# Strava vs Map My Ride



## Allagash (Aug 26, 2013)

Which of these is better? I've been using Map My Ride now for a few years and like it but I keep hearing about Strava. Is Strava better?


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## zombinate (Apr 27, 2009)

Map My Ride is better if you want information about you. Strava is better if you want to compare rides to others.


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## Stupendous Man (Jan 12, 2004)

Ive used both, but switched almost exclusively to Strava. I think it has the advantage in features and social interaction.


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## watts888 (Oct 2, 2012)

zombinate said:


> Map My Ride is better if you want information about you. Strava is better if you want to compare rides to others.


nailed it. I use google's My Tracks instead of Map My Ride, and it lets me know how I did during my ride. It's all about me. Strava really leads when you want to compare yourself against other people. Just don't become a strav*******.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Allagash said:


> Which of these is better? I've been using Map My Ride now for a few years and like it but I keep hearing about Strava. Is Strava better?
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Are you asking about the websites or the phone apps? Or both? Paid versions or free versions?


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## Allagash (Aug 26, 2013)

The phone apps. Either free or paid. I'll pony up for the paid if it's worth it. 


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

try the free versions of both. do you like the user interfaces or the analysis supplied?


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## ohfosho (May 19, 2015)

The perk with Strava and its social integration is seeing what trails are around you and where the start and ends locations are. The crowd sourcing is nice as users pretty much keep it up to date. After awhile, you will remember most of your common runs, but in other situations its nice to see discoverable trails on-the-go if you didn't pre-plan any routes.

I have never used map my ride so I can't really compare too much to it.


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## asuprice (Jul 20, 2010)

I like to use MapMyRide and then export the .tcx file from the website and upload it to Strava.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

My Garmin 620 automatically uploads the ride to Garmin Connect or whatever it's called and Strava automatically gets it from there.


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## bigflamingtaco (Oct 26, 2013)

i like endomondo for the crisp layout, great colors and "Release your endorphins!" encouragement in a sexy voice at the start of each ride, but it zapped all the night vision right out of me, even when Im laying down 3700lm on a road ride, so I stopped using it. I found one last year that has a darkish info screen option, still not perfect, but doable. Don't remember the name, and don't have the phone right now as the charger crashed on me last week. 

I've been poking the bigger app companies to code a workout app with a true black background (with red digits) for three years, to no avail. Haven't rechecked any of them since last winter, so might be time to recheck.


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## vladd (Jul 19, 2014)

zombinate said:


> Map My Ride is better if you want information about you. Strava is better if you want to compare rides to others.


Why do you say that?


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## vladd (Jul 19, 2014)

Is MapMyRide or Strava more accurate for elevation gained? I've been running them together on my iPhone 6, and Strava always shows greater elevation gain. Strava also always shows lower total distance, and is closer to what my bike computer shows (Stava is usually slightly below the computer, MapMyRide slightly above). 

I recently went on a ride where the difference between them is more extreme than usual; MapMyRide shows an elevation gain of 2600 feet, while Strava shows 3450 feet. Distance on MapMyRide is 19.8 miles, Strava shows 19.0. Distance-wise, they're normally about this far apart, but the elevation is usually closer. Which one is more accurate?

Finally, does it make a difference for collecting data if the phone has a signal or not?


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## perttime (Aug 26, 2005)

GPS isn't all that accurate for elevation anyway.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altimeter#Global_Positioning_System

I'm using Sports Tracker on my phone, and the paid version seems to offer the possibility to use a real altimeter.


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## vladd (Jul 19, 2014)

perttime said:


> GPS isn't all that accurate for elevation anyway.
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altimeter#Global_Positioning_System


They both use data from United States Geological Survey to improve the elevation data (https://strava.zendesk.com/entries/20965883-Elevation-for-Your-Activity and https://support.mapmyfitness.com/hc/en-us/articles/200118334-Viewing-Elevation-Data). They obviously have different methods for calculating the final elevation, since my numbers are so different. Has anybody compared data from an altimeter with either of these programs?


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## zombinate (Apr 27, 2009)

vladd said:


> Why do you say that?


I think MMR has an easier layout to see the results, and easier to see results on a full ride. Strava's strength is it's ability to compare your ride to others, and see results over ride segments both for yourself and others. I still use Strava, as I like the heatmap data, but I use programs that send the GPS info to Strava because of this difference in info layout.


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## SAVAGESAM (Jan 14, 2008)

First off, thanks for asking this question. I wondered the same thing. I have both on my phone and now that I think about it, I've never ran them both @ the same time. I'll have to try that and see what it does.


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## watts888 (Oct 2, 2012)

SAVAGESAM said:


> I'll have to try that and see what it does.


It will release the demons trapped inside your SD card, and turn your phone into a Blackberry. And then the real horror shall be revealed.


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## Daniel de la Garza (Sep 5, 2015)

Well you can look on Strava how you did and almost all your stats but if you want to look at real time analysis then you should get a dedicated device not just a phone app. Im pretty happy with Strava, and competing against others is rather fun.


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## ghettocruiser (Jun 21, 2008)

Most people that I ride with IRL these days I met through Strava. 

Strange but true.


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## csgaraglino (May 20, 2012)

I use a Garmin Edge for my tracking and it up,oafs automatically to Garmin Connect, and form there auto populates Map My Ride, Strava & Ride with GPS.

My main app is Strava for most everything. I mainly use it token track of my performance and to find other routs.

I have started using Ride With GPS because creating new Routes & Uploading them to my Edge is way easier than any of the other sites. And when I want to share a ride publicly, RWGPS is much friendlier, as Strava requires the view to have an account to see the full data.

Garmin Connect is just my main conduit and Map My Ride is for those of my friends on that system.

If it wasn't for the automation, I'd probably just stick with Strava or RWGPS


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## Daniel de la Garza (Sep 5, 2015)

Strava hands down. It's a more complete training tool not just for mapping rides. 

Enviado desde mi C6906 mediante Tapatalk


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## thecanoe (Jan 30, 2007)

Why doesn't Strava use open street maps? If I'm exploring areas that I'm not familiar with, OSM shows the trails not just the streets. 


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## Daniel de la Garza (Sep 5, 2015)

thecanoe said:


> Why doesn't Strava use open street maps? If I'm exploring areas that I'm not familiar with, OSM shows the trails not just the streets.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


It uses Google maps.


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## mik_git (Feb 4, 2004)

Strava uses open street maps for me...


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## Daniel de la Garza (Sep 5, 2015)

mik_git said:


> Strava uses open street maps for me...


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## J-Flo (Apr 23, 2012)

Strava uses OSM here in Los E.E.U.U.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

Strava uses OSM for normal maps and Google Maps when creating segments.


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## thecanoe (Jan 30, 2007)

When I'm using Strava and look at my live map, there is no OSM. I'm using a Garmin 520 and upload to Strava. On my phone I run RWGPS so that I can see the upcoming trails.


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## thecanoe (Jan 30, 2007)

Is there a way of setting the strava app to show OSM while riding?


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

My experience from 2011-2012 was a lot of app crashes with MMR and MMR had corrupt and lost a lot of my GPS data. 

They may be better about that now but I switched to Strava because of that and Strava has been much more reliable and solid. 

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## grumpy old biker (Jul 29, 2014)

For me elevation data vs speed vs heart rate would be most interesting and especially to look data on pc screen. 

I have used Sports tracker before, but at one point they made "upgrade" to their website and they removed ability to zoom speed + altitude data, so for longer rides it is impossible to analyze how I did on one to two mile segment I know being challenging. I did stop logging my rides after that completely and have been bit loss of motivation to compete with myself ever since.

Strava screenshots I have seen, none shows anything about elevation and what I read from this thread seem to indicate that it is just like Sports Tracker, less focusing on data, more focusing on friends and such, I live on such area that there are no other riders anywhere nearby, so Strava is probably not for me. 

Map my ride I must find more about, but are there other ones that would have zoomable elevation data vs speed vs heart rate and perhaps comparison between rides on same route so that one could kind of compete by himself? 

Android OS pocket computer for logging and PC for analyzing would be my cup of tea.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

Load the data from the ride into Golden Cheetah on the PC.


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

grumpy old biker said:


> For me elevation data vs speed vs heart rate would be most interesting and especially to look data on pc screen.
> 
> I have used Sports tracker before, but at one point they made "upgrade" to their website and they removed ability to zoom speed + altitude data, so for longer rides it is impossible to analyze how I did on one to two mile segment I know being challenging. I did stop logging my rides after that completely and have been bit loss of motivation to compete with myself ever since.
> 
> ...


Like this?









It does calculate avg and max for the selection as well.


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## grumpy old biker (Jul 29, 2014)

zephxiii said:


> Like this?
> 
> View attachment 1049621
> 
> ...


Thanks, that kind of pic should be on Strava's front page as well as other screenshots, or maybe I'm just too geek for modern internet 

NordieBoy, I have Golden Cheetah, but somehow I don't like to use it.

I have been drooling over Garmin too, but haven't been able to convince myself about cost aspect, but Garmin combined with Vector might be best combo, cost would be same as new basic level hardtail bike so I might be in wheel chair before I can have enough loose money to put on such gadgets.


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