Cheaters on Strava..

Zyzz · 03-03-2013 09:45PM #1

I've noticed since I started using Strava (past month) that there a quite a number of KOMs with silly results that are clearly not done on a bike. I won't name or shame anyone and I know there isn't much I can do but it is fairly disappointing when you burst your b*llocks on a certain section and end up down the ranks because of these people.

I don't race or cycle with a club (yet) so Strava is really all I have to compete with so to speak, is there any way to report these or get them checked out?

buffalo · 03-03-2013 09:46PM

Yes, flag the ride as suspicious (not the segment), and it'll be removed from the leaderboard. But make sure you're sure.

mosstin · 03-03-2013 09:47PM

Zyzz wrote: »

I've noticed since I started using Strava (past month) that there a quite a number of KOMs with silly results that are clearly not done on a bike. I won't name or shame anyone and I know there isn't much I can do but it is fairly disappointing when you burst your b*llocks on a certain section and end up down the ranks because of these people.

I don't race or cycle with a club (yet) so Strava is really all I have to compete with so to speak, is there any way to report these or get them checked out?

Pedal faster.

C3PO · 03-03-2013 09:48PM

Does it really matter?

Zorba · 03-03-2013 09:52PM

Zyzz wrote: »

I've noticed since I started using Strava (past month) that there a quite a number of KOMs with silly results that are clearly not done on a bike. I won't name or shame anyone and I know there isn't much I can do but it is fairly disappointing when you burst your b*llocks on a certain section and end up down the ranks because of these people.

I don't race or cycle with a club (yet) so Strava is really all I have to compete with so to speak, is there any way to report these or get them checked out?

Check the dates on the koms because there might be races held on the route which will inflate the speeds. Like snowtown hill in stamullen the kom has an average speed of 26k or something but it was obviously done during the stamullen gp. I've come to the conclusion the only way I'll ever get up the leaderboard on that one is to do the stamullen race.

buffalo · 03-03-2013 09:56PM

C3PO wrote: »

Does it really matter?

It's nice to have an accurate picture of the possibilities of a climb.

I was looking at a climb used in the Rás last year, and there was one guy who'd gone up it (not in the Rás) a full two minutes faster than any of the pro riders. I looked him up, and he was a good climber, but not that good. Flagged the ride, NO REGRETS!

joe50 · 03-03-2013 09:57PM

anyone using a phone instead of a garmin is a cheater in my book.. disproportionate number of dodgy times set on iphones afaict

Zyzz · 03-03-2013 09:57PM

C3PO wrote: »

Does it really matter?

Did you read my post at all? :rolleyes:

Zyzz · 03-03-2013 09:58PM

buffalo wrote: »

Yes, flag the ride as suspicious (not the segment), and it'll be removed from the leaderboard. But make sure you're sure.

Noted.

I know there are loads of people better than me, which is portrayed in some really good results..but then there are others that are outrageous :pac:

theholyghost · 03-03-2013 10:00PM

I've often joked about setting strava records in the car but I didn't think anyone would actually do it!

Darkglasses · 03-03-2013 10:01PM

joe50 wrote: »

anyone using a phone instead of a garmin is a cheater in my book.. disproportionate number of dodgy times set on iphones afaict

Why? The free app does the same job at a fraction the price...Surely it's easier to cheat with a Garmin than with the phone? With the Garmin, you've upload the file to your computer, where you can use digital EPO or whatever. Strava uploads immediately from my phone?

el tel · 03-03-2013 10:02PM

How accurate are GPS receivers anyway? If they are +/- 50m sure that could add or remove 100m to any segment.

joe50 · 03-03-2013 10:05PM

Darkglasses wrote: »

Why? The free app does the same job at a fraction the price...Surely it's easier to cheat with a Garmin than with the phone? With the Garmin, you've upload the file to your computer, where you can use digital EPO or whatever. Strava uploads immediately from my phone?

because the gps readings on phones are a good bit less accurate, especially on shorter climbs ~30/40s long, doing a climb on a phone or a garmin can be the difference between a KOM and second place

Zyzz · 03-03-2013 10:06PM

theholyghost wrote: »

I've often joked about setting strava records in the car but I didn't think anyone would actually do it!

Ive seen a KOM with a speed of 120km/h..

As the user has said above I better start pedalling faster :rolleyes:

Captain Havoc · 03-03-2013 10:22PM

I understand why people cheat for money but to do it on Strava would have to make you a grade A tool.

C3PO · 03-03-2013 10:38PM

Zyzz wrote: »

Did you read my post at all? :rolleyes:

Yes I did and I'm a big fan of Strava too! It's a great tool for recording and tracking your training and for comparing segment times against your own previous ones and against people who you know! But I don't see why you would get upset because somebody who you've never met is posting a time that's better than yours whether they're cheating or not! Anyway didn't mean to cause offence!

Dermot Illogical · 03-03-2013 10:44PM

C3PO wrote: »

But I don't see why you would get upset because somebody you who you've never met is posting a time that's better than yours whether they're cheating or not!

Jaysus! I would be if I thought they were. A lot of hard work goes into this strava malarkey y'know.

Andy Magic · 03-03-2013 10:47PM

I've noticed this also with one individual constantly, it pisses me off.. I never knew you could report it though!

Zyzz · 03-03-2013 10:49PM

Dermot Illogical wrote: »

Jaysus! I would be if I thought they were. A lot of hard work goes into this strava malarkey y'know.

Dermot Illogical · 03-03-2013 10:51PM

Zyzz wrote: »

If it's working it'll return a negative reading this time.
:cool:

Mr. Grieves · 03-03-2013 10:52PM

I don't believe anyone is deliberately cheating.

People sometimes accidentally leave thir GPS on in their car and set unbelievable times, but these get flagged pretty quickly (it's obvious if the KOM is much faster than the person in second place and the rest of the times are close).

The accuracy of GPS units is limited, leading to large errors on short segments and it doesn't matter if it's a Garmin or an iPhone. Don't bother with segments less than 1km - read here for info about this.

Zyzz · 03-03-2013 10:57PM

Dermot Illogical wrote: »

If it's working it'll return a negative reading this time.
:cool:

Sarcasm doesn't come across very well on boards..

Mr. Grieves wrote: »

I don't believe anyone is deliberately cheating.

People sometimes accidentally leave thir GPS on in their car and set unbelievable times, but these get flagged pretty quickly (it's obvious if the KOM is much faster than the person in second place and the rest of the times are close).

The accuracy of GPS units is limited, leading to large errors on short segments and it doesn't matter if it's a Garmin or an iPhone. Don't bother with segments less than 1km - read here for info about this.

Oh I fully understand that, but then again there are definitely people out there who are doing it on purpose. Im just glad Lance isn't riding my routes

:pac:

route66 · 03-03-2013 11:00PM

Cheating on Strava is easy - you don't even need a car. Just use digitalepo

But why bother?

I'm fairly slow so I don't pay too much attention to leaderboards; I just compare my own times.

Craig06 · 03-03-2013 11:20PM

I reported one as the segment is 2km long and with speed bumps. You could even see the car slow down and speed up. She only logged 1 ride lol

Beasty · 03-03-2013 11:29PM

Zyzz wrote: »

Ive seen a KOM with a speed of 120km/h..

I know a Boardsie who averaged over that one day - didn't know they allowed bikes on the M1 - anyway when I pointed it it he removed it before he got reported (to the Guards;))

Of course I won't name and shame that particular ex Liverpool footballer Boardsie (apparently he left the Garmin switched on on the bike which was on the car)

DirkVoodoo · 03-03-2013 11:37PM

Just change the default leaderboard view to show your friends.

Then you can accuse them of cheating to their faces.

That's what I do.

Zyzz · 03-03-2013 11:45PM

Beasty wrote: »

I know a Boardsie who averaged over that one day - didn't know they allowed bikes on the M1 - anyway when I pointed it it he removed it before he got reported (to the Guards;))

Of course I won't name and shame that particular ex Liverpool footballer Boardsie (apparently he left the Garmin switched on on the bike which was on the car)

Ha I have seen some M1 routes aswel..must be motorway legal bikes

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Just change the default leaderboard view to show your friends.

Then you can accuse them of cheating to their faces.

That's what I do.

What if I have no friends..

detones · 03-03-2013 11:58PM

So is riding in a group or a race and recording strava times kind of cheating too? Or does strava allow you to distinguish between solo and group rides. I have used strava it gives me a good benchmark of how sh1te I really am. How somebody self propelled a mechanically propelled vehicle 33kmhr uphill at Ardgillan hill never know!!

Beasty · 04-03-2013 01:03AM

detones wrote: »

How somebody self propelled a mechanically propelled vehicle 33kmhr uphill at Ardgillan hill never know!!

As the top 10 times were set the day the Ras came into town last year you can probably assume there was some drafting going on. The first non-Ras time was set by a Boardsie

detones · 04-03-2013 01:24AM

Beasty wrote: »

As the top 10 times were set the day the Ras came into town last year you can probably assume there was some drafting going on. The first non-Ras time was set by a Boardsie

Yeah Ardgillan hill is a good place to watch the Ras too. They usually pass a few times there. Would not have thought those lads would be using Strava in a race. Thougt the times from ryan sherlock and co. might have been training runs or something. Puts those times into perspective and a lot of the segments around this area!

Still think it would be good if you could have "solo" versus group times highlighted on Strava. Maybe you can. Would require a fair bit of honesty though.

RyanAndrew · 04-03-2013 09:27AM

I recently put comments on two peoples pages on a particular segment , being polite about it and they both "cropped" their rides no problem. All very civilised. The two in question looked liked they had been MTB and drove home. The current KOM is 5 secs faster (@ 63.7k is almost 10kph faster) than the next but looks like he is a serious player - even has his own racing blog - so I won't be challenging him

Cheaters on Strava..

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