Nike Fuel Band Update

I have been using my Nike Fuel Band for almost 3 months and have some positive and negative comments for others that are considering buying the device. 

Overall I continue to be happy with the device itself.   The battery life is excellent; I generally only charge it for a short time, from 5 minutes to 30 minutes and have never had it shut down.  If I am at home I generally synch via USB every day but when I am traveling I may go 3-4 days without synching.  Synching does have some other issues.  I would estimate that 10% of the time the synch gets hung up and does not work the first time.  Also, there are frequent software updates to the device and they often require more than one attempt to update the firmware.  My other upload issue is Bluetooth to my IPad; I have never done it successfully.  To be fair, it could be my fault as I have not spent a lot of time on it but the few times I have tried it were unsuccessful. 

Once you have successfully uploaded your data, the website is well designed and quickly provides you the information you want to review.  Check out the screen shot from today. 

 The other screen I look at is the goals hit and Active days.  This is a great motivator to keep up the workouts even though it is hard to make the goal every day, but I console myself by getting it most days, as you can see 69 out of 79, not bad.

 The last area of the web site that I generally look at is “How you compare”.  Frankly, I wish Nike would do a better job with more information about peers and the Nike community but this is a good start.

 Okay, there are a few negatives or bumps in the road.  Nike started a Facebook app to compete with other Nike Fuel Bank users.  I signed up for it and it never worked and it is now gone.  Great idea!  What happened?  On a similar note, I received an email a few days ago that was a report on my June activities.  I was happy to see they were giving comparisons similar to above for peers and the Nike community but it was erroneous, there is no way that it was right, check it out.  

They apparently compared my daily average to other’s monthly average.   This doesn’t exactly inspire confidence; I can understand it if I were part of a Beta user group but this is in full production. 

There have been a couple of other annoyances like last week I met my goal but the system captured a lower number.  I have had to reset the device a few times, but that is quick and relatively easy. 

Overall I am quite happy with the device and the web site.  My real hope is that Nike continues to invest and refine the system’s algorithms to better interpret the data, i.e. cycling/elliptical versus just steps.  I also am anxious to see what they are going to do with the publishing an API for developers.  Jawbone UP has an unauthorized API available, Fitbit has a published API.  I think this data is more valuable in the context of overall health and wellness apps that include more than just Nike Fuel/calorie expenditure. 

Nike apparently has a limited API release for developers creating music integration apps that allow for different music to play based upon activity feeds from the Fuel band.  That is cool, but we need more data liberation for apps we would like to create. 

Paul Speese

How to use your Nike Fuel for cycling

I love my new Nike Fuel but wish that Nike had been more aggressive with their accelerometer algorithms and could detect and report activities than walking steps.  But that is a topic for another session. 

I was frustrated that Nike Fuel under reported Fuel Points and Calories burned when cycling.  Look at the chart below on a day where I did 45 minutes on the Elliptical in the morning  and 60 minutes on my bike.  I definitely worked harder on the bike but when worn on the wrist Nike Fuel under reports Fuel Points and Calories burned:  

The following day I did exactly the same Elliptical workout for 45 minutes and rode the same route on the bike, with the exception that I wore the Nike Fuel secured to my running shoe.  Check out this chart:

I suspect this approach may over report cycling Fuel points and calories burned but it is more accurate than wearing the Nike Fuel on your wrist. 

A couple people expressed concern about losing or damaging the Nike Fuel Band by wearing it on your shoe.  I didn't worry much, I simply locked in onto one of the laces and double secured it by tying the lace over it as pictured below.  It may look goofy but it is very secure and hasn't moved on the two rides used in this way:

Nike Fuel Secured to Running Shoe Top View:

Nike Fuel Secured to Running Shoe Side View: