HR during Indoor bike Training

Hey guys,

Recently, my HRM-PRO encountered a problem, and while I'm in touch with support to resolve that issue, I've been relying on the optical sensor for my running workouts, which has been functioning properly in capturing my heart rate.

However, when I attempted an indoor bike training session with my watch, the OHR seemed to encounter an issue. Despite accessing the broadcast page and verifying that the OHR was measuring my heart rate normally, during the activity, it displayed only three dashes (---) without registering any actual values.

I've tried troubleshooting this by checking settings and ensuring the OHR was functioning correctly outside of the activity, but I'm still encountering this issue during bike indoor workouts. Is there something I might be overlooking or an additional step I should take to enable OHR during indoor sessions?

All other sensor (power, speed) work fine.

0 mcalista over 1 year ago

You don't mention what you are actually trying to broadcast your hr TO.

0 Vini over 1 year ago in reply to mcalista

Initially, I attempted to broadcast my heart rate to Zwift. The broadcast itself was successful; however, the displayed heart rate remained fixed at 61bpm and didn't reflect any changes despite my activity level.

After noticing this issue, I turned off the broadcasting feature. Even with the broadcast turned off, the displayed values in my watch's data field during the indoor bike workout still appeared as three dashes (---).

0 Vini over 1 year ago

Today, I conducted another test and encountered the same problem. To delve deeper into the issue, I conducted further investigation and identified the cause (unrelated to broadcasting). Unfortunately, I have yet to find a solution.

When initiating an Indoor Bike activity without any sensor connected, the Optical Heart Rate functions properly, displaying my heart rate in the data fields. However, upon connecting the Smart Trainer, the OHR ceases to work. It seems as though the F7 assumes that heart rate information will be provided by the smart trainer itself, which is not the case.

I am uncertain about how to get the OHR to function when the Smart Trainer is connected. Despite connecting the Smart Trainer as a Smart Trainer and not as a Power or Speed/Cadence sensor, it appears that Zwift hub can only be connected as a Smart Trainer or Power, excluding the option to connect as Speed/Cadence.

Is there anyone familiar with a workaround for this issue?

0 mcbit over 1 year ago in reply to Vini

I normally broadcast trainer data to Zwift and Heart rate data to Zwift. I normally use an external HR monitor but have also broadcast my watch WHR to Zwift with no issues.

0 Vini over 1 year ago in reply to mcbit

The issue doesn't lie in the broadcasting itself. Rather, the problem arises when my Smart Trainer (Zwift hub) is linked to the watch, causing the OHR feature on the watch to cease functioning. This problem didn't happen when I utilized the strap; it only appears when relying on the watch's OHR. It seems the watch is waiting for heart rate data from the trainer.

0 mcbit over 1 year ago in reply to Vini

I don't connect the trainer to my watch in any way everything is connected directly to the hardware platform running Zwift.

0 A.Howells over 1 year ago

I have exactly the same problem. garmin fenix 6 // zwift hub one

0 9888275 over 1 year ago in reply to A.Howells

i have been struggling with the same issue for a fair few months now. symptoms are exactly the same. OHR displays real-time HR - until connected to a trainer.....then remains static at the same HR as when it connected.

Even when i dont BC the HR - and just ride the "indoor bike" activtiy - the HR recorded in Garmin Fenix 7 Saphire is static - as in 141.

Garmin needs to address this as i dont want to buy yet another tech gadget to sort out something that should be working.

After spending in excess of £700 - you'd expect that feature to work.