Heart rate on an indoor bike

By Andreas B. Diendorfer · ORCID · LinkedIn · Updated 27 October 2026

What you need

A sensor that sends heart rate the standard Bluetooth way. Most straps and arm bands do this out of the box, so wear yours wherever it reads well. If you are still choosing, see how to choose a strap.

Then an iPhone or an iPad, and somewhere to put it that your eyes reach without your hands.

Setting it up

1. Connect the sensor. See how to connect a Bluetooth heart rate monitor.
2. Pick a zone profile, or keep the default one.
3. Start a session.
4. Set the phone on a stand or in a handlebar mount. On iPhone, portrait and landscape both work. An iPad works in all four orientations.

Keep screen awake is on by default, so the phone stays on through the hardest interval while Beatcast is open. It costs battery. A cable within reach helps on a long ride.

What you see while you ride

The reading is large and takes the colour of the zone you are in. Your hands are on the bars and there is sweat in your eyes, so a glance has to be enough. It is.

Two optional alerts help you hold an effort. A ceiling speaks up when you drift over it, and a floor when you sag under it. Both are training aids. See heart rate alerts.

Switch to a video or your music and the number comes with you, into the Dynamic Island and onto the Lock Screen. It stays there while the phone is locked. See the Lock Screen guide.

The bike's own console

Many indoor bikes and training apps want a heart rate monitor of their own. Many straps accept one connection, and Beatcast is using it. Some accept two, which leaves one for the console. The two-devices guide has what the makers say.

Beatcast can also pass the reading on. Switch on broadcasting, and to a console or app that accepts a Bluetooth heart rate monitor, your iPhone looks like one. The bike and the phone then agree on the number. Pair it while Beatcast is open on screen. Once connected, it keeps sending with the phone locked.

Fair warning: some head units refuse a phone as a heart rate monitor. Check yours before you plan a ride around it.

After the ride

Beatcast keeps each session. Export it as CSV or TCX, see exporting sessions, or save it to Apple Health as a workout with its heart rate samples. Health records it as a general workout type.

A calorie estimate is there if you want one. It is off by default and uses the Keytel formula, so treat the figure as an estimate. With it on, Health gets the active energy too. More in heart rate to Apple Health.

Where Beatcast fits

Beatcast is the screen for your heart rate on the bike. The bike, the trainer and your training app keep their own jobs. If your setup already puts heart rate where you can read it, you may not need anything more. Beatcast on the App Store. Fourteen days free, then one purchase.

Questions

Related

See also: Heart rate zones explained, Zone 2 training, strap not connecting.

Good to know

Beatcast is not a medical device. It is built for training and general wellbeing, and it cannot detect, diagnose, treat or monitor any condition. Its alerts are training aids, not a safety alarm. If something about your heart rate concerns you, talk to a doctor.

The Bluetooth word mark is a registered trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc. Apple, iPhone, iPad, Apple Health, Dynamic Island and Lock Screen are trademarks of Apple Inc. All other names belong to their owners and are used only to say which sensors Beatcast can read. Beatcast is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or certified by any of them.

Got a sensor working? Report it in r/beatcast.