I subscribed to Strava for one reason during the pandemic, to download other peoples routes, and because of this I’ve had some truly great rides when we were forced to ride alone, kept me motivated when times were hard, £47.99 is worth it
Love to random route generator, which is based on heat maps, I want to do x miles from here, great when you are on holiday or want to find new routes
Why do you always want everything for free?
Don’t you get paid for your work?
If I use something regularly, it should be worth paying for it, right?
As I said above, I’d be fine paying for what it’s worth. It’s just not worth its current price in my opinion.
I recently tried Strava premium for free, for two months. Didn’t add much compared to Garmin Connect (routes, also with heatmap, TSS, multi-sports) or TR (TSS, relevant workouts). Just using the free version for the social element.
Can Garmin Connect, now provide a route based on those heat maps, thats the one thing I like in Strava, I want to do a 80 mile route from here, and it uses the heat maps to give me several options (which are usually interesting) ?
I’m surprised at how many people think it’s normal for a company to suddenly stop providing the things it has provided in the past without notice. I could care less about the Strava year in review because it’s usually just something for people to brag about how many “miles” they rode on their trainer, but I do think it’s very odd to, without notice, take functionality away. Do they really think people are going to suddenly decide to pay $60 (or whatever it is) just to get the year in review back? It feels like a move with no upside other than pissing off people who may have been considering a paid subscription.
Well put. Though it’s not a new concept for Strava to take away features that were once free. Just seemed like an odd business decision. And like somebody mentioned in a different thread, the year in review was free advertising for anybody that would post it to social media.
Common comment pool for a group ride. Come on, how is this not a thing already
For 11 months of the year the free version is fine with my. I’ll subscribe for the one month a year I travel to ride. I just find a local’s route and save it. Works perfect for that. I find it’s the easiest way to find a plan routes.
Otherwise…no need the rest of the year.
Also being able to view your power data on the app. Worth it to me just for that.
I’m not too surprised. Strava has history of talking previously free features and throwing them into a paid subscription.
To be fair to Strava, the full feature app was free for a really long time, and a I don’t think it was ever ad supported. Even now, they only do self-promotion.
Nice … but I’m not sure how that answers my question about Garmin Connect, I was just highlighting the feature that I use all the time in Strava and asking fi that was available in GC (which is gree if you have a garmin)
Just screenshot your Strava year end totals and share to social media for free. You could also make up some stuff like how many kudos you got or that you’re in the top 1% of all cyclists for some flair 
Yeah, I’m not criticizing them for putting it behind a paywall. I’m criticizing them for announcing it in December. I just feel like there’s no upside to that.
The Amazon music “update” did this. Basically turned your playlists into a radio station and inserts similar songs at random. You now have to pay to listen to your playlist and be able to listen to a specific song and skip more than 4 times. What was once part of a PAID membership you now have to pay extra for. One day it works one day it doesn’t.
I get it… companies need to make money. Inflation has caused costs to rise and people wanting to be paid more. But rather than putting new features into in the subscriber side you take something that once was free and now charge for it… well that doesn’t usually sit well with customers.
That’s wild. Especially when people can easily just go to a competitor (Spotify, Apple Music) that allows them to listen the “old way”. Strava at least has the advantage of having the segments, which none of their competitors have and is hugely popular.
Garmin has segments… but you need to be in the Garmin connect ecosystem obviously.
More importantly, you need everyone else to be in it
The corollary to this is that people are also more judicious in spending their own money. With inflation what it is, I’m reconsidering what I’m paying for and whether it’s worth it. All my subscriptions are getting a hard look these days. Sadly, even TR isn’t an easy sell anymore. Especially during the summer months and the never ending “coming soon” outside ride PLs. And $80 for Strava? Nope. So yea, companies have to make their money. But in the same token, they need to create something of worth.
Strava, like Zwift, has a huge advantage in user base. And it seems like for both of them that it limits constant improvement. Why improve when there’s no real competition?
Edit: spelling