Stationary bike tracking

[sjhop]

Does the Flex 2 track steps on a stationary bike? I have painful plantar facitis and have been using a stationary bike instead of a treadmill to relieve stress on my foot. The zip only picks up steps if I attach it to my shoe. Since the Flex 2 is an activity tracker will  I be able to wear the wrist band and have the activity counted?

[PDADoc]

I'm no expert on this, but my guess is that it probably would not track activity on the bike, because the accelerarometer tracks arm movement and unless on one of those bikes that has moving handlebars, I can't see it happening.  

I'm perfectly willing to admit that I could be wrong, though. 

[MarreFitbit]

It's nice to see you around the Community @sjhop, hope you're doing great!  I agree with @PDADoc, Flex 2 only automatically tracks outdoor bike, because it needs to detect forward motion.  

The best thing to do for stationery bike is to log it manually.  In order to do so, do the following:

Fitbit.com Dashboard

1. Log into your fitbit.com dashboard.
2. At the top of the page click Log > Activities.
3. Click a common activity or search for one. If the activity is not in our system, create your own by clicking the Create custom activity text that appears below the search field.
4. Enter the duration, distance (if applicable), and start time of your activity. You can enter the number of calories burned if you'd like to.
5. Click Log. Your activity will now be visible and editable in the Activity History area.

Fitbit App for iOS

1. On the Fitbit app dashboard tap the Exercise tile to open your exercise history. This is the tile that says "Track exercise" if you haven't worked out today.
2. Tap the stopwatch icon in the top right corner.
3. Tap Log.
4. Tap a recent activity or search for an exercise type.
5. Adjust the activity details and tap Add.

If your iOS mobile device supports 3D Touch, you can also log an activity from the home screen with the Quick Action menu accessed by 3D Touch.

Hope that helps! 

[sjhop]

Thank you for responding.

[1Lif2Liv]

FitBit Flex2 definetly works when you're outdoors mountain biking.  It logs as it's supposed to.  However, I do Spin classes, and found to my dismay that it did not record my progress.  My guess is that it didn't log because the bikes are stationary.  I had to manually enter my bike ride as a custom activity.

[Tawnya_S]

If my tracker is in just the right spot, at the top of my ankle, it *may* capture my pedal rotations. I would have assumed it would also capture the forward motion of my foot, which would be just as good an indicator of actual movement (if not better) than a wrist swing. I do a lot of stationary biking while watching t.v., I am disappointed that the activity isn't tracked. Not really interested in entering it manually, as it defeats the purpose of real-time activity feedback. Will you please suggest a firmware update that will capture this movement more precisely? Thank you!

[Kristi79]

I 100% agree that this needs to be figured out. I am post-knee surgery and the PT recommends the stationary bike for me. I thought I might be able to rig something up to put the tracker around my ankle or something using a band or two, but I'm not sure if it'll work or not. You'd think they would be able to figure something out to record that activity. Here's hoping!

[dogenzenji]

Flex 2 will not auto recognise spinning in my experience because it will not detect the movement correctly. An elliptical trainer uses arm movements so that can be detected.

Three options I think

1... Manually track as suggested. Which I agree defeats the object somewhat.

2... The Surge has an option to log Spinning and that works really well for me.

3... Remove the pebble thing from the band and put it in your sock... not sure what it would count but as your leg is moving that would probably be worth the experiment.

[Kristi79]

What is the Surge?

[dogenzenji]

Sorry... the Fitbit Surge... another Fitbit device more like a smart watch than a band. I own both. I use the Flex 2 for swimming, everything else I use the Surge because it has heart rate monitoring and GPS.

[Kristi79]

Ah, okay. Thank you.

[LindaCompau]

I have been putting the band on the bottom of my shorts with a safty pin thru one of the holes. It is an up and down motion instead of a forward motion but it seems to be picking it up..I'm disapointed in the fact that it does not convert my mile that I swim as steps like my LifeTrac did. Entered manually it counts it as active time but 0 steps and that sucks!

Fit bit, if Lifetrac can do it, then you guys should be able to figure it out!

[Kristi79]

Thanks!

[NellyG]

Yes I guess they could figure it out but it isnt steps so shouldnt be counted a steps! Personally I like the calorie amount as an overall way to track the activity you have done rather than converting to a (fictitious) amount of steps in a non step activity.

[cholly]

I hook my Flex 2 band through my shoestring when I am on a recumbent bike.  It adds one step for a full pedal rotation of just one foot.  When you walk, it's adding steps for each time you place either foot on the ground, not so when biking. 

[Charlypp]

Put my Flex on the top of my foot in my sock... Kind of recgonized it cause it gave milage as 5 miles and went in and said it was bike and it all popped up with the miles and that i did it for 30 min. Getting one of those magnet holders to put on shoe lace and see what happens then.

Bike at Saturday, December 31, 2016, at 10:23AM 5.00 miles 30:00 min 151 cals

[sjhop]

Charlypp-- I finally found an after market clip for my Flex 2 to use on my waistband so that I can wear it like I did the Zip or FitBit One. I had been putting the FitBit One on my shoe while on my bike and that seemed to work. Wish that FitBit would design a waistband clip for the Flex 2. Have a healthy and happy New Year.

[HLI]

I tried the third option and that is how I lost my first fitbit. 😞

[LindaCompau]

It is not a fictishes number of steeps! If you've ever been on a recombinant bike you would know that it is exercising just like walking , if not more because you can increase the tension. 

[NellyG]

The number of steps is ficticious - you are not taking steps on a bike. The exercise isnt ficticious though, I certainly agree there!