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I have seen a few people post questions on the internet asking about their Peloton Heart Rate Monitor not working. When I bought my Peloton bike I got the works package with it which included a bike mat, shoes, heart rate monitor, weights, and headphones.
I do think the package was worth it because I got a special on it at the time (hint, this special comes around black Friday and the holidays). One piece of the package – the heart rate monitor, is something I use every time I ride. While I have a Fitbit that records my heart rate while riding, the only way to actually see my heart rate on the screen during the ride is to have an ANT+ monitor. The Peloton monitor has this and is meant to be paired with the bike.
A little more about ANT+
ANT+ is a wireless protocol for monitoring sensor data such as a person’s heart rate or a car’s tire pressure. ANT+ is designed and maintained by the ANT+ Alliance which is owned by Garmin. It is based on the ANT protocol.
Source – Wikipedia.
After a couple of weeks of use my heart rate monitor suddenly stopped working. I could not figure it out and tried replacing the batteries and adjusting it endlessly before calling Peloton support.
Here’s my troubleshooting tips for a heart rate monitor that suddenly stops working:
- First check the bluetooth connection to your bike. Even though the Peloton heart rate monitor uses ANT+ to display your heart rate, it still needs to be connected by bluetooth as well. This was not intuitive to me and ended up being my problem. Even though they were connected originally, I had an update run and they then became disconnected. So, try connecting again as that seems to be the most common issue.
- If your bluetooth connection is still showing but your heart rate monitor is not working I would still try disconnecting and connecting again to completely rule it out.
- The next obvious item to check is the battery. I replaced my batteries while troubleshooting but they did not end up being my issue. Still, they run out at some point. To save battery life unsnap the plastic piece from the band when not riding. When the battery is starting to run out I notice extremely inaccurate heart rate information on the bike so this will give you some idea when it’s about to happen.
- The next item to check is the connection on your chest. I found as a women right under my chest was best. Wet the connection pads, this is important, or it won’t work. Adjust the monitor around on you till you see it show up connected. The less it moves during a ride the better so I make mine pretty snug.
These are the most common issues I see come up with the Peloton heart rate monitor. If it’s still not working for you then it may be faulty and you can call Peloton support. They were ready to send me a new one if I could not get mine working.
If you decide you are done with chest straps anyway and would rather have an arm band this one from Schosche has rave reviews and does work with the Peloton bike.
Read my full Peloton review here!
Thank you for posting this! Saved me a lot of grief, since my problem was also solve don’t just by turning the Bluetooth on again. 🙂
Oops, just saw the typo… meant to say my problem was also solved just by turning the Bluetooth on again. Darn autocorrect.
Great, thanks for the feedback!
I got the scosche band but it’s not showing up on Bluetooth. Any ideas why?
Hi, I don’t actually own the Scosche but I know many people who do and love it. Scosche uses ANT+ to communicate with the bike so I am not sure if the bluetooth connection is needed. Either way I would make sure the bluetooth is turned on on the bike. I have had to turn it on manually before. Possibly try rebooting the bike monitor too.
Hi – I just got my Peloton and I have a Garmin ANT+ heart rate strap, which is working with my Garmin device, but I can’t figure out how to pair it with my Peloton. Bluetooth is on and working, but I don’t see anything on the settings screen for pairing ANT+. Any ideas?
Thanks
Hi David, Sorry for the delay in responding. I have not tried to pair a Garmin strap with the Peloton but any ANT+ device should show up automatically if the bluetooth is also showing it. There is a not specific ANT+ setting to pair on the bike. Hopefully you got it working by now but if not you may want to ask in the Facebook official peloton rider page which has tons of useful info.
For your suggestion number 1 above, Can you detail the steps to take to “try connecting again” a Peloton branded heart rate monitor to the bike?
That’s a great idea. I am in the middle of a move right now but will try to get this added soon! Thanks!
I just started using Bose wireless headphones and now I can’t see my heart rate on the Peloton. could it be because of the wireless headphones.
Hi,
You should be able to use both but you may need to reconnect the heart rate monitor to bluetooth again.
I have my Peleton for almost a year and both our HRM’s were working fine for 10 months. All of a sudden they stopped working, I think I did have an update. Peleton sent me 2 new HRM’s. They still didn’t work. Peleton sent us a complete new screen and I’m still having problems. I try shutting the Bluetooth on off repeatedly. It doesn’t work and the red and blue light on the HRM isn’t turning on. I give up and start a class and during the class I keep gong to Bluetooth and most of the time it finds it within 3 -5 minutes. But is so annoying stopping and starting the class.
When you say wet the pads do you mean where it snaps into the strap or the part that touches your chest?
Hi, I was referring to the part where that touches your chest. I eventually gave up on this heart rate monitor myself after about a year and use either my Apple Watch (Which does not sync with the bike screen) or many people love the Scosche HR mentioned in the article. I am planning to get that one.