On Strava Being Irrational

It is irrational and absurd for Strava to sue one of its' most important providers of data, Garmin. Every run, hike, climb and other sport that I have done for years comes from either Suunto, Garmin, Apple Watch or another brand. Garmin is huge in the cycling community.

I see people with Garmin devices, wahoo devices and more. People like me have a cycling computer, and a sports tracking wrist watch. With these devices we track our workouts. We automatically feed that data into Strava. Strava is the third party, not Garmin. Garmin is the source of the data that Strava is making money from. Without Garmin, Suunto and more, Strava would be a mediocre tracking app with little to track power and more.

Strava tracks heart rate and location. I haven't seen it promote being able to track more.

The Strava Niche

Strava is competing with Meetup.com rather than Garmin, Suunto et al, because Strava has a strong community ecosystem. Today's ride options were via Strava for the Nyon rides and Meetup.com for the Geneva rides. I bring this up because if we look at Garmin offering features that are also available with Strava, then they are mutually beneficial.

People will buy a new head unit specifically because they want climb information, KOM information and more. People want the data that Strava provides, but as there is no Strava device, just a mobile phone app, they have no choice.

Garmin Sharing

Imagine if Garmin blocked sharing with Strava. Imagine if Garmin decided to be like Apple with Garmin and Suunto, or if Suunto and Garmin decided to share their data. At this moment in time they don't.

If you want to share a Garmin workout with Suunto you need to export it from Garmin and then import it to Suunto, and vice versa. This takes time, which as a geek, I am not even ready to invest. Garmin can exist without Strava, but Strava is dependent on Suunto, Garmin, Apple and others sharing data. By suing Garmin Strava is undercutting itself.

And Finally

Garmin, Suunto, Apple and other brands offer devices that help us track our activities, and compare how we did before with how we are doing now. Strava offers a community to share this progress with, as well as to organise activities with others, so that days out, being active are less solitary.

I get heatmaps for free with Suunto, and with a subscription via Sports Tracker. With the Garmin Instinct and Garmin Instinct 2 I track all walking and running sports. With the Garmin Explore 2 I get cycling information, including climb distance, gradient, and more to help with pacing.

With Strava suing Garmin I feel that both companies are wasting money that could be re-injected into making products better.