Gates are a disappointment

yzf1kr
26 days ago

We had planned to use Gates for downhill racing – exactly the kind of purpose they should be perfect for. Unfortunately, they fall short.

  • Setting them up works.
  • Riding them works.
  • But… there’s no way to compare runs unless you manually write down times. That makes the feature almost useless in practice.

What’s missing:

  • The ability to compare repeated runs automatically.
  • Support for sections instead of just full runs. In I rarely ride top-to-bottom at full speed.. Often we only run parts at race speed and take breaks, sometimes we repeat a tough section,shuttlle/walk back up to try again.

As it is now, Gates feel very rudimentary and don’t offer much practical use. With some improvements, though, this could be a powerful tool for MTB training and racing.

Anyone else struggling with the same limitations?

  • +1 26 days ago

    Hey yf1kr, could you explain more what you mean by automatic run compare? This is something designed into Garmin Connect for your review after the ride. In-ride, there is also the timing gates summary page which offers a view of your best times for each split as well as the current splits for that run. Is it that you can't past full run data in a live setting? I would love to understand more what you envisioned it would be doing.

    You are correct a limitation of the device currently is that you can't "session" a single split in the middle of your gates over and over without riding the rest of the gates as this would create a huge table of empty values for the rest. You would be better off setting a smaller subset of gates if your intention was to just 'race' a single section. 

  • 0 26 days ago in reply to steflund

    Maybe I am using the whole Gates feature the wrong way, but honestly there is no manual or guide anywhere — not even in reviews — that explains how it is intended to be used.

    My typical race weekend looks like this:

    • Day 1: Trackwalk + practice (this is where I set my gates and ride them)
    • Day 2: Practice + seeding run (ride gates)
    • Day 3: Practice + race (ride gates)

    How should I use the Edge MTB to compare all the gate times across 3 days?

    • Where is the overview? On the Edge itself there is no table, only per ride. Am I supposed to keep one single activity running for 3 days straight?
    • How can I check my gate times between runs (e.g. in the cable car or during lunch break) without scrolling ride by ride?
    • In Garmin Connect, I don’t see any separate table that shows all gate times in one place — only per activity, which is of little use for racing/training.

    Right now, the only way I can get a complete picture is to manually create a table with all gate times from all rides over all 3 days. There seems to be no automatic way to collect or compare gates across sessions.

    At this point, Gates feel more like a gimmick than a usable training tool.

    I do understand your technical point about sessioning a single section — yes, I could make a separate set of gates for that. But the bigger issue is the lack of an overview and comparison across multiple runs and days.

  • 0 25 days ago in reply to yzf1kr

    Great idea! I need a table with Timing Gates in Garmin Connect that can be viewed live. Something based on the same principle as the Strength Training feature in the premium account

  • 0 25 days ago in reply to yzf1kr

    You are correct that a current limitation of the implementation is that the timing gates are designed for a current activity's data only. There's still lots of benefit to see the performance differences between laps in a single session (line choice, tire pressure changes, suspension setup) that come from just one ride. 

    To your second bullet question - you can navigate to the split summary page when gates are active. It shows your current run data against your best splits from that session. I think that's what you're asking for checking timing between runs? Or have you seen that and are hoping for something different?

    We do appreciate the feedback on the day-to-day comparisons, it would certainly be another valuable enhancement to the gates feature.

  • 0 6 days ago

    I am also very disappointed. If im riding a route and maybe only do a set run once then sureley it would be reasonable to expect it to compare my times to the last time i did it on a previous ride. I cant even.look back after the ride and see timing gate times from different days all on one page. Just a minor software change would make a pretty useless tool into an amazing one! Currently i feel i have wasted my money.

  • 0 6 days ago

    I am also very disappointed. If im riding a route and maybe only do a set run once then sureley it would be reasonable to expect it to compare my times to the last time i did it. I cant even look back after the ride and see timing gate times from different days all on one page. Just a minor software change would make a pretty useless tool into an amazing one! Currently i feel i have wasted my money.

  • 0 6 days ago in reply to steflund

    Last weekend we had a big Downhill race again over 4 days.
    We set the gates, trained them, compared them.

    But our enthousiasm out the gate funtion is very limited. 

    Unless you keep an external spreadsheet, and note down every section manually, the gate function is virually useless. 
    We want to compare progress over several days. I want to see, how my gates are compared to the race.


    - Another great option to add, would be the ability to share the gates, so multiple riders van share the same set of gates. 
    - Another option to add would be replacing gates. We noticed that the startgate sometimes is positioned different then when we set the first gate during training, this often results in the gate being triggered while waiting in line for the start. 

  • 0 6 days ago

    I am also very disappointed. If im riding a route and maybe only do a set run once then sureley it would be reasonable to expect it to compare my times to the last time i did it on a previous ride. I cant even.look back after the ride and see timing gate times from different days all on one page. Just a minor software change would make a pretty useless tool into an amazing one! Currently i feel i have wasted my money.

  • 0 6 days ago

    +1 for disappointed also.

    Hopefully Timing Gates gets a revamp, it seems like a very BETA feature. Not something the device was released around.

    (EMTB can't use Garmin segments either.. no option available for racing against my own times on different days.)