My son and I ride a 2005 Burley Duet and he is wanting a rear cyclometer, but I have not found any with a long enough cord. Is there anything out there besides the wireless models?

Thanks, Ray

Cateye Astrale 8 (http://tinyurl.com/8kr8n) has wired speed and cadence from rear sensors. $22 and up on eBay, $29.95 - 10% with coupon code W211 at Nashbar.

I am having the same problem. The wire on the Astrale 8 is not long enough for my tandem. The 70cm distance noted on a Cateye wireless model is also too short. Any suggestions, other than splicing the wire myself?

I solved the problem of a too-short cable by splicing in a longer wire. It wasn't the prettiest, but it worked. I used a long wire from a cheap one-side ear-piece. Electrical or electronics stores would probably have the correct gauge of wire. You will need to know how to splice it, which involves stripping the ends of the wire, twisting them together, soldering them (yes, you need a soldering iron, solder, and flux), and then taping the joint with electrical tape. If your computer uses a double wire, you will need to isolate the 2 wires when you tape them to prevent a short.

When are they going to make a wireless computer that has enough reach for the stoker?
Rich

Ditto on splicing the wire. My wireless signal would not reach so I spliced the using some old speaker wire I had lying around. Works great.

I am having the same problem. The wire on the Astrale 8 is not long enough for my tandem. The 70cm distance noted on a Cateye wireless model is also too short. Any suggestions, other than splicing the wire myself?
1. Cat Eye Astrale Tandem Wire Kit, 160cm Length Sensor-Bracket-Wire Kit (http://www.bikemannetwork.com/biking/p/CY2256) : 60 Inch to pedal, 66 Inch to rear wheel, for installing sensors on the rear wheel and crank of tandems. Works for Astrale and MSC-3Dx. Fits 26.0 h-bars. $18.95

2. Cateye Wireless computer does work on tandems (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=150019) (link to Tandem Forum post from 10/30/2005)

2bfree -

Thanks!

To my recollection, believe Sigma makes an extra-long wire computer that fits into stoker postition.

Thanks for all your replies and assistance!!!

Use heat shrink to isolate the splicing. Much more neater and waterproof.

DP

BigH's suggestion of heat shrink is a good one, also seals up the splice to prevent water from getting in there. You can pick up the heat shrink at any Home Improvement Center in the electrical section. Make sure you get the smallest diameter that the wires will fit in without forcing. You can use a hairdryer to shrink although a heat gun would be better. In a pinch you can also use a candle.

Bud

Planet bike has computers for front wheel and you can also buy a tandem/recumbent wire harness with a 63" wire.

The link: Cat Eye Astrale Tandem Wire Kit, 160cm Length Sensor-Bracket-Wire Kit : doesn't work. Here the correct link: http://www.bikemannetwork.com/biking/p/CY2256

Is it really required to have this kit to install cyclocomputer in rear wheel? I read in Cateye website mentioning that this Astrale model is specific for rear wheel installation.

CMIIW

Tandem East sells a long wire Sigma Kit - I used on my last two tandems because the wife has to have her own computer - I did have to make a wood spacer to get it to pick up the signal though.

Run the cable to the back wheel. Get an aero bar bracket and mount the computer on the cross bar. I have KM on the front and stoker is in Miles on the back. Where ever we are in the world we can work it out.

We are new to tandeming and just got a new Co-Motion Speedster.
I chose to mount the Cateye double-wireless for the stoker position after reading on
this forum about it working well. We wanted wireless because we have S&S
couplers, and didn't want the wires to interfere with packing it for travel.
Installation seemed easy. Only one problem. When mounted like shown in the
instructions, the cadence magnet has a tendency to stick to the timing chain.
If the crank arm was slowly rotated by the timing chain it would attract to the chain.
I had to remount the magnet closer to the chain-ring and then it seemed to work
ok. I didn't hear this mentioned before, and wanted to mention it. Experiment with
the mounting position before cinching evering up. This may apply to non-wireless
cadence units as well as the double-wireless. After a couple rides it works fine now.

I've said it before and will reiterate: focus on your technique and the ride. What data is it that's so important? I've worn out lots of cyclocomputers but finally admitted to myself they have little value. And that from a successful racing background. For recreational use they really have nothing to offer. Enjoy the ride for itself.

Have nothing to offer? That does surprise me. I tend to agree that you can miss the moment with too much in the way of gadgets. My computer is set to the clock most of the time. However from a touring point of view or even a casual ridding point of view I think they are a useful tool. Its chucking it down with rain, your arse is sore, your feet and blocks of ice, you are starting to bonk….. Come on we have all been there. It’s at moments like that I need to know how far I have to ride and a computer is the only practical way of doing that. Not hoping home is round each bend but knowing it is 7.3 miles away or what ever can stave off a sense of humor failure.

But hey each to there own.

What data is it that's so important? I've worn out lots of cyclocomputers but finally admitted to myself they have little value. And that from a successful racing background. For recreational use they really have nothing to offer. Enjoy the ride for itself.My daughter is interested in knowing how far we go and is interested in knowing if she's getting stronger (i.e., faster avg. speed). Cadence is good feedback for her as well. It'd be nice to know at the end of the year how far we've gone.

The above logic also applies to computers (if you ask my parents or my grandparents), so why are you here posting? I know I'm a gadget geek so the more the merrier. I'm usually too distracted by the captaining to even pay attention to the gadgets while on the bike, however I love the stats and especially the track coordinates of where we've been. Plug those into google maps and I've got a neato link to send to family of our latest ride :D (our mothers do appreciate computers, dads and grandparents couldn't give a damn and consider them 'of little value' :rolleyes: )

I am new to this forum so excuse me if this doe not relpy correctly. In reference to cyclometers on a tandem and in particular for the stoke, I am doing some looking around now. On our current tandem (Santana Picante) I spliced in some speaker wire to lengthen and it worked just fine. We are ordering a new Santana Beyond with couplers so running wires complicates things for disassembling so am looking at wireless. We heard the Mavic WinTech wireless with skewer sending unit will transmit to the stoker but have not been able to verify. Anyone tried this? That is around 47 inches so I am skeptical.

Cateye makes a CC-CD300DW with way more funtions than my stoker needs but it does transmit 39 inches so can mount sending unit on rear wheel. Anyone tried this?

Thanks in advance

Cateye makes a CC-CD300DW with way more funtions than my stoker needs but it does transmit 39 inches so can mount sending unit on rear wheel. Anyone tried this?

Thanks in advance

Post #16 above seems to have used it with success and mentions that others on this forum have used it successfully as well. Our warrantied tandem came back with couplers so now we're loosing the wires too. THinking of using the CD300DW myself.

chainedtogether, I also noticed the cadence magnet sticking to the timing chain. (I'm the one that wrote the original post about the Cateye CC-CD300DW working well) Go to radio shack and buy a small "rare earth" magnet. They are much more powerful than regular magnets. Glue it to the inside of the stokers crankarm and you're in business (superglue or silicon works well for this, just clean the area with alcohol first). Back in my OCP days, not wanting a clunky magnet on my spoke, I used to get the smallest magnets they sold and glue them to the spoke. The magent was like 1/16" diameter and they still worked perfectly, and you could barely even see them. Of course this only works on a flat/bladed spoke. The best part is 5 of them costs like 3.00, so if you lost one it was no big deal, but I never lost one that was attached with a drop of superglue.


We are new to tandeming and just got a new Co-Motion Speedster.
I chose to mount the Cateye double-wireless for the stoker position after reading on
this forum about it working well. We wanted wireless because we have S&S
couplers, and didn't want the wires to interfere with packing it for travel.
Installation seemed easy. Only one problem. When mounted like shown in the
instructions, the cadence magnet has a tendency to stick to the timing chain.
If the crank arm was slowly rotated by the timing chain it would attract to the chain.
I had to remount the magnet closer to the chain-ring and then it seemed to work
ok. I didn't hear this mentioned before, and wanted to mention it. Experiment with
the mounting position before cinching evering up. This may apply to non-wireless
cadence units as well as the double-wireless. After a couple rides it works fine now.

Good to know about the Cayeye double-wireless working well (and the helpful mounting tips).

The reason I was concidering the Mavic WinTech with the skewer sending unit was if it could send the 47 inches to the stoker, I could run the same unit for the captain and receive the same signal. Would be a pretty clean installation if it worked. Anyone with a WinTech out there that can hold the receiver 47 inches away and see it it picks up the signal? Cateye as it has a max range of 39 inches so cannot send to both captain and stoker.

I am now working on fabricating a repeater for the Cateye wireless signal to send it from the rear chainstay all the way up to a duplicate display on the Captain's bars. I have an old Dish network satellite dish that I plan to attach to my rear rack with a lawnmower battery, this should amplify and redirect the signal at least 38 miles, but my calculus is a little rusty. If this works I may point the dish into space so I can feed the signal to a real satellite, which will supply data to those around the internet that wish to track my speed and cadence. I'll report back as the project progresses.


Good to know about the Cayeye double-wireless working well (and the helpful mounting tips).

The reason I was concidering the Mavic WinTech with the skewer sending unit was if it could send the 47 inches to the stoker, I could run the same unit for the captain and receive the same signal. Would be a pretty clean installation if it worked. Anyone with a WinTech out there that can hold the receiver 47 inches away and see it it picks up the signal? Cateye as it has a max range of 39 inches so cannot send to both captain and stoker.

I am now working on fabricating a repeater for the Cateye wireless signal to send it from the rear chainstay all the way up to a duplicate display on the Captain's bars. I have an old Dish network satellite dish that I plan to attach to my rear rack with a lawnmower battery, this should amplify and redirect the signal at least 38 miles, but my calculus is a little rusty. If this works I may point the dish into space so I can feed the signal to a real satellite, which will supply data to those around the internet that wish to track my speed and cadence. I'll report back as the project progresses.

Unfortunately those Dish Network dishes are receive only, no transmitter. You still need to find a transmitter.

I am now working on fabricating a repeater for the Cateye wireless signal to send it from the rear chainstay all the way up to a duplicate display on the Captain's bars. I have an old Dish network satellite dish that I plan to attach to my rear rack with a lawnmower battery, this should amplify and redirect the signal at least 38 miles, but my calculus is a little rusty. If this works I may point the dish into space so I can feed the signal to a real satellite, which will supply data to those around the internet that wish to track my speed and cadence. I'll report back as the project progresses.

This sounds like a pretty good plan, if only slightly complicated. We just use GPS, a Garmin Edge 305 HR up front to download miles, averages and the captain's HR. The stoker/navigator has an eTrex to follow the cue sheet and check distance, to the next turn.

Unfortunately those Dish Network dishes are receive only, no transmitter. You still need to find a transmitter.


oh well, back to the drawing board. Why must there always be a problem?

Simnplify your life:
Use ONE computer. Stoker/pilot can ask the question:"Hey, how fast/far we going'?"

my wife decided to replace her old wired unit and picked up a wireless computer. it had trouble getting the signal from the back wheel of our Burley, as the antenna on the computer is oriented so it would be optimal for a front wheel installation. I opened up the sensor assembly and removed the reed switch and spliced in an old wired sensor with about 2 feet of wire. i placed the sensor/transmitter just behnid the mount for her softride beam, and now have no problems picking up the signal. on organized rides with route sheets, the computer helps with navigation.

Simnplify your life:
Use ONE computer. Stoker/pilot can ask the question:"Hey, how fast/far we going'?"

We use two GPS units as another one of those "twogether" things. We do a lot of "event" rides where we usually don't know the route. She watches the distance and reads the map or cue sheet to alert us to the next turn.

She's the stoker / navigator and "tells me where to go" whenever I need it.