Strava

Strava is an online app that allows users to track their activities and share them with others. It connects over 100 million athletes across a global online community.

History

'If it's not on Strava, it didn't happen'. Many cyclists will have heard this saying and even uttered the words themselves, and it’s almost impossible to imagine a world where our rides aren’t automatically uploaded to the digital world and shared with a global community of cyclists. It wasn’t always this way, though, and Strava was one of the first companies to open up the digital side of the cycling industry.

The American-based brand was founded in 2009 by Mark Gainey and Michael Horvath, although the seed of the company went back to the 1990s when the pair came up with the idea of a virtual locker room which could recreate sporting camaraderie online. The emergence of phones with in-built GPS and more advanced bike computers in the late 2000s made the idea feasible, and by 2009 it was a reality.

Strava allows users to record certain activities and to interact with other users. At the beginning, users could only record cycling activities, but that’s since extended to 33 different types of exercise, from cycling and running to rock climbing and surfing.

The functionality has also grown and the app now allows users to interact with others, plan routes via the app’s worldwide maps, analyse activities, plus much more.

Alongside the app, the number of users has also grown and in 2022 it reached a new milestone with 100 million active users.

Key moments

2012 - Strava’s mobile app is released

Originally only a web app, Strava released its first mobile app in 2012. This formed the base for the current app which most cyclists will now be familiar with.

2020 - Over three billion uploads

Strava’s success is built around its users. Testament to this success, the number of posts to the app surpassed three billion in 2020 for the first time.

2022 - 100 million active users

Strava reached a new milestone in 2022 when it achieved 100 million active users. The number of users grew rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic when, at its peak, over three million new users were subscribing each month.

2023 - Strava teams up with Spotify

Since 2009, Strava has teamed up with multiple brands and companies, most recently Spotify in 2023. Through this partnership, Spotify was integrated into the Strava app through a widget. This allows users to control Spotify while still on the Strava app.

Strava's features

other

Free features: The Strava app can be paired with accounts for most cycling devices, including Garmin and Wahoo. Riders can track their riders, see their stats, measure themselves on segments, and keep track of their training as a whole.

Strava subscription service: Those who subscribe can take advantage of a wide range of additional features, making it easier to track goals and stay motivated.

This includes the ability to set custom goals, whether it be for a specific segment or goals for the year. There are also additional training aids and the app allows users to analyse the power and pace of specific rides, see how it compares to previous activities, and it can all be filtered into a training log.

Strava isn’t just about recording activities and it also has a route-planning feature. This is enhanced by heat maps which show popular roads and routes in the area based on where other riders have ridden. There are also personal heatmaps and, making life easier, Strava can suggest routes for you.

Subscribers can also see how they compare to other riders through segment leaderboards, one of the most popular features on the app, especially for those hunting QOM or KOMs.

Did you know?

Pro cycling

Current sponsorships:

• Tour de France
• Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift