Troubleshooting: How to Fix Apple Watch Not Pairing with Peloton Bike+ – Won’t Connect with GymKit

Peloton seems to be having sporadic issues with another one of their third party integrations. Unlike the previous issue which revolved around the Fitbit, this week’s issue seem to be around Apple’s Gymkit Integration with the Peloton Bike+ and Apple watches.

Numerous users are reporting after the most recent Peloton software update that their Apple Watch will no longer pair or connect with their Peloton Bike+. This leaves them unable to use their Apple Watch as a heart rate monitor on their Bike+. This is not a global outage, as it only appears to be impacting a subset of Peloton users – but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating.

There seem to be a few different approaches to troubleshooting your Apple Watch & Peloton Bike+ integration with GymKit – we’ll list of a couple of different things to try. Note that Peloton support does seem to be aware of this issue, and has indicated their engineers are working on a fix – so you could just try waiting as well and hoping the next update fixes it. That said, if you want to take matters into your own hands, read on!

Troubleshooting steps to fix an Apple Watch that won’t connect or pair with a Peloton Bike+ – Apple GymKit Issues

These are in listed in order of least involved to most involved. We’ll point out that the next to last option (cache clearing + calibration) seems to be the one that works the most, however, since it involves recalibrating your Bike+ (which won’t cause any data loss, it just requires jumping through hoops), we list a few “easier” options first, which fix the issue for some people.

Restart Peloton

Always the first troubleshooting step. Power your bike all the way off (press and hold the power button on the back of your screen a few seconds, then select “Shut Down”), wait 10 seconds, power your Bike back on.

Force Restart your watch

Sometimes the issue can be with your watch itself. Try force restarting it (press and hold both the side button and Digital Crown for at least 10 seconds, then release both buttons when you see the Apple logo.), and see if it will connect afterwards.

Toggle Gym Detection Setting on Watch & Force Restart Apple Watch

  • Open the Settings app on your watch. Scroll all the way to the bottom for “Workout”. Towards the bottom, you should have a toggle for “Detect Gym Equipment” Turn this off. Exit settings.
  • Wait around a minute. Force restart your watch (see instructions above).
  • Turn Detect Gym Equipment back on in the Settings app of your Apple Watch.
  • Now try to pair your watch to the Peloton Bike+

Toggle Gym Detection + Clear Cache + Calibrate Bike+

As we said at the start, this one is slightly more involved, but also seems to do the trick (although it doesn’t fix it for everyone unfortunately). Although doing a calibration might seem counter-intuitive, one of the steps involved in the recalibration process is a firmware update, which is what you are actually trying to accomplish. Note that some people have success simply recalibrating their bike, so you can jump to that step and try just that if you want.

  • Start by turning off Detect Gym Equipment on your watch (Settings -> Workout -> Detect Gym Equipment).
  • Next you’ll want to clear the cache of your Bike+. This is actually recommended by Peloton support for other Bluetooth HR issues. See Peloton’s support page here for the most up-to-date instructions on how to clear your cache. This won’t cause any data loss on your Peloton Bike+ [UPDATE – It’s reported the method linked above doesn’t always work to clear your cache. Instead, you can do it by going to Settings > Device Settings > Apps > Peloton > Storage > Clear Cache. Thanks to MoJack22 for the update]
  • Once you’ve cleared your cache and done the reboot, you now want to recalibrate your Bike+.
  • Click the Settings button at the top right of your Bike screen
  • Click into Device Settings
  • Choose “Home Installation”
  • Click the large icon for “Start Calibration”
  • New firmware will download and the bike will recalibrate
  • Click “Done” on the bike when it finishes
  • Turn Detect Gym Equipment back on in the settings app of your watch.
  • Try to pair your watch to the Peloton Bike+

Uninstall & Re-Install Peloton App on the Bike+

Note that you will have to log back in to things after this, but there is no data loss.

  • Click the Settings button at the top right of your Bike screen
  • Click into Device Settings
  • Choose “Apps”
  • Choose “Peloton” (the one that just says Peloton, not any of the other Peloton apps)
  • Click Force Stop
  • Click on the 3 dots at the top right of your screen
  • Choose “Uninstall Updates”
  • Click OK
  • Click on the Peloton Logo at the bottom center of your screen to go back to the home screen

After all of the above is done, a new download should start. Once it’s done you will have to re-add your Wifi connection back and re-login to your Peloton Account.

Once you are logged back in, try pairing your Apple Watch with the Bike.

All of the above + Factory Reset

If the above step doesn’t work, you can also try a factory reset of your bike. While this will clear all your info, it will be restored once you log back in, but requires you to reset up your WiFi connection, etc.

Please let us know in the comments which of these trouble shooting steps worked for you, or if you have another method of fixing an Apple Watch Peloton Bike+ issue that worked for you.

This is a troubleshooting guide for how to fix when an Apple Watch won't connect with your Peloton Bike+, or won't pair.  There are several different things to try. #peloton #pelotonbike #pelotonbike+ #pelobuddy #troubleshooting #applewatch

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Chris Lewis
Chris Lewis is the creator & founder of Pelo Buddy. He purchased his Peloton in 2018, and uses all the different devices: Peloton Bike, Tread, Row, and Guide. He has been involved in the fitness industry for more than a decade - previously co-founding the websites Mud Run Guide & Ninja Guide. You can find him on the leaderboard at #PeloBuddy.

37 Comments

  • MoJack22 says:

    Thanks… Gym Kit + Clear Cache + Recalibrate worked for me. One change: the Bike+ did not enter safe mode after repeated attempts (hold power + volume up on boot up) to clear the cache. I had to clear the cache, via the Apps (Device Settings > Apps > Peloton > Storage > Clear Cache).

  • Kerri Holn says:

    This is happening to me right now and it’s beyond frustrating!! I will give these steps a try. Thanks!!

  • Bob says:

    Thank you – I had the same issues and your fix of clear cache recalibrate bike + worked although I had the same issue with clearing cache as MoJack22 did and use that fix which worked. Thank you both for solving a very frustrating problem.

  • Chris and Helena says:

    Thanks MoJack22 for recommending alternative method to clear cache since holding volume up and power did not activate safe mode. Following his steps only way to pair Apple Watch again.

  • Samantha J says:

    Thank you SO much for this post. You were more helpful than Peloton support! Recalibration worked for me. Thank Goodness. Hoping it doesn’t change how the bike feels. Like the other commenter mentioned, holding the volume and power doesn’t put you into safe mode. I never did clear the cache but recalibration fixed this for me. I’m so appreciative!

  • Josh M says:

    MoJack22 – this method worked for me too!

  • MMiller says:

    Clearing the cache and recalibrating worked! Thank you!!!

  • Bradley Pliner says:

    You can just turn off the watch the right way by holding down the button. Force restarting it is only if your watch crashed.

  • Anthony M Truchard says:

    I had only done one ride with my new watch before it stopped working. Clearing the cache solved the issue for me. I appreciate the advice.

  • Cass says:

    Thank you! Clearing the cache and recalibrating worked for me too!!

  • Navin says:

    Thank you! This worked for me. I was getting so mad so appreciate this.

  • JimmyG says:

    I’m going thru all these steps now. Peloton support prescribing exact same steps but none have worked so far (reinstalls, factory resets).

  • Paige Mackey says:

    Recalibration works each time but when I turn off the bike plus after a workout and go back the next day to connect I have to recalibrate again… anyone else have this problem or have a solution for this?

  • HellōPelō says:

    I’ve had it happen a couple times. A recalibration has resolved the issue both times.

  • SC says:

    THANKS! this has been driving me crazy for a week

  • Christie says:

    Thank you!!!

  • Kay says:

    Clearing the cache and recalibrating work!!!! Thank you so much!

  • Andy says:

    I’m currently having the problem. The only thing that worked was recalibration. But the problem came back after I shut down the bike. I spoke with Peloton and they were adamant that you are NOT supposed to recalibrate your Bike unless prompted. I guess it can really mess it up. So I’m back to square one.

  • Michelle says:

    Thanks. I received a response from support to recalibrate the bike to fix the sync problem. I hesitate to do it if the problem is recurring and also don’t want to mess with the current calibration. Did the recalibration change the bike’s calibration/feel? I’m finally accustomed to the current calibration and don’t want to alter it. I might wait and hope Peloton will release an update that will fix syncing issue without all the work arounds.

  • Esther Dawson says:

    Thanks for this info. Uninstalling and reinstalling the Peloton app worked for me but not immediately. It took overnight and there was a message saying latest version installed when I switched the tablet on next day. Apple Watch connected without a hitch 😀

  • Andy says:

    Yea, do NOT keep recalibrating. It will mess up the bike.

  • Jim Gurney says:

    Hi! thanks for sharing all the resolutions. i did get my Apple Watch & Boke+ to connect to each other following the suggestions (clear cache, recalibrate, etc). However…. it only connected once! after finishing my ride and after shutdown, my watch would not connect again. Also, I have 2 profiles on the Bike+ and the 2nd profile wouldn’t connect at all either.

    This is so bizarre. Not sure what update happened to create this issue. have been using problem free for several months.

    I called Peloton to report this ongoing issue with my apple watch and having multiple profiles.

    Anyone else still have this ongoing issue after resetting and getting it to connect only for one ride?

  • Abbi says:

    I’m still having the issue too. I have to force close and uninstall the Peloton app on the touch screen each time I want my watch to work. So frustrating.

  • Mark says:

    I am having the same issue. I can get it to connect following the steps above, but it fails to connect the next time. Seems to be when we switch riders that it happens.

  • Brian says:

    Clearing the cache did the trick. Thank you!

  • Paula says:

    Turning off detect gym equipment on my watch. Then going into settings >device settings >Apps > Peloton > Storage > clear cache (thanks MoJack 22).then calibration sorted the problem. Thanks everyone.

  • Whitney says:

    The clearing cache/recalibrating the bike worked for me. Thanks!

  • Lisa says:

    My bike+ started glitching about 2-3 weeks ago. (Screen would freeze, kicked me out of a workout once, resistance went haywire, then came back) Then last week my Apple Watch wouldn’t connect. Still won’t. Have only had bike for 2-3 months. Frustrated to have problems so soon. Not a small investment. I’ll try the above. Restarting bike and watch hasn’t helped.

  • Dayna Mendoza says:

    Recalibration work… Thank you so much was ready to rip my hair out!! 😂

  • Alissa says:

    Watch reset worked for me!

  • Jinny says:

    Help! On my Device settings page, there is no “Home Installation”. Also, no recalibrate option. I just bought my Peloton last week.

  • Erlend Bo says:

    why do they make this so hard

  • Noor Ahmed says:

    Thank you. It was frustrating but the recalibration method helped and I can now connect. Thank you

  • Pamela Caproni says:

    Clearing the cachet and powering down and restarting did the trick. Thank you so much. I did not have to recalibrate

  • Alvin says:

    Turning off detect gym equipment and then force restart worked for me. Thanks

  • Debbie says:

    I have been only able to start with my Apple Watch for my first ride of a given day…this is problematic for those who like to do a warm up/cool down rides. My watch responds with waiting…then ends up not connecting.

  • Chris K. says:

    I know this is an old post, but i can’t find another topic similar to this. My apple watch does not stop automatically when the class is done. It does it for both my Peloton Guide and when a class is done on my iPhone (meditation classes). This then registers hours long classes on my iPhone fitness tracking. (Good for filling my rings, but not for realy tracking my workouts) Hopefully somebody sees this…

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