You may have analysed your Strava in Year in Sport Report and those of the people you follow, but you can now check out how you stack up against Strava users worldwide.
The ride recording and sharing app has released the Strava Year in Sport Trend Report, which analyses the uploads of 120 million athletes between 1 October 2022 and 30 September 2023.
It excludes activities set to ‘Only Me’ and from users who opted out from sharing on Strava Metro.
The data is global unless otherwise specified.
The report also includes survey data from 6,990 respondents, including Strava users and active people who are not on Strava, according to the brand.
More gravel and ebike rides
There was more off-road riding on Strava in 2023, with increases in the number of rides logged on gravel bikes and mountain bikes.
Strava says gravel riding is one of the fastest-growing activities on the app. The share of users recording gravel rides rose by 55 per cent, according to the brand.
The proportion of cyclists who shared an electric bike ride on the platform rose by 23 per cent.
Last year saw a five per cent increase in the share of cyclists who recorded a metric century (100km) on Strava.
Gear of the Year
More cyclists uploaded their rides on a Garmin Edge 530 than any other GPS.
Despite being released in 2019, the Edge 530’s continuing popularity shows the brand’s mid-tier bike computer is still going strong.
Across the world, the most popular bike brands among Strava users were Trek, Specialized and Giant.
In the UK, Giant jumped from third to first, followed by Trek in second and Specialized in third.
Generational divide
Gen Z users (aged between 13 and 26) rode the fastest of all generations, at a median speed of 20.9kph globally, according to Strava.
In the UK, Gen X cyclists (aged between 42 and 57) recorded the highest median speed of 20.8kph.
Regardless of age, women named Femke and men named Robbe uploaded the fastest median rides.
Overall, Gen X users were twice as likely as their Gen Z counterparts to take a QOM/KOM.
Eight per cent of Gen X cyclists earned a crown, followed by Boomers (7 per cent), Millennials (6 per cent) and Gen Z (4 per cent).
The most popular segment for travelling cyclists to attempt was the ‘Team Ineos Test?’ in Pollença. Nearly 500,000 athletes have ridden the 1.6km Mallorcan ascent where Cofidis pro Jesús Herrada Lopez holds the KOM.
Unsurprisingly, cyclists in a group of two or more were 53 per cent more likely to clock the fastest time on a segment.
The Boomer generation (aged 58 to 76) clocked the longest median ride in the UK (27.5km) and worldwide (33.3km).
Running versus cycling
Gen Z was nearly twice as likely to log runs (69 per cent) as rides (36 per cent), while the opposite was true for the oldest generation.
Sixty-three per cent of Boomers recorded rides and 29 per cent shared runs.
The balance was much more even among Millennials and Gen X.
Commuting by bike
Nearly half of Millennials commuted by bike last year, as has been the case since 2019.
The second most likely to cycle to work were Gen X with 29 per cent.
Far fewer of the Gen Z cohort use a bike to commute (17 per cent) but the share has increased from eight per cent in 2019.
What motivates Strava users?
More than half of Strava users said setting a goal and 40 per cent said signing up for an event provided motivation.
On a day-to-day basis, time pressure appears to help.
Asked what helps them start a workout, 53 per cent of Strava users said knowing if they don’t do it now, they won’t get it done, got them out of the door.
Three-quarters of Strava users with pets said their animal companions encouraged them to exercise.
Ninety per cent of Strava users said making exercise part of a routine helped them stay active.
The time of day they exercised didn’t seem to matter, but it did vary between generations. Boomers tended to exercise earlier in the day, while Gen Z went out later – 49 per cent exercised after 4pm on weekdays compared to 29 per cent of Boomers.
