Ya. I lost another damned wheel spoke mounted magnet for my cyclocomputer.

I think the cyclocomputer folks have it figured out because all the magnets I have ever seen are flimsy and not designed to handle the centrifugal forces and bumps and bashes of being mounted to a wheel.

Of course, replacement magnets are available online, but even a $3.00 magnet costs $6.00 to ship ($0 to $50 = $60.00 shipping charge).

Does anybody have any ideas how to replace a lost magnet for a cyclocomputer with readily available parts? I don’t want to spend $10.00 to order a part for a cyclocomputer I can replace for $12.00 (I don’t use the fancy pants cyclocomputers).

Christ sake just go to your LBS. Ordering online for small items like this is pointless.

Does a local bike shop typically have spare magnets for cyclocomputers? None of the bike shops in our area carry them. Of course, they carry complete cyclocomputers et nausium, but not the magnets separately.

Mine has a drawer with dozens of extra magnets. Customers upgrade their cyclometers to a newer cyclometer with more functions but the original magnet is still used. So the extra from the new cyclometer gets tossed in the drawer.

BTW, how do you keep losing them. In 20+ years I've never had one come off unless I took it off.

Lbs

+1

assuming LBS isn't an option,

any magnet will work, mounting it is the trick.

a small rare earth magnet and a dab of epoxy at the intersection of two spokes would probably do the trick. I know it seems drastic, but remember, people used to solder their spokes together, honest to god.

We have a HobbyLobby (craft store) nearby that has all kinds of magnets. Small magnet and epoxy, it's not falling off.

My LBS had a whole bag of the things.....

How do you lose magnets?


In any case, just get it from your LBS. $3 and no shipping cost.

My bike was left to me with computer fitted, but no magnet. I took the bike to my LBS to be checked over (it had stood idle for ten years) before I rode it and he pulled a magnet out of a box of bits and bobs and stuck on the wheel.

So... go ask your LBS, he may even just give you one.

+1. Even on flat blade Mavic spokes where the magnet clamp isn't made for anything but round.

...another magnet never lost (on 6 different bikes no less) person who suggests the LBS.

I realize this may be pointing out the obvious, but if you really can't get one locally and are forced to order a new one, how about finding some other stuff you need (perhaps even ask family and friends) and put together a larger order where the shipping cost will be spread out over more items?

Go to your local K-mart or Wally World and buy the cheapest kid's toy bike computer they sell and harvest the magnet.

Gee Whizzzzz......I use the $10 WW computers. They work just fine when all I use them for is mileage and speed. Never lost a magnet though.

I sheepishly confess that I do use $10.00 Schwinn cyclocomputers and Cateye cyclocomputers when they are on sale.

Am I missing something with the expensive cyclocomputers? Speed, distance, distance this trip, etc. What else do you really need?

I can tell fuel level by my stomach growling and my heart rate by the exhaust from my lungs.

Works for me. Unless, of course, the more expensive units have better spoke magnets.

For most people a basic cyclocomputer is all you need and 2 lines makes easier reading at a glance than the information overload 3 and 4 line units. No use getting more features/functions unless you are a serious racer/fitness addict/tourer and want cadence, heart rate, calorie consumption, altimeter, power (in watts), GPS, pace alert alarm, etc info.

Cadence measurement is quite helpful for distance riding in hilly terrain. For best endurance, one should stick to his optimal cadence and let the gears change the mechanical advantage. The tricky parts are running the wire to the rear wheel without breaking the connection, and getting your crank magnet close enough to the sensor. To solve that second problem, I simply made a sandwich of two magnets and stuck that to the pedal axle bolt. The bolt is steel and the crank is aluminum, thus the magnets stay put in the recess.

I also like the average speed measurement. Say you usually do 13, but today you're in adverse conditions with massive headwinds, rain, cold etc. When you find that your average speed has dipped to 10.5, you'll be able to quantify how these conditions affect your riding.

Cadence, like your pulse, can easily be figured out by counting pedal revolutions for 6 seconds and multuplying by 10. It doesn't take long to figure out what proper cadence is and a device to track it won't be necessary.

I've never lost a magnet. They screw onto the spoke pretty tightly -- I've had them move, but not lost. I wouldn't know the difference between a fancy magnet and a non-fancy magnet since every one that I've seen/had is about the same other than the one that sticks on the pedal for cadence.

+1. I have a Cat-Eye Astrale installed on the bike used on my indoor trainer because it has a rear wheel speed pickup. It also has a cadence function and, since the wiring harness was there anyway, I installed the crank magnet and pick up coil figuring I would use it a lot on the trainer.

I don't. As you mentioned, once I have a comfortable cadence going I just continue to "ride" at it and never look at the actual number.

I think if you attach the magnet on the spoke as close to the hub as possible it will be subjected to the least amount of force, so it's least likely to come off there. The instruction manual should tell you to do this as the readings will be more accurate if the magnet passes the sensor slower. But even at the other end near the tyre I find it hard to believe that it will come off, no matter how bumpy your ride is.

I have nothing against inexpensive computers, in fact I use one myself. I have seen computers (with magnets) for sale at discount stores for under $5. This would be a source for the OP, if he cannot find a magnet elsewhere.

You guys take offense far too easily.

We DO NOT and are HIGHLY incensed that you would say so!!!