You have the spectrum of opinions on Stryd in this post; here is one more from my nearly 3 years of using a Stryd foot-pod (the model before the “wind” sensor was added).

The plus, my Stryd foot-pod appears to be very good at measuring distances on road (and thus by proxy, pace). This can be beneficial if you want to compare outdoor efforts to time indoors on a treadmill. I use this to check in with my RPE on some runs, maybe once or twice a week.

The minus, in my experience, is that the idea of training or racing with an (at best) estimated power number is fairy dust and unicorns. Stryd and the numbers it presents (watts, leg spring stiffness, etc) has never in the time I’ve owed the unit, ever made me a faster or more efficient runner. And yes, I did their program, read that book.

The question you might want to know is if a Stryd owner ever had to replace their unit, would they pony up $219.00 USD for another one? For its price, I am leaning towards “no.”

You also see this in regards to pros stepping away from power meters on the bike after years of usage - in my mind this could be the case here, although my bet is your hunch is correct. Money does wonders!

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IG: NCGregory8778

I've been using it for over a year. Run is my weakest of the three disciplines, and it has helped me tremendously. I have found power to be a much better metric, for me, than perceived effort or heart rate. It's also made me a smarter pacer, though I'm still not perfect with it. I used to always go out too hard and fast for me, but keep going thinking "I feel great!" Now I can look at my power numbers and realize even though I might feel great, I'm actually going too hard.

It's also been great for training on hills.

I've also found that it helps pacing on shorter hills (where there isn't time for HR to react). I can look at my power and see if I'm going too hard.

My main reason for using it is to have accurate instantaneous pace (since GPS-based pace is all over the place).

It also means I can use Zwift on a treadmill, but that's not too interesting (at least for me).

All in all I'm really happy with the Stryd and like it a lot more than I thought I would.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

I've read that the latest Stryd has temp/humidity sensors. Are they doing anything useful with that data at the moment or planning to in the future?

The summers where I am are hot & humid so wondering if Stryd could help better assess training load and help with pacing - or am I better off sticking to slowing right down and keeping HR low?

I can only imagine what kind of POS humidity sensor would go on that pod.

(disclaimer...I work in instrumentation)

It looks as though the Stryd app will give guidance on target pacing given temp/humidity. I don't know how hot or how humid it has to be for this to be meaningful, but how could it not be an individual thing? My 'hot and humid' here in Canada is not the same as 'hot and humid' in Florida.

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Munq

I'm three or four weeks into owning a Stryd: I bought it with an expectation to use it for the evaluation period, and 100% expecting to return it after 30 days (or whatever it is).

After this brief experience, not only am I keeping it, but I would pony up the $300+ CDN I had paid in a heartbeat if I lost mine.

I have, but I prefer other people relying on RPE or HR. Makes it easier for me.

Hi All,

Disclaimer: I am a cofounder of Stryd.

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“Has anyone thrown a big heap of cash at Stryd and felt like it was worth it? I'm not saying it isn't - there are always people that a new gadget will do nothing for. But has anyone seen big improvements using run power and this device in particular?” - Munq E. Wrench

There are three ways that Stryd can be helpful if your goal is to run faster race times.

1. Immediate benefit from responsive, even pacing on race day

A large majority of runners can race faster simply from more evenly pacing their training and racing. Stryd is the best way to evenly pace your race since the pod can comprehensively consider hilly and windy conditions in the power value.

2. Build running fitness by training against metabolic power expenditure

Stryd is the best way of building fitness when following a structured training plan since you can precisely train to metabolic energy usage and receive the intended training stimulus from every workout.

3. Practice your running skills across many different environmental conditions and terrains

Stryd’s power value delivers you the best way to simulate race day conditions and build up the right racing skills you will need to succeed on that race course before you ever step up to the starting line.

If you feel like you can improve in any of these three areas and you are ready to use and understand the data, Stryd will be useful and you will see improvements.

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“i dont have a lot of confidence in the consistency of the power output on average. i can run on a treadmill at a very controlled pace and reported pace will be all over the place on both models.” - damon-lebeouf

Likely, your actual pace is varying on a second-by-second pace and Stryd is correctly reporting those variations. Why is your actual pace varying? The treadmill’s belt speed is not running at a constant pace. More specifically, when your foot strikes the belt, the motor is loaded and the belt slows temporarily and can uniquely slow at a different rates depending on your foot strike. Conversely, when your body is in the air, the motor applies an extra speed to the belt to recover from the previous loading. This extra speed is recorded by the treadmill, but it isn't applied to you as the runner (which is why your running pace is slower than what is shown on the treadmill display). You can read more about this here: https://support.stryd.com/...ter-pace-than-Stryd-

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“For normal running, I like it a lot because I enjoy seeing the data. But have I actually DONE anything with the mountain of data I have?” - FasterTwitch

We have recently released a new version of our Stryd PowerCenter for easier data analysis. We recommend to check this out if you need help interpreting the data. See more here: https://blog.stryd.com/...the-new-powercenter/

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“I don't have one but I've been thinking about getting one, mainly to get better insight into when I actually run efficiently. Would Stryd be a good tool for that?” - TriStart

Stryd may be able to very slightly help with your running efficiency. However, running efficiency is not the biggest opportunity for improvement for a large majority of runners and measuring running efficiency is not a primary reason to run with Stryd.

Please see my first comment above to understand the pacing/training benefits of Stryd.

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“1) What other electronics are you using to talk to the Stryd pod - I use a FR235 outdoors and Zwift indoors. It looks like the 235 will take power through a Connect IQ app, and Zwift can catch it through a dongle.” - Munq E. Wrench

Stryd is compatible with both of these devices/apps. You can find a full watch compatibility list here: https://support.stryd.com/...e-watches-with-Stryd

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“2) How do you adapt training plans to Stryd power data?” - Munq E. Wrench

You can find some methods of adapting training plans by looking at Chapter 2 in stryd.com/guide and by looking at intensity conversions here: https://support.stryd.com/...ing-plans-available-

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“Con: Power seems somewhat made up. It just reverse engineers power based off speed and gradient. It does help pace hills, but it's kinda useless when switching terrains (road, gravel, dirt, etc.). I like to use it as more of a limiter to ensure I don't go too hard, but I wouldn't want it for racing” - indiana cyclist

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“The minus, in my experience, is that the idea of training or racing with an (at best) estimated power number is fairy dust and unicorns.” - _canadian

Stryd has been shown to align very well with oxygen consumption in independent research (https://www.outsideonline.com/...ter-comparison-study) & in our metric validation white paper (https://blog.stryd.com/...meters-quality-data/)

A measure of oxygen consumption is one of the best metrics to use to pace your training/racing as it can guide and establish the max intensity you can hold over a given duration.

Additionally, Stryd does partially account for changes in common surface conditions such as the ones you have listed. Stryd cannot account for extreme surface conditions such as slick ice or deep snow/sand yet. We would like to further improve Stryd's consideration of surface conditions in future updates.

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“Here's how I know running power is a bunch of hooey and apple sauce; I'm friends with a local pro, a sponsored guy. He was at one point paid by stryd to use their product and evangelize. Did nothing but say how great and useful running power was. Then they stopped paying him and since that day I have never once seen him run with a power meter. This is a guy who makes a living off running. If it was for real and something to help with improvement, he'd be doing it.” - marklemcd

It is common for a professional athlete to discontinue use of a product when a sponsorship ends so they can attract new sponsorship in that product category. i.e. an athlete is not expected to continue running with the products of their old shoe sponsor while they attempt to attract a new shoe sponsor.

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“Well, if Stryd thinks I should be tracking certain values over time, why don't they show me those values (over time) in their app or web site?” - sathomasga

Thanks for this excellent feedback. I will pass this on to the product team.

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“- With the TP builder the watts show in "alarm" of each set but it doesn't have a gauge like if you do a paced program on the builder- they are working on it but i think for a product like this engineers should have worked over this” - super_6

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“Biggest gripe and this is more on TrainingPeaks/Garmin than Stryd but if I load a workout on my 945 from TP, the default goal screen for the interval you're doing does not display Stryd power which sucks. So I have to memorize what power zone to be in and use the Stryd data screen.” - cassinonorth


We have recently released the Stryd | Workout App that allows for the creation and execution of power-based running workouts on the Garmin watch. I recommend to check this out here: https://blog.stryd.com/...-based-workouts-app/

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“even change your weight for an accurate w/kg” - super_6

Stryd’s watts/kg will always be accurate because Stryd natively measures power in watts/kg. I recommend to leave your weight setting constant if you would like to ensure accurate and consistent tracking of watts/kg.

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“Are they doing anything useful with that data at the moment or planning to in the future?” - AndyM

Right now, the temperature and humidity sensors are being used to contribute to and make an accurate determination on Air Power.

In the future, we would like to expand the usage of these sensors.

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“The summers where I am are hot & humid so wondering if Stryd could help better assess training load and help with pacing - or am I better off sticking to slowing right down and keeping HR low?”

It is currently possible to adapt your power target to changing weather conditions in terms of temperature, humidity, and altitude. I recommend to check out the Super Power Calculator (https://www.facebook.com/...v4/2183120131986039/) to adapt your power target!

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“I can only imagine what kind of POS humidity sensor would go on that pod.” - jaretj

We are proud to use some of the best sensors available for wearables in our product. If you have any problems or feedback on the sensors we use now, please email us at support@stryd.com and we will get you in contact with our product team to listen to your feedback.

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“I don't know how hot or how humid it has to be for this to be meaningful, but how could it not be an individual thing? My 'hot and humid' here in Canada is not the same as 'hot and humid' in Florida.” - Munq E. Wrench

Environmental adjustment of the power target typically comes into play when you travel for a race/training session and you are in an unfamiliar environment. You can make an adjustment by inputting the altitude, humidity, and temperature you typically train in and the conditions of where you are at to make an adjustment. Then, you will receive a power target that is adapted for those new conditions.

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Please let me know if you have further questions or clarification on any of my comments above and I will help!

What's impressing you? I usually expect at least a few months before really getting the benefit of anything new (device, training plan, whatever)

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Munq