Heart rate strap won’t connect, or shows no heart rate.

Most strap problems are one of the five below. Try them in order: each takes under a minute.

1. Wake it up

Straps sleep when they don’t feel skin.

• Wear it snugly, sensor against your chest.
• Wet the two sensor pads (water or electrode gel). A dry strap often connects, then drops.
• Then tap SCAN FOR SENSORS in SaddleOut.

2. Make sure nothing else has it

Many straps share heart rate over Bluetooth with only one or a few devices at a time. A watch, bike computer, phone app (Garmin Connect, Zwift, Wahoo, Strava) or another SaddleOut can hold it.

• Close other fitness apps on your phone, tablet and computer.
• Turn off heart rate pairing on nearby watches or bike computers for this ride, or move them away.
• Connect the strap from inside SaddleOut, not from your phone’s Bluetooth settings.

3. Garmin straps: switch to “open connection”

Newer Garmin straps (HRM 200, HRM 600, HRM-Depth) have two Bluetooth modes, and Garmin recommends open for other apps and equipment. In secure mode the strap connects but won’t share heart rate with SaddleOut, then drops.

• Wear the strap and watch its light:
  • 2 green flashes every 5 seconds = secure. Double-press the button quickly.
  • 3 green flashes every 5 seconds = open. Good.
• Then connect it again in SaddleOut.

Other Garmin lights: orange flashing = pairing mode (press the button once to leave it); orange and green = updating, wait; five quick red flashes = connection error (remove it from your device’s sensor list, switch to open, pair again); slow red = error, take the battery out for 30 seconds.

4. Check the battery

A low coin cell connects poorly before it dies. Put in a fresh battery of the type printed on the strap’s battery cover. Some users report that bitter-coated (child-safe) coin cells don’t make good contact; a plain cell can help.

5. Reset

• Take the battery out for 30-60 seconds, then put it back.
• Restart your phone, tablet or computer, or turn its Bluetooth off and on.
• In SaddleOut, tap FORGET on the strap, scan, and connect again.

Still stuck?

Send feedback from SaddleOut (Settings, SEND FEEDBACK) with the strap’s make and model. The app’s log says what the strap offered, which tells us what to fix. You can also send feedback from the website.