New Strava Live offers real-time data as you ride

Strava has introduced Strava Live on its updated app, giving you the chance to have more information available to you on a smartphone as you ride.

“Strava Live… delivers immediate motivation to athletes when they need it most: during actual training,” says Strava. “A redesigned always-on display provides live performance data, bringing cyclists and runners another step closer to having one device that suits all their needs.

“All Strava athletes see an array of live activity averages, while Premium athletes will see a display of current speed, pace and data, plus additional data from paired devices, to rival the best dedicated activity computers.”

The ‘Premium’ referred to here is a platform offered by Strava above the standard free package. It costs £3.99 per month or £39.99 per year. 

As well as real-time data like speed, distance, power, cadence, time and maps, Strava Live offers customisable settings. The idea is that you can have all the information that interests you displayed on a smartphone that’s mounted to your handlebar.

We first told you about Strava Live a couple of weeks ago when Garmin revealed its new Edge 520. The 520 will be the first GPS bike computer to feature Strava Live Segements while a firmware update will add it to other Edge computers soon.

Strava says that 87% of its users tracked a ride or run on a mobile phone in 2014, and that figure is increasing, so it makes a lot of sense to add more features to the app.

The Strava app is free. The iOS version is available in the App Store and the Android version is available in Google Play.