Strava has issued an apology for its controversial decision to ban URL links on its platform late last year, and says it has reinstated this feature in a more limited form.
In a blog posted on its website on 3 March 2025, the popular cycling app wrote: “We recognize that disabling and removing links last September was disruptive to our community.”
Strava says its initial decision to ban links – a move that also saw all historic links on the site removed – was “necessary to protect users from a wave of harmful spam attacks that included links to fraudulent and misleading content”.
It concedes, however, it “moved fast” and “didn’t clearly communicate” the reasons behind the ban.
As a result, Strava says it is “sorry for the frustration this caused, and moving forward, we’re committed to greater transparency”.
Links are back on Strava – but there’s a catch
Since links were banned and deleted in October 2024, Strava says it has made “significant improvements” to its spam detection systems, including an “an upgraded machine learning model”.
This, it says, has empowered it to re-enable links in user posts “in the places that matter most”.
So, while links will be allowed on Strava again, there are limitations on what and where its users can link to.
Strava says “anyone” (whether they are a free user, a subscriber or a verified athlete) can post links to the following areas of Strava:
- Athlete profile
- Club description
- Event descriptions
- Activity descriptions
Strava says, however, that “only admins of verified clubs will be able to post links in club posts”.
This means club members will not be able to include links in club posts.
It also says “links to external websites are limited”. Exactly what this means remains to be seen, but it appears it may be difficult, or even impossible, to link to external charity collection pages, rider blogs or even your favourite multi-discipline cycling website, BikeRadar.
Previously shared links will not be reinstated
While it apologised for removing historic links last year, Strava nevertheless says “previously shared links will not be reinstated” on its site.
It also says any text posted on Strava that “was unintentionally identified and removed as a link” would not be reinstated either.
Justifying its decision, Strava wrote: “Our goal is to nurture sharing and engagement across our platform in an organic, helpful, and least disruptive manner.”
“To do this, we are re-enabling link sharing across some of the most engaging parts of Strava where this can be the most meaningful”.
