#17 The Deep Dive Fix Files: Week Ending 25 September 2026

This is a weekly roundup of significant sports tech problems that the endurance community has encountered and, where possible, resolved. Each entry covers the issue, the affected hardware or software, and the current best fix or workaround known to the community.

Wahoo ELEMNT Roam 3 losing connection to Speedplay Power pedals

Since April 2026, Roam 3 owners have reported their Speedplay Power pedals dropping out dozens of times in a single ride, with one rider counting more than 30 dropouts in two hours. Cadence sometimes kept coming through while the power reading cut out.

The same pedals paired cleanly to an ELEMNT Bolt 2 and to Zwift, which pointed at the Roam 3. Wahoo sensors default to Bluetooth, and there is no way to force an ANT+ connection instead, so that common workaround was not available. Several riders returned their units after months of Roam 3 firmware updates failed to help.

The fix came from the pedal side. Speedplay released new power pedal firmware on 17 August 2026, and riders report that it cleared most or all of the dropouts. Update the pedals through the Wahoo app before looking at the head unit.

Garmin Fenix 8 screen stuck at maximum brightness after firmware 23.31

On firmware 23.31, some Fenix 8 AMOLED screens stay at full brightness after exposure to direct sunlight and never dim again, even in a dark room. The fault first appeared in the 23.27 beta. It only occurs with Always On Display enabled and the wrist gesture turned off, and it clears only when the wearer touches the screen or presses a button.

Left alone, the watch runs at full brightness for hours, which drains the battery and raises the risk of burn-in. A factory reset and a full software reinstall did not help. The only change that worked was rolling back to firmware 22, which removed the fault for the owner who tried it. Owners have asked Garmin for a manual option to switch auto-brightness off.

This issue remains unresolved — if you have encountered it and found a fix, the discussion is open on r/the5krunner.

Garmin Varia RearVue 820 showing Radar Error, Data Stale, Disconnected on Edge

Riders pairing the Varia RearVue 820 with an Edge 1040 or Edge 1050 see a “Radar Error, Radar Data Stale, Disconnected” message two or three times an hour, even though the radar keeps tracking traffic in the background. The message does not clear on its own and must be tapped away, and the Edge backlight can flicker at the same time. Some riders see it more often as traffic behind them changes between light and heavy.

Garmin support recommends powering the RearVue 820 off and on, then unpairing it from the Edge and pairing it again from scratch. One Edge 1050 owner rode three and a half hours afterwards with no disconnections, but the original poster found the error came back on a later ride after doing the same.

This issue remains unresolved — if you have encountered it and found a fix, the discussion is open on r/the5krunner.

Wahoo Headwind minimum heart rate stuck at 115 bpm with a Garmin strap

The Headwind fan speeds up as heart rate rises, but one owner found the minimum heart rate field in the Wahoo app locked at 115 bpm whatever value was entered. With a Garmin chest strap paired, the fan stayed almost silent through the easy part of a session. The strap itself paired and reported heart rate correctly.

The fix is to forget the Headwind in the Wahoo app and pair it again from scratch. After re-pairing, the heart rate thresholds saved correctly and the fan responded to effort as expected.

Suunto Race S logging a nap during recorded overnight sleep on firmware 2.53.42

Since firmware 2.50.28, the Race S has sometimes split one continuous night of sleep into a nap on the previous day and a separate sleep session. A Suunto moderator said a later release would fix it, but the fault is still present on 2.53.42 and recurs once or twice a month for some owners. There is no way to edit or delete a wrongly logged nap.

A related fault, where sleep tracking stops entirely after putting the watch on shortly before bed, was cleared for one owner by reinstalling the watch firmware and reconnecting it to the Suunto app. Suunto has not confirmed that as a fix for the phantom naps.

This issue remains unresolved — if you have encountered it and found a fix, the discussion is open on r/the5krunner.

Suunto Race S battery life dropping from a week to two days after 18 months

One Race S owner reports battery life falling from five to seven days per charge to two days or less after about 18 months, with no GPS activities recorded. Suunto support pointed to its one-year warranty. Other forum members noted that EU consumer rules place the burden on the seller for up to two years, so a claim through the original retailer may still succeed.

Draining the battery completely and then fully recharging it forces the watch to reset its battery management and brought back some runtime, though the improvement may only be temporary.

This issue remains unresolved — if you have encountered it and found a fix, the discussion is open on r/the5krunner.

Garmin Forerunner 255S losing open water swim distance after turns

FIT and KML data from one swimmer shows the Forerunner 255S recording the first leg of an open water course accurately, then undercounting every leg swum after a 180 degree turn. Legs of 60 to 65 metres came back as 44 to 56 metres. A second swimmer measured a known 740 metre course at 540 metres without any turns, which suggests a wider processing fault. Garmin support has passed the report to engineering.

Pressing stop and resume at each turnaround nearly removes the shortfall, while pressing lap does not. That only suits structured interval swims, not continuous loops.

This issue remains unresolved — if you have encountered it and found a fix, the discussion is open on r/the5krunner.

Suunto 9 Peak Pro heart rate belt dropping out and sticking on one reading

Owners of the 9 Peak Pro on firmware 2.50.28 report Suunto’s own heart rate belt returning no data, implausible values, or a reading stuck at one number during a run. The same belt works normally with the Suunto app and third-party apps, and a fresh battery did not help.

Suunto moderators could not reproduce the fault. R-R interval data from one affected run was clean at the start and became noisy partway through, which they read as a worn SmartSensor strap rather than a firmware problem. The straps typically last six months to a year, so replacing the strap is the first thing to try.

Garmin Edge 1050 not finding or pairing with Rally RS 200 power pedals

A new Edge 1050 refused to find or pair with Rally RS 200 pedals, even though it paired easily with older speed, cadence and heart rate sensors. Garmin support traced it to a known bug linked to a recent iOS update that affected Bluetooth pairing on both the Edge 1050 and the Garmin Connect iPhone app.

The fix is to pair the Rally pedals to the Garmin Connect app first, then pair the Edge 1050 to the pedals. Garmin support had the setup working in about 20 minutes this way.

Garmin Fenix 6 race predictor showing elite times after firmware 28.02

After firmware 28.02, the Fenix 6 race predictor started showing unrealistic times, with one 5K prediction dropping from 27 minutes to 18. The number resets overnight, then jumps back after the next activity. Descent Mk2 and Mk2S owners report the same pattern. Garmin confirmed the error happens on the watch itself, not during a Connect sync.

Garmin’s temporary workaround is to clear every event from the watch and Garmin Connect and re-add only the main race, which makes the watch rebuild four weeks of training data. Several owners found the predictor drifted back after their next run. Garmin says engineers have found the cause and planned an update for August 2026, but as of 11 September it had not shipped.

This issue remains unresolved — if you have encountered it and found a fix, the discussion is open on r/the5krunner.

Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED snapping back to the watch face when opening menus after firmware 22.35

On the Fenix 8 47mm AMOLED running 22.35, pressing a button to open settings, widgets or activity screens can send the watch straight back to the watch face, as if the app had crashed.

Toggling Always On Display off and back on clears the fault until the next reboot. For persistent cases, Garmin suggests a power cycle, disabling the touchscreen to rule out a stuck palm gesture, and recalibrating the buttons from Watch Settings, System, About, then pressing the top left button eight times. Some owners saw the fault return even after recalibration. Those who only see it mid-activity avoided it by disabling the touchscreen before starting and re-enabling it once the activity was running.

This issue remains unresolved — if you have encountered it and found a fix, the discussion is open on r/the5krunner.

Garmin Fenix 8 Pro repeating a green Complete notification after activities

A Fenix 8 Pro kept showing a green circular-arrow “Complete” notification every one to two minutes after finishing an activity. Turning off app notifications did not stop it.

The source is Garmin Explore reporting each background sync of tracks, routes and courses. Force-stopping the Explore app stops the notifications until the next phone reboot. The lasting fix is to change Explore’s sync settings from Sync Everything to Sync Selection, turn off syncing collections to the watch, and disable sync current activity.

Suunto Race 2 altitude reading stuck 12 to 22 metres below sea level

A Race 2 owner reports altitude readings 12 to 22 metres below sea level while standing at sea level. Manual corrections are overwritten within minutes, and a GPS sync does not reset the reading. Forum members blame the barometric sensor, with wind, tight clothing over the case and the vertical bounce of running all affecting the pressure reading. Elevation gain over a route still comes out close to correct.

Switching the altitude source from manual entry to automatic GPS correction narrowed the error to about 4 to 6 metres for most owners. Suunto has not commented in the thread.

This issue remains unresolved — if you have encountered it and found a fix, the discussion is open on r/the5krunner.

Suunto Ambit 3 Peak stuck in a sync loop after Android app 6.13.8

After the Android Suunto app updated to 6.13.8, an Ambit 3 Peak pairs normally but then cycles endlessly through syncing, optimising GPS performance and successfully connected without transferring any activity data. A similar pairing loop on 6.13.6 was fixed in 6.13.7, and the problem returned with 6.13.8.

Owners have worked around it by installing the older 6.13.7 app manually and turning off automatic updates for the Suunto app in the Play Store so 6.13.8 is not reinstalled.

This issue remains unresolved — if you have encountered it and found a fix, the discussion is open on r/the5krunner.

Garmin Edge 540 and Edge 1040 Connect IQ data fields crashing after firmware 31.30

On firmware 31.30, Connect IQ data fields on the Edge 540 and Edge 1040 crash moments after an activity starts. The fields must be removed and added back one at a time before they work again. The same update also stopped automatic syncing to Garmin Connect for the original poster.

Reinstalling the fields and a full device reset did not help. Switching activity profile mid-ride sometimes brings the fields back. When it does not, stopping the activity, rebooting the Edge and resuming the ride clears the crash until it happens again. Garmin has not responded in the thread.

This issue remains unresolved — if you have encountered it and found a fix, the discussion is open on r/the5krunner.

Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt and Ace ride map missing from the Wahoo app after sync

ELEMNT Bolt and Ace owners syncing through an iPhone or iPad report rides arriving in the Wahoo app with power, heart rate and distance intact but no map. The same rides show a full map on Strava and in live tracking, so the GPS data is recorded and uploaded correctly.

One rider fixed it by logging out of the Wahoo app, restarting the iPad and logging back in. Others found the map appeared on its own after the ride had spent longer processing in Wahoo’s cloud. Wahoo has not commented.

Suunto Vertical date and time resetting after power off

A Suunto Vertical on firmware 2.50.28 loses its date and time whenever it is fully powered off, returning to Monday 1 January at 03:03. The clock survives an ordinary restart. The correct time only returns after a GPS fix during an outdoor activity or a sync with the Suunto app. A Suunto moderator said the full power-off is intended for long-term storage.

Keeping auto time update switched on and syncing with the app straight after powering back on restores the date fastest. Waiting for a GPS fix during a run leaves the start of that activity with the wrong timestamp.

This issue remains unresolved — if you have encountered it and found a fix, the discussion is open on r/the5krunner.

Garmin Edge 840 High Aerobic training load stuck at zero after firmware 31.33

After firmware 31.33, an Edge 840 logs interval sessions with sustained zone 3, 4 and 5 efforts as entirely Low Aerobic, with High Aerobic load stuck at zero. Rechecking heart rate and power zones, turning off auto-detection for max heart rate and LTHR, switching the zone basis and a hard restart all failed to help.

Manually lowering LTHR restored High Aerobic points straight away, but the Edge then raised LTHR back to its old value on its own and the fault returned. The suggested approach is to set LTHR from a lab test and stop auto-detection from overriding it.

This issue remains unresolved — if you have encountered it and found a fix, the discussion is open on r/the5krunner.

Suunto Race S losing Bluetooth connection to heart rate and power sensors mid-ride

A Race S owner lost the connection to a Bluetooth heart rate strap partway through an 80 km gravel event, and the watch would not reconnect for the rest of the ride. Vertical 2 owners report the same failure with Bluetooth power meters, and one says it has persisted for close to ten months. ANT+ is not involved.

The only workaround is to save the current activity when a sensor drops and start a new one, which usually reconnects cleanly. The ride is then split into two files that need joining afterwards. Suunto support has given no timeline for a fix.

This issue remains unresolved — if you have encountered it and found a fix, the discussion is open on r/the5krunner.

Garmin Fenix 8 altimeter jumping after firmware 22.44

After firmware 22.44, Fenix 8 Solar 47mm owners report altimeter readings jumping from 115 metres to 250 metres in an instant despite repeated calibration. The same update brought a sluggish interface, random returns to the watch face, a Resistance Score that stops updating, and a touchscreen that locks in airplane mode even with Touch Lock off.

Reinstalling 22.44 cleared the altimeter fault for one owner. Another suggests setting Altimeter Sensor Mode to Auto and then doing a full shutdown and restart, though this sometimes needs more than one attempt to hold.

This issue remains unresolved — if you have encountered it and found a fix, the discussion is open on r/the5krunner.

Garmin Instinct 3 missing Resume Later for the open water swim leg in multisport

In a bike, swim, bike multisport activity, the Instinct 3 offers Resume Later on the bike legs but not on the open water swim. Pausing the swim only allows the segment to be ended.

Forum suggestions include moving to the bike leg straight after the swim and pausing there, changing the activity type after the swim, or building a custom multisport activity in Garmin Connect with the transitions set in advance. Garmin has not said whether the limitation is deliberate.

This issue remains unresolved — if you have encountered it and found a fix, the discussion is open on r/the5krunner.

Garmin Fenix 8 showing the wrong date and time from spoofed GPS signals

A Fenix 8 owner in Kyiv saw the watch jump to March 2028 several times in 48 hours, even with time set to manual. Local GNSS spoofing fed the watch fake coordinates for Lima, Peru, and the watch accepted them with no plausibility check, while nearby Android phones rejected them. The false dates corrupted health data with future timestamps and forced the owner to delete more than 600 records from Garmin Connect and Android Health Connect.

Owners in other cities report the same. Removing third-party watch faces and data fields that request location in the background reduces exposure, but the watch can still accept a spoofed fix through its main GPS. Garmin has not responded.

This issue remains unresolved — if you have encountered it and found a fix, the discussion is open on r/the5krunner.

Garmin Fenix 8 Pro missing gear selection after a run

A replacement Fenix 8 Pro stopped offering the option to select shoes after a run, even though the previous unit on the same firmware showed it. That breaks per-shoe mileage tracking without any error message.

Updating to firmware 22.44 brought gear selection back for the original poster. Garmin says it cannot reproduce the fault on 23.31 and has asked anyone still affected to send diagnostic information.

Suunto 9 Peak Pro battery mode resetting to Performance every day

On the 9 Peak Pro, switching an activity such as Mountaineering or Running to Endurance battery mode only lasts one session, and the watch returns to Performance mode the next day. Suunto support says this is intentional, so nobody accidentally stays in a lower-power mode. Other settings such as the GPS toggle are remembered between sessions.

The only workaround is to select Endurance mode by hand before every long session, several menus deep. Forgetting before an ultra or long triathlon means starting in the higher-drain mode.

This issue remains unresolved — if you have encountered it and found a fix, the discussion is open on r/the5krunner.

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More from last week’s Fix Files roundup.

Browse every issue in the archive at the Deep Dive Fix Files hub.

Last Updated on 25 September 2026 by the5krunner