Rotorburn strava

Flow-Rider

Burner
My mate rode with his watch and his phone recording the same ride over the weekend, some segments were faster by 30 seconds or more on the phone. Very few were faster on the watch, and only by a couple of seconds. I think it's safe to say that if you aren't running a military grade GPS you can't trust every segment and phones appear to give you faster times in general. So really, the only valid segment challenge is yourself using the same device each time.

I really hope they consolidate segments with our money, it's so stupid when there are 12 of the same segment.
I actually found that my Garmin 810 was a couple of seconds faster over most trails than my phone. Two friends bought identical Garmin watches, and they were over 15 min difference in an hours ride.
 

Litenbror

Eats Squid
I had a good one last week my watch (Suunto) gave me 1004m of ascent and when it synced with Strava I got 1332m. Others on the ride got between 900 and 1000m so I have to think something funny happened when the Suunto software synced with Strava.
 

sbm

Likes Bikes
Don't do that. Bad Idea, I tried it.

Doing a real race put me in my place very quickly lol , went from generally high up in strava to very mid pack in reality ha ha
Oh don't worry, I've done some local BMX racing, my ego has been obliterated, I'm completely at peace with coming dead last, and being slower than both the little kids AND their parents.
 

sane

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I had a good one last week my watch (Suunto) gave me 1004m of ascent and when it synced with Strava I got 1332m. Others on the ride got between 900 and 1000m so I have to think something funny happened when the Suunto software synced with Strava.
I use the same, ambit 3. The Movescount app exagerated elevation in the past, since I changed to the newer Suunto app el seems to be on the conservative side. Which app do you use?
 

Litenbror

Eats Squid
I use the same, ambit 3. The Movescount app exagerated elevation in the past, since I changed to the newer Suunto app el seems to be on the conservative side. Which app do you use?
I'm using the new software also the watch (Spartan Ultra) tracks it in real time so I don't think it's a software issue with Suunto. I probably need to go back and check previous rides to see if it's a one off or a common problem. Most likely it's a difference with tracking as I'm using GLONASS on the watch and have it set to very accurate and Strava might not like it as I think most phones would only use GPS.

There's a thought is it the GPS that the phones and watches use to calculate altitude or do they have have altimeter's built in. Time for some googling.
 

silentbutdeadly

has some good things to say
There's a thought is it the GPS that the phones and watches use to calculate altitude or do they have have altimeter's built in. Time for some googling.
I'm fairly sure that both Mapbox (now used by Strava), OpenStreetMap and Google all use the same digital elevation model for their mapping of Australia. It'll be the 10 metre DEM supplied by Geoscience Australia... primarily because it's free.

Now, if I remember the model parameters sufficiently, it's something like a 100 square metre pixel across which the average elevation is modelled based on terrain mapping and point source elevation data. I can't recall what the vertical precision of the thing is...

Each mapping software simply takes the GPS positioning and barymetric data off your device and then cross references it against the DEM in order to estimate altitude at a given point on your activity.

Given that none of these data points is especially precise to begin with then it should come as no surprise that everyone's final readings are quite a bit different. Or just plain wrong.

I used to ride around Mildura along the Murray River in NW Victoria...the area is roughly 40 metres above sea level and generally flat. Yet somehow it's quite possible to ride for a hour or two and claim 300 metres in elevation. And yet here I sit at 600 metres elevation on the central western slopes of NSW with the town at 550 metres and if I go for an hour or two ride I can claim...about 300 metres.

As a result...I don't take my Garmin or how Strava interprets the data it produces particularly seriously.
 

sane

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Definitely not to be taken too seriously. Strava's best feature for me is being able to shit talk with other riding mates who don't live just around the corner.
 

The Duckmeister

Has a juicy midrange
I used to ride around Mildura along the Murray River in NW Victoria...the area is roughly 40 metres above sea level and generally flat. Yet somehow it's quite possible to ride for a hour or two and claim 300 metres in elevation. And yet here I sit at 600 metres elevation on the central western slopes of NSW with the town at 550 metres and if I go for an hour or two ride I can claim...about 300 metres.

As a result...I don't take my Garmin or how Strava interprets the data it produces particularly seriously.
I've never used Strava, just my Bryton and its associated BrytonSport platfom, and consistently get a different elevation reading between what the device records and what the overlay processes; the latter typically knocks a bit off.

What's funny is that I use the Bryton when I go kayaking; my local creek is semi-tidal, so gradient is basically non-existent, but the idiot thing records elevation gain when I paddle upstream! (About 20m in 5 or 6km) :D
 

mtb1611

Seymour
Ah yes, the fallibility of Strava.....mate and I rode together a couple of weeks back. Strava had me 30 - 60 seconds faster than him on some segments, and vice versa. I rode 5km to his place and we rode to the trail from there, same route on return; according to Strava he did 120m more climbing than me....!
 

CHEWY

Eats Squid
Ah yes, the fallibility of Strava.....mate and I rode together a couple of weeks back. Strava had me 30 - 60 seconds faster than him on some segments, and vice versa. I rode 5km to his place and we rode to the trail from there, same route on return; according to Strava he did 120m more climbing than me....!
That could be more the quality of the GPS in your devices?
 

Minlak

custom titis
Ah yes, the fallibility of Strava.....mate and I rode together a couple of weeks back. Strava had me 30 - 60 seconds faster than him on some segments, and vice versa. I rode 5km to his place and we rode to the trail from there, same route on return; according to Strava he did 120m more climbing than me....!
That could be more the quality of the GPS in your devices?
If I record on my Garmin and upload to Strava I get say 400m elevation and the person I rode with recoding direct to Strava gets 550m - I can go into my Strava Dashboard on a computer and select elevation and correct it - this will give me the elevation of Strava - now you can correct it back to device elevation of your elevation goes down

So if you both are using your device elevation then it will be different - my riding buddy has a Garmin 510 it measures low all the time compared to any one else’s I have a 530 currently and had an 820 - they use a hole in the side to measure pressure to decide elevation - we have found temperatures and where it’s mounted effect this
 

droenn

Fat Man's XC President
Yep, Garmin Instinct is terrible for elevation. The hole where its measuring is under watch, so when you bend wrists like on handlebars, its against skin and the glove - I imagine sweat and dust and everything else don't help either! I've started just correcting all my rides to the strava elevation as its more consistent.
 

rextheute

Likes Bikes and Dirt
@Daniel Hale - Wombat 10 Ascent - there is an amazing number against that climb ?
Did you do SS ? - i climbed on Sat - but spent time draining puddles

- when i cam home i said Faaaaark Me , this guy must have legs like pistons !
Grade from 6 -9 % . Solid Effort



And yes , i rode my e-mtb up it as i am a slug with no skills
 

Spike-X

Grumpy Old Sarah
@wkkie, myself, and a third party did the exact same loop this morning. Third party recorded 14.5 km, I recorded 15.7, and wkkie came in at 15.9.

'sup wit dat?
 

wkkie

It's Not Easy Being Green
@wkkie, myself, and a third party did the exact same loop this morning. Third party recorded 14.5 km, I recorded 15.7, and wkkie came in at 15.9.

'sup wit dat?
3rd party was using a Wahu (I think) GPS, and I use my phone. Not sure what you used though, but subtle differences in hardware and gps's could account for the differences...
 
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