Counting steps for Cycling!

[Smellie32]

So I have had my Fitbit for 6+ months. As I have researched issues, I have noticed that many people have struggles with not being able to count steps while cycling, I to get frustrated with this. Being a triathlete and competitive, want all my steps to count. What I don't understand is how after a few years of Fitbit knowing this is an issue, why have they not come up with a solution? It is more motivating when all your activities count as steps so when you are competing against friends on the Fitbit app that you feel you have a chance. I think Fitbit needs to expand their horizon to not only motivating customers to walk and run but all sports. Swimming and biking are my 2 favorites. 

[Rich_Laue]

I'm still not sure what your asking @PATNORAS, what do you mean by put the Fitbit walking. 

If your asking about adding walk to your tracker, then all you need to do is add it. Walk is one of the 16+ activities available of which 7 can be added.

• How do I change the exercises in the Exercise app?

[TonyFerrari]

I am a three-year fit bitter.  I cycle often. I log in steps as follows.  On average, I take one hour walking or slow jogging to cover 3 miles, which is 0.05 miles per minute.  So, after biking, I log in a walk for a distance of 0.05 times the number of minutes that I biked and a duration of the number of minutes that I biked.  The log function will turn that into steps, which in my case is 5,800 per hour.  It works and is very accurate.

[VeganBiker2]

This is NOT SOLVED!!! Fitbit Versa engineers should have fixed this ridiculous problem within days of finding out it was there. My Fitbit Blaze did not count steps when cycling. Perhaps it has something to do with the GPS on the Versa. The Blaze does not have a GPS. 

[Rich_Laue]

@VeganBiker2 Fitbit doesn't count steps when cycling, the tracker counts the bumps in the road as false steps.

The biggest problem I see is that the Fitbit users can not agree on what formula should be used when recording these false steps.

Do we count these steps as of the user walked those miles, or do we go by the equivalent calories burnt?

Now we need to take into consideration the large amount of users that want all steps durring a non stepping exercise completely removed.

As for this thread, the best choice would be to add your vote to the suggestion.

I think it might come down to which suggestion gets the largest votes, and we will have a winner and loser.

Personally I'm for not counting the non stepping exercises, and if they are counted, they definitely should not be included on the leaderbord the way manually added steps are not included.

Please be aware that this thread is mainly for Fitbit users to help their fellow Fitbit users, the feature suggestion board is where Users present their thoughts to the developers.

[VeganBiker2]

Dear @VeganBiker2---BTW I'm a Vegan Biker as well. I do not think this is
true. I will be biking on very smooth roads. I will get out of bike
exercise on the FitBit Versa and not my steps. I will then take off on the
bike and very smooth road and will then see the steps have gone up. This
never happened before on my FitBit Blaze. This is a definite flaw in the
Versa.

Moderator edit: removed personal info

[MegRocks]

The problem that needs to be fixed are the Challenges Fitbit has on there app to do with friends.  They all are about the STEP not one say Active Minutes.  They need to fix that.

I get my steps in but I want my bike rides to count too.  It really motivates you as you watch those numbers go up on a challenge and you go ahead and than find out that your 45 minute spin class doesn't count for much on that challenge.  I don't care if it's steps or active minutes, Fitbit needs to get a variety out there, especially if they have both swimming and bike riding as a feature on your watch.

[Dave369]

agree. in the meantime my friends and i have a Group that tracks weekly and monthly step and active minute counts and stairs as well.  very competitive and you can see it from their website 

[Mhm240]

Agree 100%
😀

Sent from my iPhone

[VeganBiker2]

MegRocks: I totally agree with you!

Moderator edit: removed personal information.

[1director]

@Rich_Larue How does Garmin calculate it?

[xjonx]

My employer subsidizes Fitbits and offers a reduction in our insurance costs. They host "step up challenges" three times a year and to get the total insurance discount we must participate in all of them. We are encouraged to do all kinds of activities and exercises but only STEP COUNTS go toward credit for the discount.

I have bad knees and don't like to walk the treadmills but will do the stationary bike. I was disheartened by a 6.97 mile ride only tracking 208 steps, less than what it takes to walk from the Y's parking lot to the bikes.

I searched the forums for an answer the "bike to step conversion" problem and basically found nothing substantial; so I made my own formula from the bits and pieces I found while searching. (Note to non-Americans, I don't use or understand metrics so all values are standard SAE. Feel free to do your own conversion and post below me.)

63360 inches in 1 mile = Imi

29.5 (Stride distance, in inches, from Fitbit app) = SDi

63360/29.5=2147.8 strides per mile = Smi

1 stride length = 1 step

2148 steps per mile = STmi

Assume a bike to step credit ratio of 1:3 (found on another post, based on another employer’s conversion for insurance purposes) k

6.97 miles ridden = Rmi

6.97 / 3 = 2.323 step miles = SmiT

Step miles times steps per mile EQUALS 4990.047 steps for a 6.97 mile stationary bike ride.

FORMULA : (Imi / Smi) * (Rmi / k) = Total Steps for a ride, in miles

[MS Excel "=((A1/A2)*(A6/A5))"]

Make your own adjustments as you see fit.

[Rich_Laue]

What is it that Garmin calculated @1director?

I only see a few problems with your calculations.

For starters why does someone want steps from a non stepping exercise?

Even if there user gets steps, should they not be based on the equivalent burn and not some imaginary made up distance of the stationary bike?

[JayCR]

You an also attach your fit bit to your shoes and get steps while cycling.
If I remember correctly, connecting to my shoe tended to give me the
equivalence of walking 3 miles per hour. That way it registers on your
fitbit verses doing the calculations.

Jay

[xjonx]

@Rich_LaueWhy?!? Because for me, this is not a hobby, but a cost saving measure. My employer bases the insurance premium reduction on steps alone. Even if I had 1% body fat and cycled 200 miles a day, I would get ZERO credit for it. And steps don't fit into my lifestyle, the stationary bike does. Hence the need for a conversion.

@JayCRI thought of that and did that with the little "grain of rice" fitbit Flex, but it no longer works, battery doesn't charge. I also tried that trick with the Zip and it promptly disappeared at the ball game 3 days later, leaving only the rubber holder.  I now have the Altra HR and like the heart rate tracking, which would be lost if I moved it to my shoe.

Actually I find the sleep tracking the most useful feature of the Fitbit line.

[Cincy439]

My problem is that my Charge records thousands of steps while I am riding my stationary bike, and then when I log that I was riding my bike, the steps recorded during that time are not removed.  So, I end up with my record showing a wildly high step count, double the activity time and an excessive amount of calories burned.  Elsewhere on the website,  it says that when you log an activity, the steps will be deleted, and that is what happened when I used my Fitbit One.  But now that I am using the Charge, it is not functioning properly.  Any ideas?

And you can count me as someone who wants steps to be recorded as steps and bike riding being recorded as bike riding.    

[JayCR]

I only move the fitbit to my shoe when on the stationary bike. I use the
heart rate monitor on the bike when I want to measure pulse. I have a
Surge and it works well. My Surge also works on my road bike but I assume
it uses vibration. Again, I typically get the same steps as walking at 3
mph.

Jay

[Rich_Laue]

@Cincy439 it sounds like you do not have the problem of steps not being counted during a stationary bike ride, which is the topic of this thread.

[JayCR]

I have no suggestions. Last summer when I would ride 75 miles, my fitbit
Surge would register ~30,000 steps. That was equivalent to walking 3 mph
for the 5 hours. It sounds like different Fitbits operate differently when
it comes to cycling. I don’t register my exercises but it recognizes that
I’m riding my bike but keeps the steps.

Good luck,

Jay

[Cincy439]

So sorry.

[Rich_Laue]

All arm mounted fitbits work the same way, they look at arm motions to determine what the feet are doing.

When it comes to biking the arm is usually holding the handlebars which are bouncing around with every road bump ridden over.

So basically the Fitbit is counting the road bumps the front tire bounces over.

This is why many feel that all Steps durring a bike ride should be removed.

Option to remove steps earned when cycling