A LOT OF CYCLISTS, myself included, find Strava a very worthwhile tool: with by far the highest number of active users, it's the only game in town for social features (and not just for cycling, but also lesser endurance activities like running and swimming!).

The social aspect enables what I find to be the most valuable part of the Strava experience: the motivation that comes from seeing improvement in my own rides, moving up the leaderboard on segments, and getting inspiration from other athletes' performances. A bit of (mostly) friendly competition I find to be a good thing.

But when it comes to serious training, many people turn up their noses at Strava. And it's true that the analytics that Strava offers, especially on the free tier, are quite limited compared to the competition.

There's a couple of things to say about this.