Flightdeck Questions.

[waterboy420]

I am looking at purchasing a new computer, and really like the integrated brake lever controls of the Flightdeck.

Has anyone tried to mount the sensor on the rear wheel with any success for getting stats while riding on a trainer?

 

[jbkalla]

Originally posted by waterboy420
I am looking at purchasing a new computer, and really like the integrated brake lever controls of the Flightdeck.

Has anyone tried to mount the sensor on the rear wheel with any success for getting stats while riding on a trainer?

Wow. Tough question. I haven't tried it, but I would think you could get the wired version mounting kit and maybe insert more wire to reach the back? I hope somebody with actual experience answers your post...

 

[Mike Erickson]

I use Flightdecks on both my road bikes. They're somewhat frustrating at times, but seeing what gear I’m in on the display, and having the controls at both thumbs is worth it to me. To me, Flightdeck's only down side is their price and that sometimes after I turn it off at a stop, I then sometimes forget to turn the #$*& thing back on after I start riding. I wish Shimano would design an auto start feature into their unit like most everyone else has done. As I'm sure you've figured out, the cable isn't long enough to reach to the rear wheel. What a friend of mind did was temporarily mount another bike computer with the sensor on the rear wheel while using his trainer. When I'm on my trainer, I don't care how fast I'm going or how many miles my rear wheel thinks it’s traveled, only what my heart is doing and how long I’ve ridden.

 

[serenaslu]

Originally posted by Mike Erickson
...To me, Flightdeck's only down side is their price and that sometimes after I turn it off at a stop, I then sometimes forget to turn the #$*& thing back on after I start riding. I wish Shimano would design an auto start feature into their unit like most everyone else has done. ...

Shimano's documentation for the SM-6500/6501 describes an auto-powersave feature as well as auto start/stop that sounds like what I have been used to with most cyclometers. Is that not the case? It would be a real pain to have to worry about that!

 

[Beastt]

Originally posted by serenaslu
Shimano's documentation for the SM-6500/6501 describes an auto-powersave feature as well as auto start/stop that sounds like what I have been used to with most cyclometers. Is that not the case? It would be a real pain to have to worry about that!

Like Mike Erickson, I have Flight Decks, (SC-6501), on both of my road bikes. The auto-start/stop feature times out after about 5-10 minutes without any rotation of the front wheel. Then you do have to remember to restart the unit when you begin riding again. If you're only stopped for a few minutes, then it will start again on it's own. No doubt that's a bit of a pain and I, like Mike, have forgotten to restart mine on rare occasions. It's a small price to pay for the many features, ease of use and conveniently located control buttons. After having the Flight Deck on my first road bike, I refused to even take my newer road bike home when I bought it until it had a Flight Deck mounted.

Ask yourself how many times you've decided against changing modes while riding to check the time, the distance or whatever because you weren't in a convenient place to take your hand off the bar and try to manipulate the buttons on your cyclocomputer. Then think about how easy it would be if the buttons were integrated right near your thumb on the inside of the brake hoods. For me, it's a no-brainer.

 

[Mike Erickson]

The Flightdeck has both . . . and on the occasional time when I myself turn it off (button on the left brake hood) and am too stupid or distracted to turn the thing back on, it's a real pain. Shimano would probably say that the problem isn't them, it's me.

 

[waterboy420]

Originally posted by Mike Erickson
I use Flightdecks on both my road bikes. They're somewhat frustrating at times, but seeing what gear I’m in on the display, and having the controls at both thumbs is worth it to me. To me, Flightdeck's only down side is their price and that sometimes after I turn it off at a stop, I then sometimes forget to turn the #$*& thing back on after I start riding. I wish Shimano would design an auto start feature into their unit like most everyone else has done. As I'm sure you've figured out, the cable isn't long enough to reach to the rear wheel. What a friend of mind did was temporarily mount another bike computer with the sensor on the rear wheel while using his trainer. When I'm on my trainer, I don't care how fast I'm going or how many miles my rear wheel thinks it’s traveled, only what my heart is doing and how long I’ve ridden.

I actually ran into a good deal on a somewhat "used" Flight Deck in a department sports store. It turns out that they installed a Flight Deck unit on a Trek 5200, and the guy that bought the bike, didn't want the unit!! He had something against the Flight Deck computer, I guess. So needless to say, it was taken off of the bike and put back on the shelf for a measly $70 for a head unit and a wireless kit. It was a no brainer for me, who wouldn't want the integrated buttons on the shifter/brake levers?!?

A guy at the LBS though, absolutely depsises the Flight Deck. He thinks they are to quircky, and have problems, like the auto stop/start feature, and tricky modes shifts, etc. You name it, he has an opinion against the darn things. That makes two people that I have talked to in the past two weeks that have pohh-poohed the shimano computer.

I absolutely love it!! Unfortunately I will end up swapping the computer out in the winter for a rear wheel unit, that measures speed, distance, time, and the two important ones, cadence and heart rate.

 

[Beastt]

Originally posted by waterboy420
I actually ran into a good deal on a somewhat "used" Flight Deck in a department sports store. It turns out that they installed a Flight Deck unit on a Trek 5200, and the guy that bought the bike, didn't want the unit!! He had something against the Flight Deck computer, I guess. So needless to say, it was taken off of the bike and put back on the shelf for a measly $70 for a head unit and a wireless kit. It was a no brainer for me, who wouldn't want the integrated buttons on the shifter/brake levers?!?

A guy at the LBS though, absolutely depsises the Flight Deck. He thinks they are to quircky, and have problems, like the auto stop/start feature, and tricky modes shifts, etc. You name it, he has an opinion against the darn things. That makes two people that I have talked to in the past two weeks that have pohh-poohed the shimano computer.

I absolutely love it!! Unfortunately I will end up swapping the computer out in the winter for a rear wheel unit, that measures speed, distance, time, and the two important ones, cadence and heart rate.

Different people like different things and sometimes people just prefer to keep things as simple as possible. Some people don't even want any kind of speedometer on their bikes. Then again, there's always the possibility that the guy at the bike shop is a mechanic and has had some frustrating encounters - problems with Flight Decks that he couldn't or didn't know how to fix. It's not uncommon that people dislike things they should understand but don't.

 

[raffcarnio]

I'm very happy for Flight Deck 6501 x 9 speeds.
Now I'm waiting the Flight Deck 6502 x 10 speeds from December, someone know when it will be available?

 

[waterboy420]

Originally posted by raffcarnio
I'm very happy for Flight Deck 6501 x 9 speeds.
Now I'm waiting the Flight Deck 6502 x 10 speeds from December, someone know when it will be available?

The LBS told me Aprilish, they would have the new models in.

 

[larrynipon]

From the first line menu (SW, Dist,..not the cadence menu), push the right brake lever button for the deck (mode selector), and choose timer. The left side button is the on/off activation. While on Timer, hit the button. You will see the symbol in the upper right corner flashing, though the time is not moving. Once you start to go into motion, the timer will begin. When you stop, it stops....AUTOSTART ANONE?

Originally posted by serenaslu
Shimano's documentation for the SM-6500/6501 describes an auto-powersave feature as well as auto start/stop that sounds like what I have been used to with most cyclometers. Is that not the case? It would be a real pain to have to worry about that!

 

[Beastt]

Originally posted by larrynipon
From the first line menu (SW, Dist,..not the cadence menu), push the right brake lever button for the deck (mode selector), and choose timer. The left side button is the on/off activation. While on Timer, hit the button. You will see the symbol in the upper right corner flashing, though the time is not moving. Once you start to go into motion, the timer will begin. When you stop, it stops....AUTOSTART ANONE?

I hope I'm not misunderstanding your point, larrynipon. I think you're pointing out that the unit does indeed have an auto-start/stop feature and if so, you're correct. I think the comments concerning auto-start are built around the automatic timeout for that feature. If you stop the bike for more than a few minutes, the unit goes into a semi-dormant state with just the clock showing on the display. From this point, the unit must be restarted manually when riding is resumed.

 

[Fixey]

Originally posted by Beastt
I hope I'm not misunderstanding your point, larrynipon. I think you're pointing out that the unit does indeed have an auto-start/stop feature and if so, you're correct. I think the comments concerning auto-start are built around the automatic timeout for that feature. If you stop the bike for more than a few minutes, the unit goes into a semi-dormant state with just the clock showing on the display. From this point, the unit must be restarted manually when riding is resumed.

That apply's to almost every computer I have ever owned, But once the puter has been "woken" the autostart is still active, Lucky me I ride by cadance so I am constanty checking my puter anyhows I Love my Deck, by FAR the best puter I have evr owned, only + to shimano really

 

[el Ingles]

Originally posted by Mike Erickson
The Flightdeck has both . . . and on the occasional time when I myself turn it off (button on the left brake hood) and am too stupid or distracted to turn the thing back on, it's a real pain. Shimano would probably say that the problem isn't them, it's me.

So would I friend , so would I .

 

[el Ingles]

Originally posted by Beastt
I hope I'm not misunderstanding your point, larrynipon. I think you're pointing out that the unit does indeed have an auto-start/stop feature and if so, you're correct. I think the comments concerning auto-start are built around the automatic timeout for that feature. If you stop the bike for more than a few minutes, the unit goes into a semi-dormant state with just the clock showing on the display. From this point, the unit must be restarted manually when riding is resumed.

restart manually means touch a button OR CHANGE GEAR ( touch a lever that means ) and as you stop at lights , bars etc in a lower gear than you ride in how long can it be stopped , seconds ?

 

[Beastt]

Originally posted by el Inglés
restart manually means touch a button OR CHANGE GEAR ( touch a lever that means ) and as you stop at lights , bars etc in a lower gear than you ride in how long can it be stopped , seconds ?

Once the unit has gone into "power saver" mode, changing gears or just pressing any button won't wake it back up. You have to press the button labeled "A" on the underside of the unit. It's located near the top-left corner of the unit, (looking at it from a normal viewing angle), so that it's not terribly hard to press but won't be pressed accidentally. (transparent image attached)

The manual, which can be downloaded as a .PDF from shimano.com, states that the unit switches to power-saver mode if no signal is received for 30-minutes. They're way off. It's something more like 10-15 minutes.

 

[dobber]

Odd. Mine just wakes up when the front wheel starts rotating, clock starts running, etc, etc Its an older versions, circa 1999. Both buttons are on the right brifter.

Or maybe I'm imagining it. Guess I'll have to go out and spin the wheel at bit.

 

[dobber]

Originally posted by dobber
Odd. Mine just wakes up when the front wheel starts rotating, clock starts running, etc, etc Its an older versions, circa 1999. Both buttons are on the right brifter.

Or maybe I'm imagining it. Guess I'll have to go out and spin the wheel at bit.

Yup, thats what mine does. Spin the wheel, timer runs. Wheel stops, timer stops. Wait a while, knock back a couple of beers. Flightdecks gone nite-nite. Spin the wheel, comes back on, timer starts running.

 

[Fixey]

Mine doesnt, I have to wake it....this will be cool, work out if it a model thing or a setting thing, Mine is a 9 speed sc-6501. My friend has a new 10 spd, I will ask him what it does.....

 

[shokhead12]

Hop on your bike and just start riding and the computer automaticly starts, FD doesnt do that. Thats auto start in my mind.