment, and no-one can get near it. He confessed to me he'd drafted a Dutch motorhome almost all the way.. it's still no mean feat to hang on for that long, especially as it has a few 'repechos' along the way. I think it's valid.

You can ride all but downhill course type trails on a road bike.

In the same way you could take a track car greenlaning, it's not going to be doing anyone any favours, least of all your wallet. If you can do it comfortably then your trails are shit.

Thanks @kerley I was playing devil’s advocate of course, but you are right, it’s not so much a question of the bike as whether I enjoy riding back roads and simple tracks enough to make it worth buying a bike for the purpose.

I’ve tried those rides on both my MTB and road bike now and neither work. The MTB is too slow on road to be enjoyable for more than a short while and I have to nurse the road bike too much on the tracks to avoid destroying tyres and wheels, so that’s not much fun either once the novelty wears off.

I have found some lovely little sections of track, through woods, by streams etc. But without the technical challenge would they get boring too after a while? I suspect not. I enjoy exploring more than tech these days and a gravel/adventure bike does look like a good option for that.

In the same way you could take a track car greenlaning, it’s not going to be doing anyone any favours, least of all your wallet. If you can do it comfortably then your trails are shit.

No damage to my bike at anytime so no problem with wallet and wouldn't say I can do some sections comfortably but I would agree that the trails where I live are shit hence why I use a fixed gear road bike for them as it makes them more challenging.

He confessed to me he’d drafted a Dutch motorhome almost all the way.. 

That needs flagging, no motor pacing 😤😤

I've somehow collected a few KOMs when out on my #gradventourer. It's undoubtedly quicker than a MTB on some tracks. I certainly don't regard it as cheating in any way, just the use of a more appropriate bike.

As Charlie once said, if your trails are boring, get a worse bike. They will then become terrifying. The advantage is that you won’t have to jump off an Alp to get a thrill and face the consequences of getting it wrong. Pleasant bimbling becomes a thrill ride but you’ve normally got somewhere soft to land if it goes wrong.

The most fun I’ve had is normally on the wrong bike.

Oh, OP, stop pretending that you don’t care about your KOM. Just publish where it is so someone can steal it on a unicycle.

😉

I've got KOMs!

What? I'm supposed to type a bit more whe n getting that statement out there's the main purpose of the thread, shirley? Okay, every single one of them will have been with good ground/road conditions (actually I don't think i've any road KOMs left) and the wind blowing strongly in the right direction. Or moving from back to the front of a group, or with faster riders who weren't stravaing. You get the idea: It is what it is,

@scotroutes I wouldn't regard you as cheating either as your #gradventourer still fits within the broad envelope of appropriate. My dilemma is that my road bike was in no way appropriate and had to be nursed along just to stop it breaking. So, I can see how it might look as though I took a totally inappropriate bike along just to bag a KOM. I didn't: despite this thread I'm really not bothered and would happily have marked the ride as private if anybody thought it was cheating. I didn't know there was a segment there and the only reason the time is respectable is because my gearing is so high that my only choices were bust a gut or try to waddle up the hill in my road shoes.

Anyway, I'll shut up about it now as I'm clearly the only person who thinks I was cheating anyway.

I’ll shut up about it now as I’m clearly the only person who thinks I was cheating anyway.

If it makes you feel better, I'll take your side.

Thanks 🙂