Originally Posted by
steelbikeguy
I know at least one person who would strongly disagree that the Avocets were "very reliable". He has told me stories of being angry enough to fling more than a few of them into a field! (and he's a moderator here at BF, so be careful!
)
I would say that the use of tinned contacts at the computer mount and the sensor produced flaky readings. Some jiggling often cleaned away the oxides and got rid of the problem, but this wasn't an issue with the chromed (or nickle?) contacts on Cateyes and others.
I recently had an Avocet 20 fail, which surprised and saddened me. For a 35 or 40 year old computer, that's not bad service, but I haven't figured out what went wrong. The speed readings started increasing at the start of one ride, and ended up reading 68mph (IIRC) whenever I was moving. Once I got home, I tried re-entering the calibration number a few times, but that didn't fix it. When I opened it up, I didn't find any bad parts, and even replaced most of the resistors and caps just in case. It seems like the integrated circuit had some sort of internal failure, at least based on the lack of any other detectable failure.
For those who care, here are a couple of photos of the circuit board...
Steve in Peoria
(anyone ever fixed a failure of this type?)
I still use an Avocet 45 as my primary bicycle computer, with mounts on nearly every bicycle and a list of verified calibration numbers I use when moving it from bike to bike. Unfortunately, my supply of backup 45s is down to nearly zero, and this one is starting to show its age. It would be great if someone had the ability to economically open the sealed cases on the ones that aren't working well, repair them, and re-seal the cases. Yes, I know RWGPS or Strava can provide good data without the need for anything on the bike, but I like the interface - and the cadence readout.