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Blaze bike recording

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I just got my Blaze and have been reading all over but am still confused about bicycling.

 

I do not want to have any steps counted while I am cycling.  I am cycling not walking or running...I have goals to be on my feet that are separate from cycling.  I had a fitbit before and it would record meaningless steps while I was riding.  I want to avoid this.

 

If I put it in cycling mode will it not record steps, or must I remove the Blaze while cycling to not record false steps?  Sorry I could not figure this out from the manual, and I am not planning to ride again until tomorrow.

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Bike mode should work as you hope. Last year Fitbit tweaked Surge bike mode to minimize step count while cycling. Fairly certain this is how it works on Blaze, given a few folks asking how to increase step count because they aren't getting many steps when using bike mode.

Aria, Fitbit MobileTrack on iOS. Previous: Flex, Force, Surge, Blaze

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Bike mode should work as you hope. Last year Fitbit tweaked Surge bike mode to minimize step count while cycling. Fairly certain this is how it works on Blaze, given a few folks asking how to increase step count because they aren't getting many steps when using bike mode.

Aria, Fitbit MobileTrack on iOS. Previous: Flex, Force, Surge, Blaze

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thanks for your reply.  I guess I will give it a try tomorrow and hope for no "false steps".  If anyone knows for sure please chime in!

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You'll likely get some false steps, but not too many.

Aria, Fitbit MobileTrack on iOS. Previous: Flex, Force, Surge, Blaze

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It appears that "steps" are not shut off under 'Bike' mode which is disappointing. I've forgotten to take off my Flex before biking and a significant number of steps registered over a one hour ride.

 

Utiizing the Blaze, will calories burned under the Bike activity mode automatically override calories which are generated by the aforementioned "False Steps"?

 

With my Flex, it only overrides calories generated by false steps when I log the bike activity. My hope is that selecting the Bike activity with the Blaze and connecting to phone GPS, I won't have to log the bike activity. Is that correct? Thank you.

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@SteveC15 Unlike your Flex, activing bike mode at the start of a ride on either Blaze or Surge will put the tracker into a special mode, where GPS is used to track distance and create a map, and heart rate (HR) is used to estimate calorie burn.

 

My understanding is that bike mode rejects most steps.

Aria, Fitbit MobileTrack on iOS. Previous: Flex, Force, Surge, Blaze

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Thank you, sounds good to me.
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When I put in bike mode and ride my bike it is not keeping track of anything except for active minutes. I am using my iphone for GPS and it gives me voice telling me how many miles and min per mile but when I am done the dashboard doesnt show mileage.... any suggestions.

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I got mountainbike rides with 15.000+ Steps and over 200 floors!

I send the topic to the Support in June and nothing happens!

Unbenannt.JPG

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@kgoble3903 when you have it in bike mode, is gps enabled? 

Also what app are you using on the iPhone? 

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Yes gps enabled. I am using the fitbit ap are there more than one?
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I have just started to use my FitBit Blaze to record my bike ride to work.
Going into exercise then bike.
Comes up connecting to phone.
Then asked to start.
When u finish ride it shows no millage no speed like I was stationary?
Is this just set for spin class lol.
Having to use strava so makes watch pointless 😞
Or am I doing something wrong.
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I do not understand about the steps in bike mode.  I am baffled.

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I have been having the same thing happen recently.  It was tracking fin before but now it doesn't.  One thing another post said to try was open the app on your phone while riding.  That has worked for me about 30% of the time.  Does a moderator have any ideas?  

 

On of the selling points to me of the blaze was that it could count steps/distance while I commute on my bike.  Currently, it feels like FitBit is dropping the ball on this feature. 

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@Tacitusd the wrist trackers like Blaze are good at recognizing when you are NOT stepping, like when on a bike, and therefore you will likely get more *steps* from the One or other waist mounted trackers. Technically it's correct to not award steps while riding a bike, because you aren't walking or running. However Fitbit rewards are step based, so if you were hoping for more steps while biking with Blaze then I understand your frustration. 

Aria, Fitbit MobileTrack on iOS. Previous: Flex, Force, Surge, Blaze

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@bbarrera thanks for responding.  I does seem a little weird though.  They have an auto feature that can figure out I am on a bicycle and a function to say i am exercising on a bicycle, but the analytics process is all based on steps?  Why put the other features in and not convert it to steps?  The end motion is similar.  while 1 step vs 1 rotation of a bicycle isn't the same the cardio and use, promoted by fitbit, is.   It seems like a tacked on function for marketing reasons that isn't work.  Especially, when the bluetooth link with location turned on isn't giving me speed or distance either.  That has happened on the last 6 rides.  It syncs but no data, other than time, and I can't go in after the fact and add the distance i covered.

 

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It is more accurate to not count steps while cycling. I don't know what Fitbit is thinking, can only make guesses. 

 

The World Health Organization and CDC recommend weekly amounts of strength training and moderate to vigorous cardio. Strength training is not step based, and some popular cardio exercises are not step based. I can't find any organization that recommends a weekly amount of steps, so maybe using steps as a key fitness metric is the problem. Steps really mean nothing, its all about weekly number of minutes engaged in moderate/vigorous cardio, and at least 2 full-body strength training sessions. If you are going to get at least 150 minutes of cardio, does it really matter how many steps you got?

 

Cycling and swimming and running are all cardio endurance activities, but only one involves steps. And I can tell you from personal experience that its possible to get 6,000-10,000 steps in a day just by pacing around my office on conference calls. From a cardio fitness point-of-view, those "pacing steps" are worth less than walking steps, and walking steps are worth less than vigorous cycling. My conclusions: steps aren't created equal, step counts don't tell the story, and therefore tracking steps is somewhat pointless unless you just want motivation to stop sitting and get up and walk/run. If you want to compare activities, using steps doesn't make sense and that is a limitation of the Fitbit system in my opinion.

Aria, Fitbit MobileTrack on iOS. Previous: Flex, Force, Surge, Blaze

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I will 100% agree with you that not all steps are the same and that just using steps alone as a metric is not going to make one healthy.  That in itself is not a personal issue.   It seems i am just butting up against the marketing vs actual usage of this devices and find it lacking in what they claimed it was going to be able to do.  

 

So how do you us your FitBit if counting steps is somewhat pointless and that appears to be the biggest thing that their device does?  Honest question.  It might help me shift my idea of what the device is really about.  

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@Tacitusdfrom Fitbits point of view it is the calories burnt that ties the events together. Steps are counted with step based activities and ignored in the calorie calculations for events like cycling. 

The "steps" received from cycling are from the bumps that are being ridden over. 

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@Tacitusd wrote:

So how do you us your FitBit if counting steps is somewhat pointless and that appears to be the biggest thing that their device does?  Honest question.  It might help me shift my idea of what the device is really about.  


Like Rich said if you want to compare exercises then Fitbit Blaze only tracks calories. It was designed as a step tracker, and the heritage shows, as it also tracks miles but only for walking/running (sorry, not weekly cycling mile tracking). You will not get 'cardio fitness score' because that requires running 10 minutes, even if it did I'm not convinced about value of VO2max. Its an interesting number, but I have increased my power output on a bike by 2x but my VO2max and resting heart rate have very little change. I tried sleep tracking, its pointless for me, and I'm not going to wear a tracker to bed. 

 

From my point-of-view Fitbit is good at encouraging people to walk via step challenges, which are only available in the mobile app. And the app nudges you to hit step goal. And you can easily pull up weekly calorie burn, step count, and walking/running miles. All good stuff if you are focused on walking more and sitting less.

 

If you cycle, there is no tracking of weekly miles and forget about step challenges. From where I sit, all cyclists get from Fitbit is calorie estimates and integration to Strava. Strava is where I really want to socialize and analyze rides. I use the Fitbit app daily because of my Aria scale. My Apple Watch is far more useful, its my credit card and so much more. I keep hoping my Blaze will get an update to make it interesting. My current cycling set of apps is described in this post.

Aria, Fitbit MobileTrack on iOS. Previous: Flex, Force, Surge, Blaze

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