Even for route planning (years ago) which I would not say Strava is fantastic at, it still seemed worse.
YMMV
Disclaimer - my site. It’s very focused on quiet routes, so will generally prefer a hilly road if the alternative is a traffic-infested one. Europe/North America/AU+NZ only at present.
UX observation: clicking to create a start and end was relatively intuitive, but it took a while to find "Close route" to reset it (and be able to click for start / end points once more).
How do you determine quiet-ness? Is it just by the grade of the road, or do you have some kind of data feed for quietitude?
E.g. in the UK, some A-roads can be very quiet despite being technically major, whereas some B-roads or even ungraded can be very busy, e.g. if they are used as shortcuts.
No.
Google Maps directions for bikes is a good start but you have to take the routes with a big grain of salt (even with that Google is still better than every other app I've tried). I street view the route to make sure there's a least a good shoulder and re-route appropriately.
My workflow is 3 monitor setup. Komoot in the middle, actually planning the route. Strava heatmap on the left to see where people often travel in an area. Gmaps on the right to see streets and street view.
It's still a pain to plan, but it's _so much easier_ with komoot.
Used by ultra-racers to plan multi-day events.
My only problem is, that when I select 'road ride', it tries to get me on a bike path. That would be a good thing for some people.
Even more importantly, Strava is a platform where friends can encourage each other, and celebrate each other's accomplishments. I greatly appreciate the "kudos" I get from others, and that was especially true after I had a setback some years ago. I have a friend right now who had an even more serious setback, and I'm glad I have a way to support him as he logs his rehab activities. It's the only forum where we're connected (he's not very online the way I am) and it enriches both of our lives.
I know a lot of people think Strava is just about getting KoMs to satisfy ego. I submit that it's often projection or bitterness from people who don't get what they want out of it. Seems like a miserable way to be.
This was once nice for me, but at some point it was obvious that many simply kudos everything.
However for a while it was quite a motivation to go, just to keep the public image of myself active. ;)
This one:
1. I don't use Strava because I am doing things for myself and not the approval of my peers
I shall shelve this along with my other HN faves which are (paraphrased):
1. I am remote because unlike everyone who goes to the office I have a life with hobbies and I don't like having friends only from work
2. For those of us who own a phone for productive reasons and not for social "clout", iPhones are terrible
3. If you want to do work and not just sit around in coffee shops posting about work, you would avoid a Macbook
Very enjoyable.