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.

[Rich_Laue]

Yes this thread is old and should never have been resurrected,  the cause of the discrepancy probably are not related and a new thread should have been started.

What does the route map of your ride looks like?

BTW the Fitbit app had never had a Bike mode,  you might want to add your vote to this suggestion. 

Track Cycling on Mobile App with GPS

[OllieMy]

Hi I still have this problem now in may 19 so why is it still not fixed!

[bstev]

I'm having the same problem

[Billybob2092]

  My wife and I both have the charge 2. We ride a tandem bike and the past 2 nights there has been a significant discrepancy between our Fitbit apps on our iPhone 7s.  Tonight I had 8.74 miles.  She had 3.63 miles.  Using google maps my reading is correct.  How can this happen on a tandem and what is the remedy.  We are going to try to restart her Fitbit. I will follow up.  

[Abhishek-P]

Have a month old Charge 3 and I have the same problem. Just came back from a ride I had mapped out on Google maps for 29km. I diverted in some cases to take longer paths and still it is recorded as 28km.

I have enabled sync with Strava and Runnkeeper. Google fit which is independent says 30.5km.

At a stretch in the ride I saw disconnections in GPS and I think it stops the clockin the distance during the time and is never addressed at a later time.

---

[SunsetRunner]

Hi, you said Fitbit are aware and working on a fix as quickly add possible. Over 2 years later,  the same problem is evident. Please fix this, my tracked activities are all wrong (distance,  average speed). This no doubt affects other fitness measurements in some way. At the moment my charge 2 is nothing more than a watch. Please show us that you care about your customers. 

[Hikercindy]

I have a fit bit charge 2.  Last year the mileage while biking was accurate, more so than with hiking.  This year, I bike 15 miles and it says 9 miles.  I don't like all the changes to the program.  It won't let me sync on command.  It is less user friendly.  It seems that people feel they must constantly change things, just for the sake of changing.  Usually the changes are for the worse.  

[shashwat]

Its still incorrect in GPS mode and delta is more than 60%. Is that something firmware could fix ? 

[Andrew12234]

The distance measured using connected GPS for a Bike ride exercise on the Fitbit Charge 2 is still incorrect and significantly less that the actual milage.  I hope this is picked up by the software developers at Fitbit and fixed.  I have tried to raise this as a bug by phone and email with Fitbit support but they have said that they have no way of informing the software developers of product software bugs.  I hope this gets through to them now.

[SunsetRunner]

I abandoned all hope of this being fixed, long ago. Connected GPS is next to worthless as it just doesn't work. It's reliably tracked my cycle route only once, ever. 

[Andrew12234]

It's interesting as I have been using my Fitbit to track distance for Walk and Hike Exercises and it has been accurate.  It only appears to be a problem with the Bike exercise.  If bugs like this aren't fixed it will be a deterrent to people upgrading their Fitbit to a newer model as they will not have any confidence that this bug will not be present in the new model also.

[Rich_Laue]

@Andrew12234 for walking, your Charge x tracker uses a combination of GPS and the users stride to calculate distance. 

For bike, the tracker has to completely depend on the GPS. 

I find if the map is correct, the distance is close enough. 

[Andrew12234]

@rich_lau unfortunately the maps look entirely accurate for both Walk and Bike exercises.  The distance stated is unfortunately incorrect for Bike exercises.  I would have expected it to be accurate if the map is accurate but it is not.  I have also compared the Fitbit app Map and distance to that for Runkeeper and Mapmyride apps and the maps are identical and the distance measured is the same for Runkeeper and Mapmyride apps but unfortunately significantly less for the Fitbit app.

[Andrew12234]

@Rich_Laue 

This is this response from Fitbit support to my question of whether they they could guarantee that such faults will not occur in a newly purchased Fitbit:

"Our Fitbit devices are meant to last as much as they can, with this being said Fitbit does not warrant that the operation of the Product will be uninterrupted or error-free

If you have doubts about your Fitbit or services, visit help.fitbit.com"

[Hikercindy]

I bought an IphoneSE and now it seems to map my bike ride accurately with
mileage although it does tend to drop the signal when I hike in the woods
probably due to lost cell phone signal. All I do it choose bike on the
actual fitbit and it makes a map and the mileage agrees with my odometer
and my rough idea of the mileage. It must be adding a lot of mileage when
it counts footsteps and tells me how many miles. Maybe someone can tell me
how to calibrate it better. I am only 4'10" so I take a lot more steps
but it should adjust for that.

[Rich_Laue]

@Hikercindy try this formula

TrueStride = (TrueDistance/FitbitDistance) * CurrentFitbitStrideSetting

Example: 

• I walked 8 miles 
• Fitbit said I walked 7.19 miles
• My fitbit stride setting is 25.1 inches

• Temp = TrueDistance/FitbitDistsnce
• 1.112 = 8.0 / 7.19
• TrueStride = Temp * CuurentFitbitStrideSetting
• TrueStride = 1.112 * 25.1 = 27. 9 rounded to 1 decimal place
• I'll set my fitbit stride to 27.9

In this example user would set their fitbit stride to 27.9 inches. 

This will work well on flat paths including dirt, concrete, stone paths/roads, and black top, 

Hiking in woods presents unique problems

• A heavy canopy can cause delayed, weak, or dropped GPS signals. GPS is a line of sight technology. 

While hiking 

• Stride is not consistant
• Very uneven surfaces
• Boulders
• Steep slopes, both up and down
• Paths may not be straight
• May have many obsticles
• Arm motions may not be consistsnt
• Hiking sticks may affect steps counted. 

[ashm72]

Is this issue resolved. I rode 3.4 miles as per map, and Fitbit showing 10 miles. I am using Charge 2 with Fitbit app on iPhone 13 with all latest software and app updates.

[Billybob2092]

We have found that my wife’s iPhone 13 and Fitbit is still somewhat
inaccurate compared to mine and our bikes gps. Even though her mAp of our
ride indicated is accurate. The mileage is still off somewhat. Frustrating

[Wren10]

Affects average MPH info as well. This has been ongoing since 2017. When will the fix be applied? Simple fix would be to use the phone GPS instead of the chip in the watch. How can we implement? 

Android Pixel 6 Pro

Fitbit Sense 2