Flight Deck Wireless ?'s

I either broke the wire from my Flightdeck sensor, or pulled it loose somehow. Anyway, my Flightdeck
isn't working and it looks as if I will need to replace the mounting kit and I'm considering a
wireless instead of the hardwired.

Does anyone have any comments on the Flight Deck wireless? Is it reliable? How about
interference with other bikes? How about interference with a heart rate monitor? Any comments on
the wired vs. wireless?

Thanks Mish

 

I don't have personal experience with the wireless Flight Deck, but I've read a lot of reports about them not being nearly as reliable as the wired type. Also, they often interfere with Polar HRMs.

 

> I either broke the wire from my Flightdeck sensor, or pulled it loose somehow. Anyway, my
> Flightdeck isn't working and it looks as if I will
need
> to replace the mounting kit and I'm considering a wireless instead of the hardwired.
>
> Does anyone have any comments on the Flight Deck wireless? Is it
reliable?
> How about interference with other bikes? How about interference with a heart rate monitor? Any
> comments on the wired vs. wireless?

The FlightDeck wireless unit has been very reliable; the only times we've had trouble have been when
we tried to set one up or display operation indoors, near a flourescent light. They're quite
susceptible to the electronic hash that a noisy ballast puts out, so you end up thinking you've got
a bad unit because it isn't picking up.

Please keep in mind that the "wireless" FlightDeck still communicates with the shifters via wires,
and can still suffer snags.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles www.ChainReaction.com

"Gary Mishler" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> I either broke the wire from my Flightdeck sensor, or pulled it loose somehow. Anyway, my
> Flightdeck isn't working and it looks as if I will
need
> to replace the mounting kit and I'm considering a wireless instead of the hardwired.
>
> Does anyone have any comments on the Flight Deck wireless? Is it
reliable?
> How about interference with other bikes? How about interference with a heart rate monitor? Any
> comments on the wired vs. wireless?
>
> Thanks Mish

 

I have been using the wireless for about a year now. It operated flawlessly until the sender
battery gave out. A quick battery change and all was right with the world again. The battery lasted
for over 9 months.

While it still has wires they are almost completely protected under the handlebar wrap. I have never
even gotten close to snagging one. Like what happened to you I have lost almost all of my wired
types by snagging, cutting or otherwise damaging the connecting wires.

It has never interfered with any other riders wireless's or mine or others heart rate monitors.
However, I have not ridden with another wireless flightdeck. I have noticed that the pros are using
flightdecks but I haven't seen enough to tell if they are wired or not.

The speed/cadence update seems a little slow for my taste. I can spin the wheel for a couple of
seconds before I get a reading. This may just be the flightdeck, not the wireless. Did you observe
this delay with the wired unit?

My major complaint is the buttons on the back of the computer being so hard to hit. I never touch
them while on the bike so it only annoys me when I take it off to change the settings. This has
nothing to do with the wireless, of course.

I think this wireless is worth having, as well as the whole flightdeck concept. Maybe someday they
will fix the buttons and build in a HRM.

On Thu, 01 May 2003 21:56:24 GMT, "Gary Mishler" <[email protected]> wrote:

>I either broke the wire from my Flightdeck sensor, or pulled it loose somehow. Anyway, my
>Flightdeck isn't working and it looks as if I will need to replace the mounting kit and I'm
>considering a wireless instead of the hardwired.
>
>Does anyone have any comments on the Flight Deck wireless? Is it reliable? How about interference
>with other bikes? How about interference with a heart rate monitor? Any comments on the wired vs.
>wireless?
>
>Thanks Mish

 

I haven't been so lucky. My first unit would kill batteries, and everything in memory, in less than
a month. The transmitter battery wasn't much better. Shimano was good enough to swap it out for
another unit. The batteries in that one seem to die even faster. IMHO, as a result, I think these
things are junk. Although this is quite sarcastic, I've often joked that it seems that I've put more
miles on my truck buying batteries than riding with a working Flite Deck.

But that's just my experience. Many others have had positive experiences.

When it is working, I really like the features and operation.

Lee Bower

"Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction Bicycles" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> > I either broke the wire from my Flightdeck sensor, or pulled it loose somehow. Anyway, my
> > Flightdeck isn't working and it looks as if I will
> need
> > to replace the mounting kit and I'm considering a wireless instead of
the
> > hardwired.
> >
> > Does anyone have any comments on the Flight Deck wireless? Is it
> reliable?
> > How about interference with other bikes? How about interference with a heart rate monitor? Any
> > comments on the wired vs. wireless?
>
> The FlightDeck wireless unit has been very reliable; the only times we've had trouble have been
> when we tried to set one up or display operation indoors, near a flourescent light. They're quite
> susceptible to the electronic hash that a noisy ballast puts out, so you end up thinking
you've
> got a bad unit because it isn't picking up.
>
> Please keep in mind that the "wireless" FlightDeck still communicates with the shifters via wires,
> and can still suffer snags.
>
> --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles www.ChainReaction.com
>
> "Gary Mishler" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > I either broke the wire from my Flightdeck sensor, or pulled it loose somehow. Anyway, my
> > Flightdeck isn't working and it looks as if I will
> need
> > to replace the mounting kit and I'm considering a wireless instead of
the
> > hardwired.
> >
> > Does anyone have any comments on the Flight Deck wireless? Is it
> reliable?
> > How about interference with other bikes? How about interference with a heart rate monitor? Any
> > comments on the wired vs. wireless?
> >
> > Thanks Mish
> >
> >

 

I have the wireless Flight Deck and a Polar S410. No interference whatsoever. Now on my 2nd year, (I
put on about 4000 k /yr) without any problems. havn't changed the battery yet. I have Ultegra double
group on a Trek 5200. It works for me. "Gary Mishler" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I either broke the wire from my Flightdeck sensor, or pulled it loose somehow. Anyway, my
> Flightdeck isn't working and it looks as if I will
need
> to replace the mounting kit and I'm considering a wireless instead of the hardwired.
>
> Does anyone have any comments on the Flight Deck wireless? Is it
reliable?
> How about interference with other bikes? How about interference with a heart rate monitor? Any
> comments on the wired vs. wireless?
>
> Thanks Mish

 

"Drew" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> I have been using the wireless for about a year now. It operated flawlessly until the sender
> battery gave out. A quick battery change and all was right with the world again. The battery
> lasted for over 9 months.
>
> While it still has wires they are almost completely protected under the handlebar wrap. I have
> never even gotten close to snagging one. Like what happened to you I have lost almost all of my
> wired types by snagging, cutting or otherwise damaging the connecting wires.
>
> It has never interfered with any other riders wireless's or mine or others heart rate monitors.
> However, I have not ridden with another wireless flightdeck. I have noticed that the pros are
> using flightdecks but I haven't seen enough to tell if they are wired or not.
>
> The speed/cadence update seems a little slow for my taste. I can spin the wheel for a couple of
> seconds before I get a reading. This may just be the flightdeck, not the wireless. Did you observe
> this delay with the wired unit?
>
> My major complaint is the buttons on the back of the computer being so hard to hit. I never touch
> them while on the bike so it only annoys me when I take it off to change the settings. This has
> nothing to do with the wireless, of course.
>
> I think this wireless is worth having, as well as the whole flightdeck concept. Maybe someday they
> will fix the buttons and build in a HRM.
>

Drew,

Yes, I saw the delay you are talking about. It seemed to more pronounced in the new 6501 than it was
my older 6500, but it never really bothered me. It's just one of the "personality traits" of an
otherwise fine computer.

Mish

 

> I haven't been so lucky. My first unit would kill batteries, and everything in memory, in
> less than
a
> month. The transmitter battery wasn't much better. Shimano was good enough to swap it out for
> another unit. The batteries in that one seem to die
even
> faster. IMHO, as a result, I think these things are junk. Although this is quite sarcastic, I've
> often joked that it seems that I've put more miles
on
> my truck buying batteries than riding with a working Flite Deck.

Do you have the newer 6501 head? The original 6500 series was known to eat batteries when used with
a wireless setup. The 6501 has a very aggressive sleep mode that it cannot be woken up from without
pushing one of the buttons on the back of the unit. This apparently has contributed to greatly
improved battery life. However, if you've had the head unit swapped out, you probably have the
newer head.

Your experience is definitely at odds with that of most of our customers (thank goodness!).

I assume that your unit didn't display speed when it was sitting at home? I could imagine a
situation where one was picking up signals from a flourescent light (or other similar source of
electromagnetic radiation) and so stayed constantly in the "on" mode, thus draining batteries.
But I would think there would be evidence of that happening (miles accumulating without having
been ridden).

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

 

After reading the other posts about the wireless and battery life I have some ideas based on my
experience with sensors and computers (I do this in real life as an engineer).

The first version of computer head did not have a sleep mode and was a battery killer. The second
version has an aggressive power saving mode that cannot be accidently disabled. This tells me they
have been working on the problem.

I wonder if the sender unit has been upgraded with a sleep mode also. The transmitter would turn off
if it has no magnet pulse in some time period. It would turn on when the wheel is spining again.

If the wheel is left with magnet close to the sensor it may not go into power saving. This may be
why I got 9 months battery life and another user gets 2 years.

Bottom line: It may be advisable to check the front wheel when done riding to make sure the magnet
and sensor are clocked away from one another. It would be interesting to get some verification on
this from Shimano.

Drew

On Thu, 01 May 2003 21:56:24 GMT, "Gary Mishler" <[email protected]> wrote:

>I either broke the wire from my Flightdeck sensor, or pulled it loose somehow. Anyway, my
>Flightdeck isn't working and it looks as if I will need to replace the mounting kit and I'm
>considering a wireless instead of the hardwired.
>
>Does anyone have any comments on the Flight Deck wireless? Is it reliable? How about interference
>with other bikes? How about interference with a heart rate monitor? Any comments on the wired vs.
>wireless?
>
>Thanks Mish

 

Thanks to everyone for their response to my wireless Flightdeck inquiry.

Me thinks I am gonna go the wireless route to replace my damaged mounting kit.

Thanks again, Mish

 

"Gary Mishler" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> I either broke the wire from my Flightdeck sensor, or pulled it loose somehow. Anyway, my
> Flightdeck isn't working and it looks as if I will
need
> to replace the mounting kit and I'm considering a wireless instead of the hardwired.
>
> Does anyone have any comments on the Flight Deck wireless? Is it
reliable?
> How about interference with other bikes? How about interference with a heart rate monitor? Any
> comments on the wired vs. wireless?

Well gee, the best laid plans...

Turns out I was unable to get the wireless Flightdeck because I have the older Ultegra levers with
the two buttons on the right side instead of one button on each side. It seems the wireless is only
available for the newer levers.

Oh well, at least my Flightdeck is working again.

Mish