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> their premium features have been stagnant for years Not my experience. They overhauled their route builder and made it subscription-only in 2021 - and kept i

• operatingthetan 4y ago
  They definitely did that to compete with Komoot and Ridewithgps. Compare the platform with piggy-back app intervals.icu which adds so many more useful technical training features and you'll see what I mean. >Also there's the whole network effects thing where there isn't really another social network for recreational athletes Most of those features are in the free version. Many keep the free acccount, and utilize more serious tools for the rest.
  • ak217 4y ago
    Again not my experience. The heatmap is essential and frankly all the other apps suck for route planning (including the ones you listed as well as others that have come and gone over the years). Strava's route planner has no competition, their main concern is not some upstart app that computes obscure workout details, but getting disintermediated by Apple or Garmin bundling apps with their wearables. I agree that doesn't excuse poor PR around price increases though.
    • operatingthetan 4y ago
      Not your experience, but it's definitely the prevailing sentinment by users in the threads I've read about this. If I read a lot of people saying "I can't cancel because I need the route builder" then maybe you would have a point. Overhauling one feature that only a few care about isn't a persuasive argument that they've kept up with their competitors.
    • andor 4y ago
      "Strava's route planner has no competition" That's an absurd statement. All of the route planning tools have their advantages and disadvantages. I frequently create routes for cycling and a couple of times I used Strava, Komoot and Garmin Connect for the same route. Garmin Connect always works because it can ignore map data if necessary. Strava and Komoot were not always able to create the route I want (looks like Strava have added a "manual mode" as well). Most of the people around me use Komoot, it's also my preferred tool now. The information density on the map is great, the POIs shown on the map can be customized and editing works well enough. Strava is okay. It definitely looks sleek. The biggest issue is that routes cannot be edited in the mobile app, only created. Editing is possible in the browser but really awkward. Try rerouting parts of an existing route. Heatmaps are useful sometimes, e.g. when I'm abroad and I don't know if a road can be cycled on at all. But the most used roads are not necessarily the best ones. Komoot doesn't have a heatmap visualization but there are comments, ratings and photos of segments.
      • Lio 4y ago
        I'm never really sure about Komoot either. In the UK it struggles with the difference between a really big town and a city. It seems to obsessed with what things are called and takes no notice of how big, in population density, they actually are. That's a pain when planning touring routes in unfamiliar areas because it will exaggerate the importance of tiny cities and completely hide the presence of massive towns.
      • francoispon 4y ago
        strava had manual mode forever fyi...... I have the three services and I too think strava is by far better than all others (i do around 20k cycling a year and i am the one in charge of making routes for my cycling club)
• plorkyeran 4y ago
  The heatmap integration really is the killer feature for me. I otherwise don't like Strava's route planner, but the heatmap is better data for deciding what road to take than anything available elsewhere.