Saris H3, could they make it any harder!!!!

[mistermo]

Originally Posted by jamesdak

But damn, top 2 percent in the country on my SAT's back in the day, top in every military course I was ever in, straight A's through college without ever studying, and I now can't figure this out without getting so mad I turn to drinking??!!

Sounds like you burned too many matches in the first half of the race!



....sorry it didn't work for you. Maybe the alcohol could help?

[old fat man]

What kind of man reads the directions anyway?

[seahuston]

All add some backup to the OP here. I have a Saris H3 and I have been nothing but disappointed with it for similar reasons. Saris support is completely none existent. If I was in my return window I'd definitely bring it back.

Connection issues are pretty common. Does not handle switching between devices well. I'm unable to get it to work with zwift for ANT+. It is recognized but never actually controls the resistance (it will do this with Bluetooth)

Calibration is way off. I've tested it against 4 different power meters, it is always off by 10-20 watts. No amount of spin downs will fix it.

Calibration is zwift is marginal at best

I've had many an indoor ride start off really frustrated because of this thing.

[oldpotatoe]

Good choice, rollers. Watch a cycling video, listen to nice, inspiring music....ride outside. Life is too short to mess with crappy, EXPENSIVE, products.

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Good choice, rollers. Watch a cycling video, listen to nice, inspiring music....ride outside. Life is too short to mess with crappy, EXPENSIVE, products.

Yep, that's exactly as I see it too. Only got that thing because I thought I was going to have a knee replacement right away and didn't want to risk a wreck on winter roads rehabbing it.

When I get home from work, riding everyday is my de-stresser. If I have to fight the tech to get my ride in there's just no point in having it.

And I have seen eveyone's suggestions above and there isn't anything there I did not try while troubleshooting. The controllable just was not recognizable.

[trener1]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Good choice, rollers. Watch a cycling video, listen to nice, inspiring music....ride outside. Life is too short to mess with crappy, EXPENSIVE, products.

I'd beg to differ (obviously to each there own), but I have been riding rollers and dumb trainers for over 20 years, I had the same mentality but finally caved and bought a Kickr last December, and I have to say that my indoor riding enjoyment has increased by a measure of 1000%, I am kicking myself (haha pun intended) for not buying one 3 years ago.
So my position is that life is too short to not enjoy the great new tech that's come along even if it seems a bit foreign and maybe not necessary to us.

[kiwisimon]

OP, smart choice by you. Not worth the hassle and stress.

your gain Saris loss.

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by kiwisimon

OP, smart choice by you. Not worth the hassle and stress.

your gain Saris loss.

Yep, and honestly the cold rides don't bother me at all. I have that all sorted out. I just don't have any road bike equipped with studded tires anymore so will be limited to the rollers on the odd days the roads are still snow covered in the evenings.

Winter ride is actually quite fun itself.

[tmf]

When I decided to enter the smart trainer world, my choice was to go with an Apple TV connected to my TV. It seemed like the cleanest method to get the training apps on the TV.

I ended up with a Saris H3 after looking at the options, and I've been very happy with it. I got it in Feb of this year, and have been using it multiple times per week and it connects via bluetooth to the AppleTV just fine.

I've noticed if I have a bluetooth headset paired with anything (usually phone or laptop), it can sometimes interfere with getting the H3 paired to the AppleTV when starting up. I make sure the headphones are off first, and the H3 pairs right up.

I've always felt bluetooth is a somewhat sketchy standard. It offers a lot of options of things that can be paired together, but I think that also leads to the issues.

[teleguy57]

First, I understand your frustration. I just spent 4 hours replacing a failed AV receiver and I still don't have some of the input devices working with the Logitech remote that had controlled everything before.

And isn't it telling that Saris apparently doesn't monitor this forum, or perhaps chose not to respond. When we see folks like @joshatsilca, @velocipede, and so many others jumping into discussions of their products ior sharing industry expertise they build creditability and boost our confidence.

Finally, I'm 11 weeks out after total knee replacement early September. I've had pretty much the ideal experience and recovery so far so very blessed (yup, way up on my Thankgiving grateful list!). Happy to talk about your situation if helpful. PM me and we can go from there.

[kppolich]

Such a shame to see sub-par software ruin decent hardware yet again.

[DfCas]

I monitor several trainer forums on facebook and most problems are associated with windows OS on pc s. Apple tv and tablets/ phones seem to have less issues.

[marciero]

Not commenting on tech gadgets such as trainers specifically, but the days of "rtfm" in the tech world generally are mostly long gone. Maybe because things are too bleeding edge and constantly evolving for manuals. But the flip side is that there are very active community-of-users scenes on the internet.

[bostonbiker]

I also recently got a Saris H3 as my first indoor trainer, and am having some growing pains. After tightening on the end caps securely with a wrench, the free hub does not spin, well, freely. When I put my bike on I can't backpedal at all, and frankly the resistance seems insane for the gradients listed in Rouvy. Has anyone else run into this? Or should I just leave the adapters a little loose?

[bostonbiker]

Originally Posted by bostonbiker

I also recently got a Saris H3 as my first indoor trainer, and am having some growing pains. After tightening on the end caps securely with a wrench, the free hub does not spin, well, freely. When I put my bike on I can't backpedal at all, and frankly the resistance seems insane for the gradients listed in Rouvy. Has anyone else run into this? Or should I just leave the adapters a little loose?

Well, after a little more googling and an inspection, the top hat spacer behind the free hub has cracked. Pretty impressive after using it a total of three times