Sarah Cox
4/11/2016 9:01 PM
Hey all, hoping one of you with a steel frame touring or classic bike can answer this question.
My husband has a steel frame Schwinn mountain bike with steel handlebars. He installed a Bell Console 300 bike computer on the handlebars with the transmitter on the front wheel. Despite the transmitter clearly transmitting, the receiver wasn't picking up anything. Through trial and error we found that if we held the receiver away from the frame and handlebars, it picks up the signal just fine. It appears the steel handlebars could be blocking the signal? My very limited electrical engineering knowledge indicates it's unlikely but might be possible?
Has anyone encountered this with a wireless magnetic pickup bike computer and if so, how did you get around it?
Pen Mitchell
4/12/2016 7:19 AM
I don't believe steel bars present much more of an obstacle than the aluminum bars on many bikes. It may be that the batteries are old and the transmitter strength isn't what it should be. Even if the computer is new it could have been on the shelf a while before you bought it and the batteries might be less than fresh. Check the manual that came with it for instructions-- I'd change the battery in the transmitter first.
Terry T.
4/12/2016 7:51 AM
I had a similar issue some years back with a triple wireless Sigma Sport computer, even with new batteries. What I wound up doing was putting the wheel speed sensor on the left-fork, and the computer mount on the left side of the handlebars. It made a big difference for me, so you may want to try that after testing/replacing the batteries in the sensor and computer.
Terry Terezakis
Wallace McRoy
4/12/2016 4:07 PM
I ran into this with an aluminum bicycle. It turned out that the battery was weak.
Wallace McRoy
770-653-0104 c