If you rode with other Xert users on the same ride, Xert can analyze your activities together — comparing your power, speed, position, and relative effort on the same chart. This article explains how to set up, use, and get the most out of Group Ride Analytics.
What Group Ride Analytics Does
When two or more Xert users complete the same group ride, Xert can detect that you rode together and let you analyze the rides side by side. For users that are in your communities or have agreed to share their data, you can:
- See each rider's power, MPA, and speed overlaid on the same chart
- Track who was in front and by how much at any point in the ride
- Watch a GPS-based playback of the ride showing each rider's position on a map
- Compare relative effort using XRP (Xert Relative Power) — a normalized power metric that accounts for weight and gradient
This is especially useful for analyzing races, structured group rides, or any ride where you want to understand performance differences between riders.
Comparing Effort with Xert Relative Power
XRP normalizes power across riders to account for weight and gradient — so you can compare how hard riders actually worked, not just who held the highest watts.
- Lower XRP for the same speed: the rider was conserving energy — better drafting position, better aerodynamics, smaller pulls, more efficient pacing
- Higher XRP for the same speed: the rider was working harder — pulling at the front, less aerodynamic position, or expending more energy to maintain the group's pace
This is one of the most valuable comparisons Group Ride Analytics provides. Two riders can average the same speed and finish together while one rode at a much higher relative effort — XRP makes that visible.
For more on XRP, see Xert Relative Power (XRP)
Setting Up Group Ride Analytics
Group Ride Analytics works only between Xert users who have agreed to share their data with each other. The simplest way to enable this is through a Squad Community.
Create or Join a Squad Community
If you ride with the same group regularly, set up a Squad Community so members automatically share data with each other:
- Ask your riding partners if a squad has already been created. If so, request the join URL and use it to join the existing squad.
- If no squad exists, create one at xertonline.com/community/create. Choose Squad as the community type.
- Once created, share the squad's join URL with your riding partners so they can join.
Once you and your riding partners are members of the same squad, Xert will automatically detect when you've ridden together and make Group Ride Analytics available for those activities.
Sharing Individual Activities
You can also share specific activities outside of a squad. Xert offers four sharing levels per activity:
- Public — visible to all Xert users as part of group ride analytics, and to anyone with the activity URL
- Group — visible to Xert users you rode with on this specific activity
- Default — visible to coaches in any coach community you belong to, and members of any squad you belong to (the standard setting)
- Private — disables all sharing for this activity, including coaches and squad members
Most users leave activities on Default. If you want a one-off ride to be sharable with specific people (or visible publicly), change its setting from the activity page.
Using Group Ride Analytics
When you open a group activity in Xert, you'll see a notification at the top indicating that this is a group activity and showing which other Xert riders have shared their data with you.
To analyze the ride:
- Open the activity on xertonline.com.
- Click the Advanced Stats tab.
- Select Group Analysis from the dropdown.
The Group Analysis panel opens on the right side, showing a summary card for each rider who shared their data.
Summary Stats
For each rider, Xert calculates:
- Power — average power over the segment
- Maximal Effort Time — how much time the rider was at or near their MPA
- In Front % — the percentage of time the rider was ahead of you
By default, summary stats show data for the entire ride. To analyze a specific segment of the ride, click and drag a selection on the chart, then click the refresh icon on the summary card to update the stats for that selection.
If you have starred segments on Strava and you're a Strava Premium user, those segments will also appear on the right panel.
Comparing Riders on the Chart
Each rider has a checkbox on their summary card. Enable the checkbox to add their data to the chart. Once enabled, hovering over the chart shows that rider's data at any point — including their power, speed, and gap relative to you.
Use the legend below the chart to toggle individual data types (power, MPA, speed) on or off for each rider:
Group FlyBy: GPS Playback
Below the chart, you'll find playback controls. Click the play button to watch a synchronized playback of the ride on the Google Map — each rider's position updates in real time as the playback advances.
Adjust the playback speed using the menu next to the play button. Drag the slider to scrub to a specific point in the ride.
During playback, the map switches to a directional perspective view. You can change zoom and direction during playback, and your view preferences will be preserved until the segment is reloaded.
Fixing Out-of-Sync Bike Computer Times
Different bike computers don't always agree on the time. Even a few seconds of clock skew between two devices can make the In Front calculation look wrong — Xert thinks rider A was ahead because rider A's clock said 14:32:05 when they were at a given GPS point, but rider B's clock said 14:32:10 at the same point.
This is normal and expected. To fix it:
- On the rider's summary card, click the ellipses (•••) next to the rider's name.
- Select Time Shift and enter the adjustment in seconds. Positive values shift the rider's data forward; negative values shift it back.
- Click the refresh button to apply the shift to the chart and map.
Experiment with small adjustments (a few seconds at a time) until the data lines up correctly — for example, until you and another rider show the same position when you were actually side by side.
Privacy and Sharing Controls
Group Ride Analytics only shows data for riders who have explicitly shared with you (or who share with you via a squad community). You can't see another rider's data unless they've enabled sharing — and they can't see yours unless you've enabled sharing.
To change what gets shared:
- Default for your account — managed through your community memberships. Members of squads you belong to see your default-shared activities.
- Per-activity — change the sharing setting on any individual activity from its activity page.
If you have privacy concerns about specific activities (e.g., rides that pass your home, sensitive routes), change those activities to Private before they sync, or change them to Private after they're uploaded.
Need Help?
If Group Ride Analytics isn't showing other riders' data when you expect it to, the most common causes are:
- The other riders haven't shared their data. They need to either share their specific activity with the group, or join a squad community with you.
- The activity wasn't detected as a group ride. Xert detects group rides based on overlapping GPS routes and timing. If the riders started/stopped at meaningfully different times or didn't ride close together, Xert may not link the activities.
- Different bike computers' clocks were significantly off. Try the time-shift adjustment.
For other issues, contact support@xertonline.com.
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