Improve the Segment Explore feature so it displays more new Segments

[Ian]

I've been using Strava to record bike rides for a few years - I have covered many Segments in my area and I'm keen to find new ones.  The Segment Explore feature is a little frustrating - if I have a broad search the results are limited to the 10 most "popular", which are generally well known to me and if I have a narrower search it may only show 2 or 3 results, even though I know there are many more Segments within the search area.

I have had much more success using the function called "Don't see the Segment you're looking for ?" at the bottom of an Activity - this may show perhaps 50 Segment names that were nearby or partially completed by my Activity and hence could be a source of new Segments to try.  It's a little tedious to review these individually so I was wondering if it might be possible to show all these graphically on a map, together with the Activity ? 

[eric]

Are you a premium member? The map search function in the mobile app works a lot better than the old search methods, and also better than the web version. Still needs improvement, but much improved with a lot of good functionality with sorting by distance, climbing, etc.

[anchskier]

The segment search feature on the web is terrible.  As you said, you can find some of the most popular ones using the map, but that is about it.  The search function doesn't work at all.  I've typed in the EXACT name of segments nearby where I am at and where I have been looking at the map and it not only won't pull those up, but will usually pull up random ones from around the world that are totally unrelated.  I swear they must have tied the search function into a random number generator.  

[Silentvoyager]

I honestly don't quite understand how the current version of the segment explorer in the app works. I can't understand the pattern. Often it highlights some obscure segments with very few people on the leaderboard but at the same time refuses to show some much more popular nearby segments no matter what. I guess what it shows is supposed to be personalized but I find it fairly frustrating to use, especially with large fonts that I have on my phone. I should probably do a separate post about that. 

[starfruit]

Hello,

I have discovered some segments that branch off rides I have done via the "potential segment match" tool below all the segments from a ride.

Some look interesting for future rides, it's a neat way to find new trails or routes.  I am not able to click on them through to their original segment description and rankings page.  This would be helpful.

For the few I'm really curious about, I email in to support with a screen cap / exact name of the segment for them to look it up and provide the link.  I usually receive this back with statements that they can't match my ride, despite describing that I didn't request that.

Why do I do this you may ask?  Because as frequently requested in these forums, segment searching is particularly non-functional for a modern app.  even if I have the precise segment name, Segment Search will not return a find for it.  It generates hundreds of "finds" starting on the other side of the planet though.  Mapping it down to the exact location also does not find it in the Segment Explore tool, it's just not shown.  It is beyond me why no results can be generated when armed with perfect data.

Please allow riders to discover new segments from the segment match tool by making those that are near matches be live links to the actual segments.  And also please just improve search overall.

[Soren]

Hi there, thanks for sharing your suggestion. Correct me if I misunderstood: I believe what you're asking for is for the segments that are displayed in the list of Potential Segment Match candidates to be clickable from that view, in order to expand their details. Is this right?
It's not necessary to write into support once you've identified an interesting segment, you can locate the segment ID number from this page, for example:

strava.com/activities/ACTIVITYNUMBER/segments/1234567/potential-segment-matches

the highlighted number is the segment ID and you can then plug it into this URL: into https://www.strava.com/segments/SEGMENTID 

I hope this helps in the interim!

[starfruit]

Your understanding is correct for the request and thanks for the ID number idea that hadn't dawned on me.

[Soren]

Thanks for submitting your idea. It has been reviewed by our moderation team and is now open to voting.