Polar CS600 Power - First on the Block...

[cPritch67]

On the bike I have set up with only cadence and speed I have mine mounted on the chainstay. I ride pretty tiny frames (52cm or less) so its not like I stretch the distance much but I think the chainstay is where Polar shows it being mounted anyway.

I have had the speed sensor mounted up both on the the fork and on a seatstay with no problem. There is something in their horrible directions about not mounting the speed sensor on on a seatstay if you are using the powermeter but I think that is to prevent people from finding out the battery pack takes up most of the room because you have to leave room between it and your brakes so that you can get the batteries out.

I believe the HRM signal is good out to 10m not sure about the other sensors. Polar is concerned enough about the strength of the signal to have a note in the book about not teaching the computer new sensors with other bikes around.

Thanks Kytyree! That's what I thought, or could muster up from their website.

 

[rlniii]

Have been trying to setup the CS600 for a few hrs. The bike is a full carbon Cannondale Synapse with aluminum cranks and a dura-ace chain. I have yet to get a green light indicating the cadence sensor is working, even when moving the magnet by hand. I also have only very briefly gotten the red light indicating the chain speed sensor is functioning. The batteries are good with >3V indicated at the battery cable. Basically, I get no lights to come on ever, except the red light briefly, yesterday. I have moved the physical install location, unplugged the wireless garage door sensor, all to no avail. Basically, I get no indication (except for a brief period yesterday) that the power sensor is working at all. Anyone have a suggestion?

Thanks,

 

[cPritch67]

Anyone using the CS600 on a mountain bike (non-power version)?


Also, there are some recent clips in CyclingNews.com website about the Polar CS400 and Simoni using it. Is that customizable screen avail on the CS600? I'd also seen one for Paolini of Liquigas.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=/photos/2007/tech/features/giro_polar07/09---Polar-computer

 

[rafaelb]

hi there.

please, i need someone to give me a hand.I have just bought a polar cs 600 and it seems that everthing is working well. However, i don´t know how to see my speed avg and distance while I am riding( just after fineshed my ride). Does anyone know what shoud i do to see these fuctions?
thanks a lot

 

[J-V]

Have been trying to setup the CS600 for a few hrs. The bike is a full carbon Cannondale Synapse with aluminum cranks and a dura-ace chain. I have yet to get a green light indicating the cadence sensor is working, even when moving the magnet by hand. I also have only very briefly gotten the red light indicating the chain speed sensor is functioning. The batteries are good with >3V indicated at the battery cable. Basically, I get no lights to come on ever, except the red light briefly, yesterday. I have moved the physical install location, unplugged the wireless garage door sensor, all to no avail. Basically, I get no indication (except for a brief period yesterday) that the power sensor is working at all. Anyone have a suggestion?

Thanks,

I had difficulty getting consistent readings with the bike in a stand, pedaling by hand to 'test' different locations (or the power sensor). Went out and rode the bike, and it worked perfectly. As long as you follow all of the typical suggestions for chain distance to power sensor, I'd say don't rely on the lights without also doing a 'real' test, with HR transmitter on.

However, that being said, if it is a unit with bad cadence transmission (like my first unit), it would also behave exactly in this way.

 

[J-V]

kytyree
Thanks for the confirmation. Do you know if you can mount the cadence sensor on the chainstay as opposed to the downtube? I was thinking with the improved WIND (2.4) technology that the extra distance wouldn't be a problem.
I assume you can since the power paddle is on the chainstays and it has a stong enough signal to reach the computer unit.
Any experience with this?

The chainstay would be the best place for it, and it would undoubtedly work just fine.

 

[J-V]

Mankul
I don't own one, but the documentation states either bar or stem is ok. The shape of the mount is concave - (or is it convex), to form around the roundness of a bar or stem.

I had a computer mount question as well, I went to my LBS to look at a CS600 in person and they only carried the CS100 and CS200, which I believe uses the same mount - my question is has anyone had any problems with the mount staying inside the zip ties? I was surpised that there wasnt a "loop" built into the mount that you could slide the zip ties through. The mount I saw only had little "wings" that held the zip tie and mount in place.

I have mine mounted on the bar for road, on the stem for mountain. The latter is a bit hard to get in/out, but works fine, and is a much more 'refined' install. Have had no problems with zip-ties slipping off the mount, though you do need to crank them pretty tight to keep the install from moving when pressing buttons while riding.

 

[robd2]

Hi Guys,



Excited new owner of a CS600 here. It looks great. I just can’t get the cadence/power data to transmit. I have all the sensors mounted.



I guess my initial question for anybody with a working setup:

When testing the power sensor I get 1 red blink then the green cadence flashes on the sensor. Is this normal or should I be getting both red and green flashes during the testing?



Thanks in advance

 

[J-V]

Hi Guys,



Excited new owner of a CS600 here. It looks great. I just can’t get the cadence/power data to transmit. I have all the sensors mounted.



I guess my initial question for anybody with a working setup:

When testing the power sensor I get 1 red blink then the green cadence flashes on the sensor. Is this normal or should I be getting both red and green flashes during the testing?



Thanks in advance

As I stated last night above, I'd for the most part rely on test riding the bike, using the lights only as a general indication. The more important part of installation requires you to get the power sensor mounted so that wattages are accurate, and only ride testing can ensure that it is mounted properly.

 

[robd2]

As I stated last night above, I'd for the most part rely on test riding the bike, using the lights only as a general indication. The more important part of installation requires you to get the power sensor mounted so that wattages are accurate, and only ride testing can ensure that it is mounted properly.

Thanks for the reply. Up to this point I have only been testing on the trainer. Today will be a test on the road. I don't have a lot of confidence in my setup. I put a lot of time into mounting the sensors correctly but i'm not getting any data for either cadence or power. I'm starting to think the chain speed sensor may be the problem. But there isnt a whole lot that could go wrong with that unless you slice the wire.

 

[Decco]

Yes, another excited potential CS 600+power owner here.
What I'm hearing is:
- manual isn't up to standard.
- Installation quirkey!
- 2mm gap on small/small combo NOT critical [unlike per manual]
- skip flashing lights and do a "practice" run
- Cadence sensor redundant if you already have power kit.

Can anyone clarify if power sensor should/must be aligned along plane of chain - per polar photo [which seems logical, that's what's being measured, Yeah?] - rather than chain stay which diverges from chain left/right AND vertically?
Is it sufficient for sensor to be "centred" under chain just at it's mid-point? [in middle gears?] - Do we ignore big/big and small/small combos as improbable?

Polar photos show sensor horizontal/un-shimmed on chain stay - must sensor remain parallel + equidistant from chain along its full length?
Will my 4cm "chain to mid-chainstay" gap [its even greater towards BB as chainstay rises to rear axle] be covered by the shims supplied?

For my own contribution I'd say max chain vibration at mid-point of "suspended" [i.e. sprocket-free] chain which is likely sl. rearward of axle/BB midpoint measured on polar demo. Does it really matter?

Yes, despite all the qeuries I am still keem on CS600 kit -
PS:no answers from any of 5 e-mails to Polar support UK/USA/International etc so far!

Apologies if all covered already.
Decco

 

[Ergoman]

Polar CS600 supplied software is installed, as is an after-market IRDA USB adapter. All software and drivers check out OK. Default preferences are set in the Polar software, tried under WinXP and Win2K on two different computers and the CS600 will not communicate with either computer.

Any tricks or suggestions?

 

[Ergoman]

Polar CS600 supplied software is installed, as is an after-market IRDA USB adapter. All software and drivers check out OK. Default preferences are set in the Polar software, tried under WinXP and Win2K on two different computers and the CS600 will not communicate with either computer.

Any tricks or suggestions?

OK, for the benefit of others who might have the same problem, I'm going to answer my own post.

I called Polar USA and after pushing a few phone menu buttons and waiting less than 30 seconds I was connected to a technical support rep who solved my problem. The solution is that the CS600 IR window has to be held about one cm from the IRDA adapter. The good news is that Polar tech support was easy to contact and quickly solved my problem. The bad news is that no documentation describes how close the CS600 needs to be. The documentation for my after-market adapter suggests that anywhere within one meter is fine, and the info that comes on the polar CD says something like 4-8 inches. Turns out they were both wrong. I hope this info helps someone else.

 

[impakt]

OK, for the benefit of others who might have the same problem, I'm going to answer my own post.

I called Polar USA and after pushing a few phone menu buttons and waiting less than 30 seconds I was connected to a technical support rep who solved my problem. The solution is that the CS600 IR window has to be held about one cm from the IRDA adapter. The good news is that Polar tech support was easy to contact and quickly solved my problem. The bad news is that no documentation describes how close the CS600 needs to be. The documentation for my after-market adapter suggests that anywhere within one meter is fine, and the info that comes on the polar CD says something like 4-8 inches. Turns out they were both wrong. I hope this info helps someone else.

Polar US support is top notch the past year or so. They really turned that point around alot.

I sell Polar products and have been dealing with them for 10 years. The warranty service and customer/tech support has always been slow and sub par. The past year + they have been AMAZING and helped me with everything and then some. Its mainly that reason I keep spending much of my extra money on new units for myself

I love my cs600 btw.. Light years ahead of my s625x/power setup and even that was great for my training the past 3 years.

I would recommend any of their products, and I deal with so many different manufacturers.

 

[Ergoman]

Are there any tricks to getting the CS600 to download to Cycling Peaks WKO+? Everything downloads fine to the Polar software, but I can't get it to work with WKO+. Device is set to Polar CS series and connection to Irda in WKO+.

Also, has anyone figured out how to change the odometer?

 

[J-V]

Are there any tricks to getting the CS600 to download to Cycling Peaks WKO+? Everything downloads fine to the Polar software, but I can't get it to work with WKO+. Device is set to Polar CS series and connection to Irda in WKO+.

Also, has anyone figured out how to change the odometer?

Unfortunately, during my third ride on my replacement unit, all of a sudden it started experiencing cadence/power dropouts again. Guess it's time to Call Polar Support and see if they can verify whether or not they can send me a power sensor that is guaranteed to work.

 

[J-V]

Also, has anyone figured out how to change the odometer?

It's buried in the software, I think under bike settings (in the dialog box where you download the data). I used it when I got my replacement unit, to return the totals to their correct values.

 

[kytyree]

Mine has quit working as well, called Polar support and they talked me through the CS600's version of the three finger salute but once I took it back out to the bike still no luck getting cadence or power. It was working great for weeks, quit toward the end of a ride on me and I have not gotten it to work since.

I have every indication from the powermeter that it is working but no signal is being received at all.

 

[MOlenick]

FYI, the 'Cables Unlimited IrDa Wireless Bridge (USB v1.1)' from TigerDirect ($11.99) works perfectly, once the drivers are adequately installed. Y'all save yourself $50 and bypass Polar's overpriced product (though it is USB 2.0). Hardware now needs to be set to 'IrDa' instead of COM1 or COM2.

I finally got all the data off the CS600 (via Mac OS 9.2.2 pushing VirtualPC and W98), so I'll try to do the trainer test in the next day or two.

Tom, does the speed sensor need to be on the rear wheel for this test, or will cadence alone do? Please let me know.

-J\V

How did you get the drivers to install. I have the little baby CD but keep getting a fatal error or some such nonsense. I have been screwing around with Virtual PC and Windoze 98 and about to scream.

 

[J-V]

How did you get the drivers to install. I have the little baby CD but keep getting a fatal error or some such nonsense. I have been screwing around with Virtual PC and Windoze 98 and about to scream.

If I remember correctly, I think I just copied the entire CD contents to a USB drive, copied it to the drive and installed it from there. If that doesn't work, maybe download it from the internet? I can't remember if I ever found it, I may not have.

Good luck.