Originally Posted by
Seattle Forrest
I can only go by my own experience but: when I did Washington Pass from Mazama the actual elevation gain according to USGS topo maps is 3,374 feet and my Garmin recorded 3,343. The next day I did Cutthroat Pass which is officially 2,300 feet and my Garmin recorded it as 2,313. I can keep going with examples, it's remarkably accurate. The displayed elevation changes as I walk up and down the stairs. Of course this is with a watch, not with an Edge. I have no idea what my Edge recorded, but in general it tends to be pretty similar.
No idea about watches, but look at these numbers reported by Strava for a recent 24 mile group ride I did:
Me: 1,308ft (Strava) / 1431ft (Cyclemeter using iPhone Barometer)
Rider 1: 1,663ft (Garmin Edge 510)
Rider 2: 1,677ft (Garmin Edge 810)
Rider 3: 1,903ft (Garmin Edge 800)
So you can see that although 2 of the Garmin guys were close, the third got over 230ft of climbing extra recorded. That and all the Garmin riders got over 300ft more climbing than I did on Strava, by benefit of using a Garmin! I suppose if you were to take a positive here, 2 of the Garmin users were pretty close, so it's possible only one Garmin was anomalous, but Strava trusts it anyway!