Connected GPS bike ride distance is very inaccurate

[buzzy452]

I just got a Charge 2. I have noticed that when I record a bike ride on my Charge 2, using the connected GPS feature, the distance is underestimated by several miles! The map looks correct, but the distance it reports is way off. This has happened on two different bike rides so far:

1. Actually rode 6.5 miles, Fitbit says I only rode 4 miles

2. Actually rode 20 miles, Fitbit says I only rode 15 miles

I know that the data Fitbit shows me is inaccurate, because I have ridden the first route a dozen times before, and also I have a bike computer which has always been accurate/very close to GPS data in the past.

Again, the maps are totally accurate, it just seems to report the distance wrong? I have set up my activities to sync to Strava, and after they are synced to Strava, the distance is reported CORRECTLY in Strava (I guess Strava looks at the data points on the map and re-measures it). Just not on my Fitbit, or in the Fitbit app/website.

Anyone else having this problem? It seems to be accurate when I record runs, just not when I record bike rides.

[zelev]

Hi everybody, so i went cycling and at the end of a 20 mile ride the gps of my charge 2 tracked the map correctly but the distance was way off by 12 miles on the result.

I don't understand how can that happen if the roads and map were accurate and i have all my data and gps settings set correctly. Even when you verify the roads i took on google it proves how long my ride was does anyone have an issue like this one and knows how to solve it?

[AlessFitbit]

Hello! I wanted to follow-up with everyone on this thread who may still be experiencing this issue. Also, it sounds like this is only affecting the distance after a logged bike ride. I wanted to confirm if all of you happen to be using an Android device? If so, please tell me the name of the model. 

Thanks for your help! 

[waynexax]

I am not using an Android device. I am using an iPhone 7plus. 

[Nanasbeautiful]

Samsung galaxy s5 not connected as from yesterday 

[JimmyLai]

I get wrong calculations all the time. At least you get somehow your route. I just get a random straight line with inaccurate stats of course. 

[ShutUpLegs]

I highly recommend the Strava app for recording bike rides!

[pb321]

Are there any updates on this? I just got my Fitbit Charge 2 and it logged a 20-mile bike ride as .49 miles, which I believe is the distance between where I started tracking the ride and where I stopped tracking it. The time, heart rate, calories, and the displayed map of the ride all seem correct, however the distance and speed are very much off. I'm using the Fitbit with a Google Pixel phone. There are no available updates to the device or the Fitbit app, so this isn't an issue on my end. Please let me know when to expect a resolution to this problem. Thanks!

[NickA55]

Unfortunately Fitbit doesn't seem to care about this, even though it's a huge issue.  If you join the communities in the Fitbit app you see complaints about it all the time.

Return the watch and get an Apple Watch or even one of the Samsung Gear watches if you are an Android user.  I haven't tested the new Foitbit Ionic yet, but for $300 I'd buy another brand anyway.

You can also use another app like Strava to track your rides, but that kind of defeats the purpose of a Fitbit. 

[Uzi_C]

Same issue on Pixel.

Google Fit Strava and Fitbit show same map. Distance on Fitbit is off.

Funny thing is that my Strava ride information comes from Fitbit but then Strava correctly reports the distance. 

I start my ride manually on the Charge 2.

[bennomeulenbelt]

Same with me, and the route, shown on the map, is on some places weird, zig/zagging where there are no roads

[matte8817]

It is now 9 months later and this issue still exists.  Get it together FitBit team!

[Alexskater]

I use bike mode on blaze when skating because it allows me to track my speed and lately this has been very inaccurate. It takes a while for the speed changes to register but the actual numbers are plain wrong. Checked when driving the car. It took almost 5 min for the speed to crawl up to 55ish on the blaze and stay there while I was driving 65 miles per hour the entire time! The speedometer app on my phone displayed the speed accurately so it is not a phone GPS issue. I wonder if the wrong speed could be the reason why mileage is displayed wrong for many people. Hope this gets fixed.

[Rich_Laue]

Probably not @Alexskater, Fitbit measures the distamcedand time to go the distance to determine speed. 

Speed does not determine distance. 

[bethanymaxwell]

I am having this same issue. My course is accurately mapped via GPS, but the distance isn't even close. I biked about 15 miles today and my fitbit says I went 0.22 miles. No average speed at all either. 

Does anyone have a solution?

[matte8817]

FitBit is crap for recording bike rides. You can try taking your phone
with you and making sure it is syncing to your FitBit. I gave up and now
use MapMyRide and Strava on my phone. I run both apps at the same time.
MapMyRide syncs to Facebook if you want to post your rides. Strava has
better stats and does a great job of tracking your routes by GPS.

[NickA55]

My solution was to buy an Apple Watch Series 3.  It works great and doesn't have any of these issues.  FitBit is just too unreliable, and I was tired of running 2 or three apps just to make sure my rides were tracked accurately.

A FitBit is great for doing light duty stuff, like walking.  But as a serious fitness tracker, and as a smartwatch, it has a ways to go.  I like FitBit, and I liked my time with the Charge 2 and Ionic, and hope they really step it up in future devices.

[orlaxmurray]

Notice this thread has been running for a year and still no fix from fitbit. Today I cycled 17km but fitbit charge 2 only recorded 6km despite the maps being correct. Last week I cycled 38 miles, fitbit only recorded 25 miles but when I synched NOTHING was saved so lost all data . I have been hugely disappointed with my charge 2, so many issues. I'm not a serious sports person, I just like to keep reasonably fit but I would advise anyone who is training to NOT use fitbit to monitor progress. Also I have a devise that should be encouraging me to keep moving but then spend half my time sitting around faffing with the thing to try to work out why it's not working properly - sort of defeats the object really! 

[ausdavo]

I am also struggling with my Charge 2. My kids gave it to me for Father's Day and since I am a fairly active sort of guy and was thinking about a device for tracking, I was quite excited. The all the features looked really cool. I liked the auto detection of exercise type and the integration of maps into the exercise history.

But more and more I realise that the device is just wrong. I've been running in a fortnightly corporate event which is 7.3km and the FitBit regularly tells me I've run 7.9km and gives me an incorrect average running pace, even though the map is correct. On my bike, I cycle to work every day and my bike computer (which is highly accurate), records 8km whereas the FitBit records 7.33km. Once again, the map looks correct. 

I don't always believe the heart rate measurement and there have been times when the tracker (after pausing a distance exercise) has got the finish point of the exercise completely wrong and given me a 1km distance for a 40km activity. 

So really, I have to say I don't really know what it's good for if it can't do basic things accurately. I guess it does tell the time.....

[deadblaze]

HI! I note the thread is quite old, but I am having the same issue in 2019. A 10 mile bike ride showed as 4.88. I have used the app before in cycling mode and gotten the correct distance. Is the only work around to use running mode, or is there a new fix? Thank you for your help.

[deadblaze]

I am using the apple iPhone 8 plus