How to deal with E-Bikes on Strava Segments

Whats the etiquette here, and why can’t Strava deal with it better?

Yes, I’m a Strava bore. I ride alone a lot and use it to challenge myself. I like it, and it makes me ride harder and get fitter. It’s been getting my goat recently that when you look into the top ten’s on my local MTB climb segments you’ll see them. I have to train hard and bust a gut, preferably with a tailwind, to get a KOM or into the top ten – I don’t mind if I’m beaten by some racer who rides 10,000 miles a year, but I keep on seeing these riders who are up there climbing at a ‘national level’ pace yet then you check their details, oh wait you’ve ridden 200 miles this year – check the pics and oh theres your EBike….Whats the Point?

Don’t mind challenging myself to increase my pace against real riders but definitely spoils it when you know it’s some dude who’s just turned his motor up to max, these things are flying up climbs! Recently seen a local group of riders, all on Ebikes who are going round the area bagging KOM’s and Kudos’ing each other for it, I just don’t get it and it spoils it for everyone else.

So whats the Massive’s way of dealing with this – do you just flag all their rides till they get the point? I’m assuming the EBike rider can mark their ride as EBike and compete in their own game, so do you politely message them to do so. Would be cool if Strava had an algorithmic way to seperate the real riders from the electron jockeys…and it’s going to get worse for road too with all the Eroad bikes coming.

Yes, I’m a Strava bore. I ride alone a lot and use it to challenge myself.

This is your answer here… everything else is someone else.

So whats the Massive’s way of dealing with this

By not giving a s**t.

set up private segments and you’ll only be challenging yourself…

Just keep flagging the rides.

A few people I know with ebikes have complained that there aren’t as many ebike segments as Strava hasn’t copied the segments over, they have started with a blank map. I guess it will get these soon enough as people add them, just like at the beginning of Strava

It can be annoying. I managed to get 2nd on a 2 minute climb by beating all the local riders who have good times everywhere (the same people are om the top ten on most segments)
My average speed was 11mph up the climb. The rider with the KoM averaged 16.5 mph up the climb so clearly on an eBike and annoying that I have missed a KoM (I don’t have that many!)

I must admit i have never been bothered or cared about e-bikes, i have always been of the view that whatever gets you out and about and you enjoy is all good. But it did get on my goat a bit a few weekends a go when we did an event in Cotswolds with some big old climbs, where you are breathing out of your posterior (well i am) by halfway up, and all you keep hearing is “can i come past”, “on your right” when the trail isn’t two bikes wide, only to be past by someone 4 stone lighter and 15 years younger on an e-bike.

But competing ‘only’ against yourself defeats the whole point of Strava, may as well just not use it at all- and go back to a stopclock (used to do that 20 years ago to train for XC). I want to see how fast it’s possible for a normal rider to get up a climb vs other riders. Ebikes are so fast it’s actually no competition.

i deal with it by not giving a **** .

what got my goat was when i had rides flagged by others for using an Ebike when infact i was using a TT bike and working bloody hard.

thanks ‘tomnavman’ this explains it “A few people I know with ebikes have complained that there aren’t as many ebike segments as Strava hasn’t copied the segments over, they have started with a blank map. I guess it will get these soon enough as people add them, just like at the beginning of Strava”

So the EBikers don’t compete on the existing segments, they have to make new one’s. Makes sense now. That seems like a Strava flaw they need to rectify- surely would’nt be hard to seperate the data into two streams per segment as they do it for QOM/KOM anyway .

I’m rarely anywhere near the top of leaderboards, I consider a good time to be top 20%, which round here is often top 500! A handful of e-bikes in the top ten doesn’t really impact this.

Besides, all the cool kids are on komoot now. No segments, and geared towards long rides so naturally excludes e-bikes unless they’re going out carrying spare batteries.

So the EBikers don’t compete on the existing segments, they have to make new one’s. Makes sense now. That seems like a Strava flaw they need to rectify- surely would’nt be hard to seperate the data into two streams per segment as they do it for QOM/KOM anyway .

I suppose the counter argument is, is there much point in an uphill or flat e-bike segment, other than to flag up who’s de-restricted their bike so just porting over all the segments would give lots of pointless segments.

I thought ebikes had their own category on Strava anyway and didn’t count towards KOMs? If Strava are setting up an ebike version then it’s up to riders to add segments for it.

WGAF

As a Strava user for a good few years, i do think its a shame as the offroad side of cycling was more immune to cheating on segments so to speak but ebikes are ruining that.

Im fully expecting this thread to be full of ‘its only strava, its not real’ etc etc but i do/did enjoy seeing how i was doing relative to others….yes, it might not be real but its been around so long now that there’s enough of a sample on each segment that you do get a idea how you’re doing relatively

I think people will always try to cheat, Ebikes as well as normal bikes. I know people who pre ride a section, move the trail debries, open the gates, wait for a tail wind, take a run up, cut the corners etc.

But I suppose using a battery powered motor is even worse.

Other than flagging it up I dont think there is a solution.

Eventually as more a more people have started to use Strava fewer and fewer of us end up at the top. If your local riding spot is the same as some fast privateer or pro rider you are doomed. Or you end up making a tiny segment just for you to win at.

Ultimately its all pointless – best fun I have had is racing my mates, not the internet.

But competing ‘only’ against yourself defeats the whole point of Strava

There is no “whole point of Strava” – they market it a bit as though it’s a competition but there are always variables that can’t be controlled and make it pretty much bollocks as such

You said that you like a nice tailwind to collect a KoM so how’s that “fair” to others who ride on a calm day, or a headwind ?
As trailrat says, he sometimes does rides on a TT bike which likely makes him faster than a comparable ride on a road bike. How’s that “fair” ?
I’m in about tenth on a 20 minute loop near me. Above me is one lone rider and then the local chain-gang. Poor me 🙄 . Then again, I’ve ridden it about 20 times; how’s that “fair” to people who don’t know it so well ?
Restricted e-bikers may be beaten by derestricted e-bikes. How’s that “fair” ?

Wow if you genuinely care about a KOM on strava that’s pretty damn sad, if winning matters it needs to be a level playing field so go enter a race and get a proper trophy. I get using strava for personal use it’s a great tool for that but really no one gives a shit about it lol

I do use both my ebike and normal bike on strava and do remember most of the time to change the ebike ride to the proper setting, however it may get missed at times as it’s just not that important. I do also like to see the comparison between the two and I can only do that if they are set as the same ride, and as above I’d like strava to move the sections over as there are very few for ebikes still. I do add some as I go along but there’s way too many to do them all.

But ultimately it’s just strava, I guess people like to gain recognition from people they don’t know and in that respect it’s no different to any other social media platform

I treat the KOMs as an arbitrary target, if I am close. That’s it. I can see the point about losing KOMs to e bikes, although I’d shrug it off.

However this:

But it did get on my goat a bit a few weekends a go when we did an event in Cotswolds with some big old climbs, where you are breathing out of your posterior (well i am) by halfway up, and all you keep hearing is “can i come past”, “on your right” when the trail isn’t two bikes wide, only to be past by someone 4 stone lighter and 15 years younger on an e-bike.

Get over yourself. Why on earth would.you give a shit about this? Do you get upset when cars overtake you on road? Talk about fragile masculinity! Even when they’re not on the same vehicle type you still get upset? You really need to ask yourself why you feel this way.

I’ve never been one for Strava and my settings are locked down to be private anyway, but was amazing to looks at events like Paris-Roubaix or Tour of Flanders, were you’d ride on saturday then watch the pros ride on the Sunday, then just marvel at the sheer pace they ride.

But as others have said, i find it best to see how i’m improving, so the only competition is with myself.

If you really want to compare how good you are with others, then go and race, same day head to head…

Wow if you genuinely care about a KOM on strava that’s pretty damn sad, if winning matters it needs to be a level playing field so go enter a race and get a proper trophy. I get using strava for personal use it’s a great tool for that but really no one gives a shit about it lol

But ultimately it’s just strava, I guess people like to gain recognition from people they don’t know

People like different things and if you don’t like that aspect of Strava so what, doesn’t make anyone who does “pretty damn sad” or mean they are trying to gain recognition from people they don’t know. I don’t want to enter a race, I am happy riding on my own and enjoy the KoM aspect of strava.

Why on earth would.you give a shit about this? Do you get upset when cars overtake you on road? Talk about fragile masculinity!

Mols, I think it’s the bit about them struggling up a climb that’s too narrow for overtaking and others expecting to come past – there’s prob a hint of hyperbole in there but the point is fair enough

How do you like cars overtaking you when it’s too narrow ?

GPS error, wind, trail conditions, and various other things all make Strava positions a bit arbitrary anyway. Use it to compare against yourself ( which is still flawed for the above reasons). If you want to really see where you stack up against others then enter a race.

“If you want to really see where you stack up against others then enter a race” – yeah I know Strava bears no relation to racing. I’ve been riding for 30 years, used to race, done epic events, have nothing to prove and no interest in racing again at the moment – but Strava is a bit of fun for a lot of people and good for motivation to keep fit, even within the margin of error mentioned above. But these Ebikes are so fast in a long grindy MTB climb scenario that it makes any comparison pointless.

So whats the Massive’s way of dealing with this

By not giving a s**t.

This needs moar views… 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤗✊

Cheers Molgrips, i’m safe in my masculinity thanks, the issue was that whilst i was actually riding up the hill and these are narrow bridleways, it isn’t a great deal of fun having someone constantly buzzing your back wheel and wanting to get past, they are ones that are not prepared to wait and expecting others to get out of their way, i fail to see how that is my issue?

As i said i have no issue with people riding e-bikes, my issue when they are clearly faster up a climb is them then not being prepared to wait til the next appropriate time to get past and just expecting you to get out of the way as they are faster, and it wasn’t just once, i had the same couple of guys kept doing it as one had the bladder of pea, they’d stop, then steam past, i’d ride past them as they were stopped again, they’d then blast past.

I used to race a bit, and you don’t mind faster riders indicating they want past, but this wasn’t a race…..

It’s not sad at all. Report them.

It’s a challenge to make you work hard.

They’re the sad ones.

Tail wind is fair game, it’s relevant in racing so why not in Strava?

Know thy enemy

Strava could improve this massively by having an ebike flag or category when you add a bike in “My Gear”. Then when you do a ride with that bike it could be set as ebike automatically.

Currently you have to set each ride to be an ebike ride and it’s not surprising that lots of people either aren’t aware or can’t be bothered.

Just care about the downhill, that’s where the funs at 😉.
And no ebike is taking one of my ahem 3 downhill 🤴🤴🤴

My average speed was 11mph up the climb. The rider with the KoM averaged 16.5 mph up the climb so clearly on an eBike and annoying that I have missed a KoM (I don’t have that many!)

Don’t they cut out at 15 so the KoM holder would have just been lugging a big heavy lump up hill at that point? (or it’s derestricted so why they’d do 16.5mph is beyond me)

Ultimately the thing with ebike and strava is, for those who haven’t noticed, strava isn’t “for” mtb, its about road bikes and roadies and road riding. Up most hills a quick roadie will hold more than the restriction speed of an e bike if they’re bothered to do so, though it might include falling over at the top, but that’s where pacing your ride comes in.
Off road 15mph up hill is going some but, rather than moaning about ebikes this might be the point to (again) moan to strava about not having mtb as a separate category.

But really yeah, don’t worry about it, if you’re convinced they’re on an ebike ignore them, unless your KoM is actually bragging rights down the pub it’s only your pride so 2nd to an ebike e is just as good as first without. It’s not your career, you’re not getting a medal for it and, if you’re rarely challenging that end of the leader board it’s not because you’re bafflingly quick on one segment.

Eg. There are a few segments round here that the tour came through and the TdY, I’m not bothered to see I’m not competing with those folks and much as I’d be happy to be near their coat tails I’m old enough and wise enough to realise I don’t need to compare my self with them either, there’s plenty of normals to compare my self with if I’m so inclined but frankly, anywhere I’m picking up KoMs or top 10s is just somewhere only slow folk ride.

I like it because I know that everyone that beats me is on an e bike.

On a similar note why doesn’t Strava differentiate road group rides from solo. It knows if any other Strava riders were with you so it’s not hard. In a group a long segment will be several mph faster than solo.

Do the climbs in your car so you will always be KOM then get back to just riding.

if i had an ebike i would bloody delight in pissing stravabandits off!! infact id probably spend a day just mashing climbs! 😀

seriously tho, Strava is poor. the powers that be obviously dont give a shite about off road activities. im astounded there hasnt been a mtb specific version developed yet!? you should be able to click buttons for group/solo, wet/dry, night/day, etc etc, (e-bike/normal bike) and allow you to make shorter segments and to filter out uphill ones… and more filters on leader boards. surely there’s a few quid in this for some boffins??

Strava is a bit of fun for a lot of people and good for motivation to keep fit, even within the margin of error mentioned above.

Absolutely. Those saying ‘who gives a shit?’ obviously have no koms to lose 😁.

I am motivated by leader boards etc and, trust me, the quicker riders over time are higher up them (though sure, when folk get into proper racing that’s what matters hugely more. Though none of this riding bikes stuff matters at all).

As ebikes inevitably become more popular (fine by me fwiw), it’d be a shame for me if it meant Strava was less fun and less of a motivator. Report the bastards.

Those saying ‘who gives a shit?’ obviously have no koms to lose 😁

I have some KOMs and don’t give a shit about e-bikes on leaderboards 🙂

Just care about the downhill, that’s where the funs at

Earn your turns! The fun comes in getting up a climb you’ve not done before, or working so hard on a hill that your head is fuzzy at the top. That’s where the joy is, not the easy stuff like going downhill.

Ultimately the thing with ebike and strava is, for those who haven’t noticed, strava isn’t “for” mtb, its about road bikes and roadies and road riding

Rubbish, it works fine for MTB as it is. Any off road rides will be on MTBs rather than road bikes so they are separated naturally. I go through 40 segments on a typical ride (all off road) and some of those segments have 1,000s of people recorded on them.

Riding on your own to challenge yourself but complaining because others she faster than you…are you a sore loser with everything?

If it is about you challenging you then why does it matter if people are faster than you?

I had a KOM for 18 months on a segment I had only ridden  once.

I say ridden…I actually mean walking slowly, pushing my bike and breathing out my arse up a  long flight of steps.