Heart Rate in the Peloton App and a Scosche Rhythm 24 Armband

Heart Rate in the Peloton App and a Scosche Rhythm 24 Armband

When I travel and the hotel gym has a Peloton Bike, I take a spin class or two.  I love a good spin ride and enjoy the Peloton bike and classes.  I was delighted to see an ad several weeks ago regarding the Peloton App.  It had a 30-day free trial, so I gave it a shot using the basic spin bikes in our office gym.  The app worked great, and the classes were challenging and fun.  I was hooked and subscribed.

I did have a gripe when it comes to heart rate monitoring in the Peloton App.  Your heart rate is displayed in the Peloton App only when it is displayed on your Apple Watch.  However, my Apple Watch only stays awake for 70 seconds, thus necessitating that I tap my Watch every 70 seconds to keep my heart rate displayed.  This was a big distraction.  I started to look around for a heart rate monitor that would stay connected to the Peloton App without needing my Apple Watch.

I did not want to use a chest strap, but could not find any devices that reported they worked correctly with the Peloton App.  I found many working with the Peloton bike, but nothing saying it would work with the new Peloton App.  I took a chance and purchased a Scosche Rhythm 24 heart rate monitor that you strap to your upper forearm.  This device had an upside in that it reported to have a cadence tracking function that I was excited to try out.

At first, I was not able to get my Scosche Rhythm 24 heart rate monitor to display my heart rate in the Peloton App even though it reported my heart rate to Apple’s Health App.  I tried using the Scosche Rhythm Sync App, but that did not help.  My iPhone was getting the data, but the Peloton App could not read it.

I found a simple fix that may be helpful for others wanting to go this route with similar Bluetooth enabled heart rate monitors.  The Scosche Rhythm Sync App creates a connection between the armband and phone, but the Peloton App does not see it.  Instead of using the Rhythm Sync App, I paired the Rhythm 24 directly to my iPhone through Bluetooth.  When connected this way, the Peloton App reads the Rhythm 24 as a heart rate monitor.  It works great and my heart rate is always displayed in the Peloton App during a workout.

TIP: Start your Peloton App workout, pause it, then turn on your armband and connect the heart rate monitor to the app.  It is straightforward and seems to be the most reliable way to get it connected.  Once in a workout, the Rhythm 24 was rock solid. 

I fired up the Scosche Rhythm Sync App and put the Rhythm 24 into Cycle mode.  I closed the Rhythm Sync App (disconnected it from the Rhythm 24) and allowed my phone’s Bluetooth to connect.  The Peloton App saw it as a cadence sensor and a heart rate monitor.  However, this did not produce valid results for the cadence sensor.  My reported cadence was all over the place; I had values from 80 to 1,000,000 RPMs oscillating wildly even on a seated easy flat-road pace. I used the Scosche Rhythm Sync App to update the Rhythm 24’s firmware, but that did not improve the cadence accuracy.

I tried placing the Rhythm 24 on different parts of my forearm and bicep per Scosche’s recommendations but that made no difference. I contacted Scosche’s support, but they said that the cadence sensor was not very accurate as it can be thrown off by any slight movement.

The Rhythm 24 is fantastic for tracking your heart rate and works well with the Peloton App. I find it beneficial to tune my resistance level during a spin class based on my heart rate without having to mess with my Apple Watch.  For the intended purpose, I am happy with the Rhythm 24.  It would be fantastic if they figured out the cadence aspect of the device.

I have no affiliation to these companies and receive no compensation or benefit of any kind for this post.

3 thoughts on “Heart Rate in the Peloton App and a Scosche Rhythm 24 Armband

  1. thank you so much . You have given an excellent tip to someone struggling to connect their monitor to the peloton app

  2. Thank you for your feedback. I currently wear the chest band heart rate monitor from Peloton. I’ve gotten used to it, but the strap holds odor and I can’t wash it every night and have it dried by the next day when I ride again. I was looking at the Scosche and wondered if I would be able to see my heart rate on the screen as I did my workout. I will have to think about it still. Sometimes I am good with tech stuff and sometimes it just puts me over the rails trying to get things to work correctly. I wish that Peloton would have made one that did not need to be on my chest.

    1. I purchased the Bowflex bike and use my iPad with the Peloton App. The Bowflex spin bike’s computer connects to the Peloton App to display cadence (RPMs) and the Scosche armband connects to the Peloton App to display heart rate. I have been using this step for about a month now, and I am very happy with how it works.

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