Cycle computer
19 August 2022 06:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
igenlodeI acquired a new (unused from charity shop -- looks like a cheap Chinese piece of kit) Blusmart Bike Computer for a few pounds to replace my old Cateye Velo model with the damaged wiring. This one happens to be a 'wireless' model, which means that you don't have to worry about cracks in the wires, but that the sensor/transmitter unit which fixes to the front fork has to be much larger and heavier than before, and includes a battery. (And stops working when this second battery goes flat, as well as when the primary watch battery in the main unit does, which happens every couple of years or so in my experience... I'm somewhat concerned about the online review which says cheerfully that the battery lasts for "seven or eight hours of riding", which would mean changing it with alarming frequency!)
I managed to remove the old model with all its cable ties, but struggled to fit the new one due to the fact that the plastic cable ties provided kept snapping when I tried to tighten them. The kit comes with two spare cable ties, and I thought I could see why... then the third one broke as I was trying to fix the sensor to the front fork, and I was a bit stuck :-(
I've tested the wireless transmission both on and off the bicycle, and it seems to be working, or at least to be detecting the passage of the magnet. (Which was also extremely difficult to affix compared to the old one; I had to use the square-to-hex socket drive converter from my toolkit for the first time ever, and then try to wiggle the wobbly magnetic socket attachment through the spokes to tighten the hexagonal nut provided (whatever happened to spanners?), rather than simply being able to screw/unscrew the little magnet by hand using its knurled rim ...)
However, I can't ride the bike with the delicate sensor unit hanging off the front fork by a single cable tie, so I shall have to go and try to buy some more -- a journey which therefore cannot be made by bicycle, so may take some time if I have to walk to the nearest hardware shop (not very near!) Meanwhile my transport is out of action.
Final reading on the old odometer: 4081.9, representing a pessimistic total of 2390 miles since Covid, ignoring the various miles that failed to register because of the damaged wiring ;-p
I make that an average of about 19 miles a week (880 days / 2390 days * 7)
The new cycle computer does have a feature which allows you to set up the total recorded distance manually, so that you can carry the value across between battery changes, but I intend to start with a clean sheet.
I managed to remove the old model with all its cable ties, but struggled to fit the new one due to the fact that the plastic cable ties provided kept snapping when I tried to tighten them. The kit comes with two spare cable ties, and I thought I could see why... then the third one broke as I was trying to fix the sensor to the front fork, and I was a bit stuck :-(
I've tested the wireless transmission both on and off the bicycle, and it seems to be working, or at least to be detecting the passage of the magnet. (Which was also extremely difficult to affix compared to the old one; I had to use the square-to-hex socket drive converter from my toolkit for the first time ever, and then try to wiggle the wobbly magnetic socket attachment through the spokes to tighten the hexagonal nut provided (whatever happened to spanners?), rather than simply being able to screw/unscrew the little magnet by hand using its knurled rim ...)
However, I can't ride the bike with the delicate sensor unit hanging off the front fork by a single cable tie, so I shall have to go and try to buy some more -- a journey which therefore cannot be made by bicycle, so may take some time if I have to walk to the nearest hardware shop (not very near!) Meanwhile my transport is out of action.
Final reading on the old odometer: 4081.9, representing a pessimistic total of 2390 miles since Covid, ignoring the various miles that failed to register because of the damaged wiring ;-p
I make that an average of about 19 miles a week (880 days / 2390 days * 7)
The new cycle computer does have a feature which allows you to set up the total recorded distance manually, so that you can carry the value across between battery changes, but I intend to start with a clean sheet.
