Strava 2025 Report: Apple Watch #1, COROS Surges, Gen Z Drives Gear Spending
The New Sports Tech Order: Apple, Garmin, and the Rise of Coros
The newly released Strava “Year in Sport” 2025 report offers a market-wide view of current trends. It analysed the data of over 180 million athletes, providing insights into how different brands perform, plus more light is shed on the spending habits and gear preferences of the emerging Gen Z demographic.
The data paints a clear picture of the sports tech landscape: the Apple Watch (Series) is the most-used ‘device’ for recording activities, while COROS is the fastest-growing watch brand year over year. Despite these shifts, Garmin remains the largest overall brand.
The 2025 Gear Breakdown: What 180 Million Athletes Used
The 12th annual “Year in Sport” report analysed billions of activities from September 2024 to August 2025.
Wearables: Apple Leads, While the Strava App Remains ‘King’
Despite the popularity of dedicated smartwatches, the single most common way athletes recorded their activities in 2025 was through the Strava mobile app, accounting for 72% of all recorded workouts. In the dedicated watch category, the Apple Watch was the number one device.
The report also noted an interesting gender difference — women were 70% more likely than men to use an Apple Watch to log their activities. Garmin ranked second across all device types. Apple Health ranked third in overall usage.
COROS was named the fastest-growing watch brand year over year on the platform, thanks in no small part to its Pace Pro and NOMAD watches. Non-watch wearables such as Oura also experienced “rapid growth”.
Cycling: American Brands Dominate
Trek and Specialized are dominant, with the top two spots in every major bike category:
- Road Cycling: Trek, Specialized, and Giant
- Gravel Cycling: Specialized, Trek and Scott
- Mountain Biking: Specialized, Trek and Giant
The Gen Z Gear Investment
Wearables were cited as the most significant fitness investment in 2025 by 63% more Gen Z users than Gen X. 30% of Gen Z respondents planned to increase their fitness spending in 2026.
Take Out
We are now seeing a shift in how tech is used in consumer sports. The key brands are somewhat consolidating their positions, but emerging threats will remain ever-present. Tech is being used across more diverse sports, but is still most commonly used in the most accessible sport of all — running. Women and younger demographics will continue to change traditional patterns of tech usage.
Last Updated on 3 October 2026 by tfk the5krunner
Small things I always use
- Garmin 90-degree charging adapter: Charges your Garmin from any USB-C cable. Essential when travelling. I use one.
- Body Glide: The blue anti-chafe stick swimmers and runners carry. I use it.
- Speedo earplugs: Fewer ear infections and no cold-water dizziness. I use them.
- Dryrobe Advance: My winter changing robe for open-water swims. I use one. A cheaper option is the AONYIYI changing robe.
- Maurten: Race fuel that stays easy on the stomach. I use them.
- Garmin charging puck: The quickest way to top up before a session. I use one.
- Injinji: Toe socks that stop rubbing, so you run more. I use them.
- Ultimate toe protectors: Stop black toenails on long runs. They work. I use them.
- Compressport R2 v2 calf sleeves: My calf sleeves of choice. I use them.
- Cellucor C4: My pre-workout before hard sessions.
- TPU tubes: Schwalbe Aerothan, Tubolito and Pirelli SmarTube. Light, tiny spares. I use all three.
- G8 insoles: Adjustable insoles that are good. I use them.
- Cycplus Cube: A 97g electric pump that gets a road tyre rideable in two minutes. I carry one. 5% off with code THE5KRUNNER.
Watches and sensors
- Polar H10: My daily driver for waking HRV.
- Polar Verity Sense: My backup arm-worn HR sensor.
- Nomad bedside charger: Charges my iPhone and Apple Watch overnight. I use it, and many of their bands.
- Train.Red: The best muscle oxygen sensor I’ve used.
- Tymewear: Accurate heart rate and reliable ventilatory zones. I use it to pace endurance rides over an hour.
- Garmin Forerunner 970: A pro-grade triathlon watch. I use this.
- Apple Watch Ultra 4: My daily smartwatch. No phone needed on rides.
- Garmin Fenix 9 Pro: I’ve just bought one.
On the bike
- Continental GP5000 for everyday riding, and Aero 111 on the front for special occasions.
- Helmets: Specialized S-Works Evade 3 for road riding, and Rudy Project Wing for TT-style races. I use both.
- Ravemen FR300: A front light that mounts under your Garmin or Wahoo. I use one.
- Wahoo TRACKR Radar: I use it on one bike and Varia on the other. They perform the same.
- Garmin Varia RTL515: Radar that warns you of cars from behind. I use this model.
- Wahoo ELEMNT Roam 3: The bike computer that’s easy to use. I use mine on most rides.
- Favero Assioma Pro RS2: Accurate power pedals that swap easily between bikes. I use this model.
Home and indoor training
- NPE Runn: Makes my basic treadmill smart, sending more accurate speed and distance to my watch and Zwift. I use it.
- Google Wifi: Keeps Zwift connected in my pain cave. I use it.
- Apple TV 4K: Zwift on the big screen. I use two.
- Google Nest Doorbell (wired, 2nd gen): My video doorbell, running in both Google Home and Apple Home. I use it.
Health, recovery and sleep
- FreeStyle Libre 3 Plus: Shows how my blood sugar responds to diet.
- hDrop: Measures my sweat loss in summer and indoors.
- Fourth Frontier Zone: Checks my heart under load in hard sessions.
- Oura Ring 5: My partner’s recovery tracker of choice.
- Kineon MOVE+: Red light therapy for niggles. It works.
- Eight Sleep: A cooling mattress cover my partner and I use nightly.
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tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors. ID
