Strava Summit and Training Peaks Premium

Daniel Ballin

I have been a Strava free edition user as I never saw the benefit in Premium.  Now that they parceled out the old Premium into the new Summit, I was wondering the teams thoughts on the benefits of Premium/Summit?  I am a Garmin loyalist using Fenix and Edge, and subsequently the Garmin Connect App as I love seeing that little guy run forever at startup! I Digress - anyway, the only benefit I now see is Live Segments under the $2 month analysis option.  I use Garmin live tracking so don't need the beacon.  Any other benefits from the team?

Since I am asking about mobile technology - I'll extend my question to Training Peaks Premium.  I have WKO4 on my computer but seems like everyone here uses the mobile TP app.  Any true benefit to the app other than seeing TSS maps live instead of waiting until I log in (weekly) on my desktop or more relevantly post my 1 hr power best from trying to hang with you all on the Hang On ride?  

Thanks for the feedback! 

Al Truscott

Like you, I have been using WKO4 as my primary tool for analysis. My data from my Fenix gets spread all over the inter webs, so I also see how things work in TP, Strava, Garmin Connect, Stryd (Got on of those as well), Final Surge, Ride With GPS, and lord knows what else.

I have Strava Premium, but have not found it to be superior to WKO - it's fun to compare their analytics, but Strava does not incorporate swim data, so that's a problem. I have the premium because I like to see the ride KOM segments for groups such as other ENers ("People I'm Following") and my Age Group (it feel much better to compare myself to other 65-69 y/o than the general population). I'd also note that Final Surge, which can be linked to the EN workout plans, has very good analytic tools, but only for individual workouts.

My conclusion on TP premium is that its value lies in easily making sharable charts. It's not superior to WKO; if anything, it's inferior, if you are able to use the massive depth and flexibility of the PC based program.

Peter Greagg

I am a huge fan of WKO4.
I use it to determine my FTP for both bike and run (I added some charts substituting "runpower" for "bikepower" to get the run FTP).
The reason I use WKO4 to determine my FTP is that the 95% of 20 min power (after a 5 min test etc) only holds for around 55% of the population. Whereas, I do 5 sec, 1 min, 5 min, and 20 min tests, so that my FTP is always based on my actual physiology. I do the 5 min test, then 20 mins easy, then the 1 min test, and then 20 mins later the 5 sec test at a particular spot near home (I often do this 5 sec test on the way home). I do the 20 min test a week later. I use the same protocol for both bike and run.
But I am a techie kinda guy.

Daniel Ballin

Thanks @Al and @Peter.  I too like WKO4 but I find I have less and less time to sit at my desktop and like the convenience of the apps.  I was bummed when I bought my Garmin 520 and later realized I needed Strava premium for live segments.  With the segmentation of Summit I can now just get the live segments, and @Al makes a great point about comparing myself to other late 40 gents on the leaderboard so maybe the Analysis and Training segments might be good investments.

Tom Glynn

I use a large variety of software packages like a lot of others around here.  I have TP premium, WKO, Strava free, Garmin connect drives everything.  Not a fan of Garmin Connect analytics but it's a great way to pull data together.  I use TP most of the time as "good enough" and spend 15-20 minutes once a week summarizing my activity.  I really like WKO for the deep dive but find it's overkill for day to day stuff. Strava is fun/social and has some useful information, but not a complete picture.  I'm also concerned about sharing ride data publically and always wonder if someone will figure out where I live and take all my toys from my garage.