Warning about Strava

[Papman]

Hi all,
just returned from a fitting at my LBS. they have been told by police to be aware that criminals are using Strava to track bikes to their houses and then steal them. 10 have been done in the last month near me. All expensive jobs. They found this out when nabbing one of the little scroats and he confessed for a better sentence. Also he said they look for quality bike racks on cars when parked at home. If its a £400 plus one they know the bikes will be good.

Just a heads up to all. They have suggested changing your start point so it cannot be tracked.

Thanks

[S10GTA]

There is an option to set a 1km radius around your chosen postcode so it doesn't show your exact start/finish. Why would you not activate this?

[okgo]

They have privacy settings that scramble the startpoint to avoid this very problem. You just have to select the setting.

[Celtic Dragon]

I have my home location masked on there, and my bike cost me £41 plus £100 in parts since.

If they do break in whilst I'm there then my bike will be the least of their worries. My flat also contains this lot

[Jonnny]

I've also got my Strava set up to have the start point hidden. Not sure why you wouldn't do this.

[Papman]

Obviously some people are stupid and the crims know this!

[numtumfutunch]

No need to cloak your address

I just start and finish every ride from the derelict school buildings 400m round the corner



PS Im also paranoid about bike security and always double check Im not being followed near home when on the bikes or else with them on the back of the car

[VEX]

I always used to cycle past my house for 1/2 mile of so and then turn round and come back.

It was an excuse to warm down the legs as well.

V.

[ChrisMCoupe]

What you mean not everyone starts their Garmin once up to their VO2 Max in 53/11 to eek out that little avg speed advantage?

[80sMatchbox]

Celtic Dragon said:

I have my home location masked on there, and my bike cost me £41 plus £100 in parts since.

If they do break in whilst I'm there then my bike will be the least of their worries. My flat also contains this lot

I was going to say Bear Grylls has just outted himself on PH, but I think it's Rambo.

[GhostDriver]

No privacy settings for me, Strava is a bit stupid it thinks I live on a totally different road.

I leave through the back alleyway, which isn't on a map.

[yellowjack]

S10GTA said:

There is an option to set a 1km radius around your chosen postcode so it doesn't show your exact start/finish. Why would you not activate this?

There is the option of placing multiple centre points for multiple 'hidden' sections, so that the scrotes can't track you to your house using the points where you 'disappear' to work out the centre of the 1km 'exclusion zone'. I managed that and I'm a complete techno-biffa, although I haven't been able to try it out yet as I've still not bought a GPS

[CoolC]

I have three hidden zones of postcodes near my house. each set at 500m but varying distances from my house.

None are my actual address so even if they did manage to centralize the lines it would lead them to an-other house somewhere else.

[BigBen]

VEX said:

I always used to cycle past my house for 1/2 mile of so and then turn round and come back.

It was an excuse to warm down the legs as well.

V.

A technique also used by doping cyclists to do a ride past their front door to check if anyone looking like a drug tester was at the door! See Tyler Hamilton's book for details.

[paranoid airbag]

The correct procedure is, of course, to find a neighbour you don't like and centre your privacy zone around their house ;-)

More seriously, it is good advice that a blanked-out circle of exactly one kilometre radius, centred exactly on your house, is not actually meaningful obfuscation. Though, really, if you're uploading a GPS log of your movements onto a public website you should probably expect your privacy to be compromised to some degree.

[Mrs BlueCerbera]

I had forgotten that I'd set this up on mine until just reading this - it now explains why I never pick up the segment that runs past the end of my road !

[80sMatchbox]

paranoid airbag said:

The correct procedure is, of course, to find a neighbour you don't like and centre your privacy zone around their house ;-)

Well, when I first started using Strava I used to do just that. Sort of.

One of my neighbours(the other end of the road) has a Q7 who would park within a couple of inches of my bumper when I parked outside his house.(I'm unable to park outisde my own house due to parking restrictions)

So I used to start and stop my Strava outside his house.. I still do sometimes. Not that I post any remarkable times on there!

[tuffer]

Anyone looking at my Strava times would probably assume I am riding a Raliegh Grifter so not worth the effort.

[Disastrous]

Celtic Dragon said:

I have my home location masked on there, and my bike cost me £41 plus £100 in parts since.

If they do break in whilst I'm there then my bike will be the least of their worries. My flat also contains this lot

You know that most people who are killed in a violent struggle get killed by their own weapon? Unless you're multi-handed, I'd guess the burglar has just as much to choose from there as you do!

[GaryGlitter]

ChrisMCoupe said:

What you mean not everyone starts their Garmin once up to their VO2 Max in 53/11 to eek out that little avg speed advantage?

I ride with someone who records club runs as three different Strava activities - 1 mile 'warm-up' from home, the club ride and then a 1 mile 'warm-down'.