Goodbye Fitbit surge.. Our time was memorable but short lived.

[Racerx67]

Looks like it is time to say goodbye to the Surge. It has been an eye opening few weeks. Less than 3 months life is not really long but you have shown me what a fitness device is capable of doing.. Shame you are flawed and as no one at Fitbit can assure me this will not happen again it may have pushed me into the arms of another brand. Sadly the Blaze just does not do the one thing I really looked for (integrated GPS) to stop me carrying my smartphone on Mountain bike rides. The past few months have been great to not need my phone with me every moment and worry if/when I crash I will smash my phone. It has become the best thing about the watch having GPS built in... Now I have no Fitbit options left to me... I either go back to carrying a phone or go to another brand...

The next few days will be our last but I will be with you until the end.... Then I will have to find a new friend to help fill the void you left..... 

[Racerx67]

Sadly I have to cut the strap off my Surge and cut the cable. Whats wrong with it? The watch works perfectly and does all I want or need it to do.. So why destroy it? The strap is peeling off now and the regular need to remove it to get rid of the rash before it gets sore or worse. 

Now I am NOT here to complain but ask a genuine question. When Fitbit give me the refund what should I do? I have a few options. 

1. Write it off to a poorly designed product and give up and look for another device?
2. Go and buy another Surge and hope for the best and accept I need to take it off from time to time and hope the strap does not peel again?
3. Pre order a Blaze with a leather strap and accept it has no GPS? I would have to use the GPS on my phone which I wanted to avoid due to some of the activities I do risking damage to an expensive smart phone. I usually try and not take my phone if I could smash it.. 
4. Wait and hope the do a Blaze GPS? 

Or anyother suggestions you guys have...

[Julia_G]

I would definitely get the Blaze and the leather strap.  It looks like a great fitness tracker and even if you leave your phone home the only thing missing will be the map.  Alternatively you could get a cheap spare phone -- I think even pretty basic ones have GPS these days.  You don't need to be connected to a network -- or even the SIM card installed -- for GPS to work.

[Racerx67]

Good idea.. I just prefer to have a single device that can do it all.. Thats why I got the surge. Its ideal. Just sad the strap is a weakness in the design..  Having to carry a phone just to track with GPS is not ideal for some activities and buying a phone that has GPS that will link to the watch would bring the price up to a level that could get me something like the new garmin with built in HR or the Polar V800.. Even the Huawei watch as it will link to endomondo directly and has onboard GPS and constant HR monitoring too. I am getting used to using the Fitbit app more but still tend to share to endomondo as it has been the app I have used for a few years and is still possibly the best general activities app as you can specify loads of different activities including canoeing which is not one I do a lot but is something I have done and will be doing again this year on a canoeing tour. So again using a smartphone is not ideal as it would need to be bagged and stowed somewhere safe and may not sync with the watch accurately if it is stowed or transported with our clothes via the tour company from the start point to the next meeting point at the end of each day. It creates a few too many compromises. It seems fitbit is aimed at running and walking not thinking about the other sports it can be used for. 

I was intending to use it on my motorcycle too as fitbit claims to actually log laps too. On the race track you are barely ever actually sat on the bike. You are moving around it a lot having to force the bike to turn as well as the adrenaline too. Your heartbeat can be well into the peak for most of the session and much more of a workout than you think. But carrying a phone for the GPS to log laps which will also aid laptime comparisons is never going to happen in race  leathers with armour inside them too..  

[Dominique]

Sorry to hear about your experience with the Surge. Besides taking it off, how often did you cleanse it?

[Racerx67]

I washed it almost every day with a simple anti bacterial soap. I use the same stuff I wash my hands with after working on carbon fibre parts. My work can be very dusty so it would be washed every weekday, while I have a bath. The problem with the strap peeling back is due to the adhesive being brittle and it makes the thin area of the strap brittle too. 

[Dominique]

Ok, it looks like the Surge is not compatible with your work environment (or vice-versa). I’ve been using my Surge for a little bit more than one year and haven’t experienced any peeling on the strap. I do start getting mild rashes on my wrist if/when I forget to cleanse it. I definitely do not cleanse it on a daily basis (though I know I should), it’s more like once or twice a week. 

[Racerx67]

---

@Dominique wrote:

Ok, it looks like the Surge is not compatible with your work environment (or vice-versa). I’ve been using my Surge for a little bit more than one year and haven’t experienced any peeling on the strap. I do start getting mild rashes on my wrist if/when I forget to cleanse it. I definitely do not cleanse it on a daily basis (though I know I should), it’s more like once or twice a week. 

---

Although I work with Carbon fibre I do take care as the dust and fine strands are conductive and can blow electrical items if it gets inside or anywhere that can effect it..  I have to use dremels and hot air guns and blown a few of those up over time. I even keep my phone buried deep in my pocket and covered then use a cheap bluetooth headset if I get a call. They are almost disposable but luckily have lasted so far. I wear latex and nitrile gloves whenever there will be dust being made. I use a very mild PH neautral anti bacterial soap too. I take good care of my hands and skin in general as the resins can also be harsh. So If I am doing anything that needs me to cover my skin I remove my watch and anything else that can allow the resins to get onto my hands or arms.  My lay up room is as clean as I can get it as I cannot get contamination into my parts. I am in the process of creating a full on extaction fan and thermostatically controlled and humidity controlled clean room.  

I KNOW the issue with the bonding is the adhesive as I work with some very exotic adhesives and even have to make my own for some of my work as I cannot buy them and they do some very special things like resistance to ethanol and other chemical resistance to stop fuels from attacking the parts I make. 

[matt9013]

I'd go with the Blaze. Not having replaceable bands was a huge mistake for Fitbit on the Charge, Charge HR and Surge but they seemed to have learned from the mistake with the Blaze. I can see a Surge 2.0 or Blaze GPS but not until a year or more most likely as they will give the Blaze time to sell and get a following before introducing a new product.

[SunsetRunner]

Bye.. Surge..

Using a Surge for over a year and no signs of wear and tear yet with extensive usage. Since having paid for..

Feel free to contact the Fitbit Support Team (Click here to contact)

Optionally check out Returns & Warranty before contacting support.

[JohnRi]

Mine did something very similar.  Fitbit sent me a free replacement.  Contact support...  But yeah I wish I had gotten the 2 year extended warranty...  Ironically I'm going to have to buy a new fitbit..  The Surge I have is a XL...  I've lost 31 lbs, and I'm now on the last notch...  I'll need to go to the Large soon...  I'm going to get a blaze, and another surge.  Just wear the surge when I exercise.  The Blaze the rest of the time.  I agree without the built in GPS, the blaze is not as good as the surge...

[Racerx67]

Being in the UK I will not get a replacement and will only get a refund. I have already been told to cut the strap off and cut the charging cable. I kept wearing to to see how much longer it would last before it fails totally. If it sees the end of the week out it will have been 3 weeks since I found the issue. 

So customer support already know about the issue. Its just sad to see it go.. In the UK we have a 2 year warranty by law so its no big issue its just annoying. 

Fitbit has already said they would not replace it as they cannot guarentee it would not happen again. This shows they know there is a problem but it can be OK or fail and they have no certainty of it working. Being a product which is over a year old they should know why this happens and either have a solution or be looking at making a new product to replace it and be sure the issue has been resolved. 

[dbuckley]

I have a surge only four months old. I had assumed the two screws on the back at both sides of the tracker facilitated the replacement of the wrist band. Is that an incorrect assumption??

[JohnRi]

Yeah band problems are the biggest failure of the surge.  I noticed the cracks on mine after two months.  Hasn't got much worse yet.  I expect it will be as bad as yours within the next few months.  I have the replacement sitting at home ready to go once it fails.  I do plan on getting a Flex, but only for daily/nightly use.  I'll exercise with my surge on...  Although my XL size surge isn't going to fit me for much longer...  I may just stick with the Blaze until the replacement for the Surge comes out.  It's a shame, cause I love my Surge...

[Racerx67]

---

@dbuckley wrote:

I have a surge only four months old. I had assumed the two screws on the back at both sides of the tracker facilitated the replacement of the wrist band. Is that an incorrect assumption??

---

The two screws have no relationship to the band sadly. They are holding the watch body together. The strap is bonded into place and once it fails there is no way to replace the strap. So keep an eye on it and get in touch with customer service as soon as you find a problem. If you are in the USA you will get a replacement but here in the UK they only give refunds and we have to cut the strap off and cut the charge cable too. 

[Gardenshears]

UK user here! Mine did the same. Contacted support and they sent me another one. Didn't ask me to cut straps and cables etc. but I just got rid of the old one as it completely broke after I had contacted support.

[Racerx67]

It finally failed today... As expected the lower area of the strap had zero adhesive on the actual strap and the plastic had zero adhesive on there too. It seems it is only bonded on the upper face which had a very slight tack to the watch body but zero adhesive on the strap again. It is the strap not holding the bond and with zero adhesive on the underside of the strap it would always have failed at some point. It could be a quality control issue too as there was adhesive only one one face allowing the underside of the strap to peel away with no force and any force on the upper face of the watch would eventually give way and peel it from the watch body.. 

I am glad I kept going and did NOT cut the strap off as instructed. It allowed me to see where the failure would occure and how the strap was attached. 



Below you can see the underside of the watch and you can see there is no residual adhesive on the plastic. This is the same inside the strap. No adhesive there either. 

Below you can see some form of rubberized surface which is either adhesive or where the adhesive would be.

Below you can finally see the inside of the strap and what residual adhesive there is and this is I suspect all that was actually holding the strap on from new. It has not spread over the surface and would have failed at any point as it was only holding the strap on with possibly 1 or 2mm of adhesive on the edge. 

[JohnRi]

My first thought....  What a bad design...  BUT so easy to fix.  If they had just used more glue, it would have worked so much better.  My second thought, I think I can fix that with some glue.  Man that sucks.  With a minor redesign, they could easily go a band system similar to the new Blaze. 

[Racerx67]

YES AND NO.. The material the strap is made for is comparable to a non stick coating. Adhesives will not stick for long and would peel off cleanly. There is almost no way the adhesive would hold longterm. Yes some are using them over 12 months later but only if both sides have some form of bonding over the whole bonding area. It would give way over time but it would last longer than this example. It is not a long term solution especially when we have a 2 year warranty in the UK so it would mean I could have gone to the retailer and keep getting replacement watches for the whole 2 years.  But I do not want to do that and want to simply have a device that works and will not fail with such a basic design fault. 

[Bofund]

Out of interest, how old is the watch?