Treadmill Distance Accuracy
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Every Suunto (currently 9p)watch has been terrible with treadmill running over or under estimating pace by a mile.
It does not matter if I run 13kmh or 8kmh the result is almost always identical and it largely depends on the last run I did outside. If the last run was a 4:30 tempo run then even if I run 8kmh on treadmill the watch shows a tempo around 5:00.
If the last run outside was a recovery run, even if I do intervals on a treadmill the pace is from 5:30 to sometimes 6:00+.
I wish there was more energy that was put into getting this more accurate (but to be fair don’t know how that would be done (for steady runs on a treadmill you could input tempo into the watch before you start the exercise).
I correct the distance in SA and TP after I finish, but Strava does not allow it, so the difference in km over the year between systems keeps growing.
Karoo3 (2024)
Vertical allBlack (2023)
9 Peak Black (2022)
Spartan WHR Black (2017)
Ambit 2 Black (2013) -
@zhang965 said in Treadmill Distance Accuracy:
Or the 20% distance is not overestimated, it’s just … based on your dog’s capacity lol.
Running on a treadmill is hard enough, thankfully I don’t have them on there with me!
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@Ketoohs I’d even say every watch has that issue since it can only measure by step/ arm movement.
I tested it with my fenix and with an Apple Watch. If you make smaller steps the pace will go up and vice versa. Garmin for example offers to calibrate the run after you’re done but it’s nothing different than changing it afterwards manually.
What could help is a pod or the Runn sensor. As far as I see it Runn does not work with Suunto. -
@lessthanmore said in Treadmill Distance Accuracy:
As far as I see it Runn does not work with Suunto.
Runn is working with Suunto. Even with the S7, if you use SportyGo. But not with the S7 and the Suunto app.
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@Ketoohs said in Treadmill Distance Accuracy:
I correct the distance in SA and TP after I finish, but Strava does not allow it, so the difference in km over the year between systems keeps growing.
Hi. Just a quick note to inform you that you CAN correct the distance in Strava too. To do so you need the 3rd party app called GOTOES (gotoes dot org, for the website). Initially, that application has been designed to combine different activities in one single activity. The “lite” version does not offer the ability to modify distances, but if you donate (watever you want) to the application’s developer, can edit the distance in the app, and seamlessly synchronize it with Strava. I discovered this app directly on Strava’s online support. Works perfectly and I’m using it for treadmill activities.
Ambit 3 Sport
S9 all black -
I had 4.53k on the watch vs 3.5k on the treadmill.
Adjusted on the app but its ruined my stats.
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I have a Spartan Ultra, a S7 and a S9B. None of these watches are able to show the correct distance on a treadmill. Calibrated with GPS or not, it’s no difference. The distance is about 25 to 30 % away from the running distance.
Therefore and because of having the intervals shown in the Suunto app I decided to buy a Runn treadmill sensor and I recommend it to people who are using a treadmill. No more problems, distance, pace, cadence are okay and no manual correction after the training in different apps or websites.
By the way, a Fenix 6X Pro, a Huawei Watch GT Runner and a cheap Casio GBA900 are spot on with the running distance on the treadmill after the first calibration (no GPS needed).
A picture attached. Intervals on the treadmill shown in the Suunto app (the little spikes in the pace show that the belt of the treadmill needs some tightening).
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@Danny-Labrana said in Treadmill Distance Accuracy:
To do so you need the 3rd party app called GOTOES
Garmin, Huawei, Amazfit give you the option to adjust the distance on the watch after the training and before syncing it to the app. So all other apps and websites (Strava and others) have the correct distance out of the box.
Why is there no option in Suunto watches?
https://www.instagram.com/moves.are.life/
Suunto Vertical Black Lime
Suunto 9 Peak Pro Black
Suunto Spartan Ultra Stealth Titanium -
@pilleus Garmin let’s you calibrate after a run but the distance synced to Strava is the original (wrong) one.
There are a lot of topics on Garmin’s forum
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@pilleus I second that, having had very good results with Garmin, Huawei and Amazfit and also with Polar watches (which don’t offer the possibility to adjust the distance after running, but are always very close to the actual distance). My son’s Apple watches ate also quite good. No idea why Suunto is not good at treadmill distances…
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@lessthanmore okay, I never synced from GarminConnect to Strava. And since I use a Raspberry Pi with a linereader and ANT+ dongle to make my old treadmill smart, the distance on the Garmin Fenix 6X Pro is equal to the Runn sensor and the Suunto watches. There is always an option …
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And no watch out there can show the data in the detailled view (pace, cadence) of the Runn treadmill sensor or the DIY solution with the Raspberry Pi and Ant+ (I use it with the Garmin Fenix 6X to have a comparison with the professional Runn).
Here two screenshots, one out of the Suunto app (Runn data), the other out of GarminConnect Mobile (RaspberryPi data).
https://www.instagram.com/moves.are.life/
Suunto Vertical Black Lime
Suunto 9 Peak Pro Black
Suunto Spartan Ultra Stealth Titanium -
@pilleus does Suunto also show the incline values received from the runn ?
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@Andi-Buzer no, the Runn is connected as a foot pod and no incline is shown on the watch. I never found a data field which could read the incline on my Suunto watches.
Zwift can do it.
Garmin has an app to show all Runn data.
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I asked at NPE support/contact site to add a SuuntoPlus app for Runn treadmill sensor, as it is available for Garmin’s IQ Store.
With the Fenix 6X Pro I have a data field for Runn, which shows incline, decline (in %) and ascent, descent (in m) one after the other (every two or three seconds). In the summary of the treadmill workout in GarminConnect there is a graph for incline/decline and the total ascent/descent of the workout.
I hope that NPE will read it …
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Okay, I found a detailled explanation of how a Runn treadmill sensor is working.
“In order to get speed/distance/cadence/gain/incline data from the Runn, the watch and/or app needs to support the Stride Base Speed & Distance (SPD) ANT+ profile.”
https://npe-inc.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360038509212-Is-Runn-compatible-with-Garmin-watches-
I hope NPE will answer my request in the way, that the SPD profile is also available via BLE to have all the data on Suunto watches too.
https://www.instagram.com/moves.are.life/
Suunto Vertical Black Lime
Suunto 9 Peak Pro Black
Suunto Spartan Ultra Stealth Titanium -
@pilleus S+ apps can connect to BLE devices, and if the Runn has a way to broadcast ascent/incline in their BLE messages it will be in theory possible to have such data on Suunto watches. If they do not add the information in their broadcast, then yes it is difficult to do it.
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@pilleus said in Treadmill Distance Accuracy:
I hope NPE will answer my request in the way, that the SPD profile is also available via BLE to have all the data on Suunto watches too.
Got an email from NPE today. The team will discuss it in the next meeting.
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@lessthanmore
The Garmin calibration is a little bit different in that it then uses that basis for your next run - so assuming your stride is reasonablly even the next run should be pretty close to what your treadmill determines as distance.
Fortunately it does offer the option to recalibrate if it isn’t.Biggest issue with the calibration is you have to run over 1 mile.
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@Jamie-BG Yes, you’re right. Tested it this morning.
Treadmill: 6.26km
Zwift + Garmin HRM Pro: 6.3km
S9PP: 7.5kmA bit annoying since I use the treadmill often.
