Originally Posted by
Iride01
You aren't expecting your gain/loss or shown elevation to match when you get back to your starting point are you? It won't if the atmospheric pressure is changing as it always is.
A .1 in. Hg change in barometric pressure is 100 feet of elevation change. The baro sensor in your device has no way of knowing whether the pressure differences it senses is from it changing altitude or simply the atmospheric pressure changing. The are some ways for it to guess and some devices let you help it by adding elevation points. But some devices only adjust once for elevation.
I've had some longer rides where the elevation shown starting and finishing in the same place was 500 or more feet different. I think I've even had a ride where a dry front passed and there was almost a 1000 feet difference. Wish I'd marked those so I could show an example.
I just want the computer to be in the "ballpark of correct" with respect to elevation. I do not have high expectations. I'm in Florida, so elevation really ain't my thang. At the same time, if my actual elevation gain for a 50 mile ride is 157 ft. my bike computer shouldn't tell me I climbed 1,300 ft. This is what I was recently experiencing on a consistent basis with the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt (after it had been tracking elevation correctly for almost 8 months). In a recent 100-mile event with an elevation gain of 3,773 ft. my Bolt thought I had climbed 6,049 ft. Whether I care about elevation or not, no bike computer should be that inaccurate.