Setting up a computer sensor

Ringo 68

I have bought myself a Catseye Strada to see how slow I am going.

Reading through the instructions, it says to position the sensor on the inside of the fork. Seeing how there should only be a 5mm gap between magnet and sensor, this seems like an accident waiting to happen.

I have positioned the sensor on the outside of the fork as surely it is safer and I can't see how it can make a difference to the readings.

Is there any reason why the sensor should be on the inside of the fork or am I ok as I have it now.

thescouselander

You need to get the sensor as near to the magnet as possible. Basically the magnet on on the spoke actives a little reed switch in the sensor as it goes past - since this works off the magnetic field from the magnet which is relatively weak it only works over a very short distance. You'll need to set it up as per the instructions or it wont work.

Ringo 68

Cheers mate.

I probably haven't explained it very well though. The instruction booklet calls it the inside of the fork, I would call it the back face of the fork ie pointing towards the rear wheel.

I have mine pointing towards the front wheel and it is still possible to get a very small gap between magnet and sensor.

It seems to work fine, I have just taken it out for a spin.

Velonutter

I mount the sensor facing forwards on the leading edge of the forks, that way if something dislodges it it is knocked out of the way and not into the wheel.

Cretan Steve

Hi, I set up my Strada the same way, pointing to the front of the bike, and for a while it worked fine, then it stopped sending a signal and I couldn't work out why, however when you look at the sensor it has an area marked 'sensor' that is only on one side, I reversed the unit (now points towards rear wheel) and problem solved. The only reason I can think of was that as the battery runs down a bit , the sensor needs to be as close as possible to the magnet. Having said all that which fork blade have you fitted yours to, left or right ? Mine was on the right. On the left you may not have the same problem.

Cretan Steve

Hi, I set up my Strada the same way, pointing to the front of the bike, and for a while it worked fine, then it stopped sending a signal and I couldn't work out why, however when you look at the sensor it has an area marked 'sensor' that is only on one side, I reversed the unit (now points towards rear wheel) and problem solved. The only reason I can think of was that as the battery runs down a bit , the sensor needs to be as close as possible to the magnet. Having said all that which fork blade have you fitted yours to, left or right ? Mine was on the right. On the left you may not have the same problem.

anto164

Why didn't you just turn it upside down?

thescouselander

Yeah, I have mine set up the same way (pointing towards the front). As long as the gap between the sensor and magnet is small enough then its all good

CiB

Like Velonutter says, mount it on the front edge of the fork so that it's knocked out of the way rather than obstructing the spokes if it does slip down or round a bit. You don't want your spokes being obstructed in their rotation by a sensor.

Position wise it doesn't matter one jot where you put it, as long as the magnet passes within range, and past the area that should indicate sensor area on it.