Strava is a huge pile of self important, childish toss.

It might be my perception but Strava has changed hugely in the way it is used and what it is for.

I used to think of it primarily as a place for dickish KOM point scoring.

Now I think of it as a place to record your riding (and other exercise and adventure activities); a simplified exercise analysis tool like training peaks but dumbed down for non elites; a place to pick up motivational challenges (like the annual festive 500); and a social media style way to keep up with your friends ‘sporting’ lives to give and take some motivation and share adventures. The KOM element is now tiny and only really a thing if you actively search it out; especially the performance against other people element.

My controversion cycling opinion – those that think of Strava as childish toss are probably stuck in about 2012.

LLS?

Not trying to be rude, but have you actually ridden one?

Yes, numerous. Pretty much without exception the bars are too low, around knee height when stood up. The seat tube angle is a compromise for riding along, it’s too steep for comfortable pedaling, your feet feel like they are behind your hips and you’re perched on the nose of your saddle. They work for people who are solely out for descending as fast as possible.

I’m not at all interested in going as fast as possible over every part of a ride. Most of the time I’m out it’s to be outside, bimbling along, enjoying being outside bimbling along. #controversial

All those moaning about over-population are deflecting attention away from their consumerist lifestyles.

Well I’m not, so not quite “all”. And even if someone has a consumerist lifestyle having another 2 people brought into the world to join them is sure not going to help is it…

Strava is a very useful tool.

However, people are now too stupid to ride without mulitple electronic thingies telling them where they are, where they need to be, how fast they’re going to get there and a host of other wildly unimportant* crap. Most people spend longer looking at their various devices than they do actually enjoying the ride.

Yep, I find it very useful. My phone stays in my back pocket with Strava running and I only look at it after I have uploaded when I get home. Keeps a track of my rides and gives me an idea of where I could try harder or even set a goal for a PB. What is wrong with that?

This isn’t the “controversial re-cycling opinions” thread.

Map my ride is better than strava if you just want to let it run then look at the ride afterwards.

Dedicated handle bar mounted GPS is pointless, you’re in the UK! Not the Yukon.
A few mins planning and you’ll have a very good idea of your route.

#controvercial

Gorilla tape has no place on bike rims!

And even if someone has a consumerist lifestyle having another 2 people brought into the world to join them is sure not going to help is it…

If you’re that worried then I’d head to Switzerland. It’s easy to get to by train.

Well I’m not, so not quite “all”. And even if someone has a consumerist lifestyle having another 2 people brought into the world to join them is sure not going to help is it…

Just start a separate ‘I hate kids’ thread and keep this one on track

If you’re that worried then I’d head to Switzerland

What a pleasant comment

Just start a separate ‘I hate kids’ thread and keep this one on track

FYI – Stating that an increasing population is not great environmentally does not equal “I hate kids”
But yes, no more mention of it on this thread

There is absolutely zero reason for not wearing a helmet when riding. Just like seat belts it should be mandatory to be honest.

What a pleasant comment

You’re welcome.

Anyway, back to cycling: people who think that helmets should be compulsory are too stupid to ride a bicycle.

LLS?

Not trying to be rude, but have you actually ridden one?

Yes, numerous. Pretty much without exception the bars are too low, around knee height when stood up.

You do understand that the low part is refering to the BB height not the height of the bars .

You do understand that the low part is refering to the BB height not the height of the bars .

Which conversely can actually make the saddle to bar drop shorter as saddle height is determined from the BB whilst the bar is not. 🙂

Bunny hopping over extending dog leads is all part of the game these days.

Yes, the low is referring to the BB, but I referred to the bar height. Most, if not all, of the bikes I tried the bars were too low.

Semi hydraulic brakes are significantly less hassle then fully hydraulic brakes..barely need bleeding and can use long or short pull brakes(with some cable tension adjustments)..my spyre trp rd/hd going strong after about 10 months with the occasional clean and cable change(even ran with gear cables for a week once…ehhh..never again)..

Reflective gear should be on cars not people or cyclists.  we should place the responsibility on the most dangerous traffic users. Reflective gear is  mearly a product that continues to sell danger and fear, instilling in the general public the profiteers desired perception of …. danger and fear.

So wait, what you’re trying to say is that by introducing another complexity into brakes (the cable) you get somehow more reliable brakes? How about, leave them alone, if they’re working fine then don’t touch them, other than to clean them. If they do need messing about with and your previous experience of this hasn’t been a good one, then give your bike to someone who can do it for you.

my spyre trp rd/hd going strong after about 10 months with the occasional clean and cable change

The only thing I’ve ever done with any of the hydraulic brakes I’ve ever owned (sram Hayes, Magura, shimano, and hope) is change the pads, the Hope didn’t have a fluid change is 5 years, and the SRAM code on my current bike haven’t in over a year.

Controversial eh…

< If they do need messing about with and your previous experience of this hasn’t been a good one, then give your bike to someone who can do it for you.>

I can fix them ..never needed too..but ran avid or exilers on another bike..something like that .and they kept going spongy..

Also I’m stuck on square taper cranks and want to keep 9 speed…wouldn’t happen to know of a hydraulic 9 speed drop bar shifter right..to my knowledge none exist.. so they are a perfect solution for me plus try fixing your magura brakes at the side of the road…good luck ..I’ll take a cable any day..

The tyres on all my bikes are pneumatic. This does not negate the difference in stiffness/compliance or damping/harshness of the rigid components equipped such as handlebars, seatposts, hardtail frames and rigid forks.

Bikeradar is better than singletrackworld 😉

Got a new one

If you feel the need to wear more than an open face helmet and knee pads on a multi use trail (e.g. a bridleway in England and Wales) where you might encounter walkers; then you’re riding too fast for the conditions, and not doing the rest of us any favours.

There is absolutely zero reason for not wearing a helmet when riding. Just like seat belts it should be mandatory to be honest.

People who say this have never popped down to the shops quickly to pick up a loaf of bread by bike.

There are many reasons not to wear a helmet. Mainly so you don’t have to carry a helmet around everywhere if you’re out and about. And at least as many reasons as not wearing a helmet whilst walking.

The helmet debate is an interesting one, but I’ll always be on the side of wearing one. Having raced motorbikes, you were always told to buy the best helmet you could as it’d be the thing that saves you…….and I have cracked one in the garage to remind me how good they are.

Trouble is, as the saying goes, “it’s how you fall, not how fast”. Although you might be out for a pootle to the shops, you could be hit by a car, or you could lose balance for a second and crack your head on a curb, and that could do as much or more damage as a crash on a trail at 25mph.

To each their own, but I’ll never ride without one, and will never let my kids on their bikes without one.

There is no finer Petri dish of cognitive biases than people’s opinions about safety measures that should be adopted when, and only when, a bicycle appears between their or someone else’s legs.

(Eg: “Although you might be out for a pootle to the shops, you could be hit by a car, or you could lose balance for a second and crack your head on a curb, and that could do as much or more damage as a crash on a trail at 25mph”—entirely true of walking to the shops. Also a block of blue ice from an aircraft toilet could fall on your head.)

. Having raced motorbikes, you were always told to buy the best helmet you could as it’d be the thing that saves you…….and I have cracked one in the garage to remind me how good they are.

Not exactly relevant to my 3 mile ride at 10mph (I used to run at that pace) on a tarmac path through parks to Cardiff’s city centre.

Psst, I know helmet debates are really good fun, but there’s an implicit understanding in this thread that people can vent controversial opinions without repercussions.

But the notion that you could also suffer a head injury while walking is an extremely controversial opinion fact 😉

I only wear a helmet for some of my riding as my wife tells me too. I’d happily ride without one for most rides.

Haribo are nothing to get excited about.

Anono you’ve gone too far now.

chakaping

Psst, I know helmet debates are really good fun, but there’s an implicit understanding in this thread that people can vent controversial opinions without repercussions.

Not according to the mods.

It only took me ~3 years of using Strava to come to the conclusion that showing the world my commutes and popping to the shops rides with no segment pbs is Strava spam others (including any followers) don’t need to see.

“Me only” since start of 2020.

1x drive trains are only for those too lazy to set up a front mech, who don’t ride up hills (proper ones), smugly feel that weight-saving outweighs usefulness, don’t care about chain line or who blindly whatever latest trend is being pimped by Big Bike.

Exceptions are 1×1, 1×2(flip-flop) and the hub geared who are all awesome obviously.

1x drive trains are only for those too lazy to set up a front mech, who don’t ride up hills (proper ones), smugly feel that weight-saving outweighs usefulness, don’t care about chain line or who blindly whatever latest trend is being pimped by Big Bike.

Lol, trying to take the climbing moral high ground cos you have more gears! 🤣🤣🤣

1x is for fashionistas.

93% of 1X deniers still believe the earth is flat

Audaxers are the nicest cycling tribe.