Karoo 2 - no L/R Balance data from import.

[Les McElhaney]

The L/R data seems to be in the FIT file, although it may not be in an expected format. I've done some importing/viewing into a few different tools with varying results.

• L/R Balance does not import into Garmin Connect or Golden Cheetah
• L/R balance does import into Training Peaks and can be seen in https://www.fitfileviewer.com/

Something funky is going on, not sure the root cause.

[Ale Martinez]

See https://github.com/GoldenCheetah/GoldenCheetah/issues/4067

[Les McElhaney]

Thanks, Ale. 

Read the thread. I agree, this is on Hammerhead. I'll take it up with them.

(Will also try the BLE connection approach.)

Les

[Henrik Menne]

Hi, 2-3 years later and this is still a problem. Hammerhead / Karoo has not changed the fit file. 

Currently, my workaround is a small python script that extracts the numbers from the fit file and then I can manually add them to an existing activity. Is there a better way to do it? 

[Ale Martinez]

El domingo, 12 de abril de 2026 a la(s) 1:31:05 p.m. UTC-3, henri...@gmail.com escribió:

Hi, 2-3 years later and this is still a problem. Hammerhead / Karoo has not changed the fit file. 

Do you reported the issue to their technical support, what was their answer?

 

Currently, my workaround is a small python script that extracts the numbers from the fit file and then I can manually add them to an existing activity. Is there a better way to do it? 

Ask for a cashback and buy a head unit of a company with responsive technical support (?) 

[Henrik Menne]

Currently in the progress, first reaction was - not our problem, as the DCR analyzer is displaying the data correctly.

And certainly, I will not exchange the karoo. The best computer I had so far. 

Garmin units may have a few more options, but the navigation is not as good. 

And what company creates a similar headunit with a good tech. support?   

[Ale Martinez]

El domingo, 12 de abril de 2026 a la(s) 3:12:40 p.m. UTC-3, henri...@gmail.com escribió:

Currently in the progress, first reaction was - not our problem, as the DCR analyzer is displaying the data correctly.

And certainly, I will not exchange the karoo. The best computer I had so far. 

Garmin units may have a few more options, but the navigation is not as good. 

And what company creates a similar headunit with a good tech. support?   

I don't know, it was a kind of joke, Garmin never had this issue and Wahoo fixed it long time ago. 

[Henrik Menne]

Yes, I agree.

I hope at some point I can get past 1st-level-support. And someone just changes a few lines of code.

I the meantime, the consumer has to find a way to live with it.

[Ale Martinez]

El domingo, 12 de abril de 2026 a la(s) 4:22:43 p.m. UTC-3, henri...@gmail.com escribió:

Yes, I agree.

I hope at some point I can get past 1st-level-support. And someone just changes a few lines of code.

I the meantime, the consumer has to find a way to live with it.

If you are willing/able to build GoldenCheetah from source it is easy to patch the FIT file importer to read non-compliant L/R Balance, just changing from lrbalance = RideFile::NA; to lrbalance = value; in the following fragment will do the trick: https://github.com/GoldenCheetah/GoldenCheetah/blob/master/src/FileIO/FitRideFile.cpp#L2921-L2928 

[Henrik Menne]

Direct response: " If there’s anything on our side such as improving compatibility or aligning more closely with how certain platforms expect these fields to be structured, we’ll certainly explore potential improvements. "

So hopefully, the future will bring some change. 

Yes, I was thinking about it. Maybe I will find the time and try it. Thanks for your support! 

[pepe]

IIt's also discussed here: https://forums.garmin.com/developer/fit-sdk/f/discussion/426542/questions-about-left-right-balance-and-its-decodification

[José Luis García Pallero]

Hi,

I started the thread you link in Garmin Forums. The thread continues
in https://forums.garmin.com/developer/fit-sdk/f/discussion/426545/running-cpp-examples-decode-decode-cpp-program-and-strange-behavior-with-two-fit-files-from-different-devices.
I did not receive a convincing answer, it appears that Garmin follows
the FIT standard in some places and doesn't follow in others. In any
case, the implementation of GoldenCheetah adheres to the standard
exactly as it is written

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[Ale Martinez]

El miércoles, 15 de abril de 2026 a la(s) 11:18:33 a.m. UTC-3, jgpa...@gmail.com escribió:

Hi,

I started the thread you link in Garmin Forums. The thread continues
in https://forums.garmin.com/developer/fit-sdk/f/discussion/426545/running-cpp-examples-decode-decode-cpp-program-and-strange-behavior-with-two-fit-files-from-different-devices.
I did not receive a convincing answer, it appears that Garmin follows
the FIT standard in some places and doesn't follow in others. In any
case, the implementation of GoldenCheetah adheres to the standard
exactly as it is written

I think that is a rather contrived interpretation... as others have tried to explain there you are using a "dump" application likely intended for debugging tool which shows the L/R Balance field exactly as it comes in the FIT file. If you want to test how Garmin end user APPs interpret the field try importing both files to Garmin Connect.