Wahoo ELEMNT Setup Guide

Use your Apple Watch as a heart rate monitor with your Wahoo ELEMNT — no chest strap, no extra hardware. This guide covers first-time pairing and the per-ride connection procedure.

What You'll Need

  • •Apple Watch (watchOS 8 or later)
  • •iPhone (iOS 15 or later)
  • •HRM app installed on both Apple Watch and iPhone — download here
  • •A compatible Wahoo ELEMNT (see compatibility below)

Wahoo ELEMNT Compatibility

Can connect All models have the phone connection limitation
  • ELEMNT ACE
  • ELEMNT ROAM V1 / V2 / V3
  • ELEMNT BOLT V1 / V2 / V3
Known limitation — one phone connection at a time. All Wahoo ELEMNT models allow only one active Bluetooth app connection to your iPhone at a time. Terminate the Wahoo app on your iPhone before connecting HRM. See the per-ride procedure below.

Full compatibility list →

Initial Setup

  1. 1 Terminate the Wahoo app fully on your iPhone. Swipe it away in the app switcher.
  2. 2 Open HRM on your iPhone and Apple Watch, then press Start on the Watch. Bring your iPhone close to the ELEMNT.

    Wahoo only discovers sensors broadcasting a "plausible" heart rate (above ~60 BPM). Make sure your Watch is actively measuring before proceeding.
  3. 3 On your Wahoo: go to Settings → Add Sensor. The sensor with the highest signal strength will appear — this should be your iPhone running HRM.
  4. 4 Select Add, then Save to complete pairing.

Setup for Every Ride

  1. 1 Terminate the Wahoo app on your iPhone.
  2. 2 Open HRM on iPhone and Apple Watch, press Start on the Watch.
  3. 3 Power on your Wahoo ELEMNT. HRM connects automatically.
  4. 4 Ride.
  5. 5 After your ride: press Stop on the Watch, terminate HRM, then open the Wahoo app to sync.

If the Connection Drops

Unlike Garmin and Karoo, Wahoo doesn't persistently reconnect to a previously paired sensor in the same session. If the connection is lost, you'll need to delete and re-pair. This is a Wahoo platform behavior — the process takes about 30 seconds once you know the steps.
  1. 1 On your Wahoo: delete the existing HRM App sensor from your sensor list.
  2. 2 Re-pair following the Initial Setup steps above.
7-day free trial
$4.99 / year

after your trial ends

Less than a 3-pack of batteries.

Download on the App Store

Cancel before the trial ends and you won't be charged.