Cordless bike computers that work
Discussion
I am having difficulties with the Cateye cordless 7 bike computer on my Marin Wolf Ridge. The bike has 130mm travel fox forks, the computer should detect within 700mm of sensor mounted on the wheel & fork, but it doesn't. I have tried new batteries which have made no difference. I don't think the computer is going to work where ever I position it, so has anyone got any experience with / suggestions for a cordless bike computer that works on fairly long travel forks? or will it have to be a wired up one?
Thanks
Paul
Thanks
Paul
I presume your magnet and sensor pickup are positioned as near to the rim as is practical and the readout is positioned on the bar directly above the sensor?
Plus, I assume you've checked that the readout works ok when held near the sensor pickup and only gets dodgy when mounted on the bar?
Edited to add: You might have trouble with a wired sensor on long travel forks unless you're clever about routing the wire so it doesn't snag when the fork compresses.
Plus, I assume you've checked that the readout works ok when held near the sensor pickup and only gets dodgy when mounted on the bar?
Edited to add: You might have trouble with a wired sensor on long travel forks unless you're clever about routing the wire so it doesn't snag when the fork compresses.
Edited by pdV6 on Tuesday 15th August 16:02
pdV6
Your presumptions are right,the computer works fine on my bike with 100mm travel, and the unit works fine when held closer to the sensors, it just becomes erratic when mounted on the handle bar.
I enquired at my local helpful bike shop, but they couldn't think of a cordless unit with any greater range.
Paul
Your presumptions are right,the computer works fine on my bike with 100mm travel, and the unit works fine when held closer to the sensors, it just becomes erratic when mounted on the handle bar.
I enquired at my local helpful bike shop, but they couldn't think of a cordless unit with any greater range.
Paul
I had an absolute nightmare with my cateye. The first one I had didn't work at all. The second was really erratic and I nearly threw it away I was so p*ssed off with it. I emailed Cateye who didn't respond....nice....so I thought I would re-engineer the useless bits of tape and general rubbish tie wraps that they provided. The trick is to be patient with the positioning. It takes time to find exactly the right spot for the sender, once you have it right use really good tie wraps and get it fixed to the fork leg really tightly so it won't move. I don't know what Cateye think people actually use their MTB's for, but it seems to me that they have no concept of riding down a French mountain....otherwise they wouldn't supply such pony hardware. Oh, one last tip, make sure the magnet on the wheel passes really closely to the sender. Since I have done mine, it has been foolproof.
PH5121 said:
pdV6
Your presumptions are right,the computer works fine on my bike with 100mm travel, and the unit works fine when held closer to the sensors, it just becomes erratic when mounted on the handle bar.
I enquired at my local helpful bike shop, but they couldn't think of a cordless unit with any greater range.
Paul
Had this exact problem. Solved it by mounting the head unit on the cross bar. Handlebars was too far, I guess. Annoying, but it works on the crossbar. If you do this, be careful not to knock it off with your foot when dismounting! Your presumptions are right,the computer works fine on my bike with 100mm travel, and the unit works fine when held closer to the sensors, it just becomes erratic when mounted on the handle bar.
I enquired at my local helpful bike shop, but they couldn't think of a cordless unit with any greater range.
Paul
Edit: My sensor is mounted on the rear wheel, as mounting it on the front would interfere with the ability to remove the wheel quickly, and I carry the bike with the wheel removed in my car. This means a longer distance to the head unit. I guess your problem is more due to interference than distance. Try moving it from one side of the handlebars to the other?
Edited by orgasmicliving!! on Tuesday 22 August 07:32
Depending on the size of the sensor and the sixe of the tyre, they can clash as the wheel is being removed. Mine's the same, big bugger of a sensor won't allow the tyre to pass by without moving the sensor. A bit of an annoyance more than anything but I don't take the wheels off to often.
Maybe it's because I have the magnet too close to the hub so the sensor is angled in quite a bit. Working on the rolling weight of the sensor (
), i figure it's best.
Maybe it's because I have the magnet too close to the hub so the sensor is angled in quite a bit. Working on the rolling weight of the sensor (
), i figure it's best.pdV6 said:
orgasmicliving!! said:
My sensor is mounted on the rear wheel, as mounting it on the front would interfere with the ability to remove the wheel quickly
Why?
Plus, on the front, I have shocks, and they move up and down in relation to the sensor on the wheel spoke. The transmitter (mounted on the shock) would not have worked too well unless I locked the shock out or didn't go on bumpy ground. Simpler to bung it on the rear wheel, which I don't remove and which does not move up and down relative to the transmitter.
All this would be a non-issue with a better sensor/transmitter combo, but I thought I got a state of the art one (Sigma brand with cadence function, two bike capability, etc.) and it wasn't very good. Can't be arsed to go exchange it for another and fiddle around.
Edit: up-the-dubs might have explained it better!
Edited by orgasmicliving!! on Tuesday 22 August 19:59
roop said:
I've got a wireless VDO (Cytek C15+ ???) and it's great - no problems at 50cm or so on my Specialized. If you look at the catalogies and stuff all the MTB recommended ones are wired - I think they are just more rugged.
I got a VDO +1.0 or something like that and find it horrid. Very slow at detecting changes in speed and a well dodgy altimeter. Had a few wired ones but they all snagged on branches etc and ripped the wire. Have no probs with the distance (bottom of a 125 Fox fork to the handlebars). Will go back to cateye all the same next time.
If you dont fancy paying £30+ for it still not to work then pop down to Lidl 
Last week I picked up a wireless bike computer with wireless heart rate monitor for the princely sum of £12.99. I wasnt expecting it to be very good at that price to be honest, but so far so good, does everything as it should so Im quite chuffed, and this is working fine on a 130mm fork BTW.
Last week I picked up a wireless bike computer with wireless heart rate monitor for the princely sum of £12.99. I wasnt expecting it to be very good at that price to be honest, but so far so good, does everything as it should so Im quite chuffed, and this is working fine on a 130mm fork BTW.
orgasmicliving!! said:
pdV6 said:
orgasmicliving!! said:
My sensor is mounted on the rear wheel, as mounting it on the front would interfere with the ability to remove the wheel quickly
Why?
Plus, on the front, I have shocks, and they move up and down in relation to the sensor on the wheel spoke. The transmitter (mounted on the shock) would not have worked too well unless I locked the shock out or didn't go on bumpy ground. Simpler to bung it on the rear wheel, which I don't remove and which does not move up and down relative to the transmitter.
All this would be a non-issue with a better sensor/transmitter combo, but I thought I got a state of the art one (Sigma brand with cadence function, two bike capability, etc.) and it wasn't very good. Can't be arsed to go exchange it for another and fiddle around.
Still confused!
You need to mount the magnet as close to the rim as possible for best accuracy. Here, the clearance is not so much of an issue anyway.
With 99% of suspension forks (note: the lefty fork on your new Cannondale falls into the other 1%!), the lower leg (slider) is fixed in relation to the wheel so movement of the forks is a non-issue. All that happens is that the sensor and magnet get closer to the speedo as the fork compresses.
I've used several makes and models of bike computer, both wired and wireless, and always on suspension forks with wider than average tyres. I often need to whip the front wheel off for puncture repairs (Neil will attest to the boring regularity that I need to do this
) and have never had a clearance issue! {edited to add:} Also, most of the current Cateye range (and others, I'm sure) have a thumbscrew on the sensor to enable you to quickly loosen it and swing it out of the way if required.
Edited by pdV6 on Tuesday 22 August 23:11
pdV6 said:
You need to mount the magnet as close to the rim as possible for best accuracy.
Better accuracy, but it affects the rotation of the wheel. The weight of the magnet is amplified at speed (centrifrugely sp?) and annoys the hell out of me. Hence the lower down position and the eccagerated angle of the sensor to reach the magnet.
All good points.
On my front fork, I would have had to mount it to the sliding part, which meant that the sensor would move in relation to the magnet.
And if I mounted it close to the magnet to get the readings, it would interfere with the wheel removal. Sure, I could loosen it with the thumbscrew and swing it out of the way
But putting it on the rear wheel means it works and it's a complete non-issue. Except when it comes to mounting the display unit. But it works fine when mounted on the crossbar.
Will rethink it all if I get a computer for the MTB. Is there any one computer that gives altitude, cadence, heart rate, speed, trip stats?
BTW, I weighed the Rush. It's 29 lbs. That's pretty light for a MTB, right?
On my front fork, I would have had to mount it to the sliding part, which meant that the sensor would move in relation to the magnet.
And if I mounted it close to the magnet to get the readings, it would interfere with the wheel removal. Sure, I could loosen it with the thumbscrew and swing it out of the way
But putting it on the rear wheel means it works and it's a complete non-issue. Except when it comes to mounting the display unit. But it works fine when mounted on the crossbar.
Will rethink it all if I get a computer for the MTB. Is there any one computer that gives altitude, cadence, heart rate, speed, trip stats?
BTW, I weighed the Rush. It's 29 lbs. That's pretty light for a MTB, right?
up-the-dubs said:
pdV6 said:
You need to mount the magnet as close to the rim as possible for best accuracy.
Better accuracy, but it affects the rotation of the wheel. The weight of the magnet is amplified at speed (centrifrugely sp?) and annoys the hell out of me. Hence the lower down position and the eccagerated angle of the sensor to reach the magnet.
Edit: And I just realised why you are confused about what I am saying. I approached it wrong, so to speak, by putting it at the end of the spoke, where the sensor would have to be within the profile of the wheel to get close to the magnet. You have it close to the center, where the magnet is close to the "outside" and the sensor is not really in the way. I should have done that to begin with. Doh!
Edit 2: You say that I need to mount the magnet as close to the rim as possible for accuracy. Now this can't be correct. I am sure it's equally accurate as long as it is able to read and process the "blips" from the magnet for each rotation. Second, my magnet IS mounted as close to the rim as possible. There, the spokes are close to the centreline. So the sensor has to swing in, within the profile of the wheel. This means that removing the wheel would require the sensor to be moved out of the way.
I can put it in a drawing to show what I mean, if we are still not getting what the other is saying?
Edited by orgasmicliving!! on Tuesday 22 August 23:36
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