Right now, Strava is a hot mess when it comes to categorising your activities. Sometimes changing the sport type to a different sport changes the sport in your stats, other times it's basically just a tag.

Example:
Sport Type: Ride. This is a ride, everything counts in your ride totals
Sport Type: Kayak. This is a kayak activity, and this is counted in your kayak totals
Sport Type: Gravel Ride. This is just a tag, your ride is still a ride
Sport Type: Mountain Bike Ride. Still just a tag, this is a ride in your totals
Sport Type: Virtual Ride. This is a tag still, still counts in regular ride totals (note: must be a smart trainer)
Sport Type: E-Bike Ride. Whoops, this one is actually a sport type again. These count in E-Bike Ride totals

Tag: Indoor Cycling. This is in fact actually just a tag, and these count in your outside ride totals.

If something is counting in the same sport totals, it should be classified as the same sport. There doesn't seem to be consistency between what a sport type is / does / is used for, and what a tag is for. Gravel Ride, Mountain Bike Ride, these all should be tags, in effect, that's all they are. It's not like changing your ride to a run.

Right now you have to guess or experiment to figure out what sport types are actually different sports, and which are just tags but in the wrong spot.

Hi @plants4jim 

Thanks for your post.  We've provided some clarification on sport types  and how and when they are grouped together, that should help clear up any confusion.

No, not really.

You list every bike related thing as "Cycle Sports", but some of those are counted within the same totals, and some are counted in their own totals. For example, Ebike ride counts as it's own, but Handcycle and Velomobile count the same as a Ride or Gravel ride.

It's non-sensical. I don't know how it makes sense to engineers at Strava. Tags should be tags. Sport types should be sport types. Right now it's redudant, while at the same time being completely meaningless.

It seems to make sense to me.  The difference is that everything that is fully human-powered counts in one category and things that have a motor-assist are counted separately.  

Right, but you're missing my point. I'm not saying it makes no sense that an ebike ride and a ride are different sports. I'm saying it makes no sense that different sports are actually considered the same sports, except when they're not. 

Changing sport type, should change sport type. Some sport types act as such, others act more like tags, which Strava also has.

And if you're arguing there's a difference between e-biking and regular cycling, then you'd have to admit that velomobiles for example are also different than regular cycling. But again, I'm not talking about the specifics, those are just examples. I'm talking about the idea of what a sport type is, and what a tag is.

Right now we have Virtual Ride as a sport type, and Indoor Cycling as a tag. Meanwhile, the other tag is commute. Indoor Cycling (via a dumb trainer, spin bike, etc) is definitely a different sport type than riding outside, but it is just a tag, like "commute". 

Meanwhile Gravel Ride is listed as a sport type, when really that would make more sense as a tag such as Commute.

I suggested this as an idea so that strava could perhaps change the way they decide what is a tag and what is a sport type. The post you merged this with was a question about the existing sport types because I was trying to solve an issue with my activities. So I guess by merging these you are saying Strava won't consider making it consistent what qualifies something as a sport type versus a tag.

Thanks for your response!

I recommend submitting a ticket so that we can provide further clarification on this topic specific to your account. 

Please submit a support ticket and we’ll be happy to investigate further.

-Strava Support