Every day, thousands of Strava users upload their training sessions - whether by mountain bike, road bike or on foot - to the training platform via the app or website and then share them with like-minded athletes. According to Strava, over three billion activities from all corners of the world have already been recorded. Based on this data, the American social network has now installed an innovative route function that recommends customised training routes to users in real time and sends cyclists on new routes.
Route tool for Strava Summit members only
The route tool in the app now gives users personalised access to this huge pool of data for the first time. Wherever the next training session is planned, Strava suggests three personalised routes that can be filtered according to activity, distance, terrain and topography.
The routing tool also provides the following information about the planned tour:
- Estimated training duration: is determined individually based on the speeds of the athlete's most recent training sessions
- Elevation profile and details of the surface conditions (tarmac, gravel, unknown)
- Strava heatmap - the popularity of the route section
OSM maps as a basis
How does the algorithm behind Strava's route tool work? The training platform uses map synchronisation with Open Street Maps (OSM) to adapt uploaded activities to a global network of paths, roads and trails. This is similar to what Garmin does with its "Round Trip Routing" function. This function, which is also available in many Garmin GPS devices calculates a route to follow based on the activities uploaded to Garmin Connect. If you want to use the new route tool, you need a Strava Summit package. The tool is not included in the free version of the Strava app. Strava Summit costs €7.99 per month or €59.99 per year.
Which app provides better route planning?
Strava and Komoot are both providers that offer routes graded according to surface, distance and time using various filter functions. Sound identical? In detail, however, the two platforms are very different. We want to find out where the differences lie and which options are particularly interesting for road cyclists in a detailed direct comparison. The result is available here after countless kilometres of testing.
