Strava Live Segments on Edge 1050: Lack of Feature Parity

DavidKroter

Hello,

I’d like to provide some feedback regarding Strava Live Segments on Garmin devices, specifically on recent high-end models such as the Edge 1050.

At the moment, the set of segment targets available directly on the device is clearly more limited than what Strava offers on its own platform (web/app) and, more importantly, more limited than what is available on other head units with official Strava integration. In particular, it is not possible to select “Last Attempt” or “Best Recent Effort” as a target, which are arguably the most useful references for many riders.

In real-world use:

• Last Attempt is the most immediate and realistic benchmark to assess short-term progress.

• Best Recent Effort reflects current fitness far better than an all-time PR set years ago under different conditions.

The fact that these targets exist in Strava itself and are available on other devices (e.g. Hammerhead) strongly suggests that this is not an API or technical limitation, but rather a Garmin implementation or prioritization choice. This makes the limitation particularly disappointing on a premium device like the Edge 1050, given its hardware capabilities, connectivity and price point.

The request is straightforward: 

Expand the selectable targets for Strava Live Segments, at least including:

• Last Attempt

• Best Recent Effort (e.g. last 30 / 60 / 90 days)

This would significantly improve the user experience, align Garmin’s implementation with how cyclists actually use segments for motivation and training, and avoid an unfavorable comparison with competitors that currently offer a more complete integration.

Thank you for considering this feedback.

Best regards,

  • 0

    I strongly agree with this request. This is not a “nice to have”, it’s fundamental to how segments are actually used by most riders.

    Competing against an all-time PR that may be 5–10 years old, achieved under completely different conditions (fitness, weight, bike, weather, group ride, etc.), makes Live Segments largely meaningless for day-to-day training and motivation. In many cases, it’s not even a realistic reference anymore.

    “Last Attempt” and “Best Recent Effort” are the benchmarks that actually matter:

    • They reflect current fitness, not historical peak fitness.

    • They provide immediate and actionable feedback.

    • They keep segments relevant as a training and motivation tool, not just as a KOM/PR reminder.

    Without these targets, Live Segments lose much of their practical value. With them, they become one of the most engaging and useful real-time features for cyclists.

    Please consider prioritizing this. It would be a meaningful improvement, align Garmin with real-world usage, and open a gap with competitors.

  • 0

    I'm currently working with Strava and Garmin on getting the Last and Recent Best consistently surfaced. I will update you when I have some news.

  • 0 in reply to aweatherall

         That`s great to hear, thanks for the update.

         This aligns with what many of us have noticed over the years; Live Segments lose a lot of training value when only an all-time PR or KOM is available.

         Having Last and Recent Best consistently surfaced would make segments far more realistic and useful, especially for long-term users and structured training.

         Looking forward to any progress on this. Thanks for working with Strava on it¡¡

  • 0

    If we're talking about improving Live Segments on the 1050, I have some thoughts.

    1) The red/orange bar is not very readable, for both distance and contrast reasons, and because I can't turn it off it's just duplicating other fields. I don't really understand what need it fills anyway. I wish I could turn it off.

    2) The line above the red bar has left/right arrows, but they don't do anything. Why are they there? Older units used to have arrows that let you choose a different target.

    However, I would suggest adding some additional data fields that would be helpful during a segment. The common "theme" is that time isn't very useful, but speed is. We don't think "OK let's do 2 miles in 4 minutes", we think "OK I need to hold 30 for 4 minutes". Almost every time I look at the segment goal and distance, I'm trying to calculate what average speed I need to beat. So I think these fields would be useful, and easy to show:

    - Show the average speed of the goal (for reason already mentioned).

    - How fast you need to go to beat the target based on elapsed time and remaining distance. In other words, remaining_distance / (target_time - elapsed_time) = target average speed to beat the time. Subtract a few more seconds to be sure you'll beat it, if appropriate. You could even put a humorous value like infinity, "c", or a frowny face when the speed gets very high.

    - Time remaining on the segment at your current average speed. Useful to know when you really need to dig in hard how much longer it will be.

    - The current elapsed time on the segment. Not terribly useful but still a nice option to have when.

  • 0 in reply to wes-m

    Those are valid UI and data-field suggestions, but they would be better discussed in a separate thread.

    This thread is intentionally focused on a very specific and fundamental problem: which segment reference is surfaced to the user (all-time PR/KOM vs Last and Recent Best).

    Many long-term users are currently being asked to compete against personal records set years ago, often in a completely different physical context — effectively against versions of ourselves from our youth.

    From a training and realism perspective, this is a conceptual mismatch. It significantly reduces the practical value of Live Segments and is difficult to justify when more relevant references (last attempt or recent best) already exist.

    UI refinements are important, but they are a separate layer of the problem. The core issue here is ensuring that the right targets are surfaced in the first place.

  • 0 in reply to aweatherall

    Thanks again for the update. I wanted to expand a bit on why this matters from a training and long-term usage perspective.

    I also raised this topic over the weekend in the Garmin subreddit on Reddit, where there was fairly clear consensus around this concern.

    At its core, the question is whether the current system realistically reflects how performance evolves over time when it’s used as a reference in a live segment.

    Fitness changes. Performance depends on aerobic condition, threshold, recovery, age, accumulated load, and personal context. Training isn’t linear either; there are periods of higher form and others that are more conservative. That’s why relying on a single historical reference doesn’t always represent someone’s current level.

    In a live segment, we’re not just talking about a record, but about a reference that guides effort in real time. If that reference belongs to a different stage of someone’s training life, it’s unlikely to be aligned with current functional capacity. A more recent window, such as the last 90 days or a best effort from the current season, would make more practical sense, as it reflects the ongoing training block and better matches present fitness.

    From a motivational standpoint, this matters as well. Feedback should reinforce progression. Competing only against a historical peak performance can stop being stimulating and become less motivating when that result belongs to a different stage of life and training.

    Being able to choose a more recent and context-relevant reference would be better aligned with current fitness and would make the feature more useful, allowing improvements to feel real and achievable.

    This flexibility existed before and worked well. Historical records were still available; users simply had more comparison options. That’s why it’s not entirely clear why it was removed.

    Bringing that option back would make Live Segments on Garmin devices more aligned with how performance truly evolves and with the reality of many athletes who have trained seriously and consistently for years.

    For context, the Reddit discussion drew around 15 000 views and very active participation:

    www.reddit.com/.../1ikFYsSUQv

  • 0 in reply to DavidKroter

    Strava has confirmed that “Most recent effort” and “Best time in last 5 efforts” are already exposed via the Live Segments API (see attached).

    So this is not an API limitation.

    That means the current behavior on Edge devices reflects a design decision rather than a technical constraint.

    Until now, we were discussing this as a possible external limitation. With that clarified, it seems reasonable to expect this to be reconsidered on the device side.

    Since this does not require structural changes to segment leaderboards, but simply how existing metrics are surfaced or prioritized, it would be good to see this addressed without unnecessary delay.

    The data is available. It should be meaningfully usable on Edge devices.

  • 0

    I’m not very technical about all this, but I can say how it feels for me personally.

    After an injury I’m nowhere near the times I used to set years ago. Every time a Live Segment pops up and automatically compares me to my all-time PR, it feels more frustrating than motivating. Instead of being a goal, it’s a reminder of what I can’t do anymore.

    I ended up disabling Live Segments on my Garmin because they stopped adding value for me. Rather than pushing me forward from where I am now, they keep comparing me to a past version of myself that just isn’t realistic anymore.

    When I see that devices like Hammerhead allow more recent references, I honestly feel a bit envious. If a feature that matters to me no longer makes sense on my current device, but works the way I’d like on another one, it’s only natural to think about switching devices at some point.

    I’m not asking for PRs to disappear. Just having the option to compete against something more recent would make the feature useful again for me.

  • 0

    I’m not very technical about all this, but I can say how it feels for me personally.

    After an injury I’m nowhere near the times I used to set years ago. Every time a Live Segment pops up and automatically compares me to my all-time PR, it feels more frustrating than motivating. Instead of being a goal, it’s a reminder of what I can’t do anymore.

    I ended up disabling Live Segments on my Garmin because they stopped adding value for me. Rather than pushing me forward from where I am now, they keep comparing me to a past version of myself that just isn’t realistic anymore.

    When I see that devices like Hammerhead allow more recent references, I honestly feel a bit envious. If a feature that matters to me no longer makes sense on my current device, but works the way I’d like on another one, it’s only natural to think about switching devices at some point.

    I’m not asking for PRs to disappear. Just having the option to compete against something more recent would make the feature useful again for me.