General Cycling Discussion - Shimano Flight Deck computer

I bought a used Trek and it's equipped with a flight deck system. The head wasn't included because he kept it for his other bike. Do I need to replace it exactly or can I use another (cheaper) head to go with it? Might be a stupid question, but I've never used bike computers before so I have no idea.

thanks

You'd probably need to replace the head with the same model. The hard part, I'd think, would be getting the wiring harness & buttons that fit whatever shifters you've got. But if you already have those, you should be fine with just getting the computer head.

It's not the best computer (I've got one), but it does the job, and the gear indicator & cadence calculation has been handy for me. For example, while coasting on a fast downhill, I can glance down and see that my current gear combo would make me pedal at 170 rpm; so I upshift a few clicks, see 100-ish rpm on the computer, and I'm ready to pedal again.

Not at all necessary, but still kinda neat. I used to have a bike computer with HR, but since I do more off-bike exercise these days, I'm thinking of getting a separate, multipurpose HRM.

How many speeds. I think that I've got a brand new 9-speed version down in my workshop. PM me if you've got bicycle stuff to trade.

its a 24 spd. so i think it'd need to be an 8 spd.

I remember that mine could be programmed for different speeds, and definitely for a double or triple. JensonUSA says the 6502 will work for 8, 9, or 10 speeds:
http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/CP707A12-Shimano+Flightdeck+Sc-6502+Computer.aspx

As with all things Shimano, I'd try to find concrete info before buying. I don't know of more than two Flight Deck computer heads, though (there's a newer version for 6700/7900 shifters).

I remember that mine could be programmed for different speeds, and definitely for a double or triple. JensonUSA says the 6502 will work for 8, 9, or 10 speeds:
http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/CP707A12-Shimano+Flightdeck+Sc-6502+Computer.aspx.

I know that mine won't do 10 speeds because it doesn't have enough little ovals. I'm pretty sure that it will do 8 speeds. Do you have the wire harness that interfaces with the shift levers? That's the key part.

yeah i have the whole system except the head. he had the system on two bikes with one head and he kept it

I really doubt a flight deck head w/ a 65XX part number would be 8 9 or 10. It will be 8 or 9. That's what mine is. You can often find that 8/9 speed version very cheap on Ebay. I bought 2 or 3 a few years back. If you come up completely dry, PM me and I will see if I still have an unopened one. (the reason I bought several is that I have two 9 speed flight deck bikes and wanted a spare).

I have an extra. Want it? Never installed. Pretty sure it's 8/9 speed. I like the one on my road bike but the right hand cross bike brifter failed before I got it installed. That bike is now set up as a 1x9 with a single barcon.

PM me and I'll go find it and figure out exactly which model it is. I take paypal. $2 discount if I can work out a + feedback point on ebay.

crap I just submitted an offer for one for 35. how much you want for it? i can always cancel my offer

crap now I have to go find it. :p $20 for a fellow bf poster. shipping via USPS priority mail won't add much. shipping via USPS first class package is even lower but a few days slower.

if you're serious send me a private message. i have a lot of decluttering going on but assuming you have an ebay and paypal account, i'll bump up its priority, dig it out, take a picture or two, post it on ebay sometime late next week with a $20 buy it now option, and send you the link 10-15 minutes after it appears online.

I should have waited longer, but my offer was accepted. So I'm SOL and got that one for 35. Darn. Oh well, now you can sell it on ebay for 35-40 bucks if you like. Thanks for the offer though I was surely going to get it.

thanks again for everyone's tips

Just got it. Unfortunately, no instructions. I have the wires all set in place but when I slip my computer onto the deck it just blinks km/hr or miles/hr depending on the A button in the back


anyone know who to set it up to my gears and such?

Pardon my lack of sobriety, but starting here:
http://techdocs.shimano.com/techdocs/blevel.jsp;jsessionid=BJJZNfhTsTZxRxQGLLwFpwGsgWCHPvJpPLW72QbBD3FVykQN940Y!-1458018622?ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395181679&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302051886&bmUID=iUDNqXn

Here's some instruction manuals:
http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techdocs/content/cycle/SI/CycleComputer/SC_6502_6501_M500/SI-7AP1F-ENG_v1_m56577569830686508.pdf
http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techdocs/content/cycle/SI/CycleComputer/SI_7AB0D/SI-7AB0D-Eng_v1_m56577569830686498.pdf
http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techdocs/content/cycle/SI/CycleComputer/SC_6502_6501_M500/SI-7AP1F-ENG_v1_m56577569830686508.pdf

I found these by poking around Shimano's website -- bike.shimano.com

Get yerself a cup of coffee because it'll take a few minutes to put all your gears into the computer. But, after this initial setup, you should be good to go. :thumb:

thanks you very much. I couldn't find any computer things on the shimano site. i set it up and it sure did take a while figuring out how many teeth, circumference, etc.

thanks