Schwinn 20-Function Bike Computer
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Description of Schwinn 20-Function Bike Computer
Improve your workout efficiency when cycling with this Schwinn 17-function bike computer. Designed to attach securely to your handlebar, the computer tracks such info as speed, distance, time, and calories burned, helping you develop an effective workout routine with each ride. The computer is easy to install and includes a backlit screen for crisp viewing. About Schwinn Founded in 1895, Schwinn is an American icon that has been synonymous with quality and innovation. They have built some of the best-known and best loved bikes of numerous generations--Aerocycle, Paramount, Phantom, Varsity, Sting-Ray, Krate and Homegrown. Today, Schwinn continues to be a leader in the industry with innovative bikes such as the new Sting-Ray, Rocket mountain bikes, and Fastback road bikes. With a continued dedication to quality, forever synonymous with the Schwinn name, America's most famous bicycle brand looks forward to providing another century of innovation, freedom and performance to people of all ages.Improve your workout efficiency when cycling with this Schwinn 20-function bike computer. Designed to attach securely to your handlebar, the computer tracks such info as speed, distance, time, and calories burned, helping you develop an effective workout routine with each ride. The computer is easy to install and includes a backlit screen for crisp viewing.
About Schwinn
Founded in 1895, Schwinn is an American icon that has been synonymous with quality and innovation. They have built some of the best-known and best loved bikes of numerous generations--Aerocycle, Paramount, Phantom, Varsity, Sting-Ray, Krate and Homegrown. Today, Schwinn continues to be a leader in the industry with innovative bikes such as the new Sting-Ray, Rocket mountain bikes, and Fastback road bikes. With a continued dedication to quality, forever synonymous with the Schwinn name, America's most famous bicycle brand looks forward to providing another century of innovation, freedom and performance to people of all ages.
Sports reviews of Schwinn 20-Function Bike Computer
Customer Review: Terriffic Gadget -- Weak Installation Instructions
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars
I have only used this thing for a day, so I can't speak for the long term.
Installation is not difficult once you understand what to do. The instructions are poor. For example, instructions for mounting the bracket to the handle bars say, "Using a Philips screwdriver attach the mounting bracket to the right side of the handlebar." This was the first sentence in the first task I tried to do. There are NO screws at all! The bracket is attached with cable ties. And, I can see absolutely no reason it has to be on the right side of the handlebar. As you can see from the pictures I posted, my bike has a reflector attached to the right, so I had to put it on the left. In short, everything in the first sentence of the first instruction I tried is wrong.
They tell you to install the sensor and magnet first. I feel strongly this is a mistake. I think you should install the handlebar bracket first. This makes it easier to route the cable, position it and wind up the extra slack.
The sensor goes on the inside of the right fork - facing the spokes. You may be able to mount it on the left fork, but the easiest way to route the sensor cable is to wrap it around the front brake cable which (at least on my bike) is on the right side.
The magnet clamps to a spoke immediately beside the sensor. The fork is vertical but the spokes are not -- they're angled. So, you cannot mount the magnet parallel to the sensor. Getting the two parts to align and not strike requires you move the sensor up and down the spoke until the two parts are close without touching - see my close-up picture of these two parts installed.
When I first installed it I thought it wasn't working because I would move the wheel and no speed appeared. I discovered there's a brief delay before the speed appears so you need to have a little patience. I agree with the review that says you should test the device by moving the magnet near the sensor before beginning installation. This give you confidence it's working if you have trouble getting the parts aligned good enough.
Setting up the meter for the first time was a little confusing. When you initially turn it on it steps you through a procedure to input the various setup data. You have to reset everything to change any of these settings, so get the numbers you need together before you start, or step through without entering anything so you know what will be needed. You probably know everything except the wheel circumference in millimeters (millimeters? -- let's get a rough number in fine detail). If you know your wheel and tire size (which is on the tire) you can get the number from a table in the instructions. Other reviewers have made a big thing of measuring your rolling distance to do this. I didn't do it, and I can't see why it's necessary. If you miss the value by the maximum amount possible on the chart for a given wheel size it can't be off more than 1mph when going 20mph (or a distance of 1 mile in 20), and if you use the correct number from the chart it'll be a lot more accurate. Now, if the numbers in the table are wrong that's another thing. Maybe somebody who's compared his measured results with the table for his tire will post the difference and how much error that would cause in 20 miles. But remember, this $10 gadget isn't intended to be used by the national bureau of standards.
Once installed and setup it works great. I like the current speed, the average speed, the distance traveled, and time peddling (it stops the clock when you stop moving). The meter snaps in and out of the mounting bracket easily. As someone said, you don't have to reset everything to reset your trip data. Toggle to the DST (distance traveled) display and hold down the left button for a few seconds. This will reset the distance traveled, the trip timer and the average speed. The odometer accumulates total distance traveled since the last master reset.
The magnet isn't held in place very tight and I wonder if it will tend to move, but not so far in about an hour's riding.
I can't see how you can beat this gadget for the price.
PROS: Works great.
CONS: Installation instructions weak.
Edited 10 hours later to add:
I can now speak to long term reliability. It failed since I wrote my review 10 hours ago, and 24 hours since I installed it. It's not the battery, because if you press one of the buttons the display lights up and the button functions work properly. It has to be the sensor signal not working, and I've seen similar complaints in these reviews. Oh well, it was great for the one hour of use I got.
NOTE: Rating is now based on how it worked yesterday.
Edited again two-three weeks later:
I now have one that's been working properly for more than a week. The things I said in my original review are still true, except getting the magnet in the right position was a little fussier than the first time, but still not bad. Start with it a little further away than the 1mm they say. Start with 1/8". If this works leave it there.
I have now checked the accuracy using the wheel/tire size numbers in the table. It is very accurate. I compared it with an actual distance measured with a GPS I carried with me. It was within one percent. This means that at one hundred miles the distance would be within a mile. Air pressure differences should create a larger error. Your car's odometer isn't as accurate. Given this, I see no point to measuring your wheel diameter unless it's not in the table.
I am very pleased with the device.
Edited again 9 months later. The sensor stopped working again. I don't know whether to try to replace it or just throw it away and give up.
Customer Review: Beyond Satisfied
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars
This bike computer, for the price, is by far the best on the market. How do I know? Because there is no other bike computer that boasts a name brand company, has as many features, and costs as little as this one! I made sure to read all the reviews on Amazon before I purchased this, and I find it disheartening that I was almost swayed to *not* buy it. Fortunately, I read between the lines of all the negative comments and figured their age and/or grammar explained why they had difficulties with the device.
To start, almost everyone is correct in stating it's difficult to install; honestly, it is! The instructions suggest a 1mm distance between the magnet and the sensor, which basically means: as close as you can get it without the two pieces hitting! To achieve this, the task takes a considerable amount of fiddling, but once you find the right spot on the fork and spoke to where they come closest without hitting, you're golden. I spent about 10 minutes doing this. After the magnet and sensor were on, the setup of the computer was a breeze. It asked for wheel diameter (which is required if you want accurate readings of speed, distance, etc), age, weight, time settings, etc. If you read the instructions, it will explain how to set each of these values.
I want to address a few of the complaints on this page. The first was from a young man who said he was riding 60 mph. Your problem: you didn't set the correct wheel diameter! The instructions provide you a handy chart to tell you what code to type in based on the corresponding diameter. Now, if you don't know what a diameter is, or don't have the intelligence to look it up online, you probably shouldn't be using this computer in the first place. If your wheel is 26" and you set it to 15", yes, you will not have the correct and accurate display of your speed!
I read another review that said he couldn't figure out what buttons to push. Answer: READ THE DIRECTIONS! The directions tell you what to push, for how long, and when. They do this for all displays and all features. If you can't figure that out, I don't know what else to tell you. Honestly, there are 2 buttons, are you that stupid?
I read another review that said distance traveled couldn't be reset, nor could the calories or fat burned. WRONG! Yet again, people fail to actually *read* the instructions, and have the nerve to come online and submit a negative review. There are 7 displays that are shuffled with the *right* button. The *odometer* display does not reset, because it's just that, an odometer. Do you reset your car odometer, too? What you're looking for is the *tripmeter* display. The tripmeter can be reset by holding the *left* button for 2 to 3 seconds. When you reset the tripmeter, you also reset the trip timer, and the average speed value which was set during your previous trip. To reset the calories burned or fat burned, go to that feature display, and hold the left button for 2 to 3 seconds. Simple enough?
In summary: this computer is accurate in all its features if you read the instructions and input the correct wheel diameter. Speed, distance traveled, average speed, trip timer, temperature, and everything else, I have found to be 100% accurate. I checked the speeds against a driver and the temperature against a 3rd party thermostat. Since I've only used this product for a couple weeks, I can't tell you how durable or what's its longevity will be, but if the features and accuracy mean anything, I should be using this computer for a long time.
Quick note to everyone who set this thing up wrong and feels foolish for complaining: if you input the wrong diameter, press both buttons down at the same time for 3 seconds and it will reset the whole device so you can input data from scratch. If your speedometer is reading out "0.0" while you ride, you have the sensor and magnet setup wrong. Try to align the magnet with the arrow next to the "Sensor" text.
The key to having a pleasurable experience with this bike computer is to read the instructions. If you don't feel like reading instructions, don't buy this. If you feel you can bare with the idea of reading a bit and want a great piece of hardware at the lowest price on the market, BUY this device.
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*** Updated ***
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Okay, I've uploaded the manual scans to the user submitted images area.
However, since Amazon re-size the images, here they are on TinyPic hosting...
[...]
You can find all the above 4 larger pieces of the manual on one page, as well, here: [...]
Customer Review: A strong value
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars
Time of use: 2 months~350 miles
Overall opinion: a strong value.
As many others ave noted, this unit provides many functions of much more expensive computers, but does so for a very reasonable price, and it does so while providing reasonably trust-worthy accuracy.
In terms of accuracy, I have tested the:
--milage/speed MXS/AVS functions and found them to be accurate when the proper tire diameter is entered.
--air temperature accuracy seems to to be suseptable to wind chill - the faster you ride, the lower the reading drifts. This can be corrected for somewhat by blocking (protecting) the front of the computer and mount. In my case by moving my front reflector in front of the computer, about 3/4 inch. This reduced the windchill notably and resulted in resdings within a few percent of actual temperatures.
--calories/fat calories burned. Accuracy knknown. In my case this is mounted on a mountain bike, and based on all the PC software calorie counters I use, this computer reads lower than actual calories burned. This computer appears to use a simple time/distance algorithm based on closed corse/rider weight/road bikes (smooth/slick tires @ 80~130 PSI) to cacluate calories burned. The computere does not offer options to compensate for treaded (knobby) tires at low pressures, course incline, riding surface (sand/dirt/paved etc) wind speed-direction etc....but for the price, I dont mind one bit and I suspect the readings are faily accurate if used on a road bike with standard 30 inch tires.
As for the instructions, they are fairly straight forward and easy to use/understand but they do leave a little something to be desired as they are printed in the now-a-days all too common micro-script so they can all be fit on 1 sheet. As such they are a little difficult to read, but otherwise I found no note worthy problems.
All that said, this computer does have a problem or two as others have noted. Mine computer, like other users, ceased functioning not too long after installation, however this was a fuction of maintenance, not of design or manufacturing flaws, and was/is easy to resolve.
The problem is with the computer/mount contacts. The contacts on the mount are molded in place while the contacts on the compuer are spring loaded, but the springs are of very low pressure. Both sets of contacts appear to be plated, either in chrome or nickel. The plating is definately of good quality and resists corrosion very well. Between the rain, auto exaust, my sweat and the pollution put out by the nearby oil refineries and paper mills, my computer has been drenched in all kinds nastiness and salt water, but the contacts show no sign of corrosion. That said, while the contacts resist corrosion, they are suseptable to film build up (pollutants, road grime, what-have you) which the low pressure springs on the computer contacts cannot overcome, causing a loss of signal to the computer from the sensor. This film build up is easily removed though, with a few gentle swipes (did I specify gentle?) of 000 steel wool which restores the computer to perfect function. 000 steel wool is cheaply available at most hardware stores but BEWARE!!!! DO NOT USE the coarse stuff you would use in the kitchen...Brillo pads, scotch brite, etc...and do not apply too much pressure...you risk removing the plating.
So, in my opinion, if you want an inexpensive, reasonably trouble free, good general usage bike computer, this unit is a strong contender.
Customer Review: Well built device definitely worth more than you pay for
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars
All the features you want and then some. It is well designed with many great functions. Its main purpose is a speedometer with an odometer, trip meter, max speed indicator, average speed indicator, trip timer which measures how much time you've been riding, temperature indicator, counts calories, and fat burned. The speedometer function is very accurate. I compared my vehicle gps nav to the cyclometer and both readings are the same, however it is only as accurate as the wheel size you input, as other reviewers complained of readings too fast or slow and that is because of the wheel size that is input as the preset wheel size is for a 26.6" wheel, and an actual wheel that is not that size will obviously show innacurate readings. Anything smaller will show faster readings, anything bigger will do the opposite. Don't throw away the instructions as scrolling through the functions takes a while to get used to. Also they have the wheel size "codes" since the wheel size input is a 4 digit number and will be needed everytime you reset the cyclometer or replace the battery. You can even RESET all the functions seperately, just hold the left button for a few seconds over the selected function and thats it. The installation was easy after reading the instructions.
The price is cheap, the product is not. It is worth way more than $9.99 for the functions and quality. I previously bought a similar schwinn 12 function cyclometer from walmart and it had solid features for the same price and this unit has added features for the same price. I gave the old unit to my wife and installed this product on my bike, I didnt even have to reinstall the wiring on my bike since the detachable computer is compatible with both sensors and docking stations. One of the functions on this cyclometer is a "maintenance program" but isn't explained how it works or what it does in the manual other than its existance. The unit also has a backlight which is also unexplained in the manual, to operate the light you have to press the left button. The light is good and makes the unit very visable at night. The only issue with the light is that when pressed, the speedometer speed is "frozen" the whole time the light is on. Your current speed wont update until the light is off, I found that to be irritating since you have to press the light many times to check your speed if your speed varies. A very handy feature is that the unit is detachable, which is good if you store your bike outside since it might rain and ruin the computer. Also if you run the wiring up the front brake cable, the entire setup will blend in and be hard to notice. This product is a definite buy, even if it was worth $50, it would still be worth it. At $9.99 its value is unbeatable.
Customer Review: Great bike computer for the $$
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars
In my opinion, this is a very good bike computer for the money. I'll explain.
I've used one of these for 3 years almost every day now and have found it quite durable for my purposes, paved trail riding, 9 miles a day.
As others have stated, the instructions can be a bit confusing and a little thin in places.
Let me offer these 3 suggestions:
The mounting and adjustment of the sensor is not quite as you'd expect. If you look at the sensor itself, opposite where the wire comes out, you will see an arrow in the plastic moulding. The wheel magnet needs to be OPPOSITE THIS arrow. Then, simply slide the sensor (and magnet) down towards the wheel hub (down the fork) to get the sensor and magnet closer and position each for the arrow. I don't recall where I read about this arrow "feature" but it seems to be a closely guarded secret.
The second thing users seem to be having problems with is resetting the distance, DST and MXS, max speed readings. Use the RIGHT hand button to ratchet down until DST is displayed. Then hold down the LEFT button for at least 2 seconds and DST will be cleared. Then, again with the RIGHT button, ratchet down one click more to the MXS (maximum speed attained) and hold the LEFT button for 2 seconds to clear that. This will clear a couple of others like AVG and TM as well, but not the whole thing. You can then press the RIGHT button to ratchet back around to whatever function you want to ride with. I leave mine on ODO.
I have found that dropping the computer can cause a reset as the battery becomes dislodged. Place a small piece of foam rubber under the battery cover to hold the button battery more firmly in place and the problem is solved.
As an aside, I use the ODO reading to tell me when I need to put air in my bike tires (about every 2 weeks). Because I ride a fixed course every day, I record the ODO reading between a couple of mile markers on the trail that are 3 miles apart. When the "apparent" miles covered gets above a particlar threshold, the tires need air. The ODO reading is displayed to 0.001 mile so there is sufficient resolution for this as long as the ODO hasn't rolled over to > 100 miles. FWIW, when the ODO shows 3.005 miles, I need air. After adding 15psi, the ODO reading is 2.994 miles.
I hope users having problems find these suggestions useful from a long time user.
DF