To calibrate your Peloton bike, you´ll need a couple of tools, your touchscreen and the resistance knob to regulate your flywheel´s settings. There are many small steps to follow in the process but we´ll walk you through them.
If you've ever felt that your Peloton bike feels too easy or hard to ride for it´s current setting, odds are that it's decalibrated. Riding an uncalibrated bike can get old really quick. You will stop enjoying your classes as you can´t adjust to the desired resistance level. Personally, my Peloton bike has decalibrated a couple of times before, and the riding experience wasn't comfortable at all. Luckily, I learned a few things about Peloton bike calibration.
In this article, I will share everything I learned regarding this topic. So, keep reading to find out more.
Table of Contents
A bike´s flywheel can easily lose calibration with the magnets every now and then. Learning how to get the magnets back in place and setting the correct resistances is the key to recalibrating your Peloton bike. Here´s what you need:
Other than your bike, you will need a couple of materials to do a successful bike calibration:
The Original Peloton bike works with a magnetic resistance system. Although the bike comes factory-calibrated, this can easily fail due to the strength of the magnets. As a result you'll have to recalibrate your Peloton bike.
You can remove them with the help of your screwdriver and allen wrenches.
Once you've clicked this button, select the "About option". A box will appear.
Make sure you only tap the top right corner of the box, tap 10-20 times or until a sensor calibration screen appears. You´ll know when you see the Peloton calibration screen because it´ll say, "Welcome to sensor calibration"
Once you've clicked this option, turn the resistance knob to the left and tap "Calibrate". Turning the knob to the left should place the resistance at its lowest setting.
Once you´ve set the minimum calibration, to calibrate maximum resistance, tap the "max. resistance" button and turn the resistance knob to the right (it's the hardest setting).
Once the minimum and maximum resistance calibrated are set, select the "Done" button, and turn the resistance knob to the left
Among the calibration tools in your Peloton calibration kit, you´ll have the calibration wedge. Take this calibration wedge and place it between the 2nd and 3rd magnets on your flywheel's edge.
Keep the wedge in place with your hand. To tighten the wedge, you can move your resistance knob with the other hand until the wedge is secure between the magnets, but can still be removed. This can take a bit of trial and error.
Once the wedge is in that sweet spot where it is secure but can still be removed, take the wedge out. Make sure you don't move the resistance knob.
To turn the knob with care, you can place the white plastic discs (other Peloton calibration tool in the kit) under your resistance knob. Ensure that the lines on both disks match up and are facing the neck of the bike.
Placing the discs can be a bit complicated, so this step is not essential. Just make sure that when you turn the knob, you do so with extreme care. You´ll also need a tool to accurately measure 90° turns.
Tap the "next" button to begin the 31-step calibration process. This should open the sensor calibration menu.
Once you´ve selected a “set”, begin turning your knob on 1/4 turn increments until you reach the end. For every turn you make, you´ll have to click the "Set" button again. At the end, you´ll see a screen that says "Calibration Complete".
To complete your Peloton bike calibration, reset your bike and unplug it. Then turn your bike on again.
To reset your Peloton bike, follow these steps:
This should erase any date your Peloton bike has on your previous resistance settings.
Once the Peloton calibration process is ready, put your water holder and guard back on your Peloton bike.
To test the efficacy of your bike calibration, it is recommended that you give your Peloton bike a test. Try to test every resistance level. Also take a look at cadence and resistance levels.
To compare your new resistance levels, try taking the FTP test. Compare your new FTP score with the previous ones. If the number is more reasonable, odds are your bike is properly calibrated.
From both Peloton bikes available, the Peloton bike plus is far easier to calibrate. Due to its digital resistance system, you don't have to do anything to the bike. The computer will recalibrate the system by itself.
The Peloton bike sensors on the Peloton+ will automatically signal when an adjustment is necessary, and the bike itself will take care of the repairs via the Peloton auto calibrate feature.
Further calibration is not recommended. However, in case you need it, here's how:
There's a bit of mystery regarding the Peloton calibration tools. In previous years, whenever you bought a Peloton bike, these calibration tools would already come with the bike. However, nowadays, to acquire the tools, you´ll have to do so through Peloton support.
The tool kit consists of allen wrenches, two plastic discs and a Peloton calibration tool (wedge). If you don't have a warranty, the Peloton calibration tools cost somewhere around the $100 range.
To be fair, it is possible to do so without the tools. You´ll need some tape, rules and something to separate the magnets. However, the tools exist for a reason. Using them will help you calibrate your bike as it should be.
Of course, a Peloton bike calibration can have things that don't go as well as you would like. Here is what you could do to solve them:
If you have the Peloton warranty, contacting support will be free of further charge. They'll fix your bike, no matter the problem, as long as you haven´t voided their conditions.
Peloton bike calibration is only necessary whenever you feel that the bike is not properly responding to the resistance changes. This can either make it too easy or too difficult to pedal.
It could mean that pedaling is really tough, causing your output to be considerably lower. Conversely, if you have a higher than normal output, even higher than you trainer, odds are that your bike might not be properly calibrated.
For example, if you´re riding effortlessly in a class, and you have an output that puts you in power zone 4, 5, 6 or 7, your bike is most likely uncalibrated.
As time goes by, the bike´s calibration may gradually change, and as a result you may not notice this. So if you calibrate your Peloton every 4-6 months, you should be okay.
It is possible to not properly calibrate your Peloton bike, especially if you didn't use the correct tools for the job.
If your bike is not correctly calibrated, you might notice it by comparing yourself with previous performances. By doing FTP tests and comparing your score with previous tests, you might see if there's a huge difference. If you have a dramatically higher or lower output, you need to recalibrate your Peloton bike.
The ideal calibration standard is to produce between 250-265W with a resistance of 50 and a cadence of 100.
Believe it or not, calibrating your bike can have both upsides and downsides. Here's a look at some of them:
Output is calculated based on your cadence (the number of cycles you´re doing) and resistance (how tough riding feels). The higher the cadence and the tougher the resistance, the higher the output.
When your bike is not calibrated correctly, you could have a very high resistance level on the computer. However, it would still be easy to pedal. Your computer might register your effort as above average. Conversely, it could be the other way around in case it is tough to ride and you have a very low resistance. In this case, your output would be lower.
If you want to have an accurate output measure, it is essential that your bike is properly calibrated.
Only the Peloton Bike+ is calibrated automatically. The bike has a digital resistance mechanism which automatically regulates the resistance level for your ride.
On the original Peloton bike you´ll have to manually regulate the resistance level, as it uses a magnetic resistance system.
No. Although there is a common standard for Peloton bike resistance settings, most bikes vary in their resistance. When you calibrate a Peloton bike, the calibration process can be very tricky, specifically turning the knob to set the level.
Despite all of this, According to Jayvee Nava, the VP of Community at Peloton "all bikes are factory-calibrated and Peloton bike sensors are accurate to within 10% of one another" If calibrated correctly, I might add.
If you´re going to calibrate a Peloton bike, it's probably best if you´re going to do it yourself, or if you leave it up to a specialist.
If you have a warranty, as soon as you move a screw on your bike, you might just be subject to having it voided. Besides, you already paid for the fix. So having it calibrated by a specialist is your best option.
If you don't have a warranty, it's completely your choice. However, only you know how good you are with the whole calibration process. If you´re going to calibrate the Peloton bike yourself, make sure you do so with the proper tools. It isn't really a difficult process to follow.
A bike tune up is all you need to do to keep it in the best condition. Some of the most common things include tightening the pedals or cleaning your bike. If you wish, you can calibrate your Peloton as well, but it isn't required.
Furthermore, calibrating your bike is a lengthy process. Doing it often might become really tedious.
Calibrating your bike is more of a comfort and efficiency thing. If you don't calibrate your bike, you might continue having uncomfortable and unproductive sessions.
Furthermore, the issue might just get worse, making it a less than enjoyable experience all things considered.
To avoid getting to this point, keeping those workouts productive and keeping your bike in good shape. It's good to calibrate Peloton bikes every few months.
Calibrating your bike isn't a must. But if you want to have the most realistic, accurate and enjoyable experience, then calibrating your bike is heavily advised.
Now that you know how to calibrate Peloton bike and everything else regarding the topic, the decision is up to you. Not calibrating your bike could also have it´s upsides. For starters it´s less of a hassle. However, you should keep your bike in the best possible shape if you want to have good riding and accurate data.
When it comes to calibrating your bike, don't place importance on the numbers. The data was inaccurately measured given your bike was out of tune. In the end, it's just false data.
Finally, if you´ll be doing the repairs yourself and without tools, do so with a lot of care. Any mistake could prove costly. Good luck!
