[Closed] Trailforks now charging

So, trailforks or Strava?

For me Trailforks is far more useful than Strava. Creating a ride in an unknown area, I can find a segment, then find a recent route that included that segment. It also has an upto date description of the segment, often with pics and vids. I've been plotting my rides using this method for last 4 euro holidays. Each ride has been brilliant.

I dont find it much use in the UK outside of a select one or two places and the free version will still give you access to everything on PC so I'll likely do what I've done in the past and just print out a screen grab of the trails I want to find and put it in my pocket when riding.

I was just out yesterday using Trailforks to work out where the singletrack was, so it'd be a real loss for me. What to do

Shame that, is a poor move to remove competitors by making it free and then charging when they are are in a strong position. Especially when all the data they use is community funding. Could have just put an ad or two in imo. The premium version doesn't even offer anything that wasn't available for free yesterday.

Uninstalled the app and will just take screenshots as needed on my pc.

I only really use it if I go to Scotland etc so it’ll just be a case of subscribing for a month if I go on a trip, no biggy.

Unsurprisingly this is causing more of an issue across the pond (where I'm based).  Enigmas+1 - Classic .com move of using crowd sourced data and burning cash until you've driven competitors out of business before then charging for the service.

In most of Canada there isn't really an alternative (beyond screen shots of maps printed out) and it's become the default.  I've paid but I'm thinking they're going to have to work hard to keep good will as my motivation to help with what is now a paid service is lower (in terms of submitting conditions reports, trail edits etc).

Use the website on your phone instead of the app?

^That only works where you have a connection with data which isn't always the case (in fact my main riding area has limited cell coverage).  I also don't know if it'll link through with the gps then although if you can read a map that shouldn't be an issue.....

What does this mean for your trail associations and local admins?

We greatly appreciate the work local admins and ambassadors have put in to help map trails, as well as manage and curate the content in their areas. It's a vital piece in making a global platform like this work.

To recognize their continued efforts we are providing five free Trailforks Pro subscriptions per trail association, which are intended to be used by trail administrators. Also, members that are set up as local region admins on Trailforks can get a free Trailforks Pro subscription. They must have at least 10 Trailforks contribute points, meaning they’ve helped contribute some data to the platform. Local admins apply for free subscription here via the Trailforks website (not the app).

Seems fair enough.

Even than you're talking $17/$33 per year, hardly bank breaking stuff.

Ah. The Strava whingebags have a new target.

They've only done it to take the fuss away from the Grim Donut.

Only Pro members get new Donut content 😊

Doesn't really seem to change much in the end, not as much as the strava update did anyway. I really like trailforks and have added full towns of trails from scratch, I don't know if that designates me as region admin automatically?

Surely you can still download the tracks via the website and upload and overlay on your other map apps....

I've downloaded the gpx tracks in all the interesting areas and uploaded them to locus maps.

I get a detailed view of what lies between each trail.

But really, this is only a problem if you're planning trips further away... Right?

But really, this is only a problem if you’re planning trips further away… Right?

If you class a dollar fifty a month a problem, for what is a great app.

They have very little coverage round here, I find komoot much better, although I do pay for that anyway. But I do like riding new trails and not just the ones I know.

I wonder what that means for the overlayed trails on a Garmin. I couldn't quite work it out from their info on the website. Presumably they won't be there?

Never found Trailforks to be particularly useful. At least nearby, further afield maybe. Locally there's not much to see and what is on there is mostly bridleways, fire roads and a few well known trails, but with the wrong name. I'm interested in what happens to the Garmin integration now? Since it's a selling point of the latest models that may have been a factor in purchasing.

They can do one. I'm old enough to appreciate "I wonder where this trail goes". Trailforks actually removes something from the discovery. So while it's a brilliant tool, it dilutes the pleasure of a found trail.

Seems fair enough for a useful tool.

Worth noting that is Canadian dollars - so works out at only just over £10/year (with current discount) if you use a fee-free CC.

I changed from an element bolt to a garmin and one big reason was trail forks integration because of a trip to whistler and I just used it over the weekend to find off piste trails in wales. Also use it a lot when going to Scotland so a real blow. I wonder how garmin will be affected with the overlays and route importing. Already paying for strava so didn’t want another purchase really.

I'm with @Waderider on this...it is an old-fashioned view and people these days are time-sensitive - which they use as their reason not to go exploring but following instead.

Trailforks has proved useful in the past - and will in the future - not as a navigational tool, but more as confirmation that I'm in the right kind of area...

This kind of stuff can never be free forever, it'll take a small fortune to run all the servers and development of the tools for this. I hope it remains successful as the MI it can provide for a riding area for trail groups is great to aid with funding bids!

I changed from an element bolt to a garmin and one big reason was trail forks integration because of a trip to whistler and I just used it over the weekend to find off piste trails in wales. Also use it a lot when going to Scotland so a real blow. I wonder how garmin will be affected with the overlays and route importing. Already paying for strava so didn’t want another purchase really.

Yeah this is what I'm wondering too, how is it going to work with the Garmin integration?

Also use it a lot when going to Scotland so a real blow

As has been pointed out already, it's about a quid a month!!!! How on earth is that a 'real blow'??

Some people have a disproportionate sense of value.

Will happily fill a tank of fuel to drive to riding but a couple of quid to find good trails there is too much. See whinges about parking charges etc.

Honestly my last tyre was forty quid and my last drive to a trail probably cost me £25 in petrol.

If I'm visiting a new area and want a useful app to find some trails and help me navigate then I absolutely would pay £1.50 to use Trail forks even if it was just for that day.

You can't pay £1.50 though, you have to pay annually upfront even though they've been advertising it monthly. And that's only up until the end of September.

I think people are more pissed off that they've taken all the community driven data and are now going to charge those same people for their efforts. I personally don't mind as it's a decent service and have already signed up, but I can understand why some people are annoyed.

I think people are more pissed off that they’ve taken all the community driven data and are now going to charge those same people for their efforts.

hands up how many have actually contributed to trailforks rather than just consumed...

I added a few a while back but I seem to remember it being quite a tortuous process so I lost interest.

a real blow

Made me laugh!

hands up how many have actually contributed to trailforks rather than just consumed

Yes, I often write trail reports and as photos. I only really use it when abroad though, so that's only over the summer holiday period.
I think I might have created my local trail centre "qecp" a number of years ago when it first started, but it might have been on another app?

I do...but it seems to be a small headache as the stuff I submitted was rejected several times, then mysteriously appeared by someone else adding my trails...the same person kept rejecting them - entirely possible they were looking to get as many points as possible (but really not sure what the points actually mean or do) for themselves.

I use it to check stats on a local trail network, it provides some useful insight into the people who have ridden the trails and got their ride data to Trailforks - not everyone does but it gives a good insight into some of the riders - time of ride, trails ridden, etc. It doesn't give an individual breakdown, but gives a combined breakdown of times and trails and the like.

they could certainly make it easier to add trails.

not too easy though or it would end up in the mess that is strava with at least 15 different segments for every single trail.

I'll probably end up getting this.
Bit annoying you can't buy a month when going on holiday, but I can see the reasoning.

I refuse to pay for strava though, just on the free version.

I cannot explain my internal logic...

Hmm, my app is still showing all trails, got a week or 2 in the tweed valley in a months time so will 100% need it for that.

You can’t pay [s]£[/s]CAD$1.50 though, you have to pay annually upfront even though they’ve been advertising it monthly.

A whole tenner, where will you find the money?

A whole tenner, where will you find the money?

If you bothered to read the rest of the post you'd see that I have paid for it because I like the app. I only brought that up because people would assume based on their advertising of pro that you can pay £1.50 for a month, which you can't.

The bit I’m uncomfortable with is that the app is as good as it is because people have freely added trails. Now they want to charge for an app built on the goodwill of the community

Shame that, is a poor move to remove competitors by making it free and then charging when they are are in a strong position. Especially when all the data they use is community funding. Could have just put an ad or two in imo. The premium version doesn’t even offer anything that wasn’t available for free yesterday.
Uninstalled the app and will just take screenshots as needed on my pc.

The bit I’m uncomfortable with is that the app is as good as it is because people have freely added trails. Now they want to charge for an app built on the goodwill of the community

Is it a "Poor move"? I mean all that data mining your users isn't free, there's servers and app developers to pay for, what did you really expect? This is how "free things" from the commercial tech industry actually work, get users hooked and then either switch to a subscription or targeted advertising model. It's hardly without precedent...

Plus they have deliberately gone and left you a non-sub option;

To be clear, the website and access to maps and trail data remains free on the website. Only the map outside your free area in the Trailforks app will be greyed out unless you become a PRO subscriber.

Just use their website and print a map off for free...

Personally it's not really worth a subscription for me, there's next to bugger all trails on there for my local area on there, and if I'm taking a trip somewhere I'll research routes on the TF website and elsewhere in advance, Plus you can still use the "segment explorer" on non-sub Strava if you want to find some local cheeky to stitch together....

In most of Canada there isn’t really an alternative (beyond screen shots of maps printed out) and it’s become the default. .

Exactly! Plus depending on your part of Canada, it's a 5-7 months of the year activity; last year I got out on the MTB 4 times, so while $1.50 a month may not be much, it's not gonna happen for me.

And for those saying "oh, but it's not much money", you're absolutely right. More than anything it's just subscription fatigue. Each one is only a few $/£ a month, but by the time you add Netflix, Amazon Prime, Spotify, Headspace, Strava, Zwift it just hits a point where you're fed up having to subscribe to yet another thing

If I use the app it costs. If I use the website via my phone it’s free? Have I got that right? I can then download on my phone from the webpage all the route info I want

There was a restriction on how much you could download last time I looked so it isn't a complete solution.

Based on my local trails the "user input" is poor at best. Trails have been given names that no one recognises either from word-of-mouth or pre existing Strava. Some of them are also the wrong way round. Based on that, I've avoided using it elsewhere.

OpenStreetmap is still available and seems more useful.

Of course there are other mapping solutions that also rely on user-generated data and charge for it. Komoot for instance.