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Strava – elevation discrepancy

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  • May 15, 2015 at 3:16 pm #24009
    ashfanman

    Just got back from a ride out of London into Surrey and notice the elevation listed for the ride on Strava is way lower than I was expecting.

    When I planned the route in Strava’s Route Builder, it was listed as 55.6 miles and 3,651 ft elevation. When I uploaded the activity, it says I did 56.4 miles and 2,528 ft elevation, despite following the route exactly.

    That’s obviously a pretty huge discrepancy between the route planner and the actual ride – over 1,000 ft elevation. Does anyone know why that is?

    Thanks.

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Viewing 7 replies - 16 through 22 (of 22 total)
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  • May 15, 2015 at 7:14 pm #846313
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    ianrobo

    Afraid it is the Garmin which
    Afraid it is the Garmin which is wrong. No getting away from that, it works it out incorrectly and in Garmin Connect the elevation correction always knocks off 20% or so from what the Garmin says.

    May 15, 2015 at 6:40 pm #846311
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    sergius

    Crocknorth sucks. But it’s
    Crocknorth sucks. But it’s not quite as bad as White Down Lane. 🙂

    May 15, 2015 at 5:06 pm #846309
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    ashfanman

    I did lose signal a few times
    I did lose signal a few times on the ride when I went through forested areas, but I can’t see that accounting for such a huge difference.

    I guess I should trust the (lower) elevation recorded on the ride by the Garmin, rather than the elevation from the route plan on Strava? Pity – I’d feel better about the dull ache in my legs if I had actually climbed the lost 1,000ft! Crocknorth was a lot steeper than I was expecting… Good ride either way!

    May 15, 2015 at 4:39 pm #846307
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    Simon E

    I’d not trust Strava for
    I’d not trust Strava for elevation data, I have seen significant discrepancies between people riding the same route, even in the same event.

    May 15, 2015 at 4:14 pm #846305
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    ashfanman

    Recorded using a Garmin
    Recorded using a Garmin 1000.

    I’d expect to see some discrepancy, but 3,650ft to 2,500ft is a pretty significant difference…

    May 15, 2015 at 4:12 pm #846303
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    AWP

    Agree with sergius. It’ll
    Agree with sergius. It’ll probably be down to the device you are using not having barometric assistance to calculate change in altitude. Relying on pure GPS in not going to be accurate.

    May 15, 2015 at 3:50 pm #846301
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    sergius

    You haven’t said whether you
    You haven’t said whether you recorded using a phone (just GPS) or a Garmin or similar (with barometric altitude).

    Assuming it’s a phone, the GPS calculations are often flaky – before I got the Garmin I’d routinely see variations in distance of +/- 2 miles on the same 65 mile route, and elevation would vary by a few hundred feet – I believe spotty signal coverage is the generally accepted cause.

    The Garmin is better – but you’ll still see variations but over a much tighter range.

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