Probably a stupid straaaaavvvvaaaa question.

Has strava improved it’s gps capabilities or is it that times recorded on newer phones are more accurate. The reason I ask is a big percentage of kom’s and subsequent top 20s seem to be quite old. If you compare some of the times set on sections “this year” there aren’t many if any that are close to the kom times. I appreciate weather is a factor at this time of year but some of the times at places like cannock (not that weather affected) are a bit “off”

The quick guys were all on 26″.

Shit that’s it. Never thought.

Lots of trails in my local woods have changed a fair bit, much rougher and cut up.They ride much slower now !! I’ve got a kom that imho no one will beat…….. maybe 😀

The quick guys were all on 26″.

8) 😀

“This year” is still in a winter (ish) season. So naturally trails are slower than summer conditions.
But also as above trails change, get tougher, slower etc.

Spacetime!!!! I’ll give Brian Cox shout, he can explain it better than i can… Either that or we’re all getting old and the young uns aren’t up to it….

Phone accuracy has improved.

GPS accuracy, but also the interval they store position. On an old iPhone I saw 2000ms, new ones its 1000ms.

I’d expect Strava’s algorithms have improved too. http://labs.strava.com/slide/

Someone did a test with a load of devices round a circuit which is interesting reading http://www.singletracks.com/blog/gps/gps-distance-accuracy-test-smartphone-apps-vs-dedicated-gps/

Right that’s it. We should scrap all those times and start again. 😆

I have KOMd this year coz I am awesommmzzzzz 😉

Ditto, but it was on a hidden segment so nobody could tell.

So I’ll have to boast about it on here instead.

😀

The bars been set pretty high on most of the stuff round here in the last couple of years. Until there is a new wheel size I can’t see much changing. I don’t often even get as much as a 3rd best time medal unless I’m really on it.

I’m going to admit it I was being a complete dick on some green lanes near me to stop all the arguing within a local group I may have set a few overly popular KOM’s on a Kawasaki kmx 200 yet 3 months on none of them have realised haha. And a few road sections got the same treatment too I didn’t go flat out just fast enough to make it very hard to beat.

peak strava has been reached, what was once a fun game between mates has settled down,

that and people now know the pecking order of people that use it, you only really get a handful of locals that “care” , maybe,

kom chasing in late 2013 early 2014 massively improved my fitness, interval training innit

Ive held a couple of KOM’s one on Cannock Chase where the gps was obviously very very confused and one I created myself. For me now using Strava is all about beating myself, not beating others cause I dont stand a chance 🙂

I have KOMd this year coz I am awesommmzzzzz

Meh, 6 kom’s and a handle of other gold medals in one ride today, i am awesommzzzzerest! 😆

They are all a bit of nonsense fun anyway. I have deleted loads of mine where I know I shouldn’t of got a kom due to a tailwind or gps error. I started out on a segment last week and live track on my garmin told me is was 25 seconds down on kom after about 5 seconds. I have a mate that isn’t fast but gps errors mean he has a kom on a local hill. He dined out on it but in reality is probably 30 seconds slower. We let him bask in his glory.

I haven’t been at my best since the kiD’s came along. That must be it.

I’d say only a small number of segments have an unbelievably difficult KOM to beat (buy someone quicker than me of course)

There is a bit of setting times by not taking ‘the right line’ or riding down a trail adjacent to the segment or using a motorised device etc. Although I didn’t think people did that last one until cannondaleleking admitted to it!

If enough people ride the trail enough times, sooner or later a fast person is going to get a GPS error in their favour at the start and end of the trail. Which makes things difficult for us mere mortals!

Also perhaps your opinion of what’s fast is limited by the people you know. Even if you think of the fastest person you know locally, there is almost certainly someone faster in the area. When you throw in 5 plus years of Strava and people travel around. I’m sure someone ‘mind blowingly quick’ has also ridden that trail.

At least these are the excuses I keep telling myself 😉

I set a PR today on a descent, which as it turns out, is actually a KOM by 2 secs. For some reason, it’s not been recognised though?

I’ve set off behind a mate on a segment, overtook him and he’s posted a 2s better time. It’s far from accurate

I set a PR today on a descent, which as it turns out, is actually a KOM by 2 secs. For some reason, it’s not been recognised though?

private ride ?

I have deleted loads of mine where I know I shouldn’t of got a kom due to a tailwind or gps error

I paste wind speeds into the ride desripions on mine
if you go here you can view historic wind speeds for an ares, once you know the number of a local site. Interesting reading the leaderboards after that 😀

A lot of bikers don’t ride so much through the winter either, wait till the end of summer when they’ve got some fitness and are posting new times.

Trails constantly change, the wet winter we’ve had has brought a lot of new features with it.

Reason 26ers are quicker is because there all unemployed so have more time to ride

I use Strava mainly to log my rides. I take the Strava segment times with a pinch of salt as I’ve noticed a few strange things like beating someone up a climb and then according to Strava, I was slower. I’ve also seen segments appear in totally the wrong place. There’s a road climb near us with a segment called “Fatty McTw****” that used to take about 17 seconds to do but now always takes about 48 seconds.