Buggy speedo's 2 questions.!!

[Skydude]

Hi guys 'n' gals, I thought it was about time I got a speedo for my buggy. I'd like to go down the GPS route but I haven't got that sort of money laying around at the moment, so I went to Halfords to check out there cycle speedo's. The problem I came across was that all of them wired/wireless, cheap to "christ I would pay that sort of money for one of those" said they were for wheels of 18" or greater....

Now I know loads of you use them so my questions are :

1. Am I missing something fundamental here?

2. Where did you get yours from?

 

I did wonder if the 18" thing was the circumference but the guy (not spotty faced teenager) in the shop said it was the diameter...

Please help..

[jock]

http://www.halfords.com/opd_product_details.asp?id=16438&type=0&cat=102

 

this is what I use, it does everything you will ever need apart from pour your pint at the end of the day. can be fitted to any wheel as you just type the circumfrence in, only takes five minutes to fit and a couple of minutes to set up to the wheel.

 

hope that helps

[Match]

http://www.halfords.com/opd_product_details.asp?id=82&type=0&cat=102

 

That's the 1 I use and its even cheaper. Simple to fit and set up, just follow the instructions. Circumference is inputted to the computer on set up, simply measure the distance travelled for 1 complete revolution of the trye. Usually about 1260mm for a standard barrow tyre.

 

At this price even if you break it you can replace cheaply. Mines been underwater and still lives on.

 

Matthew

[neilj37]

Got one exactly the same as jock. no wires and really easy to fit

[blondie]

I got the cheapest one from halfords and it works fine apart from when you get sand into the switch:-) Simple solution is to stick some tape across the button, I use electrical tape

 

Simon

[MadAndy71]

Years ago I had the same problem as you SD.

Did the Halford route, spoke to the assistant (maybe the same one or from the same gene pool) and got told the same about the diameter.

 

???

 

Again, same as you, put up a post, read the replies and went back out and bought the one Halfords said wouldn't dial down to the diameter I needed.

 

It bloody does and you can go even smaller than 16''.

 

As for grit getting stuck, that wasn't an issue with me. It was more the sand.

The front facia is just a tight snap fit. Prize it of and remove the botton and replace the facia.

The whole thing inside is rubber sealed and the rubber button sticks out where the old button was.

[Skydude]

Thanks guys I knew I could rely on you to help out. I guess I'll be popping down Halfords tomorrow lunchtime to educate the shop ass-istant and buy a speedo.

Consider all your reps increased.

thanks Shauny

[jim k]

If you read the specification on the inside of the box it actually says that they are programable from 0 upwards in 1mm increments.The one with the lead on it was easiest to fit because you dont have to line screen to the sender unit .see previus thread speedo things /buggy mods.

 

cheers chap jim k

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blades111 3m/4.9m

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[ollie]

i went out today and bought a cheap halford speedo and fitted it and used it to day not sure how accurate it is but ive got a gps and i will see if i get the same reading when i go out at the weekend

[Bob Monkhouse]

Prize it of and remove the botton and replace the facia.

The whole thing inside is rubber sealed and the rubber button sticks out where the old button was.

 

Mine's just stuck down after first time using at the weekend so will give that a try. Cheers Andy.

[Skydude]

i went out today and bought a cheap halford speedo and fitted it and used it to day not sure how accurate it is but ive got a gps and i will see if i get the same reading when i go out at the weekend

Which one did you get? I bought the 9 function Wireless one today will fit it tomorrow before work... Lets us know how accurate it is against the GPS Ollie.

Thanx

[sandrash]

Hi Skyedude,yep i'd go for the cheapo from Halfords get one that records your max speed (just 4 reference) cos when your going that fast yu aint got time 2 look at your speedo.I keep sayig i'm going to build a small perspex box 2 put mine in cos mine keep getting drowned (even though they say waterproof)

[ollie]

used my gps and speedo and the speedo was 0.1 mph out so that will do for me the max speed was 11 on the speedo and 10.9 on the gps

[anc]

hey! I got my cycle speedo and it was on my previous buggy with very small wheels, but! then I got the idea that if I set the speedo on mph and so I could calculate the tire sizes so that it would be suitable for my smaller wheels and I took the mph as it would be kmph. get it? weird but worked. I´m gonna try the same on my new buggy to see what my average speeds are.

[MadAndy71]

Just a few more things to shares with my own experiences.

 

Wired speedo's.

 

Watch where you run the cable back. The wire round the head set could be pinched when the forks are on full lock!

 

 

Different wheels.

 

This is where it becomes a pain. If you use different wheels or different fork sets, you need to keep on calibrating the speedo. If you do this and dont want to loose historical data on the speedo, scroll though all the data first making a note of it as when you reset the speedo to re calibrate, all data will be lost. It can be re entered when re calibrating. This data is also lost when the battery goes in the receiver.

Also is a pain taking the transmitter of 1 fork and putting on another.

If you have more then 1 down tube and the receiver is mounted there, this needs to be swapped over every time.

 

I got fed up of this and got a GPS and kept the speedo for 1 set up only.

Both are fairly accurate against each other if set right and depending on the terrain you are covering.

 

Lumpy ground the front wheel is liable to bobble and maybe loose traction and so not giving an accurate reading.

The speedo pulses quicker than most gps's so short bursts are more likely to be logged on the speedo.

The gps's clock is always running and the speedo's clock is only running when you are moving. If you are interested in your average speed but stop for rests for catagory 1 kiters chat The speedo will give a much more accurate average speed.

 

When calibrating, mark a point on the tyre, place that point on the ground and roll the buggy so the wheel goes through at least 2 full rotations back to the marked point. Measure and divide by 2, or the number of rotations you did, to get the wheel diameter.

A more accurate way to do this is to sit in the buggy so there is some compression in the tyre and get someone to push you for the full rotations. This becomes more effected on the readings when you run of softer tyres i.e bigfoots.

 

Both myself and another of my flyers have run with speedo and gps. Each time, the readings have never been more than 0.2-0.3 out. This has been from the 10's mph right through the 40's.

 

To prolong the battery life of the wireless speedo's, get the transmitter and receiver as close to each other as possible.

 

If you are mainly an in land bugger and want to keep you speedo dry for the few trips each year to the beach, get a small sandwhich bag type thing and secure in underneath with one of the ties.

[Skydude]

Thanks for all the Info Andy,I'll try and put it to good use....

 

p.s. How many catorgries of Buggier are ???

 

Cat 1 = stop and chat

Cat 2 = Stop and rest

Cat 3 = Dont stop ??

Cat 4 = ???????????

[buster boy]

Me and a pal both have speedos we bought from the next sale there wireless and easy to fit had no problems at all with them. In the instructions it gives you the sum to work out your diameters etc eg 1247x diameter this is not accurate but a rough idea i use it on a extra wide 8inch front tyre and just have it set to max speed in case i cant look at it a bargain for £5.99. Dodle to fit on peter lynn wheels a lil bit more awkward for libres but still a bargain.