Carusoswi

I have a Cateye wireless spedometer. I'm getting a click whenever the sensor passes the sending unit (terms are mine - don't know the actual terminology) on the fork. I've checked and there is no physical contact there. I've pressed all the buttons on the head to see if this is some sort of purposely programmed function (can't imagine why you would want that sound). No other thingys hanging in the spoke to cause that sound.

How can I get rid of it?

Thanks.

Caruso

sestivers

You can't get rid of it. There is a reed switch inside of the sensor that sends a signal to your computer unit once per revolution as the magnet passes it, that is how the computer unit knows how fast you're going. That's where the ticking noise is coming from. I can't believe you would hear it while riding though... do you hear it only when spinning the wheel while stopped? Cateye's reed switches are just louder than some others.

Carusoswi

I guess I notice it intermittently. I am a musician and fancy myself to have pretty acute hearing (not that acute hearing has much to do with musicianship - except that most of us are fussy about taking care of our ears). Obviously, at 30 mph I don't hear it, but, on a quiet road when there is little wind and traffic, I definitely notice it and it bugs the heck out of me. I thought that the sensor was out of whack and causing the noise, but that is definitely not the case. I noticed it again while riding slowly yesterday morning (I don't normally purposely ride slowly). It was a quiet morning - I was out early, just spinning slowly at around 5 mph looking to enjoy the sound of the birds and anticipating the full emergence of the rising sun - and I notice this clicking sound that keeps pace with my speed.

I stopped, lifted the front wheel, spun it slowly, and it's obvious that I'm getting this click whenever the magnet (or whatever it is) passes the part that is strapped to the fork.

I was just on the Cateye website checking out the instructions for my unit (MC100W - nothing fancy but good enough for me). There is no mention of the noise or how to start/stop it, so, I guess I'll have to learn to live with it.

One aspect of riding that I particularly enjoy is how quiet a well tuned bike can be as you ride. Mine now has very smooth bearings in the BB, no chain rub, skinny road tires that I keep at high pressure. She's very quiet at most any speed (bike is a C'dale Cyclocross - not that it matters).

Seeking out the "quality" of the silence is what caused me to notice this ticking sound. But, I've ridden this bike close to 2000 miles in the last nine months and, while I've noticed the noise on occasion, I'm thinking by now I would realize if it is always present (maybe my ears aren't so acute after all!).

Thanks for the reply.

Caruso

HillRider

I'm not sure about their wireless cyclometers but I have Cat-Eye wired cyclometers on 6 of my own bikes and friends and relatives have a dozen more. All of them are completely silent.

erader

i can hear mine while riding, and i've owned two. my wife can hear hers too. but only at slower speeds and certain acoustical conditions .

ed rader

Al1943

I have 5 wired Cateye Astrale computers (wired) and they all click when the magnet passes the sensor, but I don't hear the click while riding, 'course they're on the rear wheel behind my ear.
Something else that clicks are loose spokes, not good.

Al

DieselDan

Some folks have better hearing then others and can hear that switch, I can't and neither can many others. I also have rental customers that get annoyed by a polymer based pavement sealer causing a consant tire squeal. My father can't hear higher pitched voices.

Not everyone can hear the exact same range.

jimmythefly

If it really, really bugs you there are GPS-based cyclo computers out there. No wheel sensor at all. Also, there are a couple of cadence computers and at least one long-sensor wire computer that you can set up off the rear wheel, which would at least move the noise farther away from you.

operator

Take off the computer.

LóFarkas

No theay aren't. But the click is very-very low volume. If you get the bike up on the rear and spin the front beside your head, you'll hear it.

I'm surprised th OP can hear the click... I guess mine is more silent than yours... my bike (fixed gear) makes no audible noise when freshly lubed, but I never heard the computer while riding. Plus you must have seriously good hearing.

HillRider

Well, wadda ya know. I just did what you suggested and indeed there is a very soft "tink" every time the magnet passes the pickup. It is extremely subtle so I'm not surprised I never noticed it before. As you said, the OP must have very acute hearing and apparently I don't.

Carusoswi

I don't know if my hearing is particularly acute or whether I just have an unusually loud speedo switch - but, at least I know that it is normal - so, I'll just have to get used to it. Not having a computer isn't an option I would consider - I like to know how fast I'm going and how far I've ridden.

Caruso

mike481050

On my wifes bike the tick is so loud she can hear it while riding as can people riding near her.
My bike has exactly the same computer and set up and is silent!
Doesn't affect the computer or the bike so she has learnt to live with it.

jccaclimber

If you have a mechanical reed switch, you're screwed. If it's a solid state hal effect sensor it's silent.

waldowales

What cyclocomputers use a Hall effect sensor?

BarracksSi

I think that the OP -- three years ago -- either wasn't a musician or just doesn't play his instrument loud enough (my hearing's getting worse and worse; typical of being around brass and percussion for twenty years ).

Panthers007

When I heard a 'click' from my Cateye Strada Wireless, I found the sensor on the fork had been bumped. It was contacting the magnet on a spoke. Moved it back - no more click.

prathmann

The older Avocets that used a small ring mounted on the spokes around the hub. The ones that have a single magnet passing by the sensor all use reed switches that can make an audible noise. But I've never noticed it while riding - only when adjusting the sensor position and making sure the reed switch was responding properly. For the last 10 years I've been using my GPS instead - no switches or other connection to the bike and silent except when it beeps to warn me that it lost the satellite signals.

Darth_Firebolt

mine clicks, i can hear it over my freewheel clicking while i'm riding. Sigma BC906 cabled.

jccaclimber

Wow, how did I accidentally drag this back to life? Occasionally I dredge up an old thread in search results and don't look at the date before answering the question, but I haven't done that lately. Hopefully the stuff here will be helpful to someone in the future.

As for reed switches vs hall effect sensors, I don't think it's correct to say that all of the magnetic ones use reed switches, because hall effect sensor is just a solid state reed switch. I'm pretty sure my Shimano computer is a hall effect sensor. The ANT Sport sensors I've used (which look identical to the Trek sensors) are reed switches because I can hear them tick.