Fromdisabilitytopossibility

5K weekend walking. Never let your disability get in your way from doing what you want. 
Next up 24 mile bike ride.

Garmin Garmin Outdoor NOBULL Fromdisabilitytopossibility

I’m an adaptive athlete and long-time Garmin user. I train with power-based data, care deeply about physiology, and pay close attention to how fitness technology measures effort and performance.

That’s why I’m struggling to understand this:

Garmin disables VO₂ max for wheelchair users due to a “lack of validated algorithms,” yet calculates VO₂ max for cyclists using power meters — a modality with enormous variability that Garmin already models successfully.

Power is power.
Arms produce mechanical work.
Oxygen cost is measurable.

I’m not asking for charity features or special accommodation. I’m asking a straightforward product question:

Why is equal work measured for bikes, but not for wheelchairs?

This is not a technical impossibility — it’s a prioritization choice. And that choice excludes disabled athletes from equal recognition of effort, performance, and fitness.

I would genuinely like to hear from Garmin product leadership about what specific barrier justifies this difference.

Garmin Garmin Fitness Garmin Outdoor