These all seem to be within a reasonable margin of error (bikehike was 12% less than my GPS, the biggest difference). OS Map (not measured) 220 (Counting contours with a magnifying glass) Strava track 21.4 233 (Strava's interpretation of IPbike data) Strava needs to have 1km and 10m added to account for different start/end points (I don't start Strava stuff from home, even with privacy zones).īoth are a good match to my GPS log (which may actually use the barometer): Method Distance/km Total climb/m I've recreated a ride I did today using Strava route builder and bikehike Test 1: 20km of undulating road and bridleways with around 230m of climb As my original question was about building routes, I've tried a few tools for comparison to my own logs. Bikehike works for routes as well (in the UK). For track logs they recommend (UK) and (overseas) which are both free. So they've tried to find an automated system that's just as good. It works best for sustained climbs in open country - which is what they mainly want it for. This is rather tricky in areas with lots of features, such as towns, and is tedious at the best of times. They regard the gold standard as counting contours on an Ordnance Survey map (for those not in the UK, the output of our national mapping agency can be expensive, but is very good). The people at Audax UK have given this some thought. † Strava route builder is no longer free, and while it has always used OSM data to some extent, it combines proprietary data in ways and amounts that have changed over time.

* I didn't log rides at the time now I do. At 10% or even 20% I wouldn't be too worried but that's a big difference.

The distance is within rounding error (Google: 68.5km Strava 67.7). Now when I put the same loop into Strava and Google I get a difference in elevation gain, and not a small one: 522m from Google and 774m from Strava which is 48% more. I'm planning a few routes, and while I've generally used Google maps and CycleStreets, the former makes exporting to GPX a pain (there are third party tools, but once you've customised a route they sometime refuse to work, and Google doesn't pass on the customisation properly) and the latter doesn't allow customised routes (though its 3 options are generally good).Īfter hunting for another tool I tried Strava's route builder planning tool (I don't feel any need to log my rides online so don't use Strava for anything else*).

Ride with gps vs map my ride