Versa 4 won't track my calories burned accurately

[Precchio]

The Versa 4 shows calories burned however the amount is roughly 1/2 of two online calculators and that of the Echelon fitness bike. 

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[JohnnyRow]

So many potential issues with the little information you gave:

1. V4 calories burned: You don't specify whether you used the Exercise App to record the workout or manually logged the workout afterward - that can be a big difference.  If you used the Exercise App, Fitbit used the heart rate actually recorded.  If you manually logged it afterward, it all depends of the parameters you input.
2. Online calculators - What can they know about an exercise bike?  I don't know what calculator you used but don't see how they could know how hard you were working, variables such as how efficient you are at bike peddling, gear, hill grade, wind resistance, etc, in addition to basic speed.
3. Echelon fitness bike - not familiar with in but bikes vary a lot - some just give calorie burn for average person, some input detailed info such as weight age sex, etc, and measure heart rate. And I have heard some overestiamte calorie burn to make user feel good.

[t.parker]

@JohnnyRow Echelon bikes use a power-meter-like method to estimate calories (a proprietary algorithm which doesn't need details like weight or age). They don't have a built-in power meter though but estimate power by (now I'm simplifying) cadence x resistance. It comes close enough to real power meters. Calories are based on wattage (watts x 3.6 x time) and don't include BMR (as it's the case with smart trainers and outdoor power meters). This may be a reason why the bike shows lower energy expenditure (the algorithm only simulates the power meter, similar to what Zwift does when using a non-smart turbo trainer and that doesn't include BMR)

edit: just got to me that the bike shows a higher number of calories. In that case, I also suggest seeing whether HR readings are accurate. We are talking about Versa 4 so I would first start looking at this area.

[Precchio]

Thanks!

Phil Recchio

[Precchio]

Thanks for your reply. 

1. V4 calories burned: I use the V4 exercise (Spinning) app to log/record the activity. The calories calculated from this app tend to be roughly 1/2 that of the on line calculators...

2. Online calculators: I'll often compare the FitBit Spinning app calculated calories burned against the following online calorie calculators. Both calorie calculators listed allow the user to enter user weight, intensity of work out (to some extent), and duration of work out. 

https://www.dailycaloriescalculator.com/indoor-cycling-spinning-rpm-peloton-soulcycle-class-calories...

https://caloriesburnedhq.com/calories-burned-spinning/ 

I understand that calories burned is an estimated figure and expect variation in the calculations. However I was quite surprised to see such a wide variation int he calculated numbers, leaving me wondering what calculation best reflects reality.

Thanks!

[t.parker]

@Precchio you said you have V4. Have you verified your HR? Versa 4 and Sense 2 are known for bad HR quality and that may affect the calories. Online calculators are just that, calculators that are based on certain assumptions and statistical data. Probably, none of them is correct. I explained a little more by replying in this thread and the user there has actually an opposite problem, his Fitbit reports more calories. For spinning, it's best to rely on power meters which are closest to reality (although they don't include BMR but only report work in watts that you've done). Everything else, including HR or calculators, is just a guestimate. May work for one person but won't for another.