Discussion
daddy cool said:
For anyone that cares, Strava have switched off Flybys (by default, anyway) this week. You will need to go into your privacy settings to deliberately re-enable if you like using it. Of course, 90% of users probably didnt use it anyway, so wont notice it gone, so wont re-enable, so my rides are going to look pretty solitary!
Always found it interesting if i got overtaken by someone crazy fast on the trails, so i could check out their stats/bike later on.
You also have to set your activities to public rather than 'followers only' for them to show up. It's a shame as I always liked seeing what routes other people were taking, who I was catching up during a race, etc. but now I don't think anyone will bother turning it on!Always found it interesting if i got overtaken by someone crazy fast on the trails, so i could check out their stats/bike later on.
ukbabz said:
I can understand why they'd disable them by default though, some people can be pretty creepy and it wouldn't surprise me if there have been cases of stalking people using strava to follow pretty girls/guys and generally be a bit of a creep.
Hmm, that may well explain all of the hot female runners and cyclists hanging around outside my house and at strategic points on my commute, then following me.To be honest, It could be quite big brother/stalkerish, especially if the majority doesn't even realise that it exists.
ukbabz said:
I can understand why they'd disable them by default though, some people can be pretty creepy and it wouldn't surprise me if there have been cases of stalking people using strava to follow pretty girls/guys and generally be a bit of a creep.
Yeah it seemed odd to have tbh especially when most people didn’t even know it was there. Having to opt in is definitely the way to go.
ukbabz said:
I can understand why they'd disable them by default though, some people can be pretty creepy and it wouldn't surprise me if there have been cases of stalking people using strava to follow pretty girls/guys and generally be a bit of a creep.
It's a bummer for me. I really liked the flyby feature. Made some 'real life' friends and riding acquaintances via comments/kudos on flyby rides. Along with loads of in-app friends too. Just the other day I was having a laugh with a fella who passed me while I was map reading, then we chatted on the way to a hill, he blitzed me up the hill but I passed him again when he stopped to investigate a rubbing noise at the top. I looked him up on flyby and we continued our chat on the comments page of his activity. I've never found it at all creepy. And I don't worry about security of my home address because I never start/stop my GPS in my street anyway. This will just make things less "social" for me, and there I was thinking that Strava was all about building a "community" of like minded people.And I shall miss watching the flyby playback of MTB races with the Benny Hill music playing in another tab...
yellowjack said:
It's a bummer for me. I really liked the flyby feature. Made some 'real life' friends and riding acquaintances via comments/kudos on flyby rides. Along with loads of in-app friends too. Just the other day I was having a laugh with a fella who passed me while I was map reading, then we chatted on the way to a hill, he blitzed me up the hill but I passed him again when he stopped to investigate a rubbing noise at the top. I looked him up on flyby and we continued our chat on the comments page of his activity. I've never found it at all creepy. And I don't worry about security of my home address because I never start/stop my GPS in my street anyway. This will just make things less "social" for me, and there I was thinking that Strava was all about building a "community" of like minded people.
And I shall miss watching the flyby playback of MTB races with the Benny Hill music playing in another tab...
That's great but I don't think everyone wants stalked so you can switch it on if you wish to make new 'strava fweeeends', personally id rather keep it to people I know well and keep my account private and not have some 'random' on my feed.And I shall miss watching the flyby playback of MTB races with the Benny Hill music playing in another tab...
fastraxx said:
That's great but I don't think everyone wants stalked so you can switch it on if you wish to make new 'strava fweeeends', personally id rather keep it to people I know well and keep my account private and not have some 'random' on my feed.
"Stalked"? WTF are you on about. It works like this. Look at 'flyby' playback. Spot people I actually passed on the road, and often spoke to. Give kudos and maybe make a comment. The recipient of the kudos/comment then either gets to respond, or ignore me. If there is a response it sometimes leads to an online friendship, Or even a meet up and riding together. If I get ignored I simply forget about them. It's hardly "stalking". That sounds like the claim of a drama queen with a trembly bottom lip to be frank. I've just turned my 'flyby' feature back on. Most people won't. Most of those who don't will never have used it and probably aren't even aware of it. It's no big deal in the grand scheme of things, but I'm disappointed it's been defaulted to 'off' because I feel it's an erosion of the "community" element of Strava. But I can see how it might make a handful of users feel safer. But it's an illusory security, and it might end up leading some folk to a false sense of security, thereby doing more harm than good.yellowjack said:
fastraxx said:
That's great but I don't think everyone wants stalked so you can switch it on if you wish to make new 'strava fweeeends', personally id rather keep it to people I know well and keep my account private and not have some 'random' on my feed.
"Stalked"? WTF are you on about. It works like this. Look at 'flyby' playback. Spot people I actually passed on the road, and often spoke to. Give kudos and maybe make a comment. The recipient of the kudos/comment then either gets to respond, or ignore me. If there is a response it sometimes leads to an online friendship, Or even a meet up and riding together. If I get ignored I simply forget about them. It's hardly "stalking". That sounds like the claim of a drama queen with a trembly bottom lip to be frank. I've just turned my 'flyby' feature back on. Most people won't. Most of those who don't will never have used it and probably aren't even aware of it. It's no big deal in the grand scheme of things, but I'm disappointed it's been defaulted to 'off' because I feel it's an erosion of the "community" element of Strava. But I can see how it might make a handful of users feel safer. But it's an illusory security, and it might end up leading some folk to a false sense of security, thereby doing more harm than good.As I said, I’m surprised it wasn’t an opt in feature at the start. It’s pretty intrusive and gives away a lot of information and most people, likely didn’t even know it was there.
I think if you just used strava as phone app you don’t even see it exists.
I've noticed another change in recent days in Strava Segments. Being a subscriber, I used to see on the iphone all my efforts on a segment, my overall leaderboard ranking and sub-rankings by year to date, age group, weight group.
Now I don't see any sub-rankings, just my overall ranking.
Have I managed to upset a setting somewhere?
Now I don't see any sub-rankings, just my overall ranking.
Have I managed to upset a setting somewhere?
El stovey said:
Sure it’s a community feature, but you ought to have to opt into it imho. The issue probably isn’t that you’re going to get stalked it’s more about protection for women and kids etc and people who are more vulnerable.
As I said, I’m surprised it wasn’t an opt in feature at the start. It’s pretty intrusive and gives away a lot of information and most people, likely didn’t even know it was there.
I think if you just used strava as phone app you don’t even see it exists.
exactly this. if the old men want to message each other and make strava stranger web buddies then they can opt in and kudos till their heart is content.As I said, I’m surprised it wasn’t an opt in feature at the start. It’s pretty intrusive and gives away a lot of information and most people, likely didn’t even know it was there.
I think if you just used strava as phone app you don’t even see it exists.
fastraxx said:
El stovey said:
Sure it’s a community feature, but you ought to have to opt into it imho. The issue probably isn’t that you’re going to get stalked it’s more about protection for women and kids etc and people who are more vulnerable.
As I said, I’m surprised it wasn’t an opt in feature at the start. It’s pretty intrusive and gives away a lot of information and most people, likely didn’t even know it was there.
I think if you just used strava as phone app you don’t even see it exists.
exactly this. if the old men want to message each other and make strava stranger web buddies then they can opt in and kudos till their heart is content.As I said, I’m surprised it wasn’t an opt in feature at the start. It’s pretty intrusive and gives away a lot of information and most people, likely didn’t even know it was there.
I think if you just used strava as phone app you don’t even see it exists.
fastraxx said:
That's great but I don't think everyone wants stalked so you can switch it on if you wish to make new 'strava fweeeends', personally id rather keep it to people I know well and keep my account private and not have some 'random' on my feed.
Got any more of them tinfoil hats? Mind those Chemtrails and that 5G brain scrambler eh. You do realise that you have literally thousands of "randoms" on your PistonHeads threads, right? Why is Strava so different in your opinion? And as for those 'strava fweeeends'? Making friends via flyby has netted me discount at a local bike shop, a group of 8 MTBers similar in age and ability to me, a race partner for a 12 hour race, and although we haven't met yet, there's a young chap near me who has offered to meet up with me for a ride as a guide to help me with some local knowledge since I moved to a new area. But mock away. It works for me, you clearly feel differently about it. But it doesn't make you right...
Yellowjacket, to me it’s a personal safety thing.
A woman goes running, some bloke passes her and checks out flyby later and can see who she is and where and when she goes running and where she lives.
That’s due to everyone being opted in to flyby as the default.
Obviously it’s much safer if those that want to be involved in this have to opt in. In the same way that the user decides if they want to be your friend on strava or their activities to be private or where their privacy zone(s) is/are etc
The feature is effectively dead now but I was always surprised it existed at all tbh, I’m not funny about my own privacy on strava but I wouldn’t like my daughter or wife’s workouts to be available like this. My female workmates on strava were all pretty shocked it was there when I told them a while ago and opted out of it. They just used the phone app and didn’t even know it existed.
There’s an interesting article about it here
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2020/10/strava-flyby-t...
The comments as expected show a wide range of opinions and views on privacy.
A woman goes running, some bloke passes her and checks out flyby later and can see who she is and where and when she goes running and where she lives.
That’s due to everyone being opted in to flyby as the default.
Obviously it’s much safer if those that want to be involved in this have to opt in. In the same way that the user decides if they want to be your friend on strava or their activities to be private or where their privacy zone(s) is/are etc
The feature is effectively dead now but I was always surprised it existed at all tbh, I’m not funny about my own privacy on strava but I wouldn’t like my daughter or wife’s workouts to be available like this. My female workmates on strava were all pretty shocked it was there when I told them a while ago and opted out of it. They just used the phone app and didn’t even know it existed.
There’s an interesting article about it here
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2020/10/strava-flyby-t...
The comments as expected show a wide range of opinions and views on privacy.
millen said:
I've noticed another change in recent days in Strava Segments. Being a subscriber, I used to see on the iphone all my efforts on a segment, my overall leaderboard ranking and sub-rankings by year to date, age group, weight group.
Now I don't see any sub-rankings, just my overall ranking.
Have I managed to upset a setting somewhere?
Just found itNow I don't see any sub-rankings, just my overall ranking.
Have I managed to upset a setting somewhere?
Bottom left (press fastest time)
Then scroll along he top line
Not exactly intuitive. I preferred the old way too.
Yeah, hiding the leaderboard annoyed me too when I saw it the other day. I believe it's a subscriber-only feature now so they maybe want to highlight that. Anyway, stupid UI decision, hope they revert it at some point.
Re the Flyby thing, I love using it too but am aware of my privilege - both in terms of being a lumbering, old white bloke, and the fact I ride a modest bike - that means I really don't have to worry about people trying to track me down to pester me, or to raid my garage to nick my bike.
I know two women who have been the subject of harassment from other Strava users, both serious but one of which ended up involving the police, so it's not possible to dismiss this as a non-issue. I'll lament the loss of the full flyby functionality, but understand completely why it should be an opt-in
Re the Flyby thing, I love using it too but am aware of my privilege - both in terms of being a lumbering, old white bloke, and the fact I ride a modest bike - that means I really don't have to worry about people trying to track me down to pester me, or to raid my garage to nick my bike.
I know two women who have been the subject of harassment from other Strava users, both serious but one of which ended up involving the police, so it's not possible to dismiss this as a non-issue. I'll lament the loss of the full flyby functionality, but understand completely why it should be an opt-in
loudlashadjuster said:
Re the Flyby thing, I love using it too but am aware of my privilege - both in terms of being a lumbering, old white bloke, and the fact I ride a modest bike - that means I really don't have to worry about people trying to track me down to pester me, or to raid my garage to nick my bike.
Likewise, albeit not that old. The flyby feature was interesting, but I had always thought that it did raise privacy issues.
As somebody pointed out, most people were probably unaware of it, especially if they never used the Strava website. I wonder how many people know that you can set up home zones that can prevent others seeing exactly where you live or work etc?
Thanks El stovey - yes found the non-obvious hidden sub-menu. It's an annoying further swipe to get there for each segment of interest. Don't understand why they emphasise the Local Legend thing - pointless really as for most segments it goes to a local inhabitant who uses it just to leave the area!
millen said:
Thanks El stovey - yes found the non-obvious hidden sub-menu. It's an annoying further swipe to get there for each segment of interest. Don't understand why they emphasise the Local Legend thing - pointless really as for most segments it goes to a local inhabitant who uses it just to leave the area!
I think it’s an acceptance that most segments top places become unavailable to the masses so we/they might get local legend? It’s like the prize at school for effort or most improved. If you’re slow you can’t win a segment but you can win local legend by just doing it loads.
Plus it might encourage us to do more exercise to get the badge.
I’ve got local legend somewhere I run and do hill reps. It’s pretty meaningless but a nice little thing to pop up I suppose. I only do it during school terms as part of my school run so during holidays and half term some local guy gets it instead as it’s a rolling 30 days I think.
It’s interesting as you see how close you are to losing it etc so I can see how people like it.
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