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Stryd is not all it's cut out to be...maybe

philipshambrook
over 2 years ago

This morning I ran twice with one watch hooked up to a Stryd and set to Always use for Pace and Distance and another just on GPS. In both cases the Stryd came up with a longer distance. First up was a trail run that we've been running for years so we know it is close to 9km. Stryd returned 9.31 where my GPS Trail Run gave 8.99 and my wife's 945 8.97km. Next up was parkrun. For those who don't know, parkrun is always 5km. Our parkrun has been accurately measured using a calibrated wheel so we know it's 5.04km from the wheel. And every GPS run we've done has been 5km +/-20m or so. This morning Stryd gave 5.24km while the GPS watches gave 5.02 and 5.01 respectively.

This wasn't the first time out with the Stryd. Several runs on a 400m track and a couple of other trails runs should have seen it calibrated by now. I haven't looked over earlier runs as I did want to make sure I had a number of different runs with the Stryd.

Let's see how things progress. I have done a couple of runs on a 400m track but not sure if I had the Stryd set up properly so can't comment on that except to say the watches gave the same distance. However, I now have the Stryd where I want it so can. and will, do some more comparison runs to see how this plays out.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to AndersB

    I live in a 122 home development (a maze of cul-de-sacs) that's been cut out of forest land off one of our state highways.  It's surrounded by miles of Fir and Cedar trees.  90%+ of my runs are a specific route in this development where I have the tree line along side of me at all times.  I was tired of running this route just to have each loop show anywhere from 2.7 to 3.2 miles and my pace bounce around to figures I knew weren't correct.  I brought a calibrated wheel from work and measured the route twice to find the loop was 3.1 miles.  I became interested in running power and read how the Stryd was great at pace and distance (I find it odd that people here say they never heard about Stryd and distance) and I bought their footpod (the previous generation without the wind measurement) back in 2018.  Now my loops are measuring 3.1 miles and my pace is stead and correct.  I'm not sure what I need analyzed and what you can tell me when I already know it works.  I'll be back home to my computer Sunday evening if you still want a file.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to who knows

    That sounds great! Your .FIT file will be a good source for validating my data, So, if you want to share it I can process it and post the diagrams for the activity. I will not post any data that can back trace to you.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to who knows

    Just put of interest, do you use your stryd for distance also?

    I just found out my stryd auto calibration was turned on, when I'm sure I turned it off when I first set it up.

    Anyone have any ideas why it turns itself on after a while? 

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to p50kombi
    p50kombi said:
    Just put of interest, do you use your stryd for distance also?

    I have mine set for pace and distance as always from the Stryd.  Mine turned back on in the past.  I believe it was after an update I downloaded for my Stryd using the phone app, but I'm not certain.  Just checked and it's off. 

    AndersB said:
    I will not post any data that can back trace to you.

    Trace back to me?  What exactly am I providing you with a .Fit file?  

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Double lap trail run this morning - well one lap running and 1 lap sweeping the course picking up signage. This time the Stryd was short compared to GPS watches. So, tell me what use is the Stryd if the distance is no better than GPS? Surely if the distance is off so is the pace even if it might fluctuate less than GPS? I still have a long way to go to be convinced that instant pace has any use running trails, especially technical trails with lots of ups and downs, very uneven surfaces, and tight turns.

    The comments here for the Stryd are very similar to comments about GPS. It's good in places but not so good in others, it works for some but not for others.

    So, apart from instant pace (which I believe to be a dubious metric for trail running anyway, why should I buy a Stryd? What can I really gain from a $400 spend?

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to philipshambrook
    philipshambrook said:
    Surely if the distance is off so is the pace even if it might fluctuate less than GPS.

    Yes, got it in one. So it may display a more steady pace, but the pace is wrong. If you run an 8 minute mile, but the Stryd is coming up 5% short, then your pace is wrong too, it will be reporting faster pace. And the reverse if it's reporting long. Calibration can help a bit on this, but it's not consistent. And will changes with shoes.

    philipshambrook said:
    technical trails with lots of ups and downs

    Stryd is useless for technical trails - eg, scrambling up rocky steps, very uneven terrain, going through mud or water.

    philipshambrook said:
    why should buy a Stryd?

    I think there are some use cases - if folks have really bad GPS reception where they run, then the Stryd may be better in these small corner cases. But then if people have such bad GPS reception, you do have to question their wisdom in buying a GPS watch in the first place....! So treat any claims that this is better than GPS with one-line statements with the caution it deserves.

    And some folks seem to like power - personally I think this metric is very dubious. Unlike with cycling power meters where w/kg ratio is really important, Stryd advise you NOT to change your weight to keep Critical Power consistent - in that case, it's not measuring power if runner weight doesn't matter. And power changes with shoes changes. 

    I think there is a clear mis-match between the hype / marketing and the reality. 

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to p50kombi
    p50kombi said:

    I just found out my stryd auto calibration was turned on, when I'm sure I turned it off when I first set it up.

    Anyone have any ideas why it turns itself on after a while? 

    Settings may have been lost if you reset your Fenix, or maybe due to a Fenix firmware update.

    I haven't seen any settings change by themselves. Calibration for footpads when paired to your device is set to On by default, so probably you didn't actually change to Off is the more logical conclusion.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to who knows

    It can help me to verify my algorithms for calculating pace and distance. Which i will use when i contact Garmin about the issues. The .FIT files contain GPS data which can be sensitive for some persons. But i will clean that data so it cant be traced.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to 5135968

    No, I did switch it to off when pairing, as that is what the stryd manual suggests, 100% sure it was turned off when I first used it. 

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to p50kombi
    p50kombi said:
    No, I did switch it to off when pairing, as that is what the stryd manual suggests, 100% sure it was turned off when I first used it. 

    The calibration factor is probably written to .FIT file somewhere, so if you could find out where it would be possible to pin point when it changed.