Treadmill accuracy

[Suggs68]

Yesterday I ran on a treadmill with the Band for the first time. I've had the Band since it launched and have done dozens of outdoor runs with it and the GPS has always been super accurate, more accurate than my Garmin watch in fact. I was pleasantly surprised to see how accurate it was for distance on the treadmill with the GPS off. It was within 2/100 of a mile to what the treadmill said. I've seen others say its been inaccurate indoors, but mine was on the money

 

[bksalt]

I use mine on the treadmill and the stationary bike for at least 6 months ans very pleased with the accurate reeds I get, very good job Microsoft.

 

[Brentd6]

stationary bike for at least 6 months.

Wow, so you got yours before the 13th of August. Must of got it from warehouse in china.
You should of posted pictures of it when you got it. Would of been world wide scope, instead of all of having to wait until end of October to hear about it.

 

[deejohdumb]

How can it detect how far you went on a stationary bike? Doesn't seem possible to me.

 

[littlebib]

I've seen my treadmill accuracy drop off pretty dramatically. The last time I ran outside was a while ago due to the nasty winter. After my last run (average of about an 8:20 pace), the band was calibrated to that pace as expected. However, my last few runs on a treadmill, the band has been slowly getting worse. 8:21, 8:25, 8:35, and my last run up to 8:45. I suspect that it's because I haven't been outside so the GPS runs are starting to fall off the averages that the band uses and it's reverting back to it's default. When I first got the band, it had me over 9:15 for a pace so it was WAY off. I wish I knew what data it used to figure out it's calibration - last 5 runs? Last 10?

 

[RiftPoint]

So I've been having the same issue, running at about an 8m30s pace on the treadmill and the band reads it as no faster then about 9m20s... I haven't had many outdoor runs though. I did just have a chat with customer service after tweeting to the official band account, and what they suggested is a 2 button hard reset (you have to have your charger on hand to revive the band though apparently). I'll try that tonight, go for my long run on the treadmill tomorrow and report back. If anyone else wants to try and report back that would be helpful!

 

[kenjancef]

I've had the Band since early January, and have been running on a treadmill, since the RI winter has been dreadful. Anyway, I've done 2 runs using the Run app, and both times it had me running at a 10:30 pace, when I run at an 8:30 pace. I doubt a Band reset would help that. The first run I did was a day after I bought the Band. So when I do run, I use the Excercise app instead, until the 3-4 feet of snow and ice we have melts...

 

[RiftPoint]

I'm guessing what they were trying to go for was clearing some sort of memory? The band calibrates itself to your step length when you use it with GPS enabled, which is supposed to help it stay accurate for non-GPS activities. Before this winter set in (I'm a little further north, MA) I did run a few so it was somewhat calibrated.

You are correct though, I can my 6mi on Saturday morning and it was still the same issue. I'm really hoping they either fix it in an upcoming firmware update, or allow for manual mileage entry... It's more of an annoyance than anything, but still.

 

[littlebib]

I've had the Band since early January, and have been running on a treadmill, since the RI winter has been dreadful. Anyway, I've done 2 runs using the Run app, and both times it had me running at a 10:30 pace, when I run at an 8:30 pace. I doubt a Band reset would help that. The first run I did was a day after I bought the Band. So when I do run, I use the Excercise app instead, until the 3-4 feet of snow and ice we have melts...

You'll need to run outside with the GPS on to get it close to accurate. Once you do that, it will get better...not perfect, but certainly not that far off. I had the same type of results until I ran outside.

 

[DroidUser42]

What's more, I think your treadmill accuracy may have to do with how you hold your arms. If you hold any handholds, the arm motion is odd and the band may not sense it correctly. Try and hold your Band arm the same way as if you were run/walking outside so it can sense the steps correctly.

 

[RiftPoint]

What's more, I think your treadmill accuracy may have to do with how you hold your arms. If you hold any handholds, the arm motion is odd and the band may not sense it correctly. Try and hold your Band arm the same way as if you were run/walking outside so it can sense the steps correctly.

Do most people run with their hands on the treadmill bar? I can't say that I've ever noticed people doing that, but it seems to be the first question everyone asks about the treadmill accuracy. I find it more annoying to hold the bars, and if you hold the heart sensor it warns you not to when you're running...

Also, did you do your runs outside at the same pace that you're running on the treadmill? The only runs I've had a chance to do outside are my long runs which I run at a lower speed, whereas my treadmill runs are faster and shorter.