How to Add Your E-Bike to Strava
Strava treats e-bikes differently than standard bikes. You need to add your e-bike as a gear item and select “E-Bike Ride” as the activity type for every ride. This keeps your mileage logged, prevents your rides from affecting standard cycling segments, and lets you appear on e‑bike‑specific leaderboards instead. Here’s how to set both up in under five minutes.
Step 1: Add Your E-Bike as a Gear Item
Adding your e-bike to Strava’s gear list lets you track total distance, see maintenance reminders, and assign the bike to future rides. Without this step, every ride you record will default to an unnamed “Bike” entry, and you won’t get per-bike stats or maintenance alerts.
1. Open the Strava app and tap your profile picture (bottom‑right on iOS, top‑left on Android).
2. Tap the gear icon (Settings) in the top‑right corner.
3. Scroll down and select Gear under the “My Performance” section.
4. Tap Add a Bike (or the + icon).
5. Enter a Bike Name (e.g., “Trek Verve+ 2”), Brand, Model, and Year.
6. For Bike Type, select E‑Bike from the dropdown.
If you don’t see “E‑Bike” in the list, update the Strava app from your device’s app store first. If it’s still missing after the update, reinstall the app.
7. Optionally enter the Weight (in lbs or kg) and Default Wheelset if you swap wheels.
8. Tap Save.
Your e-bike now appears under “My Gear” and is ready to assign.
Why the Bike Type Matters More Than You Think
Selecting “E‑Bike” in the gear setup isn’t just a label. Strava uses that field to filter which bikes appear in the correct activity type’s dropdown later. If you accidentally set the bike type to “Bike” instead of “E‑Bike,” the app may still let you assign it to a regular Ride activity, which defeats the purpose of separate e-bike tracking. Double-check the type immediately after saving.
Verification step for Step 1
After saving, go back to the Gear screen and confirm the bike shows E‑Bike under the Type column. If it still says “Bike” instead, tap the bike name to edit and re‑select E‑Bike – the wrong type will mess up leaderboard filtering later.
Step 2: Choose the Correct Activity Type for Every E-Bike Ride
Strava separates e‑bike rides from standard rides at the activity‑type level. Use E‑Bike Ride every time.
- Manual entries or uploads from a file: When you save or upload a ride, tap the activity type dropdown (looks like a bicycle icon) and choose E‑Bike Ride.
- Rides recorded with a connected device (Garmin, Wahoo, etc.): Most devices send the activity as “Cycling” by default. After the ride syncs to Strava, you’ll need to change the type manually (see Step 3).
A realistic branch – what to do if the “E-Bike Ride” option is not in the dropdown
If you tap the activity type dropdown and see only “Ride” and “Virtual Ride” (no “E‑Bike Ride”), your Strava account may be on a very old version, or you’re using the web uploader instead of the app.
- Branch A: Close the app, reopen it, and try again.
- Branch B: If it still doesn’t appear, uninstall and reinstall the app – the E‑Bike Ride type was added server‑side in 2021, so a fresh install often fixes a stale cache.
- Branch C: If reinstall doesn’t work, log out of Strava and log back in. If the option remains missing after that, it’s likely a server‑side glitch – skip to the stop threshold below.
Verification step for Step 2
Once you’ve selected E‑Bike Ride for a ride, open that activity and look at the top of the page. The activity title should say “E‑Bike Ride” (not “Ride”). Also check that the ride does not appear on any standard cycling segment leaderboards; if it does, you may have selected the wrong type or the leaderboard hasn’t refreshed yet (allow up to 15 minutes).
Stop / escalate threshold
If you’ve updated the app, reinstalled, logged out and back in, and the E‑Bike Ride type still doesn’t appear in the activity type dropdown (or the gear type option is permanently missing), stop trying DIY fixes. Contact Strava Support directly through the app (Settings → Help → Contact Support). This is a rare account‑side issue, and further manual steps will waste time.
Step 3: Correct a Ride You Already Saved as “Ride”
Forgot to switch the activity type? You can change it after the fact.
1. Open the ride from your feed or profile.
2. Tap the pencil icon (Edit) in the top‑right corner.
3. Under Activity Type, tap the current type (e.g., “Ride”) and select E‑Bike Ride from the list.
4. Tap Save.
The ride’s distance, time, and elevation stay the same, but it will now be categorized correctly. Note that any recorded segments on that ride will move to the e-bike-only leaderboard (if one exists for that segment), or be removed from the standard leaderboard entirely.
Verification after correction
After saving, refresh the activity page. The title should update to “E‑Bike Ride”. Then check any segment results that the ride may have affected – it may take a few minutes for leaderboards to recalculate. If the ride still appears on a standard cycling segment after 30 minutes, repeat the edit and save again; if it persists, report the segment to Strava as potentially misclassified.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
| Problem | Likely Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| “E‑Bike” not showing in gear type | Outdated app | Update from App Store / Google Play, then reinstall if needed. |
| Activity type dropdown missing “E‑Bike Ride” | Cache or account‑sync issue | Close and reopen app; log out and back in; reinstall if still missing. |
| Connected device always uploads as “Ride” | Device doesn’t send activity type | Manually change after upload (Step 3). Some devices let you set a sport profile – check your device manual for an “e‑bike” or “cycling‑electric” option. |
|
| E‑bike ride appears on regular segment leaderboards | Type was set to “Ride” initially, or leaderboard cache delay | Change to E‑Bike Ride and wait up to 15 minutes. If it persists, report the segment. |
| Gear mileage not updating | Activity wasn’t assigned to the correct bike or bike type is wrong | Go to the activity’s gear setting and confirm your e‑bike is selected. Edit the bike’s type if needed. |
Why the E-Bike Ride Type Exists
Strava introduced the dedicated e-bike activity type in 2021 after years of complaints from both e-bike riders and traditional cyclists. Without the separate type, e-bike rides automatically populated the same segment leaderboards as pedal-only bikes, creating unfair comparisons. By using “E‑Bike Ride,” you participate in the growing ecosystem of e-bike-specific challenges (like “E-Bike Challenge”) and segment rankings that respect your electric assist. It also keeps your personal training analytics clean – you won’t accidentally skew your power data or elevation gain stats when comparing against purely human-powered efforts.
Once your e‑bike is set up as gear and every ride uses the E‑Bike Ride type, Strava will accurately track your mileage and keep your training log separate from standard cycling. No more accidental leaderboard domination – just a clean record of your electric miles.