ELEMNT Roam 3: Severe Wahoo Speedplay Powermeter Disconnections

Equipment
1

I am reaching out to report a persistent and highly frustrating connection issue between my ELEMNT Roam 3 and my Wahoo Speedplay power meter. I have been experiencing this since I first purchased the Roam 3 at launch, and it continues to happen even after installing all the latest updates.

The Issue & Troubleshooting:

  • Severe Dropouts: Just today, I returned from a 2-hour ride where the power meter disconnected at least 30 times. I have attached the .fit file from this ride so your team can review the frequency of the dropouts. This issue has occured from the first day I bought and used the Roam 3 when it first released and it still occurs on every single ride.

  • Device Isolation: This issue is strictly isolated to the Roam 3 unit. The power meter maintains a perfectly stable connection when paired to my tablet for Zwift, and it works flawlessly without any dropouts when paired to my older ELEMNT Bolt 2.

  • Firmware Status: Both the ELEMNT Roam 3 and the Wahoo Speedplay power meter are fully updated to the latest software versions.

Potential Cause & Questions: From researching this online, I have seen many other users complaining of the exact same issue. The general consensus is that the Roam 3 prefers connecting to power meters via BLE instead of ANT+, creating a much more fragile connection. Unfortunately, there is no option provided on the device or in the companion app to force an ANT+ connection to test this theory.

Given the number of users experiencing this, I would appreciate answers to the following:

  1. Is there any workaround, hidden menu, or method to force the Roam 3 to connect to my power meter strictly via ANT+?

  2. Is the software team aware of this specific BLE/ANT+ protocol issue, and is a firmware fix actively on the way?

This issue is severely impacting my ability to use the Roam 3 for structured training. I look forward to your response and hopefully a permanent fix.

2

Exactly the same problem for me. Put in a ticket this afternoon. Hopefully they come back with a fix, if not I’ll be returning mine. £600 for pedals which report your power for 50% of the ride doesn’t feel like a great deal to me.

3

No. Various Wahoo sensors will always pair over BT instead of ANT to send more/different data than the ANT protocol allows. Another device that did this was the TICKR X, which would transmit cadence and run metrics as well as HR over a single channel.

Also worth noting it’s almost certainly connecting to your Bolt 2 via BT, so if it’s working there BT might not be the culprit.

Honestly first I’ve heard of this, and I’ve been using Speedplay Power and Roam 3 since they were launched respectively. Did you file a ticket on the Wahoo website?

Since it sounds like the problem is in the Roam and not the pedals, have you tried a factory reset on the Roam?

4

I’ve noticed similar behavior with other sensors on the Roam 3. It’s a bit frustrating that there isn’t a manual toggle to prioritize ANT+ over BLE in the current firmware. Hopefully, they add a way to select the specific protocol soon to help with these connection dropouts.