Flight deck computer
 

I need to buy a new computer and was thinking of getting a Shimano Flight deck unit. It shows what ring you are in and where on the cassette you are. Does anyone have experience with this computer?
Chirobiker

Have it. Love it.

have it. love it. hate it.

gear display is nice, virtual cadence is nice. operating it from the buttons on the sti shifters is nice.

operating it from the sti shifters is often terrible since i hit the buttons by accident frequently. flight deck gives you the ability to turn on/off the recording of the distance/time etc that you've ridden since the last reset. it only takes one push of the left button to do this. i find that on almost every ride i look down and realize that i've not been recording for the last 5-10 miles. you can't turn this feature off. also the whole system turns itself off after 30 minutes. if you stop that long at a rest stop and forget to turn it back on again, well you lose that info also.

I've been wanting one also, but I have a hard time paying that much for a bike computer.

We couldn't do without it on our tandem, and other than occasionally erasing trip mileage by mistake, I like the way it functions.

For my single bikes, though, I like the dura-ace cable indicator for rear cogs, and simpler (less expensive) computers.

I had to return mine due to the issue with accidentally pressing the left hood button. Even when I consciously tried NOT to press it, at some point during my ride, I'd adjust my hands on the hoods and hit the button...and not discover it until several miles later. Very frustrating. (If they made it so that both buttons needed to be pressed simultaneously to stop the clock, the computer would be perfect).

Others I've talked to have never had this issue, but it's common enough that I'd make sure you can return/exchange the unit if you find that you have the problem.

Flipping through the displays without taking your hands off the hoods is nice. Seeing your current gear displayed without glancing down under your armpit is very nice. However, neither is more more important to me than accurate time/distance/avg speed info.

Good Luck!

proudly own a bike-o-meter (ibs-600)

mobile phone holder for m65 and goodness


madman

Who sells these? I might give one a try.

Echo...Have it Love it. Use it on several of my bikes.

Not the easiest to install....shops have a hard time getting it right... They don't read the install instruction. I get it home read the install instructions...and set it up right. 15000+ miles no problem.

Cheers,
Dusk

They're included with replacement Dura-Ace derailleur cables, but some bike shops have spare indicators from replacing cables on bikes which already had the indicators.

Excel Sports might sell them in their small parts section - I can't remember for sure. I think they're a simple low-tech way to see cog selection with just a quick glance at your bars.

I agree that on rare occassion I have accidently hit the left hood button and turned off the flight deck computer. But still love it. Just hate when I accidently turn it off!

Guess what. I figured out how to solve this problem. If you put the flight deck in cadence mode and then push the right button once to put the cadence at the top of the display, this will disable the on/off capability of the left button. I ride in this mode all the time so that I won't accidently turn off the system. Try it!

Ditto everything stated previously. Have it. Use it. Love it. Hate it.

Hmmm, I was looking over this thread again and realized that I bought my Flight Deck in the middle of it. I got a used one off of eBay and it works great. Easy to install, program and use. The hood controls are awesome.

Thanks for that tip. I'll try it!

So that's why they have that red doohickey on the Dura-ace cables. I have Flight Deck on my mountain and road bikes. It's nice knowing what gear you're in with the rear cogs - especially to see if you still have a lower gear on steep hills.

For me, it's worth the high price for the virtual cadence feature alone. I just hate cluttering up my steed with a cadence sensor.

This virtual cadence on the Flight Deck has always bothered me. Is it the most accurate when you're going uphill, the least accurate when you're going downhill, and somewhere in between when you're in the flats? Has anyone ever compared the virtual cadence display vs. a true cadence sensor reading?