Strava cheaters

[mcfarton]

As far as zwift vs outside. I can do xxx watts on zwift as I never stop pedaling for downhill, stop signs, or stop lights. But outside I only ever have 5/7 of the power I make inside. I am comparing a calibrated smart trainer vs a calibrated power meter. There is always a difference in power.

But you should be able to see similarities in heart rate and timed efforts.

People cheat inside, outside and all aspects of life. I try to not let it bother me and just be honest with myself. When I see that my power numbers are up it brings a smile to my face.


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[TobinHatesYou]

I see people who seem to pump out 300w average on Zwift and who then manage 145w averages on actual road rides. Puzzling.

Thing is a lot of people who are on zwift don't have a PM for outdoors (I certainly don't)
So Strava does the whole "power estimation" thing.

Mine will be similar to what you see.
On the Neo on zwift I can ride at 240w for over an hour. Outdoors Strava would estimate my power at like 140w.

No cheating, just lack of equipment....

It's more that the equipment available just isn't accurate enough. This includes all of the following:

1) Just about all ZPower estimates.
2) Just about all wheel-on smart-trainers. Think your $600 KICKR Snap is accurate? Nope. Even if you follow the directions properly before a spindown, almost all overshoot by 10-20%
3) Many direct-drive trainers have various quirks. Gen1 KICKRs typically overshoot by 10% or so. The Tacx Flux S can overshoot and undershoot depending on power ranges. My Hammer overshoots on fast accelerations, sprinter power can be 200W off...1200W appears as 1400W.

The only trainers I feel are rock solid in terms of accuracy day after day are the Tacx Neo, Elite Drivo and Elite Direto. And this is only after comparing against a known good power source first.

Anyone who owns both a smart trainer and a separate power meter...well they should record with the power meter at all times. Don't cheat yourself.

[northwestern]

I am only interested in doing a KOM on one segment. The current KOM is done by a guy who somehow accelerated from 21 mph to 38 mph in 2 seconds and kept it around 38 mph. This is at the end of a 4 hour ride. I flagged it, Strava people did not think it was weird.

[AJS914]

Post a link.

The acceleration doesn't sound suspect to me. Is GPS data even second to second accurate?

I like to look at the person's profile and see how much they ride, what other KOMs they have, etc.

Is it a place that gets windy days? Are most KOMs set on super windy days? Or maybe he got the KOM in a group of 20 other riders.

[ParisCarbon]

I see people who seem to pump out 300w average on Zwift and who then manage 145w averages on actual road rides. Puzzling.

Thing is a lot of people who are on zwift don't have a PM for outdoors (I certainly don't)
So Strava does the whole "power estimation" thing.

Mine will be similar to what you see.
On the Neo on zwift I can ride at 240w for over an hour. Outdoors Strava would estimate my power at like 140w.

No cheating, just lack of equipment....

It's more that the equipment available just isn't accurate enough. This includes all of the following:

1) Just about all ZPower estimates.
2) Just about all wheel-on smart-trainers. Think your $600 KICKR Snap is accurate? Nope. Even if you follow the directions properly before a spindown, almost all overshoot by 10-20%
3) Many direct-drive trainers have various quirks. Gen1 KICKRs typically overshoot by 10% or so. The Tacx Flux S can overshoot and undershoot depending on power ranges. My Hammer overshoots on fast accelerations, sprinter power can be 200W off...1200W appears as 1400W.

The only trainers I feel are rock solid in terms of accuracy day after day are the Tacx Neo, Elite Drivo and Elite Direto. And this is only after comparing against a known good power source first.

Anyone who owns both a smart trainer and a separate power meter...well they should record with the power meter at all times. Don't cheat yourself.

What Tobin said is totally accurate... I pumped out 40 watts more on a Kickr over 7 minutes at a shop event compared to my Neo.. In a Zwift race that would push me from a lead pack B racer right into a upper pack A racer.. Let the cheaters cheat, its an online race that means nothing really.. as much as Im not a rainmaker fan, even he has an article on zwift and trainers and talks exactly about this difference in trainers... What I walk away with from training on my Neo is that my inside watts are the same as my outdoor watts and I don't have to change a thing!

[ParisCarbon]

I am only interested in doing a KOM on one segment. The current KOM is done by a guy who somehow accelerated from 21 mph to 38 mph in 2 seconds and kept it around 38 mph. This is at the end of a 4 hour ride. I flagged it, Strava people did not think it was weird.

A 30kmh jump in 2 seconds is pretty strange IMHO ..sounds like GPS data error to me... How long is this segment.. 38mph is 60kmh, to hold onto that for any duration without a tailwind or downhill is impressive.. is there wattage associated?

Post the segment if you can..

[northwestern]

https://www.strava.com/segments/1321978 ... g5MDk0OTg=

second 1-6 8 mph then goes to 38 mph in 1 second.

[AJS914]

Maybe the sampling on his device wasn't that great?

Just flag it. If he went from 8 to 38 in 1 second they will probably remove his KOM.

[TheRich]

Maybe the sampling on his device wasn't that great?

Just flag it. If he went from 8 to 38 in 1 second they will probably remove his KOM.

The short segment length magnifies any and all problems. When it comes down to it, we're all using consumer electronics that have a relatively big margin of error.

I try to ignore anythng less than a few minutes long, especially on the road. Strava sniping short segments isn't very indicative of anything other than the desire to Strava snipe.

[LouisN]

https://www.strava.com/segments/1321978 ... g5MDk0OTg=

second 1-6 8 mph then goes to 38 mph in 1 second.

I know a few cycling buddies that like to chase trucks and buses

Louis

[Leviathan]

At the risk of being preachy MadCows old adage "this place would be much better if people took themselves a little less seriously" seems to apply 10x for both Strava and Zwift.

Maybe cos Im a below average cyclist and the top 10 KOM times on my local ride are held by current pros?? Simon Yates is 18th on one, and Kwiatkowski 19th on the other...

[Tinea Pedis]

At the risk of being preachy MadCows old adage "this place would be much better if people took themselves a little less seriously" seems to apply 10x for both Strava and Zwift.

Good attitude to have, except that is not what either platform is built around...

[TheRich]

Good attitude to have, except that is not what either platform is built around...

The privacy settings can drastically change the Strava experience, people don't make those changes because they don't want those changes.

[Rudi]

https://www.strava.com/segments/1321978 ... g5MDk0OTg=

second 1-6 8 mph then goes to 38 mph in 1 second.

On my screen it's showing 38km/h, not miles.

Looks like he came round the corner and booted it. Maybe it's a segment he had been close on previously and he decided to go for it. His power is estimated, not actual. Not sure i'm seeing anything that odd (on the assumption that it is km/h and not mph, which would be odd I agree).

[AJS914]

I have a feeling that some people do what you are talking about on pupose to get KOMs. They think, 'ha, ha! I stole that guys KOM" and they admire their trophy case.