Use Surge to track biking

[Krisgib]

Hi there I just bought a Surge on the basis that it was advertised as a tracker suitable for cyclists with GPS, altimeter etc. From what I'm reading on the help articles, it only tracks routes etc. for running- is that correct?

Chris

[SilviaFitbit]

@Krisgib Welcome to the Community! I've moved your post to the Surge board because it's more related to the thread. 

Your Fitbit Surge has the option to track biking if you don't have it then please go to your Dashboard > click on settings > Exercise shortcuts > choose bike. It should give you the correct information for that period of time such as your calories burned. 

Hope this helps. 

[Krisgib]

Thanks Silvia - what i was getting at was that I was expecting my surge to use its GPS to track my route, kms ridden, av speed etc. as well as bpm, calorie burn etc., so I can upload that onto mapmyride as well as having a record of route... it seems like it only has that functonality for running, unless I've done something wrong... really, that limits its usefulness to me...

[MikeF]

Have you done what was suggested, synced the Bike mode shortcut to your device and then tried it out (by selecting 'Bike' as an exercise on the Surge) waiting for the GPS to acquire and going for a ride?

(I only ask because you seem to be saying the same thing again without being clear as to whether you've actually tried the Bike mode or are just talking about the default tracking modes of the Surge.)

[Chris1963]

Kris - there are two bike modes, one is auto that tracks just time, heart rate and calories, the other is selected manually... left button, then right lower button then scroll to bike. This has to be ticked as active as described above  and tracks by GPS your route map, speed, splits, averages, heart rate, calories etc. Only bummer is you have to manually pause if you stop for a few minutes and remember to unpause when you restart.

Don't expect too much of the HR "live" - its slow to react on hill climbs or quick bursts and likewise slow to drop. However against my polar chest strap a calorie burn of 1500 or so is within 10 or 20 of the Surge and the average HR is within a couple of beats over a 90 minute ride. Also be sure to wear the Surge with the strap tight when cycling - otherwise I've found HR to be, err, rubbish.

[Krisgib]

Thanks guys, I was being a bit dull and not listening carefully to what Silvia said!! I found what she meant and have now edited - next bike ride on Friday so we'll see how it works!! Thanks for all the other comments, that's really useful stuff! 🙂