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There needs to be an update of various levels for climbing (as has previously been done with distance challenges) in the cycling monthly challenges as 7,500m can be done without any real effort depending on your location.
In 2024 Strava performed some changes on the challenges. One of them was the elimination of the 1250km distance monthly challenge.
I believe this is a bad move. There are several riders that make more than 2000km a month, I do not understand this decision.
Moreover, Strava seems to try to be inclusive by lowering the challenges. The only climbing challenge has been down form 7500m to 7000m. I still remember when the Granfondo was 150km on some months.
Suggestions:
- tree tiers on all major challenges: climbing, distance and single ride distance
- Suggestions for them:
- climbing: 2000m, 4000m, 10000m
- distance: 300km, 800km, 1600km
- single ride distance: minifondo: 80km, mediofondo: 125k, Granfondo: 160k (equivalent to a century)
Another suggestion: stop calling indoor as rides, they are not. Create a separate subject on challenges (same level as the existing Run, Ride, etc) for the indoor rides. Mimic the same distance, climbing and adjust the single workout distance accordingly.
Inclusion yes, but not by lowering the challenge or calling indoor something that is not.
Strava challenges over the years have become progressively easier. And it really needs to stop.
Back a few years ago the grand Fondo badge was 120 or 125km (can't remember which). There also used to be a 1800km distance challenge for cycling. And the climbing distance challenge used to be 8000m.
Now days the 1250km distance challenge is gone for 2024. I don't see it in the January list of challenges. The climbing distance is shrunk to 7000m. Like really? It's meant to be a CHALLENGE. it's not a challenge is I can blow through the climbing distance in a week or the 600km challenge in two. Make the challenges good again. Make them ACTUALLY worth doing.
Here is a nice opinion article about issues with inclusivity in cycling. One important thing that you should take into account about Strava Challenges is that you actually aren't the only person using Strava. There are many people just starting out who would find 7000 m of climbing in a month impossible, but perhaps see it as a challenge to work towards. Those are the types of people who these challenges are designed for.
If you are riding and climbing as much as you are bragging about in your topic, it really doesn't seem like you are motivated by filling up your "trophy case" with digital finisher's badges.
Have some compassion, and try to see fitness from the viewpoint of a beginner, or from the viewpoint of someone with a chronic injury. You can find accolades anywhere, let the digital finisher's badges go to those who weren't going to climb 7000 m whether there's a badge or not.
Be a part of the solution for problems with inclusivity in cycling and endurance sports. Instead of bragging about your countless miles each month, encourage and congratulate those with less miles than you, because it is possibly a huge amount for them.
I agree that many of the challenges have been watered down, but at the same time the most challenging ones were extremely difficult to achieve. I ride 12K a year and climb 240,000m but 1250km per month was super tough. I'd like to see the challenges in 200km increments and the climbing challenges based on a full and half Everest.
Strava is getting to the point of becoming just a collection of participation badges. Maybe they should have various challenges at Gold, Silver, and Bronz levels and consistency challenges (walking, cycling, running, etc, for 30 days). This could be more inclusive. The sponsor's challenges of 30 or 60 minutes of exercise in an entire month are almost patronizing. I know these are meant as click bait to collect emails but they're rather lame.
Please do the same for running challenges. It is disappointing that the only remaining running distance challenge is 100 km. 300 km per month was a real challenge for me, and 200 km was an absolute minimum which I had to achieve in every month. 100 km isn't really a challenge for any serious runner
The cycling 400km per month was missed by me when they made these changes. 200k increments would be good start.
For now I just carry on and get on with it now but in all honesty I doubt strava care about this. I rarely see them update things based on discussions in here. Funny, cos most of us paying attention to this are actually paying to use the app.
@optimisticprom I find it interesting when people talk about inclusivity they take it so far as to make "inclusivity" rather exclusive. They push it to the point that it usually pushes out and excludes the people that are opposite to the group of those they are being inclusive towards. There are plenty off participation badges and trophies to cater to those who are of lesser fitness. There is the 200k and 600k challenges. You talk of compassion but you can't see it from the view point of those being pushed out of the challenges. Why can't we also then while talking of "inclusivity" be inclusive to those of us who are extremely fit/ elite/ professional athletes. I'm not motivated by filling my trophy case but the 1250km and 1800km distance challenges were both "CHALLENGES" for me and I am sure they are challenges to others as well. Yes 200km per month might be a challenge to Joe Bloggs who is just starting out or maybe has a day or two a week to ride. Maybe the 600km challenge is a challenge to someone who is maybe a decent level enthusiast. But for some of us those aren't challenges. No one is saying remove the 200 and 600k challenges to cater to the UBERMENSCH, But why remove the big challeneges for those of us where those sorts of distances / climbing goals are possible but still challenging. The 1250 and 1800 challenges were great motivators for me and was a great way for me to keep track of my progress but now there are no challenges that cater to me. I have been EXCLUDED and that is not INCLUSIVE.
I don’t think anyone is suggesting the (e.g.) 100km running badge or the “complete 120 mins of activity in a month” ones should be removed: they’re good targets for people new to the sports, returning from injury or with health issues stopping them from doing more. Or indeed for people who are happy with that level of exercise because that’s what suits them.
But, they’re meaningless for people (who will be overrepresented on Strava) who do more, or want to do more than that. It’s like taking a test where the pass mark is 30%, and there’s no gradation beyond pass/fail. If you get 99%, you’re in the same bracket as someone who got 33%: instinctively, neither of you would think that is fair.
Personally, I can currently run 200km a month easily enough but 300km will be a stretch: having that target is something tangible to aim for. In six months I might find 300km easy, or just reaching 100km a struggle: the point is that people are motivated by goals that are challenging but achievable. A fitness platform removing the (trivial) rewards for reaching those goals seems odd.
It’s not about inclusivity. If I can’t run 300km in a month, I don’t feel worse because others can. I might as well petition for the removal of any swimming challenges because I’m bad at swimming.
I really fail to see the point in backing up the lowering of challenge goals. Everyone could be happy if there are more challenges. The main two activity types in Strava are Ride and Run. These were the activities that Strava started with.
Again: don’t lower the challenges, make more challenges. Be inclusive that way. I really liked the post from Alastair_S1D on the reality of inclusion, and . I did not understand the relation of opinion article posted by optimisticprom with inclusion in challenges.
Any sport that is competitive can potentially be not inclusive. Everyone’s fitness and goals and availability is different. Should Strava challenges be limited to 600km because it’s the distance I can cover, while my friend can cover 1500km and gets the same badge?!
@MattW5@pnevesh24 I would just like to clarify that my previous comment was made in direct response to Alistair's comment that he made in a newly created topic. The title of his topic was "2024 Challenges are weak sauce. MAKE CHALLENGES GREAT AGAIN". His initial post and all subsequent comments have now been merged into this topic with a title that doesn't wreak of bigotry.
My biggest point is not to lower any badges. My only point is that if you are already excelling at your sport and running 200km a month or climbing 7000m a month on a bike, you do not need a sticker to motivate you because your motivation is coming from somewhere else. These badges are meant to motivate people at the specific levels that they are created for, with the assumption that once you pass that level, you have greater and external motivation.
By the logic of this thread, there needs to be a new challenge level sticker to cater to every single user on the platform, all the way up to riders and runners like Jonas Vingegaard or KIlian Jornet, because otherwise they would feel excluded. At what point should we stop giving out stickers? Strava has decided the level at which stickers have stopped being given out, and I suspect it is in a sliding scale and gets progressively harder throughout the year. All of this is probably backed up by research for which they have specific numbers telling them when Strava users tend to stop participating in the badge program.
This all just feels really silly and a huge distraction from real work that could be proposed for Strava developers. On the exact opposite side of the spectrum, there is a separate post about users feeling coddled and patronized because they are getting "too many motivational messages" from Strava. I think it just goes to show that people love nothing more than complaining on the internet about every tiny thing and fighting with each other for no reason if given the platform. Everyone on Strava Community Hub feels like they have some sort of ownership stake in Strava because they pay $80 a year. The reality is most tech companies don't have such an easily accessible and transparent mode to suggest ideas for a platform. I imagine people aren't nitpicking Netflix or Facebook - but only because those companies haven't provided the option.
For the Strava Mods, I agree with the OP. I also would like the see the 1250 km distance challenge back. That was a good challenge for me to try to get each month. 600k may be a great challenge for some, but the 1250 km distance challenge was a great one for my level of time and skill.
For me 1,000km makes sense as all the other milestones are increments of 200km and riding 1,000km per month is a relatively common goal. A good compromise
”My only point is that if you are already excelling at your sport and running 200km a month or climbing 7000m a month on a bike, you do not need a sticker to motivate you because your motivation is coming from somewhere else.”
My point is that clearly for some people at some times, the 200km or whatever sticker does motivate them. Perhaps they’re coming back from injury, perhaps they’ve completed the lower-level challenge and are seeking to improve, perhaps they just like the tiny dopamine hit of having an achievement recognised.
It doesn’t matter why though, only that it does. That’s what people are complaining about: they used to have something they valued, and now they don’t. It’s a small deal in the overall context of things, sure, but it also seems a small deal to leave things as they were.
