Accurately tracking stationary bike "steps"

[susanita]

I've read conflicting answers to this question. It seem no one has the definitive answer. Maybe someone can give me the right answer today. 

I rode my stationary bike for 45 minutes today. I tracked it as "spinning" right from my FitBit Versa 2, which I wore around my ankle with an ankle band. My bike tracks distance, time and miles per hour. Today, the distance was 4.19 miles at approximately 5.5 mph. 

FitBit gave me 2,442 steps for this activity. That seems incredibly low for 45 minutes.

I saw another website that I should use the following formula:

5280 x # of miles divided by your stride length in feet. 

In my case, that's 5280 x 4.2 miles / 1.43 ft. The total was 15,507 steps, which seems too high. 

Which one is the most accurate method for converting my stationary bike ride into steps?

Thank you!

Susan

[WendyB]

I say the smaller one.

Biking is not the same as walking. You are also not doing any stride length as you are not really going anywhere. So thats why the steps will never match what the miles on the bike say

[Sky173]

I think the most accurate way to measure steps on a stationary bike is to simply accept the steps the Versa records. Each complete circle of the pedals really represents two thrusting motions (one by each leg)....just as walking does The way I check this is by monitoring your RPMs pace on the bike.  It corresponds with my walking pace which is +/- 120 steps a minute.  You'll notice that if the bike tells you you're operating at 60 revs a minute, you'll likely be registering 120 steps on the Versa. You can check that by seeing how many steps you registered on the Versa after the workout.

[susanita]

Thank you both for your reply! Okay, I guess I will live with the Versa 2's steps. 😫

Now how do I log the distance I made on my stationary bike? I created a manual activity for spinning so I could write the distance. I was hoping it would change the distance reading on my FitBit dashboard. Not only did it not move that needle at all, it actually removed like 22 minutes of cardio. 

Any ideas?

[Sky173]

Think about it: you want your Fitbit to measure the distance you travel on your STATIONARY bike. If you’ve got the GPS or location service on, how far has your Fitbit actually moved? Not at all, right? It can’t measure distance moved if it hasn’t moved. Fitbit can’t do everything, but I bet your bike reads distance based on your RPMS at various resistance levels and the time involved. You paid a lot for readout features on your bike; you’ve gotta trust them. They’re based on a lot of science. Good luck and have fun with the bike and the Fitbit and accept its limitations. 

[MarkMM]

@Sky173 GPS isn't activated in spinning mode. The simple solution is, if you want more fake steps while sitting down, just swing your arm. 😋

First thing I learned when I got a Fitbit was that steps weren't going to be accurate, as I was getting step credit bicycling.