My odometer is not picking up the little magnetic piece that is on the spoke. It does display the time , so i'm thinking it's not the battery. Can that small piece get demagnetized?

Never heard of that. What I'd check first:

- that the magnet (on the spokes) passes the sensor (on the fork blade) close enough
- that the wire running from the sensor up to the handlebar mount is OK, assuming it's a wired computer
- or, if it's wireless, that the battery in the sensor is OK
- is there dirt/grease/rust/gunk in the small metal connectors in the handlebar mount and/or corresponding connectors in the rear panel of your computer? If there's a faulty connection there, the computer won't work. Again, this is assuming it's a wired comp.
- finally, even though the computer shows time, battery may be nearly dead. You could try changing that too, if everything else fails.

--J

Is this computer brand new? I had a wireless computer that had a defective pickup unit right out of the box. speedometer worked but the cadence sensor was bad.

icctrombone, You can remove the magnet and see if it sticks to something iron, most likely it will. Most problems are due to the gap between the sensor and the magnet and the relationship of the two pieces as they pass each other (magnet may need to be moved up or down slightly). I just fixed a problem with my wireless' sensor moving because I waxed the forks prior to it's installation. It'd read 2 MPH-34 MPH within just a couple of pedal strokes.

Brad

Wave a magnet past the sensor and see if it reads. If it doesn't the sensor or wiring is bad, if it does, the positioning of the magnet to the sensor is wrong.