How well does Fitbit track cycling?

[mikeptc9107]

How well or accurately does Fitbit Force track activities such as Spin Class or Cycling? Has anyone compared the caloric numbers to a device such as a Garmin? I would love to hear of others experiences in this regard. Thanks, Mike

[CORiverRat]

Best thing I found is this app  http://www.fitdatasync.com/ and it brings over your data from connect.garmin.com if you use a Garmin.  This is the info that it brings over just FYI.

Jun 15, 07:06

Cycling

N/A

29.38 miles

1:46:10

812 cals

Wish it would bring over power data but it doesn't.  C'est la vie.  Still a lot better than just letting fitbit figure it out for you.

If you don't use a garmin look under activities and you will see some different speeds for cycling that bump up the calories.  Still they don't take into account whether you are riding in Florida or Colorado.  You can do a century in FL and get only about 200 feet of climbing in where most of my lunch rides of about 15 miles have between 600 and 1200 feet of climbing.  My rides will be slower but calorie wise can burn a lot more per hour.

[Heybales]

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@2labz wrote:

"Improves"? I doubt it when it comes to cycling, which is what I'm specifically addressing. It's just lazy programming or, more likely, poorly thought-out specifications to the code monkeys. It would have been quite easy to use that UNC compendium to estimate a linear function comparing average velocity to METS per minute: assuming that the posted values in the table are for the midpoint of the speed range, the formula is something like X = 0.7093Y - 0.7575. Converting that to total calories burned is merely an exercise in eighth-grade math. My guess is that the function isn't really linear, but it looks it through the 10-16 MPH range.

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Actually, the best display is only per 5 min blocks, their actual logging is seconds of data, evidenced by their assignment of Very Active Minutes, and in their hidden formula for this goal metric, your pace and burn within 60 sec must match a minimum to be counted. Very flakey.

You are correct on biking calorie burn, as speed goes up over about 15 mph (depending on your width) the air resistance because a bigger factor and isn't linear, but indeed up to that point is and could be accomplished for that range where probably the majority would ride.

And the better calcs like the link I included are indeed based on those studies.

And true, the appearance of accuracy by numbers used would imply that level of accuracy in other areas.

But how many people remember about significant numbers from school, or understand rounding errors anymore. Not many I'd bet, not when you see comments regarding the data that is given.

[Pastinky]

Unfortunately, the Fitbit doesn't appear to measure cycling activities very well at all. I wear a heartrate monitor that also measures calorie burn, and the difference between the HR monitor and the Fitbit is astounding. It never shows as active minutes, despite the fact that there is sweat all over the floor and all I want to do is take a shower and collapse. 

I do add it to the activities list, but I wish Fitbit would come up with a device that measures activities such as spinning and weight lifting more accurately. 

[Heybales]

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@Pastinky wrote:

Unfortunately, the Fitbit doesn't appear to measure cycling activities very well at all. I wear a heartrate monitor that also measures calorie burn, and the difference between the HR monitor and the Fitbit is astounding. It never shows as active minutes, despite the fact that there is sweat all over the floor and all I want to do is take a shower and collapse. 

I do add it to the activities list, but I wish Fitbit would come up with a device that measures activities such as spinning and weight lifting more accurately. 

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Not really possible.

How could a step based device tell you are doing weight lifting for one thing, and then how intense you are making it? Sets and reps to failure, or 2 lb dumbbells with 50 curls and still easy, or easy body weight exercises that are only hard because you don't rest between them?

The no steps on my overheard press and bench press and lat pulldown yesterday couldn't have discerned what I was doing.

And then spinning/biking, since there is little to no impact if you are spinning correctly, how does it know the level of effort for only the one foot going down, never mind the wrist mounted devices that don't even see that on a bike?

And, is that soft low impact if any "step" which isn't just walking slow shopping, or doing the bike?

Nope, not really possible unless you could tell the device that you have started an activity and here's what it is, and then it can use different formula for that time. Still wouldn't work with lifting though.

Study on BodyMedia band found just as great inaccuracy with under-reporting several activities and over-reporting arm ergometer.

But BodyMedia supplied different firmware with different formula's for when they did the different exercises and increased accuracy greatly.

So they have the better formula's - the issue is how do you know when to apply it.