I have only had this happen with a watch (wrist-based HRM). I have never had it happen with either a forearm optical HRM or chest strap HRM. I am curious if you are an outlier in cadence lock with non-watch HRMs.

I've had both my previous Garmin HRM-Run and my current Wahoo Tickr do this, though my current Tickr does it much more frequently. I've found that it may happen more when the battery is getting low.. but that may just be making that up. Haven't really found a way to fix it long term but getting the strap wet prior to the run seems to help it stay locked from the start.

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Strava

Yeah that happens to me too. IDK if there is a solution. To make matters worse there is a lot of software data smoothing going on because raw values are dirty, making it hard to pin the data discrepancy on any particular action.

Interestingly, I and several others I've heard from have the problem until we break a sweat rather than after we do so. A very effective solution to that issue is to apply some electrode gel such as Babump before starting a run. Plain old saliva works too but not quite as effectively. Not sure what might help your situation.

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Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.

I had this for quite some time and think I finally found the answer to the crazy high readings (did a ton of research). They are not cadence values but rather static electricity interference from athletic fabric that sends the crazy readings. Run shirtless and the problem goes away. Sweat so hard so the shirt is drenched, problem goes away. Wear a cotton shirt (uh heck no) and the readings go away. But when it is cool outside and the static buildup can happen, the readings go nuts. The electro-gel works but not 100% of the time as it typically won't always overpower the static buildup.

As far as no HRM and only using the watch and then getting a crazy high number, that is possibly cadence, when the watch is not strapped down tightly and has a good amount of movement. The watch can get confused and then interprets that movement of the watch incorrectly.

My solution has been to use a Scosche Arm Band HRM. Flawless.

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Cheers, Ray

Thanks TX83. That makes a lot of sense, at least in my case. I'm up in Calgary where it is notoriously dry and cold so that definitely could be an issue.

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Strava

Very welcome. Cheers, Ray

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Cheers, Ray

Interesting that the problem comes after sweating. For me it is always the beginning of the run that I pick up cadence (or sometimes just garbage data) until I start sweating. Happens all the time as it is dry here in Colorado.

Anyway, dcrainmaker did an article on this a long time ago that I recently found: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/...your-heart-rate.html. Maybe something in there will help you. I'm going to get some gel soon I think.

Thanks all for the responses and thanks for the link.

I've had this happen a handful of times on my 935. Haven't tried using my HRM for running, since it happens so rarely.

I do think it messed up my max HR calculation. It adjusted to 185bpm in Garmin/Strava. I'm usually dying by the time I reach 165bpm (FTP ramp test or hard running), but haven't gotten around to trying to test it separately.