The use of Strava for all cyclists continues to rise and with it, the number of rides being uploaded and showing general locations. We care about the safety of you and your bikes, so here are our extra Strava privacy tips.
Theft claims are on the rise at Bikmo with 53% of all our claims last year being for theft. And whilst police data suggests thefts are on the downwards, it’s still as important as ever to protect your privacy online.
Standard Privacy Settings
There’s the obvious option to make your account completely private, or partially private. But, like many of us, we want to share rides with our friends, rank on leaderboards for the KOMs / QOMs we’re chasing and show how many miles we’ve done.
The standard settings can therefore by a little restrictive for these social aspects of Strava.
For full details on these settings, Strava has created a number of support articles explaining them.
Our Strava Privacy Tips
Use the Map Visibility feature
The Map Visibility feature gives people the ability to hide areas of your ride from other Strava users. So if there are areas you regularly stop at, including your home, you can keep them hidden. You also have the option to set a default preference, so that all your activities automatically upload with this feature in place. You then have the option to change the visibility on individual activities.
The option entails the selection of a postcode and the radius around it that you wish to hide – e.g. 1/4 of a mile from your home postcode. You can do this around your house, place of work or anywhere else you may regularly store your bikes. This stops people you don’t know from seeing your exact home location or the place you keep your bikes.
Don’t list your bikes exact brand or specifications
Whatever brand your bike is, it can be enticing to a thief on the look out for a high value or highly regarded manufacturer. We’d recommend you avoid listing your “Pinarello F12 with Dura-ace Di2” on your equipment list. If you want to list your bikes, try using a nickname or like many of us, the name you’ve given your pride and joy.
Don’t share loads of photos of your bikes publicly
Similar to our previous Strava privacy tip, we recommend keeping your photos of your bikes and kit out of public view. Again, documenting a valuable bike or kit could make it a target for thieves.
Want to know how safe an area is?
Check out our Bike Theft Map. The map features reported bike thefts data from across England and Wales. It allows riders to view annual bike theft rates in towns, cities and local areas – showing you the safest and worst places to leave your bike in the UK. If you regularly leave and lock your bike in a public location, use this tool to see how safe it is.
Locking recommendations
If you’re ever leaving your bike in a location away from home we always recommend using a lock where possible. If you’re leaving your bike unattended then it is also a cover requirement of our insurance policies and other insurers in the event it gets stolen.
Need some recommendations for locks? we’ve made two blogs around the topic! The Best bike D locks and the Best bike chain locks.
