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 ?

[Osopolar]

Thanks! I will trt that...

Sent from my Windows 10 phone

[BenDL]

Interesting.  I had to recharge Wednesday evening 3/28 (Today is 3/30).  While at it, I id a couple power cycles.  Results on yesterday's rides:

To Work:

  Phone: 5.14 mi

  Fitbit: 4.71 mi

  Error: 8.4%

From Work:

  Phone: 4.84 mi

  Fitbit: 4.45 mi

  Error: 8.1%

Still not great, but better than the 30% error I got on Wednesday.

[Rich_Laue]

Look at page 18 of the user Manual it shows exactly what the different options mean on the phone icon. 

You can also just go to the online version under the help link found below. 

[kbams]

Sent from the Yahoo Mail app. Get yours!

[Rich_Laue]

@kbams I had to search out your other post to see if I could figure out the problem. 

Do you get a record with the map of your ride? Do you manually start the bike recording mode, not letting the auto detect function decide? 

To go back to your past post, calories are calculated using the heart rate and time .Distance is not a part of the calculation, especially since Fitbit doesn't know what gear the bike is in. 

[Flotterz]

HI, thanks for all of the replies. I managed to get the Charge 2 to track the ride, up to a point. I had to make sure the phone app was actually running before I started, despite having location settings on the phone set for Fitbit to use them "always". However, the tracking is wildly inaccurate. At one point it has me travelling on the opposite side of a river that is about 500m wide! It also leaves out anything after I pause and resume tracking. Fortunately, my Garmin bike computer does an excellent job. It is apparent that the Charge 2 is a very imperfect device and really only useful for tracking steps.

[KiwiJohn51]

GPS appears to track location and doesn't seem able to convert into accurate mileage. In this situation for a bike ride. 

Garmin and Strava recorded 36.5 miles, Charge 2 10.68 miles.  Time for all three the same.

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity 

[HeydyF]

Hello @KiwiJohn51, it is great to see new members around!  Could you please post screenshots of the mileage tracked by your Garmin, Strava and Charge 2 so I can take a look? In the meantime, I'd like you to review the troubleshooting in this post, to improve the accuracy of the GPS signal between your Android device and your Charge 2. 

Let me know how it goes! 

[KiwiJohn51]

Hello All,
I think I may have resolved my issue with Charge2 GPS accuracy while
riding. What I failed to fully comprehend is that the Charge2 GPS requires
Bluetooth contact with my phone. I had been riding with my phone in the
right hand back pocket of my bike jersey, i.e. as far away from my Charge2
on my left wrist. The last two rides I have put my phone in my left hand
back pocket and have results very similar to my Garmin and Strava.
Thanks for the help.
KJ51

[HeydyF]

Hey @KiwiJohn51, thanks for the update! That is correct my friend, your Charge 2 and your phone needs to be as close to each other as possible and of course the Bluetooth and the GPS location, both have to be ON while you are biking so it can track your whole distance and give you a map of your route. 

If you have further questions or comments, keep me posted! 

[Mikael.Linden]

Hi,

Can anyone from fitbit (support) answer why GPS data is wrongly calculated? My Surge has never been able to calculate my distance on the bicycle! I constantly get 3-4 km when it is really 9 km. The track is correct and shows on the map but the distance is sooo **ahem** wrong. I know, I am using the "running" profie since the spinning profile doesn't collect GPS data. But the calculation of distance includes errors for running as well, albeit smaller. 
I have read other posts and I can see suggestions on changing stride length. Well that is just ridiculus! 

GPS data is the best way to calculate the actual distance. The distance and time is also the ultimate tool to calculate your performance. Asking the olympic commitee to select a winner for 3000 m track run based on estimated stride length is just absurd!

Some of my training partners also have fitbit and the issue is annoying. When they tell you that your Fitbit watch is unreliable as a chinese car from the 70's, then you get really sad.  It is getting embarassing to wear this piece on my arm. 

Get real and get serious! When are you going to fix it?

Ready to join the dark side!

[MattTheis]

Hi Alvaro. I am experiencing the same issue and it has been like this for some months now. When I was in South Africa the bike mode worked perfectly, recorded all my exercise metrics. Now I am in the UK and my steps, run, gym, every other setting works except my bike mode. The timer works but none of my other stats are retrieved. I have followed the below but still it does not work. 

I bought the Charge 2+ in around September last year.

[jaynemcc]

Agreed. New fitbit charge 2. SO  disappointed. Wishe id read these forums.

No sleep mode now this.

NOT PLEASED WITH MY PURCHASE AT ALL

[verdy]

My Charge2 did not register distance or time while I was biking. I had phone with and bluetooth was turned on. 

[glee64]

My phone was tracking my Charge 2 mileage fairly accurately until this last week.  My ride is a back and forth ride.  It seems that it is now calculating my distance only once.  Instead of 24 miles, it now says I am going 9.1 miles. I am ready to lengthen my ride, but I would like an accurate reflection of the actual distance I travel in each direction, not just one direction.

[mt13]

Hello Fitbit community. Have a problem which I was hoping someone can help with!

I have a Charge 2 and a Moto X4. I went biking today and thought that Fitbit will auto recognize the exercise. It did auto recognize; however, I don't see any GPS data - no distance, no maps, no splits. Is this expected behavior? Should I have rather started tracking the bike ride manually through the tracker?

Please suggest. Thank you.

[HeydyF]

Hello @mt13, welcome aboard! Let me explain to you that there are 2 ways to track your exercises with the Charge 2 . One of them, the SmartTrack, is the one that auto recognize the exercises that you have selected through the Fitbit app if they meet the minimum time that you also have to set. Within this feature, you can find outdoor bike, however, it won't give you GPS map or distance. For further information about this, take a look at this help article. 

In regards of the other option to manually track your activity, you can select bike on the Charge 2 itself (you have to set this exercise as well on the Fitbit app) and if you want to get GPS map and distance, you have activate the connected GPS between your phone and your Charge 2 and of course take your phone with you, but also, you mentioned that you have the Moto X4 which hasn't been added to our compatible devices list, so I can't guarantee that it'll work. Anyway, I urge you to take a look at this other help article to get further information about this option and how to use it. 

Keep me posted if you have further questions! 

[mt13]

Thank you @HeydyF, for the details you provided. I understand now. I will make sure to track the workout manually the next time I am out biking.

Best Regards

MT

[HeydyF]

Hey @mt13, thanks for your reply!  Sounds cool that this explanation helped you out. If you have further questions regarding the Charge 2 usage, don't hesitate to let me know. 😉 

Have a nice day! 

[szabs79]

I have a same problem but with my running. I’ve tried both ways to record it. Fitbit says it’s a glitch what they working on but I think it’s just not good enough. I use Strava to record my distance and show map using its gps. 😤