Garmin - Stava and Zwift

Hello,

I am new to all three and I’m really confused how to get the best out of connecting all three.

I would like to know how you manage your data to avoid double counting one run as two events!

I would like my real time Garmin data to be saved to be analysed to help me assess my improvement and stay motivated.

I also like to save my virtual runs on Zwift. I am new to Zwift so on my first run yesterday I ended up with my garmin watch logging a run and Zwift logging the same run.

The result is my garmin thinks I did 2 x runs from double accounting. Whereas strava also thought I did 2 runs.

How do you link all three together so you only get one run?

(Also - which is best apps/widgets for analysing run data?)

any advice very welcome.

sallyanne

I am in the same position and - to be honest - I just gave up, as I don’t think there is a good solution. You just need to disable one of them and ensure you have a master version only.

My set-up is that both Zwift and Garmin write to Strava, but I manually delete the Garmin equivalent activitity that gets linked. That way, I can get all my analysis in Garmin, but I use Strava as the training log of miles done and calories burned.

I find Garmin the most powerful in terms of analysis functionality; I pay for premium on Strava but barely check it - it’s just not very useful.

I’ve never found an appropriate compromise, to be honest. If you have Garmin writing to Strava then you end up double-counting from Zwift, which is a pain. However, I do use my Forerunner 235 in sync with my Garmin HRM dual chest strap (which is linked to Zwift) and I’m finding that Zwift over-estimates my calories by around 15% compared to Garmin.

I posted a question about this previously and nobody answered.

It would be great if you could link a Garmin activity to a Strava activity and have it so that both recognise that the Zwift upload and the Garmin upload are the same thing, but it’s never going to happen - and the duration of the activities will differ slightly so it’s a pain to implement.

1 Like

Honestly, I just delete them afterwards.

  • Zwift uploads to Strava
  • My Edge 830 uploads to Garmin Connect
  • Strava sends a copy of my Zwift workout to Garmin Connect
  • Garmin Connect sends a copy of my Edge workout to Strava
  • I log in to Strava and delete the Garmin workout
  • I log in to Connect and delete the Zwift workout

It’s a pain, to be fair. I could disconnect Garmin and Strava, but then my outside rides would have to be manually sent over from Connect to Strava.

Today I had an added activity to delete because I’d used TrainerRoad and Zwift and my Edge all at the same time.

Oh yeah, I have to delete activities from TrainingPeaks too because that’s connected to Zwift and Garmin Connect.

And almost all of this because the Firstbeat analysis only takes place on the Garmin device. Grrr!

1 Like

Zwift → Strava
Garmin → Strava

Start and stop the timers for both Zwift and Garmin at about the same time. When you finish your Zwift ride or run, save and exit. Zwift will upload to Strava almost immediately, almost always within a minute. The Garmin is stopped, but hasn’t been saved. Save now. If not auto upload, then manually upload to Garmin Connect. Now, Garmin will transfer to Strava. BUT, Strava is smart and will discard the Garmin file as a duplicate. As long as the timestamps are close, this works great. Otherwise, you’ll have to manually delete the duplicate on Strava.

2 Likes

I dropped Strava, I dual record Garmin and zwift and use a new Bluetooth Garmin HRM for running and cycling. I keep the zwift runs and delete the Zwift Cycling from my Garmin connect when finished.
There is More data from the Garmin Bike computer/Connect.
Then I am good to good for activities outside, I only have to look in one place. Garmin connect also keeps track of my mileage on Running shoes and bike drivetrain. This keeps it simple, I found the numbers differ between Strava and Garmin Connect.

Not that it really matter since you have ditched Strava, but the numbers are all the same if you are comparing the same thing. A couple of gotchas, dislikes, or points of confusion:

*Running: Strava’s running splits show moving time not elapsed time. If you want the same as you see on Garmin, you need to look at laps.
*Cycling: Strava’s Weighted Avg Power is not the same as Garmin’s Normalized Power (NP)

This absolutely never happens with my rides.

Odd. In my case, it works for both Zwift rides and outdoor rides. Outdoor rides I double record as well to a watch in addition to my head unit. Indoors or.outdoors, as long as I start and stop the time w/in a few secs of each other, the second upload to Garmin never shows up on Strava. Hence, I usually check to see a ride is on Strava before I save and upload the secondary (i.e., Garmin 935) On the other hand, Garmin is not so smart. Outdoor rides require me to delete the second ride.

Well that’ll probably be it then. I don’t tie them so closely to each other. Sometimes I’ll start pedalling while Zwift is still changing maps, or continue pedalling while I’m in the save ride screen in Zwift. There could easily be 30 seconds or more at each end.

Strava should be more intelligent though. If I have two cycling activities that almost completely overlap, it’s clear they must be the same actual activity.

Hi all!, I can connect my garmin fenix watch to my trainer (SB20) and record my zwift sessions directly to Garmin Connect, thus I can get training and body stats managed by GC (VO2max, training effect, etc). However in that way, I don’t get zwift real distance or elevation profile that I, otherwise can record and export to GC directly from Zwift. Is there any way to get both types of info/data directly from zwift to GC?? I think it makes no sense not to be able to get it directly from zwift as even my HR data is coming broadcasted from my fenix 6 (all HR sensible data should be the same).

interesting ask… i come from wahoo element roam and would like to try on Garmin Edge 830… not totally related to your quesiton but I find Garmin Connect IQ is making things too complicated… and now I got a tacx trainer… it looks like connect IQ has blocked 3rd party data services pass through, for example, I can’t do something like Zwift → Connect IQ → Relive or Komoot…etc.