Strava 2015 kom's what's the point?

Charlie69

Went out for a ride new year's day and picked up a few of the new 2015 kom's for being the first to ride these segments. Utterly meaningless as far as I'm concerned.

Beasty

You may as well ask what's the point of Strava in the first place. They need to grow their business by generating interest in their products. If you're not interested, don't "buy" the product .....

Lusk_Doyle

Beasty wrote: »

You may as well ask what's the point of Strava in the first place. They need to grow their business by generating interest in their products. If you're not interested, don't "buy" the product .....

You're only saying that cos you got one!

Beasty

Lusk_Doyle wrote: »

You're only saying that cos you got one!

14 plus another 37 "places" actually - very productive day yesterday.....:pac:

Arthurdaly

In 8 months time it won't be meaningless. Some of the KOM's were either gale assisted or group ride/race assisted and forever out of reach.

This now brings a new dimension to popular segments and it is after all a bit of fun so I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

Zyzz

Beasty is only sticking up for them as he is hoping there will be a prize for most falls of the year :pac:

godtabh

Zyzz wrote: »

Beasty is only sticking up for them as he is hoping there will be a prize for most falls of the year :pac:

thats so last year

rtmie

Charlie69 wrote: »

Went out for a ride new year's day and picked up a few of the new 2015 kom's for being the first to ride these segments. Utterly meaningless as far as I'm concerned.

More than that, a bit embarrassing , I'm a pretty slow beginner and got a number of those after my ride yesterday even though was a poor ride due to the few kilos I put (back) on over the xmas. Obviously the first person of the year out on those segments. Was mortified when I saw them appear, hopefully will be obliterated by end of the weekend!!

magicbastarder

*some* had to be first KOM on the segments when strava first released; were the first KOMs meaningless then too?

iwillhtfu

32 KOMs on the 01/01 :eek: thought Santa had brought me a decent set of legs and bigger lungs.

A bit pointless but hey it'll be business as usual in a short while. sure anyhow all the club pelotons mop them up. :mad:

cheerspal

iwillhtfu wrote: »

32 KOMs on the 01/01 :eek: thought Santa had brought me a decent set of legs and bigger lungs.

A bit pointless but hey it'll be business as usual in a short while. sure anyhow all the club pelotons mop them up. :mad:

It's pretty stupid I think. Just fodder for beginners to keep them interested. I went out yesterday and got 22 medals. I have cycled 3 times in the past two months and nowhere near as fit as last year. Hope there is an opt out option for annual koms.

bcmf

Beasty wrote: »

14 plus another 37 "places" actually - very productive day yesterday.....:pac:

Must have been a favourable wind yesterday.

magicbastarder

i think it's a great idea. keep the lists fresh, or reasonably so. of course there's going to be automatic KOMs at the start for the first person to cycle a segment, but that obviously can't be avoided.

Ole Rodrigo

Its a step in the right direction. Maybe next we'll have KOMs reduced to climbs only.

Beasty

Ole Rodrigo wrote: »

Its a step in the right direction. Maybe next we'll have KOMs reduced to climbs only.

They are a business and will not be looking to disenfranchise a large proportion of their customers

RobFowl

Its a bit of fun and does lift the spirits after a cold wet spin.
If you don't like it then don't use strava....

Inquitus

Utterly pointless, spams your rides with a Trophy for being the first person to ride the segment in the year, and dilutes any real achievements you may have from a ride by hiding them amid the spam, not a good idea at all. They will have meaning later in the year, granted, but for now they cheapen the virtual worth of the genuine Strava Trophies, just my 2c. Being 50% slower than the fastest time on a segment, Beasty, isn't Trophy worthy!

RobFowl

Inquitus wrote: »

Utterly pointless, spams your rides with a Trophy for being the first person to ride the segment in the year, and dilutes any real achievements you may have from a ride by hiding them amid the spam, not a good idea at all. They will have meaning later in the year, granted, but for now they cheapen the virtual worth of the genuine Strava Trophies, just my 2c. Being 50% slower than the fastest time on a segment Beasty isn't Trophy worthy!

You do know they're not real trophies Paris roubaix cobblestones are real ones, strava stuff is a virtual pat on the back ...

Inquitus

RobFowl wrote: »

You do know they're not real trophies Paris roubaix cobblestones are real ones, strava stuff is a virtual pat on the back ...

Indeed, but they had to be earnt in the past, whether you set a PB or a 1/2/3 best personal time or you get into the Top 10, or take KOM on a segment its well earnt. These 2015 ones are just given out for nothing worthy of note. When I finish a ride I want to see how I stack up against myself and others in a clear fashion, not have to ignore the myriad of pointless 2015 trophies of no merit.

Lusk_Doyle

godtabh wrote: »

thats so last year

It was actually the year before that but he kept going on about it that it seemed like it was only last year.

ROK ON

I think many people do not fully comprehend the issue of sample size and law of large numbers effect.

This is an annual league table and will sort itself out after a time when n >1

Lumen

Would make more sense to have a rolling year but people are buying validation from Strava so they probably reckon more pats on the head = more revenue.

Chips Lovell

I don't know. It looks a little half-hearted to me. I think if they really put their backs into it they could have done a much better job at making the segment feature even more meaningless than it already is.

Ole Rodrigo

Beasty wrote: »

They are a business and will not be looking to disenfranchise a large proportion of their customers

They don't need to, they can just re categorize the awards into KOMs for climbing and podium placements for other segments. Maybe TT awards for segments outside urban areas.

Also, a link with a weather database to calculate a handicap if the wind was favorable on the segment and a separate segment category for races and training software.

All for free please :pac:

Unknown Soldier

Ole Rodrigo wrote: »

Also, a link with a weather database to calculate

The Garmin connect site actually shows the wind direction/speed on segment leader boards and on your rides.

It's generally crap for segments though.


The new changes don't bother me tbh. I only care about where I am compared to my work colleagues/friends.

They, unlike me, are very competitive.

iwillhtfu

Hmm no KOMs on todays spin maybe the powers that be are listening. Definitely passed through a number of segments alright and placed 2nd on one and the first rider through segment for 2015.

Bring back KOM 2015

RobFowl

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Hmm no KOMs on todays spin maybe the powers that be are listening. Definitely passed through a number of segments alright and placed 2nd on one and the first rider through segment for 2015.

Bring back KOM 2015

I led our clubs beginners spin today and even clocked up a few

iwillhtfu

RobFowl wrote: »

I lead our clubs beginners spin today and even clocked up a few

I knew I should've taken the stabilisers off.

Beasty

RobFowl wrote: »

I led our clubs beginners spin today and even clocked up a few

It was your own ascent of the Fowl Mount that alerted me to this new feature (that and the Lion of Fingal achieving more PRs in a day than he had previously gained over a (very long) lifetime!)

crosstownk

I find it both useful and irritating.

Useful because I can see my best performances year to date but irritating because it gives me 'trophies' for it. I'd prefer to only get trophies for actual PBs and not current year PBs. I did an easy ride today of just 25kms to test some bits that I'd fitted to the bike and ended up with 14 trophies for 2015 achievements that I don't consider worthy.

While I'm happy to be informed of my best 2015 segments, I don't think awarding a trophy is of any benefit.

Maybe Strava should offer a facility to turn the current year trophies off.

RobFowl

crosstownk wrote: »

While I'm happy to be informed of my best 2015 segments, I don't think awarding a trophy is of any benefit.

Maybe Strava should offer a facility to turn the current year trophies off.

Trophies are like star charts for kiddies, work well for some but not for others.
I'm not pushed either-way but can see more positive than negatives about them.

Wishbone Ash

rtmie wrote: »

More than that, a bit embarrassing ...

Yes....I came in after a leisurely ride to discover I had 215 'trophies' including 67 KOM's!

VR46

It will be grand once the leader boards fill up. I think they should limit it to the just top 3 though. Telling me I've the 9th fastest time of the year is taking the meaningless stats to next level.

Charlie69

magicbastarder wrote: »

*some* had to be first KOM on the segments when strava first released; were the first KOMs meaningless then too?

No they weren't meaningless because we had to start somewhere obviously. The 2015 version though is unnecessary imo.