Strava has just released its annual Year in Sport: Trend Report for 2024, which shows that the Apple Watch is at the top, beating even the best Garmin watches when it comes to popularity.
Every year, Strava pulls data from its platform and surveys its users to give us some key highlights for 2024, and the results are as interesting as ever.
It tells us which of the best running shoes are the most popular, which smartwatches are the most popular and which sports and trends are on the rise.
Strava according to the figures for 2024
So what are some of the headlines when it comes to Strava’s 2024 in numbers?
Starting with the social aspects of Strava, the platform says it is seeing a huge increase (59%) in group activities, including more activity where people stop to rest or have a cup of coffee. The number of breaks is also increasing, as are rest days, with marathon trainees not registering active uploads on 60% of the days leading up to a marathon.
But here at Ny Breaking, we’re all about gear. The number one running shoe on Strava is the Nike Pegasus, while our number one pick for best running shoe, the Nike Vaporfly Next%, was the number one shoe for races, and the Nike Alphafly was the number one pick for marathons.
5K runners love the Apple Watch, but longer distances attract more Garmin users. Overall, though, the Apple Watch is the king of running devices. The number one choice was the Apple Watch Series (devices like the Series 10, 9, 8, and so on), while the number two was the budget Apple Watch SE. Number three was the Garmin Forerunner 245.
Meanwhile, for cyclists, the three most important devices were the Garmin Edge 530, the Garmin Edge 830 and the Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT V1.
Social barriers are also being broken. Strava says Boomers and Gen
Strength training is the fastest growing sport on Strava among women (up 25%), while men uploading yoga or pilates has increased by 15%.
Strava recently upset some fans with the big news that it was making changes to its API, which customers are warning could seriously disrupt the app ecosystem built around Strava. New limitations include changes to the way data is processed, especially for use with AI.
Following backlash from the community, Strava stated that it was “steadfast” in its commitment to the app ecosystem it helped create, saying that less than 0.1% of all applications will be affected by the changes.