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Starting elevation is +/- almost 200 feet

(there was a thread on this, but it was locked)

I recently purchased an Edge 130 to pair with my Varia radar - it's awesome. However, the starting elevation for my rides varies every day. The ground level at my home is at 853 ft - so, about 860 ft when checking on the railing of my deck.

When I start a ride, the starting elevation can be right at 855 (or so) or as high as 1060 ft. A few days ago, I manually entered 860 ft while on the desk. I went for a ride later that day and it ended back at my home at 903 ft (so, not a huge issue). The next day, I didn't check before starting but it started and ended my ride at 1067 ft. The next day, it started my ride at 850 ft and ended at 960 ft.

The second ride (that started and ended with 1067 ft) was following a course I created from a ride a few weeks earlier. During that earlier ride, my started was about 850 ft and end was 915 ft. So, that is not the reason the second time through that course was so far off.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Should I just exchange through Amazon? Open a ticket with Garmin?

  • I have opened a chat with Garmin. They had me delete the following folders from the Edge - Activity, Courses, RemoteSW and Workouts (which wasn't on mine) - and restart. I did a ride about an hour later and elevation was correct for the points I checked. I will see if it continues and report back.

  • I have done 3 rides since the action above and my elevation is vastly improved.

  • Elevation reading is based on barometric altimeter. Air pressure changes significantly with the elevation but also with the weather. If you want it to be precise you have to set it to known good value at the start of each ride.

  • Thanks. I just rode today and it started about 100 ft too low. I will check each time I ride to make sure it is accurate. That's odd, since I never see this with my VA4 (nor the VA3 before that).

  • Calibrate your starting elevation by doing the following:

    • Hold MENU.
    • Select Settings > Sensors & Accessories > Altimeter 
    • Select an option: To calibrate automatically from your GPS starting point, select Auto Cal., and select an option. To enter the known current elevation, select Calibrate.
  • I have not calibrated since deleting the folders recommended by Garmin. What I have noticed is that it will pick up the correct altitude if I hit "start" on the activity and wait a few seconds. Yesterday, it showed about 700 ft when I powered it up and then corrected to 854 ft when I hit start and waited a few seconds.

  • Yesterday, I went on a ride with friends with some stops (for beer) and the elevation started just fine at home home.. At the first stop, I paused and turned it off. When I turned back on and resumed, the elevation was up around 100 feet and there wasn't much I could do about it. It's frustrating. Maybe I didn't wait long enough for it to acclimate?

  • I think I figured out this resume issue as well. The Edge was in the sun and was hot. I now remove it from my bike and put it in the shade while stopped.

  • true that, calibrate the Altitude as Steynja described below and then Mark Location at all points you would usually start an activity (home, job, favorite pubs etc) and it should remember that spot and correct altitude for all future activities

  • Do as  says.
    Mark your common starting locations and edit them with the correct altitude.
    Set your Edge to Automatic Altitude calibration.
    Next time you start your ride near a known location, it uses the altitude of that location as starting value.
    After that, only changes in weather during your ride can disrupt your elevation.
    (the edges don't use automatic calibration during a ride, only at the start)