Charge 3 - Bike ride GPS issues

[jjsk8a]

Couple of issues with bike tracking. 

2 identical rides, completely different distance. 

Also more worryingly I have had a couple where the charge 3 just stops recording.

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[MarreFitbit]

Welcome on board @jjsk8a, it's nice to see you around here! Thanks for sharing those details about your Bike ride GPS activities. 

I had a similar situation a few months back, but here's what might be causing connection and GPS issues:

1. Wi-fi should be turned off when using GPS tracking

2. No other Bluetooth devices should be connected to the phone. Now I use auto bike tracking option when I want to listen to the music and don't need GPS, don't like wired headsets when I'm on a bike).

3. Map settings - Wi-Fi only option should be turned off

4. Fitbit app - All permissions should be granted in phone settings

5. Location should be turned on

6. Power Saving mode on the phone should be turned off (this is what was causing inaccurate map reading, syncing and connection issues in my case).

Also, I recommend taking a look at the following help articles:

• How do I track my workouts with my Fitbit device?
• Does my Fitbit device have GPS?
• How do I use the Fitbit app to capture GPS data?

Hope to hear from you soon. 

[jjsk8a]

Thanks I think power saving may of been on.

Bluetooth headset was not connected but shouldn't be an issue as I jog with one and haven't had issue. 

If you couldn't it would be a deal breaker for me as pointless having it as I need gps and bluetooth headset when  jogging.

[jjsk8a]

So the bike workout stopped again this morning after 2 miles (i did 9)

This is so frustrating as my surge was so reliable.

Sort this out Fitbit, what is the point of an activity tracker that stops recording halfway through or gives such bad data (unreliable GPS & I am also having issues with floors counted)

[DeeME]

I too am having the same issues with my bike rides. I decided to test it out on both of my phones, IOS and Android. Bike says 6.5km but timeline on google maps read 11 km. Android at least doesn't drop the signal like Apple does but the distance is still way off. Have followed all instructions to try to solve the problem but still both phones do the same thing. I will be taking this back for sure if the problem is not corrected.

[JPhoto]

I have the same issue documented over several bike rides over last 2 weeks. The GPS tracking just stops working intermittently.....or just record plain incorrect data. Please have your support team contact me and I will be more then happy to provide my bike ride data to them.

[kevinmcintyre09]

Have exactly the same issue, and this is a bug that has been on not just charge 3, has been on my old charge 2.

Can fitbit tell me when this will be fixed. As it works fine for running.

A tracker that cannot track a bike ride is not much of a fitness tracker. Deeply disappointed this has not been fixed already. 

[Dario2]

I've read many messages about this. I have a fitbit 3 and a Pixle 3a phone. When I'm starting a bike ride my watch will connect with my phone GPS no issue. Within 10 seconds of my putting my phone in the pocket of my riding jersey it drops the connection. Every time. My phone works well with every other device I've connected to it. Somehow the phone being stored on my lower back doesn't work with the fitbit. 

Having to turn off wi-fi every time I want to track a ride is unreasonable. One person suggested opening up all access on the fitbit app. Why the does the fitbit app needs access to my message and camera to get a GPS connection. This makes no sense and is risky. 

About two weeks into using the fitbit and I'm about to return it and get another dedicated bike computer (my last one died after 5 years). This is too frustrating. 

Maybe the fitbit 4 solves this because it has it's own GPS?

[oheairep]

Same problem here. Tried all the fixes. Very discouraging that this thread began so long ago and Fitbit has not yet offered a solution. I carefully research before purchase of Charge 3 to ensure I bought the one that best suited my needs, feels like a huge waste of time now as ensuring a device has all features for an individuals needs feels like hollow marketing claims for how it ideally should function but just doesn't. 

[Magstros]

Not sure if you have Android or iOS, but I solved a bunch of issues with my fitbit tracking by moving my fitbit app on my Android phone from the removable SD card storage to the internal phone storage.  On your phone go to settings>storage>sd card>apps  if the fitbit app is here move it to Internal Shared Storage.

[oheairep]

I actually have both an IOS and Android. I will give it a try on both over the next couple days. That actually makes a lot of sense. Thanks so much for the tip.