Conference noted::bicycle

    Mine seems to be sensitive to the distance between the sender and the
    magnetic ring.  Also, be sure the computer is fully seated on the
    holder.
    
    Barry

avocets have several failure modes that I have encountered. Most of these have
to do wih the push pin connectors used to connect the receiver to the sender.
 Once you make sure that the computer really is seated ibn the mount, and the 
sender is close to the magnet ring check the connections, which are simple
 mechanical push pins on the sender end. Just push them back on to the sender.
The mount has two similar pins also, which have a tendency to work lose over 
time. Or if the computer is ok, a whole new mounting kit is arount 6-9 dollars.
Oh and my personal failure mode, putting the wheel of my mountain bike on
 backwards which really gets the magnet too far away to work.

    - Ray  (Diane's husband)

Avocet has in the past had a poor reputation for quality, however their
guarantee has always been good.  I got one of the first batch of model 20's
back in 85 or so (they had been advertised for about a year before they finally
came out).  After a couple weeks if acted up and they just gave me a new one.
That one lasted until I sold the bike.  I bought another and it lasted until I
took it off so it wouldn't get stolen and I lost it (better than getting stolen
I guess).  So I bought another and it's still working fine.

A friend had one and was always bitching about it and I was always defending
them.  His quit a while back and he was bitching about that so I said that if
he didn't like it then give it to me.  So he did.  I took it into a shop
yesterday to buy a new battery and they say "oh that's one of the OLD ones,
looks like an original.  I'll just give you a new one."  I went in to buy a
battery and they give me a new cyclometer!

No word on when their model 50, with altimeter will finally be out.

    
    I was given an Avocet 40 for Christmas (I think it's like the '30
    except it does average speed, too), and I've had quite a bit of trouble
    getting it to work properly. It seems to be *extraordinarily* sensitive
    to the distance between the pickup and the ring on the wheel. If the
    pickup's not almost touching the ring, I found that it stopped working
    at higher speeds. When a certain critical speed was reached, the
    indicated speed on the display just fell away to zero.
    
    I've ended up with the pickup mounted on the bottom of the left
    fork-end, rather than the top of the right fork-end as they suggest in
    the instructions. I've now seen it work reliably up to about 45km/h,
    and it needs a fairly steep hill for me to go that fast. Previously, it
    would fail at about 30-35km/h (mind you, I need some kind of
    environmental assistance to maintain even that speed for very long !)
    
    Trevor

    
    	How tight was the pick up tied onto the fork? Sounds like the 
    vibration caused by high speed has shaken the pickup too far away from
    the ring to be able to register.
    
    Graham.
    

    
    I have the 40 and was amazed at how far it was allowed to be away from
    the pickup.  But, on another bike I set one up on, the alignment wasn't
    just right and we had to put it very close.  The pickup in the middle
    of the ring made a big difference.
    
    john

Does anyone have Avocet's address?  I need to send them my computer for
repair, and my instruction sheet seems to be missing.

Thanks

    From the model 50 Owner's Manual:
    P.O. Box 120
    Palo Alto CA  94302   (415) 321-8501
    
    But, before returning a model 50 for repair this last year, I called
    and they gave me a different address to return it to:
    
    8674 Thornton Ave
    Newark, CA  94560