Narrow wheel magnets for Garmin Cadence sensor?

dru
dru Posts: 1,341
edited August 2010 in Workshop
Hi People,

I'm after a narrow or thin wheel maget that can be put on a round wheel spoke to be used with my Garmin cadence sensor.

Basically, because of my short crank arms and frame design a standard garman magnet (same as cat eyes etc) actually hits my frame, this makes long rides particulalry annoying (nearly 6 hours of clicking yesterday)

It starts off lined up, but as there is a little wheel flex etc it only takes one knock to move it and then it's 'spokey dokey time' for the rest of the ride.


Does anyone know of any thinner magnets that you can get, I'm only needing to shave off about 1-2mm from the magnet height.

Cheers and thanks,

Dru.

Comments

  • DubaiNeil
    DubaiNeil Posts: 246
    have you tried fitting the magnet "backwards" on the spoke? i.e. with the magnet "head" pointing away from the actual sensor, and the plastic "bar" part towards the sensor?

    This was part of the suggestions from Garmin in the installation booklet which came with the GSC-10 (IIRC).

    This may give you the clearance that you need

    Neil
  • dru
    dru Posts: 1,341
    DubaiNeil wrote:
    have you tried fitting the magnet "backwards" on the spoke? i.e. with the magnet "head" pointing away from the actual sensor, and the plastic "bar" part towards the sensor?

    This was part of the suggestions from Garmin in the installation booklet which came with the GSC-10 (IIRC).

    This may give you the clearance that you need

    Neil

    no - not yet, I'll try that tonight.

    Many Thanks,

    Dru
  • Jaeger
    Jaeger Posts: 439
    You should be able to put the sensor 'arm' up, not down against the main body of the sensor, which might give you enough room for adjustment to avoid the clash.
  • amaferanga
    amaferanga Posts: 6,789
    I'm confused. Do you mean the cadence sensor (as the tread title suggests) or the speed sensor?

    You could try a rare earth magnet (available from ebay for pennies). I use these instead of the Garmin magnet on my cranks as they are much smaller and much more powerful. My pedals have steel axles so they sit discretely against it without the need for tape or cable ties.

    You could probably tape one to the spokes if it's the speed sensor that's the problem.
    More problems but still living....
  • ride_whenever
    ride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    neodynium rare earth magnet with a bit of epoxy resin. Works a treat.
  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 17,537
    the cateye spoke magnets are a bit smaller and work fine with the garmin sensor
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny
  • redvee
    redvee Posts: 11,922
    I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.
  • dru
    dru Posts: 1,341
    thanks for the replies people.

    I've been home and the garmin one turned around still does not fit (it's effectively the same depth both ways)

    Regarding the sensor, its the speed sensor part of the 'cadence' sensor, meaning the black arm part, but it's not the black arm part thats hitting the magnet, its the magnet hitting the frame of my bike on the chainstay (at that point of the frame its very bulbous)
    As mentioned because its linked to the cadence sensor it can only be in a fixed place to pick up the pedal magnet and hence is a problem.

    Thanks for the tip on the cateyes - i thought they were the same, I'll have a look into that, if that fails then I'll look at the sigma type and others.

    Cheers,

    Dru