This discussion has been locked.
You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Course elevation oddities

I just created and saved a course in connect.garmin.com. The elevation gain on the web site shows as 1894 feet. I downloaded to my computer as a gpx file, then copied to the Edge 1030, and the course shows an elevation gain of 0 feet. As an alternative, I used Garmin Connect on my iPhone connect to transfer the course to my Edge 1030 (under a slightly different course name) and it shows an elevation gain of 4308 feet.

It seems odd that the elevation gains don't match at all.

The Edge is on firmware 5.0. Garmin Connect on my iPhone is the most current version.

Any ideas?

Thanks
  • When you transfer it via the phone GC builds the course file in a FIT file format. It appears that the file contains elevation data.

    I would check the GPX file, but it sounds like it does not contain any elevation data. Could you post it here?

    Out of interest why did you export it as a GPX file rather than selecting the option to send it directly to the Edge, which would have sent it across as a FIT file.

    GC and the Edge currently use different methods to compute total elevation gain/loss.
  • Hmm ... I just tried to upload the gpx course, but the forum web site is rejecting the file as an invalid gpx file format.

    I didn't send the course from my Mac to the device directly because I didn't load the connect software on my Mac. My general policy is to load as little software onto a laptop as possible, and it seemed that the iOS Connect app on my iPhone would do the trick for loading.
  • How can the two methods result in such different elevation gains just for moving a course from the website to the device: 4308 and 1894 feet?
  • That is why I would like to see the files.
  • Alan, I'm trying again to attach the gpx file that connect.garmin.com created, but I get an upload error message saying invalid file when I try to upload the gpx file here. Should I be doing something differently to upload the file?

    PS... I rode the created course on Saturday, and 1030 followed the course just fine, but the actual elevation recorded by the 1030 during the ride was close to 3000 ft, quite different that either the 1894 feet reported by connect.garmin.com, or the 4308 feet shown in the course summary on the 1030 after the gpx was transferred.
  • I wrote about it many times.
    Garmin does not listen, they do not care.
    Elevation that calculates garmin connect is correct, or - close enough to the truth.
    You send such a course to 1030 and 1030 recalculates elevation with no sens, with a very large error even 60-100% or more.
    Alan-"GC and the Edge currently use different methods to compute total elevation gain/loss"- it is a complete absurd, the same method should be used - the correct one.
    Using indicated elevations does not make any sense, they should be removed in the next update as completely unreadable.
  • Post a link to the Course in GC
  • Guys, you do not need any links.
    Create any course, send to 1030 and compare the indications.
    They will always be the same, high errors of elevations.
  • Here is the link to the course as created on connect.garmin.com: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/19707571. On the website, it shows 1894 feet gain. When transferred as a gpx file to the 1030, it showed 4308 feet gain. When actually ridden over the weekend, the gain as recorded by the 1030 was almost 3000 feet. Any advice on how to create courses with a predictable elevation gain would be welcome. We are going on a trip soon where we will be mapping our our routes, and I don’t want to inadvertently pick a route with crazy elevation gain due to software bugs — we are on a tandem, and that wouldn’t make my wife happy at all.
  • "Any advice on how to create courses with a predictable elevation gain would be welcome."
    You can not do it, do not waste energy on it.
    It's Garmin's fault, they will not fix it, because it's beyond their capabilities.