“If it’s not on Strava, it didn’t happen!” We’re all familiar with Strava, but are you getting everything out of it? Check out our top 5 Strava hacks!

* StravistiX for Chrome — This free plugin for Chrome gives you additional metrics RIGHT INSIDE of your browser! It completely integrates with the Strava website to present a seamlessly ‘upgraded’ experience. Pretty cool!

* Create Strava Badges –This is a native Strava capability, but it’s pretty cool, and underutilized! If you have a blog, website, or profile with HTML access, you can ‘plop’ in some code that Strava will give you, and out comes a beautiful Strava-esque badge with your weekly stats and rides! This is especially cool if you run a cycling club/team website, as it can show your club’s stats as well!

* VeloViewer — Previously a completely free web application, VeloViewer now charges a small annual fee to use their full web service. Even if you don’t pay, it’s still cool to check out their stats, however! Whereas StravistiX really focuses on your performance, VeloViewer focuses on your segments, and where you fit into your local scene.

* Relive — Also integrating nicely with StravistiX, Relive automatically generates a ‘Google Earth-like’ video of your ride, something that is especially cool for longer rides, Gran Fondo’s, or gravel grinders. The best part is, it’s totally free!

* Strava Heatmaps — Another under-valued utility, Strava’s Heatmaps plots out the historic cycling traffic of roads all around the world, giving you a good idea of which road are good to ride on, and which roads may not be good to ride on. This is especially helpful if you’re new to an area, or travel to a new city. It makes it much easier to quickly discover safe, fun roads to go out on–if it is highly trafficked, it’s probably good to ride on!

Have some not-so-well-known Strava hacks that you’d like to share? Send ’em our way!