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It's a classic story of a startup with a loyal userbase paying a reasonable fee for stagnating features for years, misjudges customer loyalty, doubles the pri

It's a classic story of a startup with a loyal userbase paying a reasonable fee for stagnating features for years, misjudges customer loyalty, doubles the price, then makes some PR mistakes, and comes out behind in the end.

abadger9 4y ago
> and comes out behind in the end. As someone in the tri community in vc funded silicon valley, I haven't heard of a better alternative to strava? would genuinely be interested in trying something better but all my running clubs still seem to be using strava
- stefan_ 4y ago
  TrainingPeaks, Xert, ... there are a number of sites that cater to professional training analysis. It's a niche they tend to do much better at than Strava since they don't have the social thing to go with it. Meanwhile, if all you want is the social part, why are you paying for Strava.
- 0xf8 4y ago
  [dead]
- californical 4y ago
  I mean for me, just.. not using strava. I’m also in a triathlon club in my area, and some people use strava together, but a bunch of people don’t, and you aren’t really missing out on much by not having it. I use intervals.icu for planning my training - it has one main developer and he’s great. And it’s completely free unless you want to donate (which I do)
  - operatingthetan 4y ago
    >I use intervals.icu for planning my training That's the crazy thing about Strava's situation, so many companies have integrated with their API, or built Chrome extentions on top of Strava that replicate their functionality but better and for free. People have been begging for improvments like that for premium and I'd bet by now most have settled on something like intervals.icu and wouldn't miss premium anyway.
    - iamacyborg 4y ago
      Runalyze is another great one.
- milkytron 4y ago
  What features are you looking for with a running app? I haven't used Strava, but Garmin seems to have a decent enough app and their devices are pretty popular amongst the running and cycling communities. I've been using Garmin's app and a watch for about 6 months now and couldn't be happier with my experience.
- mgl 4y ago
  You may want to try Runalyze, gives way more running-related analytics than Strava
- alistairSH 4y ago
  Depends on the features you want. For social stuff? They're the gorilla in the room. But, the pure social stuff isn't gated (comments/posts/groups). For training analysis? TrainingPeaks, TrainerRoad, Wahoo Systm, intervals.icu, and others. Of course, some of those rely on Strava APIs to get data to/from devices.
- tcmb 4y ago
  For route planning (one of Strava's paid features), there's Komoot.com or bikemap.net.
- SarikayaKomzin 4y ago
  I quite like https://smashrun.com/ https://smashrun.com/, but, to be transparent, I pair it with Strava.
- frankhhhhhhhhh 4y ago
  Garmin Connect actually has all the useful (to me) features Strava has. If all your buddies have Garmins and post public rides/runs, you get segment leaderboards, friends news feed, popularity routing, kudos, a training calendar that connects to TrainingPeaks and all the stats you could want. Plus Garmin has very capable sports watches and smart body weight scales to consolidate all your fitness indicators in one place. Also, it's completely free. The downside is the user base is much smaller so less segments and who knows if your KOM is the fastest time. You also won't get randos on the internet kudo'ing your rides/runs and boosting your ego. Also, no cool extensions like Elevate, StravaSauce, etc.
  - iamacyborg 4y ago
    > smart body weight scales My experience with their index scale is that it's garbage for anything other than weight. Agree with everything else you say though.
    - frankhhhhhhhhh 4y ago
      I had a similar experience until I learned about the importance of setting a correct Activity Class. Don't think that's actually even in the manual. https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=DJEru6ns626MZTh2kvUXZA https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=DJEru6ns626MZTh2kvUXZA
      - iamacyborg 4y ago
        Yeah I’ve done that, I’ve had the scale for a couple years and the issue was never resolved. If you check the garmin forums for the 7% body fat bug you’ll see it’s an ongoing issue for a lot of folks.
- ilikehurdles 4y ago
  The tri people I know pay for TrainingPeaks and TrainerRoad, not strava.
- mbesto 4y ago
  https://intervals.icu/ https://intervals.icu/ - just no social features. https://app.trainingpeaks.com/ https://app.trainingpeaks.com/ - if you have a coach
- scott_w 4y ago
  If you want a tool for training then TrainingPeaks is the standard. Most other services don’t really come close, to be honest.
tablespoon 4y ago
> It's a classic story of a startup with a loyal userbase paying a reasonable fee for stagnating features for years, misjudges customer loyalty, doubles the price, then makes some PR mistakes, and comes out behind in the end. Is private equity involved here? Someone in my family was recently looking for a calorie tracker app. All the ones I was familiar with (and liked) from years ago had been acquired by private equity, which only crippled the free tier and make subscriptions ridiculously expensive. Seems like the private equity playbook is to cut development to the bare bones, increase prices, and let the app rot while they burn the goodwill to turn it into short/medium term cashflow.
- mbesto 4y ago
  > Is private equity involved here? Nope. But VCs are involved. > Seems like the private equity playbook is to cut development to the bare bones, increase prices, and let the app rot while they burn the goodwill to turn it into short/medium term cashflow. Quite the opposite. Most PE does not do this btw, unless it's large cap ($1b+ valuation or higher). This is VC backed, and they are actually aggressively investing in growth (at all costs).
nicbou 4y ago
They're pulling a Couchsurfing
FearlessNebula 4y ago
I’m not their target user so I’m pretty ignorant but I have to wonder - what else can they add? Would people complain just as much if they were “moving fast and breaking things”? Maybe they need to raise the price to avoid layoffs many other companies have been doing. Just playing devils advocate

abadger9 4y ago

> and comes out behind in the end. As someone in the tri community in vc funded silicon valley, I haven't heard of a better alternative to strava? would genuinely be interested in trying something better but all my running clubs still seem to be using strava

stefan_ 4y ago
TrainingPeaks, Xert, ... there are a number of sites that cater to professional training analysis. It's a niche they tend to do much better at than Strava since they don't have the social thing to go with it. Meanwhile, if all you want is the social part, why are you paying for Strava.
0xf8 4y ago
[dead]
californical 4y ago
I mean for me, just.. not using strava. I’m also in a triathlon club in my area, and some people use strava together, but a bunch of people don’t, and you aren’t really missing out on much by not having it. I use intervals.icu for planning my training - it has one main developer and he’s great. And it’s completely free unless you want to donate (which I do)
- operatingthetan 4y ago
  >I use intervals.icu for planning my training That's the crazy thing about Strava's situation, so many companies have integrated with their API, or built Chrome extentions on top of Strava that replicate their functionality but better and for free. People have been begging for improvments like that for premium and I'd bet by now most have settled on something like intervals.icu and wouldn't miss premium anyway.
  - iamacyborg 4y ago
    Runalyze is another great one.
milkytron 4y ago
What features are you looking for with a running app? I haven't used Strava, but Garmin seems to have a decent enough app and their devices are pretty popular amongst the running and cycling communities. I've been using Garmin's app and a watch for about 6 months now and couldn't be happier with my experience.
mgl 4y ago
You may want to try Runalyze, gives way more running-related analytics than Strava
alistairSH 4y ago
Depends on the features you want. For social stuff? They're the gorilla in the room. But, the pure social stuff isn't gated (comments/posts/groups). For training analysis? TrainingPeaks, TrainerRoad, Wahoo Systm, intervals.icu, and others. Of course, some of those rely on Strava APIs to get data to/from devices.
tcmb 4y ago
For route planning (one of Strava's paid features), there's Komoot.com or bikemap.net.
SarikayaKomzin 4y ago
I quite like https://smashrun.com/ https://smashrun.com/, but, to be transparent, I pair it with Strava.
frankhhhhhhhhh 4y ago
Garmin Connect actually has all the useful (to me) features Strava has. If all your buddies have Garmins and post public rides/runs, you get segment leaderboards, friends news feed, popularity routing, kudos, a training calendar that connects to TrainingPeaks and all the stats you could want. Plus Garmin has very capable sports watches and smart body weight scales to consolidate all your fitness indicators in one place. Also, it's completely free. The downside is the user base is much smaller so less segments and who knows if your KOM is the fastest time. You also won't get randos on the internet kudo'ing your rides/runs and boosting your ego. Also, no cool extensions like Elevate, StravaSauce, etc.
- iamacyborg 4y ago
  > smart body weight scales My experience with their index scale is that it's garbage for anything other than weight. Agree with everything else you say though.
  - frankhhhhhhhhh 4y ago
    I had a similar experience until I learned about the importance of setting a correct Activity Class. Don't think that's actually even in the manual. https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=DJEru6ns626MZTh2kvUXZA https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=DJEru6ns626MZTh2kvUXZA
    - iamacyborg 4y ago
      Yeah I’ve done that, I’ve had the scale for a couple years and the issue was never resolved. If you check the garmin forums for the 7% body fat bug you’ll see it’s an ongoing issue for a lot of folks.
ilikehurdles 4y ago
The tri people I know pay for TrainingPeaks and TrainerRoad, not strava.
mbesto 4y ago
https://intervals.icu/ https://intervals.icu/ - just no social features. https://app.trainingpeaks.com/ https://app.trainingpeaks.com/ - if you have a coach
scott_w 4y ago
If you want a tool for training then TrainingPeaks is the standard. Most other services don’t really come close, to be honest.

tablespoon 4y ago

> It's a classic story of a startup with a loyal userbase paying a reasonable fee for stagnating features for years, misjudges customer loyalty, doubles the price, then makes some PR mistakes, and comes out behind in the end. Is private equity involved here? Someone in my family was recently looking for a calorie tracker app. All the ones I was familiar with (and liked) from years ago had been acquired by private equity, which only crippled the free tier and make subscriptions ridiculously expensive. Seems like the private equity playbook is to cut development to the bare bones, increase prices, and let the app rot while they burn the goodwill to turn it into short/medium term cashflow.

mbesto 4y ago
> Is private equity involved here? Nope. But VCs are involved. > Seems like the private equity playbook is to cut development to the bare bones, increase prices, and let the app rot while they burn the goodwill to turn it into short/medium term cashflow. Quite the opposite. Most PE does not do this btw, unless it's large cap ($1b+ valuation or higher). This is VC backed, and they are actually aggressively investing in growth (at all costs).

nicbou 4y ago

They're pulling a Couchsurfing

FearlessNebula 4y ago

I’m not their target user so I’m pretty ignorant but I have to wonder - what else can they add? Would people complain just as much if they were “moving fast and breaking things”? Maybe they need to raise the price to avoid layoffs many other companies have been doing. Just playing devils advocate