RideTool is a cycling consistency tracker. It shows your riding streak, weekly ride pattern, and simple fitness signals like 'getting stronger' or 'need rest'. It syncs automatically with Wahoo, Garmin, and Strava.

How much does RideTool cost?

RideTool costs $29 per year with a 14-day free trial. No credit card required to start.

Does RideTool work with my bike computer?

Yes. RideTool syncs automatically with Wahoo, Garmin, and Strava. Connect once and your rides appear automatically.

What makes RideTool different from Strava?

RideTool focuses on consistency, not competition. Your streak and ride dots tell the whole story — are you showing up? No leaderboards, no social features, just you and the bike.

Is RideTool a Strava alternative?

RideTool is a Strava alternative for riders who want consistency tracking instead of social features. It syncs with Strava so you can use both — RideTool for your personal riding pattern, Strava for the social side. Many riders use RideTool alongside Strava rather than replacing it.

Can I use RideTool with Strava?

Yes. RideTool connects to your Strava account and automatically syncs your rides. You can also connect Wahoo and Garmin directly. Many riders keep Strava for social features and use RideTool as their personal consistency tracker.

Do I need a power meter to use RideTool?

No. RideTool works with any cycling data — distance, time, and heart rate are enough. If you have a power meter, you'll see additional training metrics like TSS, CTL, and FTP. The consistency features work for every rider regardless of equipment.

Data Sources & Sync

Overview

RideTool imports ride data from multiple sources. You can connect as many providers as you want — rides are automatically deduplicated, so you never see the same ride twice. RideTool always keeps the highest-quality version of each ride.

Login vs. Auto-Sync

Login and auto-sync are separate things. You can log in with Strava, Wahoo, Garmin, or email — this is just authentication and does not start syncing data. You can switch login providers at any time without affecting your rides.

Auto-sync is configured separately in the Data Providers modal in the Ride Library. When you turn on auto-sync for a provider, new rides are imported automatically after each activity. You can have auto-sync on for multiple providers at once.

Best practice: Enable auto-sync for the service connected to your recording device (e.g. Garmin Connect or Wahoo). This ensures full ride data including route maps, power metrics, and GPS tracks. Rides that arrive through third-party chains (e.g. Garmin → Strava → Wahoo) may be missing metrics like distance, elevation, and route maps.

Supported Providers

Garmin Connect™

Garmin uses a push model — when your device uploads a ride to Garmin Connect, Garmin sends it to RideTool automatically within minutes. This includes the full FIT file with GPS track, power data, heart rate, cadence, and all device metrics.

History import: Garmin does not support pulling historical data on demand. Only new rides recorded after connecting are synced. To import older Garmin rides, use manual FIT upload or Strava bulk import.

Wahoo

Wahoo auto-sync imports rides including original FIT files when recorded on a Wahoo device (ELEMNT, KICKR, etc.). You can also import ride history by date range.

Note: If your Wahoo account contains rides originally recorded on a non-Wahoo device (e.g. a Garmin head unit synced through Strava), those rides may arrive without distance, duration, or route maps. For best results, enable auto-sync on the provider connected to your actual recording device.

Strava

Strava auto-sync imports ride summaries — name, distance, time, elevation, speed, power, heart rate, cadence, calories, and GPS route. New rides sync automatically via webhooks.

Strava provides summary data, not raw device files. For full-resolution metrics, connect your head unit directly (Garmin or Wahoo) or use manual FIT upload.

You can import Strava history by date range: last 90 days, a specific year, or older rides.

Manual FIT Upload

Drag and drop FIT files into the Ride Library, or click to browse. You can upload as many files as you want. FIT files contain the richest ride data — everything your device recorded.

Strava Bulk Import (ZIP)

If you have a Strava data export (the ZIP file from Strava's "Download Your Data" feature), you can upload the entire ZIP. RideTool extracts all FIT, GPX, and TCX files and imports them. This is a great way to backfill your full ride history with original device data.

How Deduplication Works

When a ride arrives from any source, RideTool checks if it already exists using three layers:

Provider ID match: Each provider assigns a unique ID to rides (Strava activity ID, Wahoo workout ID, Garmin activity ID). If the same provider ID already exists, the ride is skipped.
Dedup key match: Rides are fingerprinted by start time (to the minute) and distance. If two rides from different sources have the same fingerprint, they are the same ride.
Fuzzy match: If the fingerprint does not match exactly (e.g. one source has no distance data), RideTool looks for rides with a start time within 2 minutes and similar duration (within 15%) and distance (within 10%). This catches cross-source duplicates even when different providers report slightly different numbers.

Source Priority

When the same ride exists from multiple sources, RideTool keeps the version with the most detailed data. The priority order is:

Manual FIT upload — Raw device file, always the richest data
Garmin Connect — Device-direct via webhook, includes FIT file
Wahoo — Device-direct when recorded on Wahoo hardware
Strava — Summary data from Strava's API

If you upload a FIT file for a ride that already exists from Strava or Wahoo, the FIT version replaces it. You will see the ride update with a route map, the .fit badge, and the correct device name (e.g. "Garmin Edge 550" instead of "Wahoo" or "Strava").

Tip: If a ride is missing its route map thumbnail, it likely came from a provider that did not have the GPS data. Upload the original FIT file or connect the recording device's provider to fix it.

Where FIT Files Come From

FIT files are stored when they come directly from your device — via Garmin Connect, Wahoo (Wahoo-recorded rides only), or manual upload. Rides synced from Strava do not include FIT files because Strava's API provides summary data, not the original device recording.

You will see a .fit badge on rides that have an original file stored. These rides have the highest data fidelity — full GPS tracks, power streams, and device metrics.

Tip: If you recorded rides using the Strava app on your phone, those original FIT files are included in Strava's bulk export. Use Strava Bulk Import in the Ride Library to upload that ZIP — RideTool extracts and stores the FIT files.

When Fitness Stats Are Computed

RideTool keeps your fitness metrics (CTL, ATL, TSB, and consistency card) up to date automatically. Your stats are recomputed in three situations:

After every ride upload or sync — When a new ride arrives from any source (Garmin, Wahoo, Strava, or manual FIT upload), your fitness stats are recalculated immediately.
Nightly — Even on rest days, your fitness numbers change (fatigue decays, form rises). RideTool automatically recomputes your stats once a day around midnight in your local timezone, so your dashboard is always current when you open it in the morning.
Manual rebuild — You can trigger a full recalculation anytime from the Account page using the Recompute Fitness Stats button. This is useful after updating your heart rate settings or FTP.

Timezone: RideTool detects your timezone automatically from your connected provider or ride GPS data. No setup required.

Turning Off Auto-Sync

Open Data Providers in the Ride Library and toggle auto-sync off for any provider. This stops future syncs but does not delete rides already imported. Your ride history stays intact.

You can turn auto-sync back on at any time. If the provider requires re-authorization (e.g. tokens expired), you will be prompted to log in again with that provider.