Stryd Power Meter - Scam or Actually Useful?

Stryd Skeptic wrote:

They raised $150,000 on Kickstarter and more from outside sales.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stryd/stryd-the-worlds-first-wearable-power-meter-for-ruhttp://www.stryd.com/

And got Craig Alexander among others to promote it.

I'm wondering whether this thing would actually be useful to anyone. Would you use it? How? Or did they just reel these clueless buyers in with relatively slick marketing?

I would love to get more data from runs, but only if it would reveal otherwise inaccessible insights. A heart rate monitor or Garmin if you ask me can be useful but really is not too insightful as any half-serious runner can guess heart rate within ~15bpm (and quickly check if in doubt) and accurate to ~:15/mile when running at any respectable pace. This Stryd meter seems even less useful. How would this "power" meter even work and in what way is it better than a simple stopwatch?

Bump

I purchased a Stryd foot pod 3 years ago. I like it for many different reasons. It gives me immediate pace feedback for workouts and intervals. I have found using the power metrics helpful for my training especially when running on hilly terrain. I prefer using power over heart rate as my heart rate seems to be affected by various different things ( fatigued, have eaten too much, slept poorly, it’s typically higher at the end of the day, etc. ). I also think getting distance from the foot pod is better than pure GPS. Running near tall buildings or on trails is much easier and less prone to being off.

I absolutely do not need it and could probably run just as well without it. But I enjoy it and in my experience with Stryd they have fantastic customer support. I had a unit get damaged and they sent me another at no charge. Once my first one finally quit charging correctly I emailed them and despite the warranty being out of date they gave me a coupon code for a brand new one for half price. Training is personal and so is the gear we use. I like it and will continue to use one. Other people’s experiences may differ.

First I bought the ZWIFT running POD. This was $40 and did not work at all.

Then I bought the STRYD $200. Spendy...but I find this to be the most accurate and easily calibrated.

I also bought the RUNN treadmill sensor $99. This works pretty good so far but is not as accurate as the Styrd.

RUNN is great if you have a treadmill that is old and the belt speed is not accurate. My Norditrack TM runs about 25% faster than it should. The RUNN tells me my actual pace so it's great for that.

I also really like my stryd, the data is the best way I have of quantifying training load, and what form I am in, that I have, 6 months is and it was 100% worth the cost.

stryd is a psuedo power meter. too many moving parts in a runner to measure real power with current tech these days. just the same as a cyclist using strava only for power data.

note: I work at Stryd but also am on the boards frequently for non-stryd related stuff.

Just replying to the point above, see an updated Power Definition seeking to clarify what it means when talking about Stryd and power.

https://www.stryd.com/running-power-definition

San Diego Hobby Jogger wrote:

stryd is a psuedo power meter. too many moving parts in a runner to measure real power with current tech these days. just the same as a cyclist using strava only for power data.

Truth

It’s fine I guess. I used it for two years. The best part is being able to use the better Stryd app and data on a smart watch like an Apple Watch. Kinda transforms a smart watch into a good running watch, which can be great if you need LTE calls or want internet on your watch for music (like me on long runs if need to be reached because of kids).

I prefer a good Garmin, which is what I use now. I should add that the power data seemed accurate, and tracked well with how I felt and effort I put in, but didn’t really give me info above what I can glean through self-assessment and pace vs. elevation data.

Scam.

It's for trail runners. They move slower thru the hills and Strava didn't have a way to celebrate that it was in fact a difficult effort.

I have a Stryd Wind.

Honestly, it's a fun gizmo, but I can't say it's really helped my training. I have always trained by perceived effort rather than pace or HR, and I didn't see any point to switching to training by power.

I purchased it to use to measure distance and pace - however, I've found that on average it's not any more accurate than GPS. And, at least with GPS I can be fairly sure of when I'm getting a good read (running a straight line in an open area) and when I'm getting a bad read (buildings, underpasses, etc). Stryd will just be off sometimes for no obvious reason.

One thing I've always found amusing - the official word is that a) Stryd is always perfect out of the box and needs no calibration but b) if you are going to calibrate it, then you need to follow a very specific set of instructions and calibrate it separately for each pair of shoes. I don't understand why it's supposedly perfect out of the box for all shoes, but any calibration needs to be done individually for each pair of shoes you run in.

I have it since may 2021, so lets start with the pros:

- friendly support

- it shows pace and step rate direct from the foot. You have to calibrate it on a track, otherwise the pace is a little off.

- You get always speed data also in a tunnel, or forest. Better as GPS.

cons:

- support always defence major bugs at first place. i showed them obviously bad things and they ignore it. after several mails they confrim that there is a problem.

- if found severe bugs as follows:

1) Stryd has only one hole, so strong wind burst are effecting the altitude meter -> no go

2) You can forget Stryd in trail. I had a race and i could identify it.

3) Stryd does not work on a treadmill. I had a spriotergometry on a calibrated high end HP-Cosmos treadmill, and the measured velocity off the stry was way off. Not even close -> unaccaptable

- They told me they came up with a firmware update. Since May 2021 were i bought it, not a single firmware update!! Guess they have no interest to improve there porduct, no money or no one who programs there. Unaccaptable.

- My first Stryd pod had an out off the box error (charging led was not going off) and i had a longer conversation to get a new one.

If Polar comes out with a pod i change in a heartbeat and Stryd is dead.

Its your choice.

When I first read this, I thought it was a way to show how many KWH or BTU energy that someone uses while running or excercising. lol

Last time I talked to "Tinman" Tom he was really into this but that was back in 2019. I'm not sure how he feels about it now.

lexel wrote:

1) Stryd has only one hole, so strong wind burst are effecting the altitude meter -> no go

lexel is one of those accounts that I'm convinced is just a sock puppet operated by a mod or a regular. He writes in broken English but his level of mastery varies wildly, and then he randomly will demonstrate a grasp of a lesser-known idiom like "no go". I just want to know what is going on. Probably the same thing as JS. I'm just convinced these are not real people

A solution looking for a problem.

What are you going to do with the numbers?

I liked mine but sold mine (only $40 less than what I paid for it 2 years ago - Thank you EBay).

I found it useful through Covid to track my results without races, but also find Coros' evolab which faction hr into it's race predictor more reliable so i need to max out to know my shape.

lexel skeptic wrote:

lexel wrote:

1) Stryd has only one hole, so strong wind burst are effecting the altitude meter -> no go

lexel is one of those accounts that I'm convinced is just a sock puppet operated by a mod or a regular. He writes in broken English but his level of mastery varies wildly, and then he randomly will demonstrate a grasp of a lesser-known idiom like "no go". I just want to know what is going on. Probably the same thing as JS. I'm just convinced these are not real people

rofl

Close before crying with happiness, this is just brilliant.

A conspiration is ongoing, the extraterrestrials are here :)

Or is it a new artificial intelligence ? :)

I do like Stryd for indoor workouts in the winter where it's harder to keep track of distance on a 350m track using a Garmin alone. However, stuff like this has promoted a device dependence culture. I talked to a guy whose whole marathon was ruined because his Stryd quit transmitting data to his watch at mile three. He simply wasn't able to run based on perceived effort and fell apart after months of training.

professional male jogger wrote:

A solution looking for a problem.

What are you going to do with the numbers?

Exactly.