Last Saturday, 7 April, I measured two courses (a 5K and a 10K) in the near western suburbs of Chicago. This was the maiden voyage for the Bell cyclocomputer I had purchased from the World's Largest Retailer last fall. Shortly after purchasing the Bell I mounted it, installed two magnets on my front spokes, made sure it incremented properly, marked my front rim, and then put my bicycle in the garage for the winter as the opportunties to measure dwindled.
I pulled it out in 23 degree (F - or -5 degree C) weather last Saturday and began to set it up. When the mm per revolution screen came on, I was able to change the ones, tens, and hundreds digits to zeros. However when the thousands digit came up, it just kept cycling through, no matter how hard I pushed the button to try to set it at 5. That, of course, pretty much rendered the Bell worthless for the rest of the day. Needless to say I was glad I still had my trusty (albeit battered) JOL counter, and used it to complete the measurements.
I was able to get the Bell to work better on Tuesday when the temperature was a few degrees above freezing and I was asked to take a look at some issues involving an existing course. I have not yet used the Bell for a complete measurement but hope to do so within the next few weeks- or as soon as the snow we got yesterday melts.
Any known issues with electronic counters in cold weather? What else can explain what happened Saturday?
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