Tracking biking activity

[kbiker48]

When trying to record bike riding activity on fitbit versa, it doesn't record anything but heart rate. Fitbit literally advertises tracking bike riding. How can this be? I've tried multiple times and know what i'm doing so it's not user error.  This is a huge issue! I called customer service to see if there is any explanation and all they said was 'yeah, I'm seeing there is an issue but don't know when it would be fixed.'  I'm seeing issues on this dated back to 2018...

Moderator edit: subject for clarity

[LiliyaFitbit]

Welcome to the Fitbit Community, @kbiker48. I am sorry for the delayed response.

I appreciate your participation in the Forums and sharing the difficulty you're experiencing with tracking bike riding activity with your Fitbit Versa. Thank you for taking the time to get in touch with our Support Team. I am sure they tried to help you in the best possible manner as each case is reviewed individually. I apologize for any disappointment and appreciate your feedback. Our team is always working on improving our devices and user experiences, and your comments are always welcome. I'd suggest to keep communication open with our team since they have already all the details of the case and special tools to continue assisting you. 

If you have any questions, feel free to let me know.

[GrubbyDuck]

If you link Versa > FitBit to Strava you will get to see a whole host of stats for your ride. Stats that for whatever reason FitBit are struggling, unlike Garmin & Polar that has it right, FitBit cannot supply correct data mileage etc.,on the dashboard for bike rides.

FitBit calculates distances by footsteps & not off GPS.

When bike riding I wear Versa on my ankle securing it with medical tape.  That way you do get a step count so get 'a mileage' recorded. It is far from accurate though. Something is better than nothing though.

I have already decided that when this Versa expires and having endured nothing but back to back issues since coming to FitBit June 2016 with the tech & operating systems? First Surge then Ionic I am not staying with FitBit but moving to Garmin or Polar.

I'm even considering 'even owning' a fitness tracker.     

[LiliyaFitbit]

Hi @GrubbyDuck, it's nice to see you around.

Thank you for joining the conversation and sharing your experience and suggestions. Our team is always working on improving our devices and user experiences, and your comments are always welcome.

I'll be around. 

[BurnMoreCals]

Hi kbiker, when I push the bike activity I see "connecting..." on my versa and after a few seconds it changes to "connected" meaning that the versa has connected to the iPhone gps and will use iPhone's GPS to track your ride.

A few times the versa didn't connect to my iPhone so I closed the Fitbit app on my phone, restarted and manually synced my Fitbit, and then retried the bike activity.  That has worked for me when my versa was stuck "connecting."

I have gone on about 80 rides this year, and the Versa and iPhone have been able to record and map each ride.  

Good luck I hope you get yours to work!