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Help understanding segments and where to create

Am I correct that I must have a Strava Account (Summit: Analysis Pack) in order to create a Live Segment where I can race against my personal best (PR) on a portion of my run - and see how I'm doing in real time?

I signed up for the Analysis Pack on Strava. After not being able to create a segment, I e-mailed support. It seems I have to be an "approved athlete" to create Segments. I thought that came standard with the Analysis Pack.

What am I missing or what am I doing wrong to create a segment?

Should I be creating the segment on Garmin Connect? I can't find that option anywhere on the activity page. Are segments on Connect different than segments on Strava? So confused.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Since Strava rebranded their Premium accounts I haven't tried creating a segment, so I'm not sure which level of Summit you need to have.

Strava Segments and Garmin Segments are similar but separate and you can only use one or the other.

If you don't have the permissions in Strava, then you can change to Garmin Segments. In the Garmin mobile app go to More > Segments > the 3 dot menu and change it to Garmin Segments.

On the Garmin Connect website, you can go into one of your previous runs and create segments from it and sync it back to your watch.

0 WillNorthYork over 6 years ago

Garmin Segments: segments created on Garmin Connect. This feature is free (as long as you don't need it in real-time on your device).
Strava Segments: segments created on Strava. This feature is also free (not real-time). Related to, but not synonymous with Strava Live Segments.

Strava Live Segments is the feature where you can race Strava segments on your device in real-time. This is what you paid for with the "Summit" account and you also need a premium device that supports live segments. As you probably gathered, you create Strava Segments in Strava, and all of your starred segments will automatically sync to your Garmin device that supports Live Segments.
https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/...evices-Summit-
(I've also read that if you don't mind syncing the Strava Segments manually (exporting Strava segment using a website and copying it to your watch using the USB cable), you actually don't need Strava Summit....)

If you only use segments after the fact (not live), to look at results in the apps/websites, you can use Strava and Garmin segments independently.

If you want to use the live feature on your device, you have to choose either Garmin or Strava segments (in your Garmin account). This wasn't clear to me before, but apparently you can use Garmin segments "live" as well, although Garmin segments are so unpopular that this really isn't emphasized.

As far as the "approved athlete" thing goes, I think they have some kind of secret approval process for new members now:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Strava/comm...eate_segments/

It may be something new -- probably some kind of security thing, to avoid the spamming of segments by trolls/bots. I signed up 5 years ago and never had any problems creating public or private segments, so it's definitely not related to being verified/pro or paying for a certain membership level.

Based on the reddit thread linked above, it seems that you'll eventually be approved, even if they won't tell you why/how:

"Thanks for reaching out and sorry for any confusion. Segment creation is restricted to approved athlete profiles. Your account is in the approval process. We appreciate your patience."
...
The good news? I can create segments now. But I can't help anybody else running into this issue.

Maybe go for a few more runs or wait a while?

0 tundracamper over 6 years ago

Thanks for the info. Apparently, it does take some time to get approved. Hopefully it will give me plenty of time before the trial runs out - otherwise I'm cancelling before they charge me.

It's not really a trial if the feature is not active - that's pretty much the only reason I signed up at Strava.

0 WillNorthYork over 6 years ago

No worries. If you're curious, I think these are the steps for using Strava Live Segments without Summit.

- Use the Strava website and grab the URL for the segment
- Export the segment as a FIT file using this site: https://www.doogal.co.uk/strava.php
- Connect watch via USB and copy the FIT file to \GARMIN\NEWFILES

Also, I think that if your Summit membership expires, any segments that were previously synced stay on your watch, as well.

I also like Strava for:
- A simpler view of data than GC (although I switch to GC when I want to see more)
- The social stuff (just seeing how other runners are training)
- Chrome apps/extensions like Stravistix which give you more data (like fitness/fatigue)
- Easily comparing multiple efforts on a route/segment
- Grade-adjusted pace for running up a hill

But all of that stuff is free.

Anyway, if it really bugs you, maybe ask Strava support to extend your free trial. I can also confirm that if you quit Summit (or Premium as it used to be called), eventually it'll be offered to you again as a free trial.