Unable to track bike distance in biking mode

[deocamdata]

There is not any kind of problem measuring the distance and get the map in Run mode.

I try several time in several mode to get the distance for Biking mode: first pairing my Iphone with the wrist, select the Bike mode and start; start the Bike mode in the wrist and than pairing the phone.

What I am doing wrong ?

[JohnnyRow]

Some say you get better results if you record it as a run, though obviously not the idea solution.  But it might be worth a try to see if you get it recorded correctly.  Perhaps then you could edit the activity to change it to bike riding.

[SimonT1986]

Hi JohnnyRow

It's definitely not the ideal solution . . . perhaps it's an issue with the app and just needs to be deleted and downloaded again.

I'll give that a try.

Walking activities track correctly, so not sure.

Cheers

[Alissa1972]

My brand new Charge 2 does not count miles or the correct calories while biking. I went over 11 miles today and it did not count a single mile and about 300 calories less that what I burned. How do I fix this?

[SunsetRunner]

Are you connecting to the GPS in your phone when you bike? Take a look at page 18 in the user manual for more info on that.

[JohnnyRow]

Are you talking about miles and calories in daily totals, or in a workout summary?

To respond to calorie issue, I would have to know more about your source for the "correct" calorie count, and how many Fitbit and your other source said you burned over what time period.

[MattFitbit]

Hey folks!

Just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for your reports on this issue. I have gone ahead and merged a few posts into this thread to help keep the community tidy. 

Our team is currently looking into your reports and I will be sure to keep you all updated as more information becomes available. In the meantime, I can recommend checking out the troubleshooting tips and requirements for connected GPS detailed in this article. 

Thank you for patience as our team investigates further. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions. 

[Fire530]

I have just started biking and I have my S8 active with me, I set my charger 2 to bike mode and 1 time it just stopped recording and 2 times recorded it as running and one time it only recorded 8 miles running when I went on a 24 mile ride. 

Hope they figure out the issue soon, I already pre-ordered the charge 3 and if this doesn't get fixed I will cancel the order, glad to see they are looking into it.

[Fire530]

Today I tried it again, selected bike and when finished it only takes the time and heart rate. It did not track the distance or route. I also had Google fit running on my phone and it tracked everything. Just wanted to follow up with more info to hopefully help with the troubleshooting.

[dinghyracer]

Fitbit don't have a response. They respond to the question they can answer. This forum is littered with feeds with this question and they have not addressed it. Fitbit shouldn't claim to be able to monitor cycle distance because they can't! Worse still they won't develop the app so that you can manually modify the distance! Poor show. 

[Rich_Laue]

On the Charge 2, there is a phone icon, this icon will tell you the status of the GPS connection.

If the phones GPS is connected to the Charge 2, with the resulting map, you will see the distance rode. 

[Monahmat]

Does anyone know if this issue impacts the Charge 3 and Versa as well?  I'm beyond frustrated with this issue and research shows I'm not alone.  My Charge2 records perfectly for running or walking but when biking it drops miles and calories sporadically.  Over the weekend I did 26 miles and it came up 3 miles short.  Today I biked 8 on my lunch break and it recorded less than 1 mile.  I want to stick with fitbit because I enjoy the communities but this issues is enough to make me consider a different brand.  Looking at this forum it amazes me these issues have been reported for going on 2 years.

[michaelas603]

I gave up & bought a new Garmin Forerunner & could be happier. This is a longstanding Fitbit problem & they seem to have no interest in fixing it

Get Outlook for Android

[dinghyracer]

In my opinion Fitbit aren’t interested for marketing reasons as they want to up sell to more expensive products.

[SunsetRunner]

day one with my versa...went out for a 10 mile ride, only to be logged in at 4.9 miles. then i hopped on the forums to see how to fix this, only to find out this has been a known problem for over a year, yet no one at fitbit has bothered to fix it or even offer a rational explanation re why it is that you keep claiming a product can do something it so very obviously cannot. this is actually shameful behavior on your part.

mine is going back as soon as the shopping lines are back to normal this week.

[Rich_Laue]

I have a question was the Charge 2 connected to the phones GPS and did you get a map of your ride

[Monahmat]

In my case it was connected to the phone GPS and I was getting a map of the ride.  I had also used other apps like Strava and MapMyRide to compare and neither ever gave me an issue so I do not believe it was a phone issue. 

Ultimately, I too gave up on Fitbit and switched to a Garmin Forerunner. It was a little bit more expensive but metrics have been right on for running, biking and swimming.  I loved my fitbit for it's simplicity and run tracking but it's awful for biking.  I believe Fitbit is fully aware of this and instead of acknowledging and fixing it they've chose to ignore it as shown in this post.

[Fire530]

With both my charge 2 and 3 it was connected to the phone and other that 1 time, it always showed the map and distance. It just keeps adding steps as well as the ride, it has been accurate on the mapping and other items recorded for me.

[pins1977]

What’s the point of the fit bit charge if no gps ?  May as well just use phone!! 

[Rich_Laue]

Fitbit has several models @pins1977, one with gps built in. Others using the phones GPS.

Many people simply want to have the option of having access to GPS without having to pay the extra cost, weight, and size to have GPS on the arm at all times.

Today many want there phones with them for safety and or music, so many do not mind having the phone.

In short Fitbit gives their users a choice.

[josephstory]

I purchased a Charge 3 one month ago.  Previously used a Charge 2.   The biking function is betterb on the Charge 3.  When I begin to log a walk or bike exercise, the Charge 3 let's you know when you press start to record the exercise whether it is connected to your phone to track the activity on GPS.  Only after it confirms the connection do I again press start  to record the activity. Anecdotally, this extra step (pressing start twice) to begin recording the exercise has meant that so far, I haven't experienced a loss of map, distance or speed data on bike rides.

My Charge 2 often lost Bluetooth connection, or perhaps I didn't carefully monitor the icon showing Bluetooth was connected before beginning the ride.  So ride distances, route mapping and speed data was often inaccurate with the Charge 2, although heart rate and time of the exercise was correct. 

So, so far so good with the Charge 3- at least when I can keep it working with my Pixel 2. . .🤔