Road Cycling - Flight Deck Questions

Any Flight Deck experts/users out there? I’m thinking about upgrading to a Flight Deck. If you have one, how satisfied are you with it? I have Ultegra shifters/front der/cassette and Dura Ace rear der. Any issues with this setup?

I have had one on my Lemond Zurich since 2001. I went with the wireless option and I have had great luck with mine. Once it was set up correctly. The shop had not put one on before with wireless and put the sending unit on backwards. Also they put the 6501 wiring on and swapped some how a 6500 head unit for my 6501. Once I got the 6501 head unit and moved the sending unit, it as been trouble free 10,000 miles.

Once in a great while it won't got to sleep after the normal 30 minute time out. I think it might be too close to my cell phone, or something and it thinks it is getting a signal. I just take it out of the bracket move it and it shuts down in 30 min.

A ride partner has a older (not sure what brand) wireless unit and he can be sitting at a light and be showing 99 mph. The newer computers I understand use a different frequency than older ones did.

For some reason most shops will try to talk you into some other unit. I don’t know if they don’t know how to install them (like my shop) or if the profit margin is low.

To install you have to undue the bar tape and roll the brake hoods back and install the switch in the side of the lever. The hood just as the button bump.

You can also get a two button wiring harness for other bikes. The my head unit can be programmed to work on 4 bikes.

Being able to start the stopwatch from the lever is great for intervals. I find myself using all the functions of the computer because it is so easy to change the display. Kind of the same reaction we have to using brake/shifters for a while. We shift more because it is so easy.

Good luck
Cheers.

i don't care for mine all that much, i would go for one of the new cateye ones that give u all the info on the one display i'm waiting for the new 5 function display one with HR due out next month
so i can replace my flight deck

I have had one on my Lemond Zurich since 2001. I went with the wireless option and I have had great luck with mine. Once it was set up correctly. The shop had not put one on before with wireless and put the sending unit on backwards. Also they put the 6501 wiring on and swapped some how a 6500 head unit for my 6501. Once I got the 6501 head unit and moved the sending unit, it as been trouble free 10,000 miles.
10,000 miles!!! Wow! I'm impressed. So is the 6501 the model of computer and wiring harness?


i don't care for mine all that much, i would go for one of the new cateye ones that give u all the info on the one display i'm waiting for the new 5 function display one with HR due out next month so i can replace my flight deck
Does the cateye integrate with the shifters?

10,000 miles!!! Wow! I'm impressed. So is the 6501 the model of computer and wiring harness?

The computer is 6501 and the wiring harness must match the unit. They now have one that works with 10 speed and I think it is compatable with the 9. The shimano site is were I got my info about what fits what when I was shopping.

Cheers

no i do not believe it does, would be no need to either as all the information is in front of you at once

other thing u have to be carefull of is soemtimes if u go to do a climb up a hill and your hands are on the hoods, u could turn off the flightdeck then when u get to the top u relize it meanwhile now
your cue sheet milage is not on track with your computer etc etc and u don't always relize this becasue when u hit the left button by accident u are only stopping the milage , stop watch avg mode etc,
the current speed u are going still shows up so u don't relize it

The computer is 6501 and the wiring harness must match the unit. They now have one that works with 10 speed and I think it is compatable with the 9. The shimano site is were I got my info about what fits what when I was shopping.

Cheers

Hmmmm 10 speed. I have a 9. Think the one limited to 9 will go on a big sale?



no i do not believe it does, would be no need to either as all the information is in front of you at once

other thing u have to be carefull of is soemtimes if u go to do a climb up a hill and your hands are on the hoods, u could turn off the flightdeck then when u get to the top u relize it meanwhile now
your cue sheet milage is not on track with your computer etc etc and u don't always relize this becasue when u hit the left button by accident u are only stopping the milage , stop watch avg mode etc,
the current speed u are going still shows up so u don't relize it

But isn't the function showing your current gear based on the shifter integration? Or is that function really not all that helpful?

It will tell you your current gear for a sec,
which to be honest i find pointless anyway
who cares what gear u are in, just like in a car
as long as u are not over reving, or heating up
the clutch u are good,

on bike i am more interested in my cadence and how my legs, knees feel

just my .02

It will tell you your current gear for a sec,
which to be honest i find pointless anyway
who cares what gear u are in, just like in a car
as long as u are not over reving, or heating up
the clutch u are good,

on bike i am more interested in my cadence and how my legs, knees feel

just my .02


A lot of people like to know which gear they are in should they have to upshift/downshift to a different ring for a sprint or climb. Also, not trying to be a dick or anything, but are you writing a poem or something? Your posts are hard to read with all the weird line breaks and punctuation ;)

I have been using one since April this year (~ 1500 miles, Ultegra shiftres etc.). It works very good for me. Gear indicator is a nice to have feature that works without any mistakes, no matter what you do with the shifters. However, the almost must to have feature is the virtual cadence. The computer calculates your cadence on the basis of the speed and your gear position. No wires in the crank region, nothing.

I decided to go with the wired version of the bracket. That is for two reasons: a.) Even the wireless bracket needs two short wires from the bracket to the shifters, so it is not really wireless. b.) More and more people and also my riding budies have Flightdeck, so some interference is possible even if not likelly.

I have been using one since April this year (~ 1500 miles, Ultegra shiftres etc.). It works very good for me. Gear indicator is a nice to have feature that works without any mistakes, no matter what you do with the shifters. However, the almost must to have feature is the virtual cadence. The computer calculates your cadence on the basis of the speed and your gear position. No wires in the crank region, nothing.

I decided to go with the wired version of the bracket. That is for two reasons: a.) Even the wireless bracket needs two short wires from the bracket to the shifters, so it is not really wireless. b.) More and more people and also my riding budies have Flightdeck, so some interference is possible even if not likelly.

I'm undecided on the wired/wireless part. As for the gear indicator, I do think it might be nice to know that I still have 3 gears to use before I have to suck it up and dance. You know what I mean?

But isn't the function showing your current gear based on the shifter integration? Or is that function really not all that helpful?

I'm pretty comfortable looking between my legs to see what gear I'm in if I need to know. I don't think it would be that helpful on my road bike.

OTOH, I just got a tantem and I put a Flight Deck on it. Having the gear info is much more useful since it's difficult to see between your legs or hear if your gears are crossed. Having the cadence also helps me adapt to my wife's cadence.

Personally, I would like the screens organized differently. For example, I ride primarily with cadence showing. To check trip distance, I have to hold down the right button for 2 seconds and click through 2 functions. I like my Avocet that groups functions on one screen (Trip/overall distance or timer/clock or current/average/max speed). 3 screens on my Avocet and I can see everthing.

After two rides, I don’t particularly find the buttons on the shift levers that useful, even on the tandem.



other thing u have to be careful of is sometimes if u go to do a climb up a hill and your hands are on the hoods, u could turn off the flightdeck

I read about that here and it concerned my. I think I found two solutions – if you’re on a function that’s not trip related (clock, cadence, Odometer) the left button doesn’t do anything. Granted, you could accidentally hit the right and left buttons, but it’s a bit harder to do.

Another solution is to start the stopwatch when you leave and move to a different screen. You can’t stop the stopwatch unless you’re on that particular screen so you are unlikely to accidentally stop it.



It will tell you your current gear for a sec

This isn’t correct. It shows you a gear indicator constantly. When you shift, it shows the actual gear (54 – 20) for a second, but it shows the little ovals indicating the current gear all the time.


Like I said, I like the Fight Deck on my tandem, but I doubt I’ll ever get one for a road bike.

-murray

I'm undecided on the wired/wireless part. As for the gear indicator, I do think it might be nice to know that I still have 3 gears to use before I have to suck it up and dance. You know what I mean?

All units have to have wires to the buttons in the levers. The wireless must mean one less wire to snag. If I’m do headset work I don't have to worry about a light wire getting pulled.

The gear indicator is very helpful, some turned up their noses when they saw it telling me they know their gear. But when Shimano added the indicator to the cable that was cool.....LOL

The virtual cadence is nice If I’m coasting down a hill the cadence is for the gear your in at the speed your going without the crank moving. So as you hit the top of the hill in a bottom gear and start coasting and get to say 30 mph the cadence may say 187 because you haven’t shifted out of low. So if you shift up and the cadence will change and tell you at the current speed your cadence is/would be. So you can just shift as you go down and when you start to pedal you know your going to be 80 or 90 whatever you have shifted to.

It can also show you the gear numbers as you shift. When I was in Europe for a year. The club riders would talk that the false flat was a 52 – 13 or such and such hill is a 39 – 23. In the US I haven’t run into that language much.

The computer is 6501 and the wiring harness must match the unit. They now have one that works with 10 speed and I think it is compatable with the 9. The shimano site is were I got my info about what fits what when I was shopping.

You can use the SC-6501 computer with a SM-6500 harness. It will still work. I have both SC-6500 and SC-6501 heads along with SM-6500-M (on the MTB) and SM-6501 (on the RB) harnesses. They are interchangable between one another. You should be able to, although I personally have not confirmed, use the SC-6503 in a similar fashion. Although if the SC-6503 uses digital encoding then maybe not.

I'm undecided on the wired/wireless part. As for the gear indicator, I do think it might be nice to know that I still have 3 gears to use before I have to suck it up and dance. You know what I mean?

I find the gear indicators most useful for chainline maintenance. If I'm torquing it up a hill, it's nice to know that I'm close to big-big and that I don't want to dump that front chainring before upshifting the rear a tad to straighten out my chainline so as to avoid throwing the chain. And getting this information without attempting to look between my legs is a very nice convenience.

i don't care for mine all that much, i would go for one of the new cateye ones that give u all the info on the one display i'm waiting for the new 5 function display one with HR due out next month
so i can replace my flight deck

I've said it before... It'd be nice if Campy and shimano simply licensed out their shifter interface so that other manufacturers could produce FlightDeck compatible computers. And yes, I do know that CatEye actually makes the Campy ErgoBrain.

You can use the SC-6501 computer with a SM-6500 harness. It will still work. I have both SC-6500 and SC-6501 heads along with SM-6500-M (on the MTB) and SM-6501 (on the RB) harnesses. They are interchangable between one another. You should be able to, although I personally have not confirmed, use the SC-6503 in a similar fashion. Although if the SC-6503 uses digital encoding then maybe not.

Thanks. For the info. I looked back on my notes and it was the multi bike feature that I wanted and had ordered the 6501 not the that 6500 showed with the 6501 manual... so it wasn't doing what it should durring setup.

Cheers

You can use the SC-6501 computer with a SM-6500 harness. It will still work. I have both SC-6500 and SC-6501 heads along with SM-6500-M (on the MTB) and SM-6501 (on the RB) harnesses. They are interchangable between one another. You should be able to, although I personally have not confirmed, use the SC-6503 in a similar fashion. Although if the SC-6503 uses digital encoding then maybe not.

Wow, How do you keep that straight? So what is the difference between the SC and SM models?

Wow, How do you keep that straight? So what is the difference between the SC and SM models?

SC is the computer head... or more distinctly the computer itself. SM is the mounting kit. There are three computers available: SC-6500, SC-6501 and SC-6502. Yes I know I typed SC-6503 in a previous post. That's a mistake. There are a variety of mounts and you must use the appropriate one for your shifters. Refer to Shimano's computer compatibility chart (http://bike.shimano.com/Computer/chart.asp) to determine which is the correct mounting kit to use.

NOW I GET IT! Duh!! It just wasn't getting through my thick skull that the computer and mounting kit would be sold seperately under different model codes. Thanks!!

NOW I GET IT! Duh!! It just wasn't getting through my thick skull that the computer and mounting kit would be sold seperately under different model codes. Thanks!!

FYI, you should probably get the SC-6502 which is the latest model. It's 10sp compatible so if you ever want to go to a 10sp setup then you don't have to get a new computer. It will still work with 9sp groups (also supports 8sp groups and I think even 7sp). All FlightDecks will support double as well as triple chainrings. If you have the new Dura-Ace shifters (ST-7800) then you will need the SM-SC70 mounting kit. If you have 9sp road shifters then you'll need the SM-6501 if you want wireless and SC-6500-RS for wired.

Here's the breakdown:

Roadbike Style Shifters

SM-SC70 is a wireless kit to suit ST-7800 shifters.

SM-6501 is a wireless kit to suit ST-7700-C, ST-7703, ST-6510, ST-R600, ST-6501, ST-5510, ST-5500-C/A, ST-4400, ST-3300 shifters.

SM-6500-RS is a wired kit to suit ST-7700-C, ST-7703, ST-6510, ST-R600, ST-6501, ST-5510, ST-5500-C/A, ST-4400, ST-3300 shifters.


Mountainbike Style Shifters

SM-6501-M is a wireless kit to suit ST-M952, SL-M952, ST-M750, SL-M750, ST-M570, SL-M570, SL-R660, SL-R440 shifters.

SM-6500-M is a wired kit to suit ST-M952, SL-M952, ST-M750, SL-M750, ST-M570, SL-M570, SL-R660, SL-R440 shifters.

SM-6501-MD is a wireless kit to suit ST-M510 and SL-M510 shifters.

SM-6500-T is a wireless kit to suit ST-T400 and ST-T300 shifters

Thanks!! This is a big help.

Sooo What is the difference in the SC-6500 and the SC6501?

I've found that there are 2 groups of people concerning the Flight Deck

1) Those that love it
2) Those that hate it

There is no middle ground.

I have the SC-6501 wireless and it's got 8500 miles on it so far. In heavy rain it may occasionally stop registering the speed. I've found that there gets a buildup off water between the head unit and the mount. If I tip the mount down when it rains, then I don't have that problem.

The SC-6500 was the first version and the SC-6501 is a greatly improved unit. I believe that the 6500 will store info for 1 bike whereas the 6501 will store info for 4 bikes (handy if you change cassettes often also).

So if I just have the one cassette and one bike the 6500 would suffice? Like if the price was right?

So if I just have the one cassette and one bike the 6500 would suffice? Like if the price was right?

I've heard that the 6501 was improved in other ways also. But I'm having a massive brain fart right now and can't remember what they are.

A ride partner has a older (not sure what brand) wireless unit and he can be sitting at a light and be showing 99 mph. The newer computers I understand use a different frequency than older ones did.




99mph sitting at a light!? Hey I need that computer, I knew there had to be an easier way :D

Thanks!! This is a big help.

Sooo What is the difference in the SC-6500 and the SC6501?

I'll refer you to a previous post of mine which should answer this question (http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=251619&postcount=11).

There are a lot of things I like about the FlightDeck and some things I don't like. As far as things to complain about on the FlightDeck:


Wireless can get screwed up with errant magnetic fields such as traffic sensors.

Display on the older 6500 unit used to show gear ratio as well as gear position numerically. The newer 6501 shows number of teeth. I would like to have it show number of teeth numerically along with gear development.

I sometimes forget to wake the computer (6501) by pressing the "B" button on the right backside of the computer. The 6500 woke automatically upon wheel movement. I understand this is a "feature" in order to save power.

Reprogramming the computer always is a chore and tyre circumference only goes in 5mm increments. It would be nice if it went by 1mm increments with an "acceleration" feature of 5mm steps if you hold down the stepping button for more than a couple of seconds.

It would be nice if it had a backlight.

I'd like to see a 30 second bridge-battery so you don't lose all your settings when replacing the battery.

As mentioned in another threads, some sort of split-memory feature like the Cateye CC-8000 would be great. The stupid lap-counter is useless without actually logging any information.


As I've said in another thread, personally I'd like to see the interface to the shifters be made open or licensable so that people who actually are in the business of making bike computers could use it (yes I know Campy's Ergobrain is actually made by Cateye but that's under stricter special license). For that matter, I wouldn't mind it if frame and fork manufacturers provided provisions for wiring and sensor placement themselves. I was at my FBS some time ago after a morning ride with the owner and the shop was building up a bike with Campy Record 10 and the Ergobrain. Wires were going everywhere (Ergobrain isn't wireless). The worse wire to deal with seemed to be the cadence sensor for the crank magnet. There was simply no good place to tuck or hide it.

99mph sitting at a light!? Hey I need that computer, I knew there had to be an easier way :D

I love referring to this picture...

http://www.neebu.net/~khuon/albums/visual_tao_of_cycling/FlightyDeck.jpg

Wireless can get screwed up with errant magnetic fields such as traffic sensors.

Never had a traffic sensor set my 6501 off. I have had it pick up stuff when it is in the front hall of my house.

It would be nice if it had a backlight.

YES that would be nice

I'd like to see a 30 second bridge-battery so you don't lose all your settings when replacing the battery.

My 6501 doesn't lose the setting when I change the battery.

Cheers

I love referring to this picture...

http://www.neebu.net/~khuon/albums/visual_tao_of_cycling/FlightyDeck.jpg


Damn you got good legs! If you didn't win the sprint I want to see the other guy...LOL

My 6501 doesn't lose the setting when I change the battery.

Hmmm... maybe I'm just not quick enough. I have to reset my mileage, wheel settings and gears everytime I switch batteries. In hindsight, it's really not all that big a deal actually since I've got all the important settings written down but I do have to go hunting for the manual everytime since I always forget how to get at the right menus.

Hmmm... maybe I'm just not quick enough. I have to reset my mileage, wheel settings and gears everytime I switch batteries. In hindsight, it's really not all that big a deal actually since I've got all the important settings written down but I do have to go hunting for the manual everytime since I always forget how to get at the right menus.

Do you let the main battery go dead before you change it? or are you changing a old working battery just cause it's a new year?

Do you let the main battery go dead before you change it? or are you changing a old working battery just cause it's a new year?

I had the battery on my SC-6500 just die on me once in the middle of a ride. Admittedly, I didn't actually notice it until the end of the ride. It was a MTB ride. ;) Since then, I've made it a habit to replace the batteries on my computers every two years. I do it during daylight savings time change (in the spring) since I would have had to reset the time anyways.