Burned By Polar CS200CAD
 

Just bought this baby brand new from LBS for $159. Installed the cadence unit and heart rate monitor. Both of those worked fine. The speed sensor is another issue. No matter what I did it will not work. Called Polar and they said to take it back to the bike shop. I will return it today. It really ticks me off that a brand new unit will not function. I told Polar "Did you guys ever hear of Quality Control?" One thing that I think is a pain about the sensor is that the battery can not be changed out at will. It's a sealed unit. Supposed to last 2 years....we'll see about that. If I decide to keep the darned thing it will be the last Polar I buy. I'm going back to Ciclosport!

So when the battery eventually goes, do they expect you to buy a new sensor unit??

I know there were several defective units, I know my shop returned all of our CS200's for a complete warranty replacement, I'm willing to bet it was one of the affected models. We have not heard one issue about the replaced ones so far.

I've been using a Polar CS200 with cadence sensor for about 4 months now (900 miles) and haven't had any problems with it. I like it so much that I bought another for the new bike I'm building.

Seems to be hit or miss with that model. I missed. My theory is they pushed the product to manufacturing a bit too soon. My Vetta model has been a fine replacement.

I've got one as well and it's less than spectacular. When I use all three (HR, cadence, speed) I can't keep them all going. One's always cutting out. It's like they take turns cycling out.

I'm a little less than pleased.

On the other hand, I'm very pleased with my Polar 720i. I've had it since 2003, and it's working fine. Batteries in its sensor units are replaceable.

Several people had the same problem but it ended up that they didn't have the sensor installed properly (i.e. the sensor and the spoke magnet were not close enough).

The batteries in the speed and cadence sensors last approx. 2500 hours according to Polar (20MPH * 2500H = 50,000 miles).

Being Finnish, Polar actually feel they have an environmental responsibility. They recycle the batteries, you buy a new sensor unit for less than you'd expect.

that's assumin gyou don't just dump the old sensor in the trash.

If you dump the sensor, you can't buy a new one (it's an exchange scheme), so you might as well dump the whole computer in the trash.

Oh is that it?? bwhahahahaa. Altruism/"environmental responsibility" is such a beautiful thing.
What a joke.
George

Very interesting, I can accept that.

In answer to someone's question above, yes, Polar does expect you to buy a new sensor when the battery is exhausted. At least that's what they told me. After hearing some of you having so many problems with this unit I'm half way tempted to just return it and get something else.

I had an early one and the HR worked well, the cadence worked (but was _only_ in small numerals) and the speed display was intermittant. It was always beeping on and off. My LBS didn't want to mess with it and returned the moola.

i have one and it was all screwed up. I sent it to polar in new york and they gave me a new one for free. it works flawless now.

one thing with the speed sensor is that you have to have it almost flush with the spokes. It doesnt work that well if you turn it at an angle to get it closer to the magnet. just move it down the fork towards the hub where the fork is closer to the spokes and see if that helps.

it gets me PO'd when it loosens up during a ride. Oh well... my ptap is ordered and being built.

I tried the flush thing. Believe me, I spent an hour trying every which way including the stupid way Polar told me about. They said try rotating the magnet perpendicular to to speed sensor. Totally contradictory to the user manual. I don't think these guys have a clue what to do about their inferior product. It's a good thing they don't build planes! I've just made up my mind...this damned thing is going back and I'm getting a Vetta. This whole thread sounds like a bad movie and I don't want to be part of the cast.