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Garmin Connect vs Wahoo

9603539
over 4 years ago

Good day to all,

I have Garmin Instinct, but lately I added also Wahoo Elemnt Bolt to my cycling setup. I use Instinct as my heart rate sensor, broadcasting to Bolt my HR data. This works well. My Wahoo data is automatically uploaded to Strava, but I need to manually upload the FIT file to Garmin Connect since Garmin and Wahoo do not like each other (and hold their consumers as hostages for that matter which sucks). So this works as well under these circumstances. And now to my problem... The data in Strava is correct, showing the same values for my HR zones as my Bolt does. But in Garmin Connect there are several issues:

1. Connect shows only 4 of 5 zones, ignoring Z1 and showing only Z2-Z5, but even this is not correct, because it shifts them, showing Z2 as Z1, Z3 as Z2 etc.

2. Connect in my Android app does not show any values beside the HR zone bars in the graph, only the bars, no time or percentage in zones.

Since Wahoo and Strava both show correct values, but Connect does not, I take it that the problem may be with Connect rather than the data (to Strava it makes sence, but to Connect it does not?).

My HR zones are set in all three apps equaly, meaning that in Strava, Wahoo and Garmin I have the same HR zones limits.

So, thats that. I can live with it, I will just check my HR zones data in Strava or Wahoo, but still, I would prefer to have the same data in all three, just because it seems to me that it should be the same. It seems to me as a bug in Garmin Connect messing up the zones, but it may as well be the problem with Wahoo FIT file data. Can anyone using Wahoo and Garmin Connect confirm this behavior and possibly offer a solution? Please, just don't suggest not using Garmin or Wahoo or similar wise guy comments :)

Also, would it be too much to ask the competing companies to offer to their paying customers full service to use their products with full potential? Not offering the dirrect auto upload between Garmin and Wahoo is so immature...

  • 0 over 4 years ago
    9603539 said:
    My HR zones are set in all three apps equaly, meaning that in Strava, Wahoo and Garmin I have the same HR zones limits.

    The HR Zones are device parameters (accessible through the User Setting in Device Settings for the specific device), so if you have set up the HR Zones for Instinct, but are importing files coming from your Wahoo device, it will likely not work correctly (regardless where the HR data comes from). 

    Or do you reffer to HR Zones in activity files directly from Instinct? In that case, check whether you have only a single HR Zone definition table, or multiple ones in Instinct User Settings (i.e. separate ones for Running and Cycling) - in that case you may be using the wrong HRZ profile.

    9603539 said:
    Also, would it be too much to ask the competing companies to offer to their paying customers full service to use their products with full potential? Not offering the dirrect auto upload between Garmin and Wahoo is so immature...

    I think indeed that asking that is a bit inappropriate. Garmin developped their software for the use with Garmin devices. Adding a support for every existing competitor would represent endless development effort, with elevated cost not only for the development, but also for the maintenance, dcoumenation, translation, and support (including the additional training of the support staff in all regions). No manufacturer can afford doing it. That's not something you paid for. And that's why there are services like Strava, that work with multiple manufacturers, and where the development cost is covered by paying users and/or sponsors.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to trux
    trux said:
    The HR Zones are device parameters (accessible through the User Setting in Device Settings for the specific device), so if you have set up the HR Zones for Instinct, but are importing files coming from your Wahoo device, it will likely not work correctly (regardless where the HR data comes from). 

    Not sure I follow... the data comes from Wahoo device. When it hits Strava it shows 5 HR zones with (almost) identical values as Wahoo device does. When uploaded to GC I only get 4 HR zones Z2-Z5 which are labeled incorrectly as Z1-Z4, otherwise the values are very close, basicaly identical to Wahoo data. So what gives? Why can Strava show good values and GC cannot? In GC the values are not completely wrong, just in the wrong zones with Z1 ignored altogether.

    I don't buy your last point because once upon a time sync between Wahoo and GC worked as I gathered from older discussions few years back. But then Garmin started charging for access to their APIs and the sync was dropped. Or perhaps the bad is on Wahoo, I don't know, but in either case one of these companies is not trying hard enough to offer the service which many smaller companies do, thus forcing us to do the sync manually. I don't mind this extra effort, I only wish it would be problem free, which apparently it is not.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to 9603539
    9603539 said:
    Why can Strava show good values and GC cannot?

    Because in Strava HR Zones are set globally in the user profile (valid for all devices you use), while at Garmin HR zones are a property of each device. And since there is no HR zone info in the imported activity file, and no settings for your Wahoo, GC takes some default values. Just like for any other device without the HR Zone definition table.

    9603539 said:
    But then Garmin started charging for access to their APIs and the sync was dropped.

    Not sure whether the API was ever free, but that is their right to charge for its use. Finally the development and maintenance cost money, so it needs to be covered by someone. Garmin's priority for Garmin Connect are Garmin devices, and not the providing of free software, support, server space, and data bandwith for devices of their competitors.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to trux

    Your explanation of the HR zones issue is probably correct, it makes sense. Hopefully, Garmin will add an option in the future to have HR zones set in the user profile rather than in device settings, because that would seem more logical. No matter which device one uses, his HR zones are the same or perhaps related to activity type, rather than the device itself.

  • +1 over 3 years ago

    Source Wahoo Bolt, Same issue with zones on GC app, no zones shown on GC Web UI

    Workaround available: GC Web -> Activity -> Edit ->Trim Activity 
    enough to trim 1 second from the end -> Save

    After that Zones are correctly shown in GC Web and App

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to lteses

    Fantastic, that actually works! Thank you for posting this tip.