New Strava Route Builder?

In OSM you can tag the road surface. For example gravel, tracktype=grade2 (Solid but unpaved.) Key:tracktype - OpenStreetMap Wiki

1 Like

Note: The new Strava Route Builder has done away with navigation cues. This is going to piss off a few people who were hoping to see these cues exported to not-so-smart GPS units such as the Elemnt and BOLT that rely on these text lists for “Turn by Turn”.

Route Builder 2.0 relies entirely on the GPS unit the route is exported to for directions/road cues/etc. So no change from how it was… but not a step forward in any way for something other services provide.

5 Likes

Just looked at komoot and can you already find pre made or routes people have done already like rwgps can? On the mobile app and maybe missing something.

Thanks and probably just did not see any in the area I was searching. I have always used rwgps to get local routes as they are really easy to download with the ciq to my garmin.

1 Like

Did the same check yesterday - it’s very European now, with a high density of routes there, but quite limited in Canada, for example. There was a selection of bike and run routes around me, but not a lot, and most from just a few users.

Does it now allow you to set a pace to workout how long the course will take or does it randomly decide you can do it a 9 mph or 30mph? (I think in the past it was way off, it looked at average pace of recent rides, which might have been fake speed i.e indoors.)

The estimated time is based on your past rides, I forget the exact formula. On z2 rides (1-3 hours) I’ve found the estimated time to be within a few minutes.

1 Like

So it is still an estimate then, and you can’t set the pace, I now remember one of the reasons I stopped using it.
As well as

  • No turn by turn
  • No POI
  • Random off road / Wrong way up a one way street.
  • Wrong way around islands
  • Can not plot way point error

Etc. Has any of this been fixed?

I submitted to Strava support about incorrect or unknown surface data and received the following response:

Pretty cool that I received a pretty quick response. (less than 24hr)

You can expect the same issues from komoot, they also use OSM as their data source (including surface data).

Got the free 60 trial days and am giving this a shot. Unfortunately, the paved route and popular tarmac area I mentioned earlier still isn’t able to be routed over. I guess this must be an OSM error or something… Here’s a pic of my dragging the waypoint onto the heatmap zone, but Strava still won’t allow it. There’s a real-life road block and that’s where Strava ends. But the road block says “Bikes, Runners, and Horses OK” :cry:

Edit:
Even shows a segment on the road, but doesn’t let me draw on it :joy:

You can always switch to manual mode if you know there is a road there. I do that sometimes when I have the same issue. Distance may be off a touch but it works.

1 Like

For sure, that’s always an option.
The problem is this road is part of a huge percentage of my routes, so every time I go and create a new route, I have to manually work it out. RWGPS, MapMyRide, and Komoot all recognize the road so it saves tons of creation time. Makes Strava seem extremely slow

1 Like

Since it’s OSM based then you, yes you hanging around at the back of the class, you!, can make the changes yourself. Just create an OSM account then edit accordingly. Obviously be mature about it - upgrading someone’s private driveway to a public road isn’t clever.

The next time Strava (or Komoot, Garmin, TomTom or whoever) pull the base data and regenerate the maps then the changes will appear.

Edit: the OSM map editor takes a bit of getting used to but there’s a lot of complexity to deal with and it’s international in scope so some of the options may not make sense in your locale. There’s a help wiki for each classification you can modify.

@CatCryRides - that error looks like the track has been marked private for all vehicles but it then needs marking public for cyclists, horses and foot traffic. (OSM markup works from the general to the specific. In this case you restrict everything then allow those classes of traffic required. This is sort of opposite to how we’d say it: “The road is open to pedestrians, cyclists and horses only”, OSM would say: “This road is closed except for pedestrians, cyclists and horses”)

9 Likes

Thanks for the detailed info on OSM and mapping in general! That’s good to know

One thing that would be cool for Strava routes is a pacing plan. I’m not sure how the estimated time is worked in to the route specifically, but say i have a 4 hour route planned. It would be neat to click on a point on the map and have strava tell me “1:45” so I know to get the route completed in 4 hours, I need to be at that location by 1hr 45mins. I know this can be done by math :joy: as well as many other ways, but with lots of big hill climbs, it would be cool to see. Overall I’d say i’m pretty impressed with the “revamped” map of Strava.

Awesome :sunglasses:
That is actually some great functionality ! :+1:

Someone should consider pinning this thread as a tutorial - I’m a paid member of Strava and have been since day 1 - the hints and tips on this thread have been super helpful

:grin: :grin:

1 Like

OK specific example here Strava new vs Komoot for surface type

OpenStreetMaps - The Goat Track, Brisbane. Tagged for years as gravel, SurfaceType=2 (Solid but unpaved.) Way: ‪The Goat Track‬ (‪28721487‬) | OpenStreetMap

Komoot - 85% unpaved, 15% paved - correct there is a paved section at the bottom

Strava new - 100% paved

How can they claim to be using the same source data from OSM?

1 Like

I believe it is not directly from OSM. If you notice since the departure from Google Maps, the maps have a “Mapbox Open Street Map” credit in the bottom right. Mapbox is providing the service to Strava using OSM source. No telling how often the Mapbox versions get updated and/or what they allow for updates. For example, if you make an edit on OSM. It may take a while if ever before it shows up on Mapbox/Strava. This would explain your Goat Track example. :man_shrugging:

1 Like