Sense not recognizing outdoor bike automatically

[Lekshaji]

Same problem with my fitbit sense. 

Now i understand this issue is with most devices. When i try talking to customer care they respond like this is not a known issue.

Moderator edit: subject for clarity 

[Rich_Laue]

Please check you settings that the minimum time is still what you want it to be. 

Then do a restart restart 

I'm not sure that it affects most trackers, I have 2 brothers, a sister in law a sister and a niece and I. This makes 6 different fitbit models, from the inspire 2, Versa 3, charge 2, luxe, Charge 4, Versa 2. All of us seem to have no issues with auto detect of bike rides. That is if the ride is long k enough in time and stop lights are not to long. 

[Lekshaji]

Hi 

I did set min time to 10 mins (least possible). Even when i ride 20 mins continuously, my fitbit doesnt autorecord it. 

I did restart many times, cleaned the sense with alcoholic wipe, reinstalled app, unpaired sense etc etc etc. 

My sense still doesnt autorecognise anything other than walking.

In addition to autorecognition issues, my sleep data is calculated wrong as well. Also zone minutes are not calculated correctly. 

I had a fitbit blaze for many years and it used to work much better.  😞 I upgraded and paid a premium price for such poor performance.. 

[Rich_Laue]

Your Sense, does not count Zone minutes like the Blaze does. The sense counts Active Zone Minutes and depending on how active the user may awarded more than a minute for the active zone minute. 

[Lekshaji]

Blaze doesnt do active zone mins at all. I know the calculation of zone minutes and how that works in Sense. If you read my message again, I have multiple issues with my Sense. Sleep tracking is one of them, which blaze used to do perfectly and Sense doesnt. 

Even after one hour of strenuous biking my Sense awards me 2 -3 zone mins only, which i think is not normal. 

[Rich_Laue]

OK I'll move you Sense question out of the Blaze board @Lekshaji you posted in a thread about Auto detection of a Bike Ride. 

I'm assuming that is your issue. 

You also mentioned Zone Minutes not being calculated correctly, but with no info as to why it is felt to be wrong. I simply pointed out that the Sense does active zone minutes. If you expected Zone Minutes, this would explain why the calculation are not correct. 

I wasn't trying to come up with a fix, but with info on what possibly might be a reason for the undescribed issue. 

You might want to try a shutdown and start-up since this is the only way to assure a hardware restart. 

[Lekshaji]

Issues with my Sense: 

a) Bike riding is not autorecognized ever. (Even after 20 mins non stop riding). Although i set minimum time as 10 mins. 

b) Zone minutes is wrong especially during biking (1 hour of strenuous biking gives only 2-3 mins zone) 

c) Sleep tracking is wrong (When I wake up and remove my watch for an hour, Sense thinks im still sleeping. Apparently it still records a heartbeat even when not worn) 

d)Battery life is bad (2 days) 

I had a blaze for many years and i never faced issues with Sleep tracking or battery (c,d) 

I think my Sense's heart rate sensor is not good. 

Everytime i contact fitbit I am told to do restart. I did multiple restarts and nothing worked.

Regards,

[MarkMM]

@Lekshaji Just start bike rides manually? I've been doing that about daily for 5,5 years. Not really a problem. I turned auto detect biking off as it was detecting lawn mowing as bike ride. It can't really tell you're sitting on a bicycle.

As for low heart rate. There are many threads about this in both the Sense and Versa 3 sections. Known issue since they came out. No fix. Warranty isn't even an option as replacement would be the same. Funny how fitbit will have you jump through the hoops, factory reset, not wearing it properly, etc. Until it comes to replacement. Then it's a known issue so you can't have one. 

[Lekshaji]

@MarkMM I do start the bike ride manually in the exercise app usually,  but most often than not, i forget to and then i would lose my miles unrecorded. Its a shame coz the whole point of me upgrading from Blaze to Sense was to have the 'smart' features.  😞 

[MarkMM]

@Lekshaji Ever since the big problem with Bluetooth disconnecting during connected GPS years ago, I only track miles with the Samsung health app. All GPS options are off on my Fitbits. I still engage bike mode for the workout tracking though.  

[Rich_Laue]

@Lekshaji my sister always gets her push mower detected as a bike ride. The movement of the wrist is about the same. 

As for the extended sleep after waking up. Your tracker dies not determine sleep only by heart rate, but also by movement. Waking up, and then taking the tracker off, is not enough movement for the tracker to realize that you are up and moving, because the tracker barely moved. 

[Lekshaji]

@Rich_Laue 

My Sense doesn't auto recognize any activity other than walking. 😞 

I envy your sister's fitbit 🙂 

[Lekshaji]

Defeats the purpose of getting a smart fitness watch, doesnt it, @MarkMM 

[MarkMM]

@Lekshaji Not for me. I have most features turned off for better battery life anyway. If you want the most health and fitness features on the biggest screen, you have to get the best models, right?

[Rich_Laue]

The Sense has a built in GPS therefore Connected GPS is a mute subject. 

[Lekshaji]

@MarkMM  I have built in GPS in my Sense. So i dont need connected GPS. It works fine when i manually track it.

If only it smarttracks as advertised.. 😞