Every year Strava pulls data from its platform and surveys its users to give us some key highlights for the year, and the results are as interesting as ever.
It tells us which of the best running shoes are most popular underfoot, which smart watches are the most popular, and which sports and trends are on the up.
Starting with the social aspects of Strava, the platform says it’s seeing an enormous increase of 59% in group activities, including more activity where people stop to rest or grab a coffee. Pauses are also on the up, as are rest days, with marathon trainees logging no running uploads on 60% of the days leading up to a marathon.
5K runners love the Apple Watch, but runners covering longer distances prefer the Garmin. Overall However, the Apple Watch has proven to be the best of the running devices. The First pick was the Apple Watch Series (devices like the Series 10, 9, 8, and so on), while the second pick was the low-priced Apple Watch SE. and lastly, Garmin Forerunner 245 was the third pick.
Meanwhile, for cyclists, the top three picks were: the Garmin Edge 530, the Garmin Edge 830, and the Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT V1.
There are also social walls being broken down. Strava says Boomers and Gen X beat Millennials and Gen Z in mileage and King-or-Queen of the Mountain crowns, with women 20% more likely than men to narrowly win a crown on Strava in 2024.
Weight training is proven to be the fastest-growing sport on Strava amongst women (up 25%), while men uploading yoga or Pilates increased by 15%.
Strava got some fans upset recently with big news that it was making changes to its API which customers warn could seriously disrupt the app ecosystem built up around Strava.
Moreover, New restrictions include changes to the way data is handled, especially for use with AI.
Following some major community criticism, Strava stated it was “steadfast” in its commitment to the app ecosystem it has helped create, and says that fewer than 1% of all applications will be affected by these changes.
