Saris Hammer H3 Cadence issues

Equipment
1

Have you guys ever experienced major cadence issues with the Saris H3?

Right now when I’m on a TR workout my cadence says it’s in the 40’s RPMs even though my legs are spinning around 85-90rpm.

If you guys have any suggestions please send them my way.

====== Things I’ve tried =====
Difference devices
Deleting TR app and reinstalling it.
Used multiple apps to calibrate

Thanks!

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2

What you are probably experiencing is a fault of the method they use to “measure” cadence. They look at the “pulses” of high and low power that is typical in a rider’s pedal stroke. They can pretty reliably capture those variations and estimate cadence from that.

However, that can break down with riders that are especially smooth, or higher cadences with lower forces. These tend to “hide” the power pulses and getting a “halved” cadence is actually common in these cases.

If you really care about cadence, the solution is adding a dedicated cadence sensor.

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3

The strange thing is that this was fine a few days ago, the cadence was working fine with no issues.

4

No problems with my H3 guessing my cadence. I will call Saris and ask them. They are very responsive and helpful.

Maybe also try to calibrate via rouvy app. I believe you said your firmware was up to date.

5

I tried calling but since COVID-19 they are not picking up. I did email support though.

6

Saris H3 Cadence is totally wrong. I just gived up and added an external Sensor.

7

This is consistent with what I experience. I tend to spin around 100rpm until over FTP. Under lighter loading the cadence gets more inaccurate, when loaded it is typically OK with a fewer fluctuations. If I force a heavy down-stroke the pedals, the cadence the reading will return. As I spent years trying not to that, it is not something I need to re-introduce! Usually, I get cadence from my PowerTap pedals, but they are being serviced, so had recently been using the H3 directly. It doesn’t change the workout (I know what I am doing), but can get rather annoying - especially in the graph and any stats afterward. I have a cadence sensor somewhere, just need to find it.

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8

Bumping this thread because lately I have have been having some cadence issues with my H3. I am using my 12 speed and have noticed that my cadence tends to register a lot slower in gears 1-3 (in the 40s) and as I shift toward gear 12 it registers “faster” despite keeping a similar cadence (I’m sure there is some variance but not from 40s to 80-90).

It doesn’t bother me if it is just a number on the screen but does anyone know if that impacts the resistance when in erg mode? Or is that cadence-resistance ratio determined another way when it comes to power?

9

According to @SarahLaverty , cadence input does impact your ERG experience, a revelation that surprised me. Though I use Assioma Duos with Powermatch, I recently found that having a dedicated cadence sensor with a fresh battery improved my experience significantly.

Her comments copied below:

  • You need a strong connection between TrainerRoad and your devices for Erg mode to work well.
  • We prioritise different devices for certain metrics. TrainerRoad will prioritise cadence readings from your cadence sensor.
  • If you don’t have the cadence sensor paired, we will take cadence readings from your power meter (which I see that you had paired for this ride).
  • If your power meter is running low on battery, or is connected to multiple devices/ apps, this can weaken the connection to TrainerRoad.
  • If you don’t have a cadence sensor or power meter paired, we will take cadence readings from your smart trainer.
  • If any or all of your devices have a weak connection, it is possible that we are switching between devices to attain cadence readings which makes for an unpleasant experience in Erg mode.
  • The solution is to make sure that you have a strong connection to all of your devices to ensure optimal Erg mode function.

Hope this helps.

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10

I had an issue and did an OTA software update and it was instantly better. Use the Saris app.