unionmade

I recently got a Garmin 500 with the speed/cadence monitor. I was impressed how the unit paired itself with the monitor, and how it calculated my wheel/tire size. However, I was surprised by the following. I guess I didn't do the best job of attaching the wheel magnet to my wheel (the magnet housing seems to like round spokes better than my bladed), and it moved out of whack. OK, user error, I get it, so I'm going 0 mph for several miles until I have time to pull over and fix it. My question is why it didn't flip over to using GPS when the speed monitor no longer saw the magnet? I got the monitor becasue I do find it helpful to keep an eye on my cadence, but I did shell out for GPS afterall.

I did spend some time really installing the magnet on the wheel, so I doubt this will be a problem again, but did find that annoying.

RT

There have been an awful lot of Garmin threads lately...

mechBgon

That could be a double-edged sword if it worked that way. Note that the magnet has two spoke-clamping areas: one profiled for round spokes, one for bladed, on opposite sides of the magnet's threaded stud.

TrojanHorse

I have the same complaint and ended up removing the GSC-10. It works great just using GPS as the speed input. I should do some research to figure out if it's possible but I wish you could use just the cadence sensor. The way my chain stays are curved, it's difficult to find a place that is well suited to BOTH the speed AND cadence sensor using only the provided equipment. There's very little clearance between the spokes and the chain stay. I had to double up the cadence sensor with some rare earth magnets and that part works fine but the speed is still really iffy. The other problem I've noticed is that the crazy speed activity also affects your distance traveled measurement.

mechBgon - good tip, I didn't realize that.

NWS Alpine

That's why I bought the Wahoo Fitness speed/cadence. The sensors are not one unit so if your chainstays are not standard you have way more flexibility for mounting. https://www.wahoofitness.com/Products...ess-WFSC01.asp

unionmade

Thanks mechBgon, I think I got it on there well, but will definately reassess. Not sure what you mean by it being a double-edged sword if it "flipped" over to GPS. I guess I agree if that meant losing cadence (the only reason for the GSC-10), but I guess I would have thought just the speed would "flip" to GPS, keeping the cadence going. Anyway, like I said, not a big complaint, and not one at all once I get it all set up properly.

DropDeadFred

just get it installed correctly or use a different magnet. On my ksyrium SLs I couldn't use the garmin magnet because the blades were to wide, so i used the magnet from my cateye which i knew fit. The garmin fits the bladed spokes on my zipps so I'm using it now. It's just a matter of the magnet and your spokes. Although the gps isn't very far off, it is off and if you hit a dead spot, which happens, you're data will be messed up.

edit: just to be clear the bladed side of the garmins magnet isn't that wide, I knew it fit both.

TrojanHorse

Great - thanks Alpine! I think that will solve my issue nicely.

MikeyBoyAz

Another option is the magnet sold by mavic specifically for wide blade spokes...

M_Wales

On my first ride I had the same problem with the magnet staying put on the spoke. I ended up using my old cateye magnet that has a rubber gasket that presses up against the spoke once tightened down and won't allow it to slip at all.

I guess that the reason it didn't auto switch over to GPS is that it could still see the speed/cadence sensor.

unionmade

Yeah, I didn't bother chaning my cadence magnet from my cateye, and it's fine. Guess I should have just left the cateye wheel magnet on as well!

Looigi

There have been a lot of awful Garmin threads lately.

trippn1

I have the Garmin Edge 500 and the last few rides I notice my speed jumps (once in a while, not all the time) to about double the speed I'm actually riding. I really wish those times I was doing 20mph and it jumped to 40 mph were true but it isn't. Any idea what might be causing this? I just went and checked the magnet in it appears to be in the right place and snug on the spoke. The rides I noticed this "jump" were pretty windy days but I don't think the wind would cause it but then again what do I know. Any help

byte_speed

I've also noticed windy days seem to bother the GPS reception on my 500. The times I noticed this were when my wheel magnet was out of place, the sensor battery was dead, or I forgot to change the bike setting to the proper bike.

MrTuner1970

Speed/distance is more accurate with the GSC10.

mechBgon

Well, what if you stop mid-ride and happen to spin your crank backwards, giving a cadence reading without a speed reading? I wouldn't want my Garmin switching itself to GPS over something like that.

For what it's worth, I had magnet trouble with my GCS10 on its maiden voyage too. The magnet kept turning on the spoke and hitting the sensor; it wasn't clamping very well to the 1.5mm center section of my DT Revolution spokes. I finally stopped momentarily, moved the magnet down the spoke to where it was out of the way, jumped back on the bike and switched the Garmin to GPS-only while catching up to my buddies. You can make that override yourself, although fussing with the menus isn't something I'd suggest while in a paceline

RT

I see what you did there.

All the awful Garmin threads make me wonder though what is going on at Garmin? I haven't seen a rash of posts like this since the last thread regarding:

1. Why there isn't more waving on the road
2. Expensive helmets vs. Wal-Mart helmets
3. Which bike/First bike
4. Pcad's foyer bench