Strava-Fitbit sync confusion

[Chkaloon]

I have connected my Strava and Fitbit accounts (multiple times, in fact; it seems to "lose" the connection after a few weeks). I recorded a ride on Strava but the heart rate data did not appear on my ride. So I exported it from Fitbit to a .tcx file and tried to import it. It says

48612392523.tcx duplicate of activity 7272722525

but there is no heart rate activity in Strava!

I've seen talk about not recording on Fitbit and Strava or you will get duplicates, but what does "not recording on FitBit" mean? In other places it says "only sessions recorded on FitBit with GPS turned on will sync" which seems to contradict the earlier statement. Which is it?

Can someone lay this out more clearly? Thanks.

[EdsonFitbit]

Thank you for visiting the Fitbit Community, @Chkaloon.

I’m sorry to hear about the difficulties you experienced. Thank you for the time you spent trying to get them resolved.

To get your heart-rate information from Fitbit to Strava it is necessary to do the following:

- Connect your two accounts by following these steps.

- Track a GPS activity with your Fitbit device. For instructions, please visit this article and open the menu "How do I start and stop a workout on my Fitbit device?"

- Sync your Watch to your Fitbit account and check your activity with heart-rate in your Strava account.

Note that the following types of activities won't sync to Strava:

• Non-GPS activities
• Previous activities that weren’t tracked by Strava
• Duplicate activities (if you already recorded an activity with Strava, a Fitbit activity that occurs at the same time won't sync)

If you followed the instructions shared above without luck, please revoke access between Fitbit and Strava and connect them once again. In addition, you can restart your Fitbit device by following these steps.

Hope this helps.

[Chkaloon]

It's your 3rd bullet that causes the confusion. Your instructions are the same I've seen elsewhere.

So when I start a ride do I not record it on Strava? How are the routes and segments tracked then? 

[EdsonFitbit]

Thanks for your response, @Chkaloon.

The Fitbit Sense has built-in GPS which tracks the routes and segments. If you track an activity with your Fitbit Watch using the GPS, then you'll be able to see it in your Strava account.

You don't have to record your activities on Strava if they were already recorded by your Fitbit Sense. The purpose of the integration between Fitbit and Strava is to don't have to track your activities in both apps. 

Have a nice day.

[Chkaloon]

Will Strava PRs and other features still work?

[EdsonFitbit]

Thanks for your question, @Chkaloon.

You should be able to see in Strava most of the information that you see in Fitbit. I would recommend tracking an activity by following the instructions shared above and see how it works.

See you around.

[Chkaloon]

I've been using this, and it works as intended with one problem. The GPS on the fitbit is not near as good as the GPS on my phone. Segment accuracy is lousy on the fitbit. So I either get heart rate data by letting FitBit drive, or accurate segments and PRs by letting Strava drive. Can't get both.