Differences in Elevation figures between Strava & Mapmyride

doug5_10

I use Mapmyride to plan and plot out my routes then record them on Strava using my phone. However there is always a massive difference in elevation gain quoted on the same routes. Strava is always much higher, sometimes almost twice as much.

Anybody got any ideas why this is or which is most accurate? Only ask as I've plotted out the Tour Ride (Peebles one) to see what the parcours is like and got 3048ft so could probably expect 5000 with Strava! That and the official route profile on the TourRide website is missing the last 12 miles!

wongataa

I wouldn't really trust either. All these online maps are going to use the same freely available elevation dataset which isn't really that accurate. They probably just apply different smoothing algorithms to fill in holes and remove spikes.

Accurate elevation data costs a lot of money and is only available from national mapping agencies, such as the Ordnance Survey.

sloppyschleckonds

Strava algorithms lol

TheSmithers

In my case, Strava always downgrades my elevation (if I use the elevation correction feature) and generally makes me look worse, having also downgraded my average speed by 0.2mph on a couple of occasions.

When all said and done, there is so much variation between different devices and methods of recording elevation, and all these sites using different databases/algorithms, that really the only meaningful comparison you can make on Strava is with yourself. It's all a bit of fun and should be taken with a pinch of salt.