Originally Posted by
Iride01
Most of the Garmin Edges from the 520 up have barometric altimeters. I'd think most other manufacturers of cycling computers/gps intended for cyclist wanting metrics data will have models with barometric sensors too.
They aren't 100% either. But they give some useful data when it's all taken relative to a bunch of rides.
GPS in general is notoriously bad at determining altitude. The geometry of the satellite locations just doesn’t lend itself to good altitude positioning. Having a barometric sensor helps, but they too are sensitive to the weather, moisture near the sensor port, etc..., than you deal with the cloud based program - Ride-With-GPS, Strava, etc... that all seem to use different methods to calculate how much altitude gained/lost on a ride. Lots of posts all around as to wild numbers recorded on rides.
My Garmin Connect app says 295 ft. for yesterday’s short mt. bike ride. RWGPS said 271 ft. on flat Long Island on an 8 mile ride. The ride distance is only off by .04 miles. I can only imagine the altitude difference if it were 20-30 miles in Colorado.
Irode01 has it correct to use it in comparison to other rides. I’d also use and stick with one cloud tracker.