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Edge 820 / 830 / 1030 underestimate elevation (systematically)

Hi,

I have an Edge 820 but my friends have a 830 and a 1030, same problem for everyone.

We have big gaps between our elevations compared to the real one given by strava or my suunto ambit 3 watch. Our high-end Garmins are all underestimating the elevation of the ride by around 20-30% which is A LOT!

We all set the Garmin Edges to 1s recording to make sure the GPS is recording with the best accuracy but it does not change anything.

I had a look at the professional riders on Strava and when they end a race (the same one of course) those using a Garmin Edge have a VERY underestimated elevation (around -50%!).

Example:

Thibaut Pinot is using a Garmin Edge 1030 on this race: https://www.strava.com/activities/2441786636 His elevation is 864m.

Laurens ten Dam is using a Garmin 820 on the same race and gets 850m https://www.strava.com/activities/2441722380

The real elevation of this race is 1795m... https://www.francebleu.fr/sports/cyclisme/criterium-du-dauphine-2019-3e-etape-le-puy-en-velay-riom-1558354625

There is obsiously something wrong with Garmin Edge and elevation at the moment.

Please take a look at this issue. My Suunto watch is not supposed to perform better than a premium Garmin GPS, and yet it is.

  • I have the same problem. Support only gave me the instructions to do a Factory Reset of my 830... all my customisations lost and the same error with the total elevation. 

    Now I’m waiting the new response, but this is absolutely unacceptable for me. It may be a Software bug, because the problem started about a month ago. 

  • I'm having the same problem.  Nowhere even close to accurate.  Strava now flags every ride.  Started a few weeks ago with recent software "upgrade". I'm glad to know factory reset didn't correct because that was my next step.  I have a Wahoo that I use as back up, so I guess I'll use that till this is corrected.

  • I spoke with Garmin on this and they will be pushing a release out soon that fixes this issue on the 530/830/1030

  • Same issue here. Not sure how long its been this way. In the past, I felt that their data was pretty accurate. Now it leaves me 2000 feet shy for a 6000 feet climbed. The stava fix altitude works for my road biking, but for mountain biking I really need this function to work.

    Glad to hear that Garmin is going to be pushing out a fix.

  • I have also had this issue since I got my Edge 830. Grade and elevation gain/loss are wildly inaccurate - usually between 30-40%. Has there been any movement on this issue? What can be done to fix it?

  • If this is in regards to version 6.2, I don't think it has. Went for a ride yesterday and the elevation was as inaccurate as ever - and what's more it seems to have severed my connection to Strava!

  • I´ve noticed the problem with FW 6.20. A 900+ climb was recorded as being around 170 m!

    It was accurate during the summer.

  • I have the same problem, I started a ride from 900 mt with no descent up to 1850 mt of elevation, and my 1030 just showed an elevation gain of 900 mt, whereas the elevation data on the app on my smartphone proved to be correct. I think this is an issue they should try to solve.. 

  • What is your source of "truth"?  How do you know that you started at 900m and ended at 1850m, and how do you know that your app/phone is correct?  I would expect them to all agree if they are using the same information (e.g. Strava map or segment data).   

    It may be that your garmin device is not working correctly, but unless you have some solid elevation data (like a survey map or similar) then you don't really have a good basis for determining that.  I'd say the 50m discrepancy is easily within the error bar of some data you might be relying on.

    Around here, I find the barometric data about elevation gain/loss to be remarkably consistent from day to day for my device and consistent with the survey elevation data and Strava segment data (and consistent with most of the people who ride around here).  The absolute elevation may not be super accurate but the delta is pretty reliable.  

  • I don't know if the device relies on the elevation data itself, maybe on an internal accelerometer. Yesterday I was climbing a hill, about 6-7 miles of what I know to be maybe between 3-6% most of the way. However my Edge 830 told me I was at -2%, and at the steepest part it gradually changed to 1%. I don't have a source of "truth" for every point on the hill but it is certainly not downhill while climbing!

    I think that this is getting factored in to the final elevation gain/loss data. At the end of the ride it reported a total gain of 900ft when I know that the distance from the bottom of the hill to the top is about 1500ft based on data from my city.