Training & Nutrition - Polar cyclometer problems--yikes!

I've been wearing a Polar HRM watch on my left wrist but have found it kind of difficult, sometimes, to both ride and look at it. So I ordered one of those Polar cyclometers with the handlebar mount from Nashbar, which came today. As soon as I turned on the main unit, it indicated that the battery was nearly dead. I decided to install the hardware anyhow, since I figured I could at least get the thing set up before replacing the battery. I did this, and it didn't work. At first I thought it was because I had more than the recommended distance between the cyclometer and the receiver (by about four or five inches), but when I took the thing off the handlebars and held it down by the receiver while spinning the wheel, there was still nothing doing. Would a low battery do this? Also, there is no way I'm going to be able to mount the computer a foot and a half from the receiver. I've got a lot of height on my stem, and use 26 inch wheels, so is the whole project just doomed from the get go?
thanks.

Four or five inches? Nuh-uh!

Submit the whole shebang to Polar w/a letter describing the problem, and a copy of the receipt. They will probably fix or replace the unit gratis. It'll take a week or so, but it's worth it.

Shouldn't I just send the whole thing back to Nashbar since it's brand new?

Maybe you ought to just send the whole thing back. Swap it for the Polar handlebar mount http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=&subcategory=&brand=0313&sku=15438&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

I am going to send it back, and the handlebar mount is a good idea. I'd been hoping to put a very simple bike computer on my handlebar to keep track of distance and speed, which is why I thought it would be a good idea to have the whole thing in one package--less handlebar clutter. Maybe I should ditch that plan...

I bought the Polar CS100 and had such a difficult time installing it that I thought it didn't work and exchanged it for another one.

Turns out, the speed sensor has to have a direct line of sight to the cyclocomputer. The first time I installed it, with the cyclocomputer on the stem and the speed sensor on the front of the fork, as shown in the instructions, the "beam" must have been blocked by the brake assembly.

I was finally able to get it to recognize the sensor by mounting the cyclocomputer on the handlebar (rather than the stem) and turning the speed sensor 180º around towards the rear of the front fork, with the logo facing out a visible from the side.

Too bad the instructions aren't as good as the product.

I guess I'll try that, when I get another battery. I did try to see if it would work by holding the cyclometer about an inch from the sensor and spinning the wheel, and still nothing happened. So it's either the battery problem (though it works for other functions), or a problem with the sensor. One thing I really don't like is that the sensor's battery is not changeable and the whole unit has to be sent back to Polar/replaced. (Like the old Polar chest straps.) I also think the set up is kind of cheesey--lots of plastic zip ties. It would, of course, be cheaper to send the whole thing back, get the wrist mount, and get a cheap wireless cyclometer. But I really don't want my handlebar to look like a dashboard...

I went through the same thing spinning the wheel but I finally realized something was working when I passed the cyclocomputer over the speed sensor and the cyclocomputer beeped. If it's not beeping in recognition then the battery is probably dead.

Fortunately for me, I bought mine locally. They aslo stock spare parts and accessories so I don't have to send anything back to Polar. Even so, I wish the componants weren't so "disposable."

Four or five inches? Nuh-uh!

Submit the whole shebang to Polar w/a letter describing the problem, and a copy of the receipt. They will probably fix or replace the unit gratis. It'll take a week or so, but it's worth it.

My experience w/ Polar Service Center is it takes much longer than a week. Polar received my CS200cad on 8/04/2006 (from UPS tracking info) and I still don't have it back yet (i.e. 3 weeks and counting). I called Polar several times and learned that it took them only two days to diagnose and fix it, but the whole process takes forever. Another frustrating thing is that the customer service was unable to tell me what was wrong with the computer and how it was fixed. Mine was working flawlessly for 9 months until the display started to have missing lines and started flashing. The rep could only tell me that it was fixed and would be shipped out soon. And that was last friday 8/18.

Which one did you get? I've had the s150 for about 3 weeks now. I have some troubles getting the cycling parts to work properly, especially the speed component. It seems to be fussy about how you strap it onto the handlebar mount. It works more often than not, but it can be frustrating. The HRM works perfectly everytime. If I continue to have problems, I'll contact Nashbar and maybe Polar.

Update: I bought a new battery, which meant that all the non-cycling functions worked fine, but no matter how many permutations I tried, I couldn't get the cycling functions to work at all, even with a fully charged battery. I'm assuming that there is a problem with the sensor, just as there was a problem with the original battery. So I've boxed the whole thing up and am sending it back to Nashbar and getting the $7 handlebar mount for my HRM watch, and maybe a very small, basic, wireless cyclocomputer. (One with an accessible sensor battery.)