Combined Shape Bike IQ

Troubleshooting

Solutions for common issues with Bluetooth sensors, GPS accuracy, battery life, power estimation, Strava sync, and app permissions. Most problems resolve in under a minute.

Bluetooth Sensor Issues

Sensor Not Appearing During Scan

  • Make sure the sensor is active: spin the crank for power and cadence sensors, wear and wet the electrodes on a heart rate strap, or spin the wheel for a speed sensor. Most sensors sleep until they detect motion.
  • Move your phone closer to the sensor. Bluetooth LE range drops significantly with obstacles between devices.
  • Tap Scan Again to refresh the device list. Some sensors take a few seconds to broadcast after waking up.
  • Confirm Bluetooth permission is granted to Bike IQ in iPhone Settings → Bike IQ → Bluetooth.
  • Check the sensor battery. A weak CR2032 can cause intermittent visibility.

Sensor Disconnects During Rides

  • Phone placement matters. Keeping your iPhone in a jersey pocket or bag can block BLE antennas. A handlebar or stem mount gives the best signal path to your sensors.
  • Replace sensor batteries proactively. CR2032 cells typically last 6-12 months with regular riding, and signal quality degrades before the battery dies completely.
  • Minimize interference from other nearby Bluetooth devices. Crowded group rides or riding near busy gyms can cause congestion on the BLE spectrum.

ANT+ Sensors

Bike IQ uses Bluetooth LE exclusively. If your sensors only support ANT+ (common with older Garmin accessories), you will need a Bluetooth bridge device such as the Cable ANT+ adapter to make them visible. See the Bluetooth sensor pairing guide for supported sensor types.

Heart Rate Not Appearing

  • For Apple Watch: check that Health permissions are enabled. Go to iPhone Settings → Health → Data Access & Devices → Bike IQ and enable Heart Rate. Your Watch must be unlocked and on your wrist.
  • For chest straps: wet the electrode pads before wearing. Dry skin creates a poor electrical contact and can delay or prevent heart rate readings.
  • See the heart rate sensors guide for detailed setup instructions.

GPS and Location Issues

Poor GPS Accuracy

  • Wait for a full GPS lock before starting your ride. Your position should appear centered on the map with minimal drift. The first fix can take 30-60 seconds, especially if you have not used GPS recently.
  • GPS works best with a clear view of the sky. Tunnels, dense urban canyons, and heavy tree canopy all degrade accuracy.
  • If accuracy is consistently poor, restart your iPhone. This resets the GPS chipset and often resolves lingering issues.

Location Permission Denied

Bike IQ needs location set to "Always" for full functionality. Go to iPhone Settings → Bike IQ → Location and select "Always." Without this setting, ride recording stops when your phone screen locks or the app moves to the background. If you only grant "While Using," GPS data will have gaps during any screen-off period.

Map Not Loading

  • The map requires an internet connection for the initial tile download. Areas you have viewed recently may be cached and available offline.
  • Check your WiFi or cellular connection. Toggle airplane mode on and off if cellular data seems stuck.

Battery Drain

Bike IQ uses GPS, Bluetooth, and screen rendering continuously during rides. Under normal conditions, expect roughly 10% battery drain per hour with the screen on and sensors connected.

  • Reduce screen brightness. This is the single biggest factor. Even dropping from 80% to 50% brightness makes a meaningful difference on long rides.
  • Enable Low Power Mode before long rides. This reduces background activity system-wide without affecting Bike IQ's recording.
  • Disable cellular data on familiar routes where you do not need live map tiles or weather updates.
  • Keep your phone out of direct sunlight. Heat accelerates battery drain. A mount with shade or a phone case that reflects heat helps. See iPhone as a bike computer for mount recommendations.

For rides beyond 6 hours, carry a handlebar-mounted USB-C battery pack. A compact 5,000 mAh pack adds roughly 10 hours of additional ride time.

Power Estimation Issues

Virtual Power Seems Inaccurate

  • The first few rides are calibration rides. The model needs varied terrain and conditions to learn your aerodynamic and rolling resistance profile. Ride hills, flats, headwinds, and calm days to give it signal.
  • Verify your body weight and bike weight are correct in your profile. Weight is the dominant factor on climbs, and even a 2-3 kg error shifts the estimate noticeably.
  • Check your bike profile: tire type and handlebar position seed the aerodynamic model. Incorrect settings (e.g., drop bars selected when riding flat bars) will bias the output.
  • On gusty days, expect noisier instantaneous power readings. This is inherent to the physics: wind varies second to second. Longer-duration averages remain accurate.
  • Learn more about how the model works and improves in the virtual power meter guide.

Power Data Missing

  • If using virtual power: ensure Motion & Fitness permission is granted to Bike IQ. The barometer and accelerometer are essential for grade estimation, which feeds the power model.
  • If using a Bluetooth power meter: check the sensor connection and battery. A disconnected power meter will leave gaps in your data.

Strava Sync Issues

Ride Not Appearing on Strava

  1. Confirm your Strava account is connected: go to Bike IQ → Settings → Strava and check the connection.
  2. After ending a ride, you must tap Publish to send it to Strava. Rides do not sync automatically.
  3. Publishing requires an internet connection. If you finished a ride offline, publishing will queue and complete once connectivity returns.
  4. If publishing fails repeatedly, try disconnecting and reconnecting your Strava account in Settings. This refreshes the authentication token.

For more details on Strava setup and route import, see the Strava and integrations guide.

Missing Data in Strava Upload

Strava receives all sensor data that was recorded during the ride. If heart rate is missing, no HR source was active during that ride. If power is missing, check that virtual power or a Bluetooth power meter was active. The ride itself always includes GPS track, speed, and elevation.

App Performance

App Feels Slow or Crashes

  • Update to the latest version of iOS. Bike IQ is optimized for current releases.
  • Force-close the app (swipe up from the app switcher) and reopen it.
  • Restart your iPhone if issues persist. This clears system-level resource pressure that can affect any app.

Ride Not Saving

Rides save locally on your device the moment you end them. No internet connection is required. If a ride appears to be missing, check that you tapped End Ride rather than force-closing the app. If storage on your device is critically low, free up space and try again.

Ride Recovery After a Crash

Your ride data is safe. Bike IQ continuously writes all GPS and sensor data to disk during recording. If the app closes unexpectedly — whether from a crash, an iOS force-quit, or a device restart — your ride data is already saved. Simply reopen Bike IQ and it will automatically recover the ride with all your data intact. You will see the normal save/discard screen.

Crashes are rare, and we fix reported issues as quickly as possible. But even in the unlikely event of one, the recovery system ensures your effort is never lost.

Auto-Pause Issues

Auto-Pause Not Activating

  • Check that auto-pause is enabled in Settings
  • The wait-for-movement threshold controls how long you need to be stopped before auto-pause kicks in. A higher threshold means you need to be stopped longer.
  • GPS drift can occasionally register as movement, preventing auto-pause from activating. This is more common in dense urban areas with signal reflections.

Ride Resuming Unexpectedly

Auto-pause resumes when it detects movement. If you are standing still but GPS drift registers as movement, the ride may resume briefly. This is a limitation of GPS accuracy, not a bug. Consider increasing the wait-for-movement threshold in Settings if this happens frequently.

Climb Detection Issues

Climb Not Detected

  • Climb-ahead detection requires the barometer to be working (Motion & Fitness permission must be granted)
  • Very gradual climbs (below ~3% gradient) may not trigger a notification since they do not significantly affect your effort
  • The detection works best on known routes with consistent gradient — variable terrain with mixed ups and downs is harder to classify as a single "climb"

Permissions Checklist

Bike IQ requests only the permissions it needs. Here is what each one controls:

  • Location ("Always"): GPS recording, including when the screen is locked. Required for ride tracking.
  • Motion & Fitness: Barometer access for grade estimation and virtual power. Required for elevation and power data.
  • Bluetooth: Connection to external sensors. Only needed if you use heart rate monitors, power meters, or other BLE accessories.
  • Notifications: Optional. Enables ride alerts and climb notifications.
  • Health / HealthKit: Optional. Allows publishing workouts and heart rate data to Apple Health.

All permissions are managed in iPhone Settings → Bike IQ. If something is not working, this checklist is the first place to look. For a walkthrough of initial setup, see the getting started guide.

Still Need Help?

If none of the above resolves your issue, reach out to us directly at contact@bikeiq.app. Include your iPhone model, iOS version, a description of the problem, and the steps that reproduce it. Screenshots or screen recordings help us diagnose faster.

You can also review the settings and customization guide for options that may affect behavior you are seeing.