Polar Computer

mgkaplan said:

I just bought a Polar CS200cad computer. The instructions call for the installation of the speed sensor on the fork. Is there any reason why I could not mount it on the chainstay (where it would be less conspicuous?)

I found out why the answer is NO. The chainstay is too far from the computer to read the signal.

mgkaplan said:

I found out why the answer is NO. The chainstay is too far from the computer to read the signal.

Depends... I've got CS200 cad sensors on two bikes. One of them is mounted in the chainstay and works perfectly. The transmitter in the other one isn't strong enough and so it has to be mounted further forward, which I don't like. I have the same problem with the two speed sensors - one can be mounted right down by the hub, the other insists on being right up by the brake.
This week the battery died in the chainstay-mounted one, so I swapped it at the LBS. Mounted that one in the same place and it works perfectly.
Worth pointing out that the orientation of the magnet can make a difference to how well the sensor picks up (although obviously makes no difference if the transmitter isn't powerful enough). I've found it works better with the magnet longways (long aspect in the same direction as the crank) and that it's worth trying it one way round, then the other, as polarity also has an effect.

By the way, the installation instructions for the Cad sensor say it should go on the seat tube, not the fork.

Eastway82 said:

Depends... I've got CS200 cad sensors on two bikes. One of them is mounted in the chainstay and works perfectly. The transmitter in the other one isn't strong enough and so it has to be mounted further forward, which I don't like. I have the same problem with the two speed sensors - one can be mounted right down by the hub, the other insists on being right up by the brake.
This week the battery died in the chainstay-mounted one, so I swapped it at the LBS. Mounted that one in the same place and it works perfectly.
Worth pointing out that the orientation of the magnet can make a difference to how well the sensor picks up (although obviously makes no difference if the transmitter isn't powerful enough). I've found it works better with the magnet longways (long aspect in the same direction as the crank) and that it's worth trying it one way round, then the other, as polarity also has an effect.

By the way, the installation instructions for the Cad sensor say it should go on the seat tube, not the fork.

I think that the instructions for the CAD sensor says that it should be mounted on the Downtube or the Seat Tube.

I mounted my speed sensor on the fork and the cadence sensor on the downtube.

By the way, how well does your polar computer work? Are you satisfied with it in general?

mgkaplan said:

I think that the instructions for the CAD sensor says that it should be mounted on the Downtube or the Seat Tube.

I mounted my speed sensor on the fork and the cadence sensor on the downtube.

By the way, how well does your polar computer work? Are you satisfied with it in general?

Sorry, I misread the original post, thought he was talking about CAD sensor (a classic case of reading what I expected to read rather than what was actually there! Yes, instructions for CAD sensor do say seat or down tube, but I think both are lousy locations, far too obtrusive and likely to get knocked. Also yes, chainstay will be too far away for the speed sensor, unfortunately.
Otherwise I've been very happy with the CS200 so far. One or two slightly anomolous cad readings (briefly shooting up to 120 or so when the odd car goes past), and one strange HR reading (last night, it said my max was 216 when it shouldn't have been any more than 180). Otherwise it seems to function fine, screen's large an displays info pretty well, and I like the upload to the training diary on the web (although I'm finding the website a bit clunky since they upgraded it this week.