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 28 May 2026 by the5krunner
My favourite kit and nutrition
- Injinji – Runners protect your toes. Avoid discomfort and minor injury. Run more. run faster. I use them.
- Garmin 90-degree charging adapter — the small adapter that keeps your charging cables tidy. Essential for race day. I use one.
- Garmin charging puck — the fastest and most reliable way to top up your Garmin before a session. I use one.
- Ravemen FR300 — front light that mounts directly under your Garmin or Wahoo head unit. Keeps your bars clean and your beam pointed where it matters. I use one.
- Body Glide – The Blue anti-chafe stick that all swimmers and many runners use. I use it.
- Maurten — the race nutrition trusted by elite athletes. Gels and drink mix engineered to be easy on the stomach. I use them.
- Garmin Varia RTL515 — radar rear light that alerts you to vehicles approaching from behind. Pairs with your Edge or Garmin watch. I use this model.
- Favero Assioma Pro RS2 — the power meter pedals most serious cyclists end up choosing. Accurate, easy to move between bikes. I use this model.
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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
