Touring - Wireless Bike Computer Woes

I was wondering if our experiences are typical. We have had nothing but bad luck with wireless computers.

I bought one a few months ago and took it back because of sporadic performance. It seemed to have problems receiving a signal from the sensor despite the fact that the sensor and computer were mounted on the same side and well within the specified distance. Sometimes it worked and sometimes not.

Since then my daughter and a friend both bought Ascent Delta V computers. They took them on our TransAmerica tour and often had problems with interference. If they parked outside a store that had a neon sign in the window they might come out and see that it thought they were going 70 MPH. In one case we were stopped and one of them was reading 30 MPH. There was an electric fence about 50' away that was probably the culprit. Other times they get bogus readings for no apparent reason.

Is this typical of wireless computers? Is the Ascent brand particularly bad?

Wireless computers seem to be so popular that I would have assumed that they worked well.

Ascent delta V -- is that the one that lacks autostart? Get off your bike for 10 minutes, and it goes to sleep; but when you start rolling again it doesn't wake up, doesn't register mileage. Absolute deal-killer in my mind. I could easily see pedaling for 2 hours before noticing that it's off.

I bought that unit and gave it a go for a day, and when i noticed the lack of this basic feature i returned it (it advertises "auto shutoff", but says nothing about being "permanent"). It was on sale cheap so i figured it was worth a try. There seem to be lots of design flaws and finicky setups with the wireless units, not surprising when you consider the low power, narrow beam, separate batteries, and unwanted interference they have to be designed for. I've had at least 6 wired computers over the years on multiple bikes, and have had only one fail from a broken wire. So after the one disappointment with the delta V, i see no reason to try wireless again. I'm sure there are good units out there, but the wired ones are low priced, reliable, and meet all reasonable requirements.

-- Mark

I've used 2 different versions of cateye wireless computers for 7 years now - they work great. Mine are usually stem mounted, which is probably less than optimal mounting location for best signal.

I've learned that the effective signal range decreases with time as battery voltage declines. Takes more than a year/~7500 miles for the batteries (2) to die.

My neighbor's didn't work so well - he had a 62cm bike with high bars with resulting distance outside specified signal range.

Before the cateyes I ran wired avocet (30?). One of them would regularly report absurd max speeds (50-90mph). I could never determine if the cause was in the signal or the computer itself.

Edit: The Avocet 30 was a WIRED computer, so I don't think the spurious data the OP saw is necessarily related to the wireless aspects.

I had problems right from the start with an Ascent wireless, too. I don't recall which model as I ultimately threw it away. I've had no problems with Cateye or Axiom wireless models.

My recommendation is basic is best. I have the cateye strada wirless and it works like a charm - it's also super small. I also have a Garmin 305 but all the info drives me crazy I've figured out.

I've had the same kind of luck and I just purchased that Ascent that doesn't have the auto start (pain in the butt and didn't know that when I bought it).

I had a Sigma that worked fine for a while then just up and quit. I tried new batteries in both units but no go. Plus, cold weather from my experience really messes it up.

Anyway, don't feel alone. They can be quite quirky. On the other hand, I've had a Specialized that has worked just fine.

I've had the same kind of luck and I just purchased that Ascent that doesn't have the auto start (pain in the butt and didn't know that when I bought it).

I had a Sigma that worked fine for a while then just up and quit. I tried new batteries in both units but no go. Plus, cold weather from my experience really messes it up.

Anyway, don't feel alone. They can be quite quirky. On the other hand, I've had a Specialized that has worked just fine.

I had the same problems with mine as well. I decided to go with the wired Cateye and it works great. I also had the same problems with the Trek computers.

I bought a wireless VDO MC 1.0+ and it also would register 50mph when the bike was standing still. One time it added about 10 miles onto my trip when a big pace line of bikes went by.

I changed to the VDO MC1.0 wired and haven't had any problems since.