dexmax

I have a question about the flight deck...

what STI levers are compatible with it? Are the old models(RSX, RX100, 105SC(8spd)) compatible?

Thanks.

khuon

https://bike.shimano.com/Computer/chart.asp

Doubtful. However, you may be able to replace the hoods with ones that are compatible. Check out:

https://www.branfordbike.com/computer/comp6.html

2manybikes

For a pair of STI levers to be compatible with the flight deck computer,they have to have a wiring connection on each lever.
You can tell by looking at the side of the rubber hood closest to the stem.
there will be a flat area in the rubber hood.This is where a flat plate underneath the rubber hood is that plugs into the STI harness.Also on the earlier models the right hand lever has two small raised buttons on this area,as they will have the control buttons under them when the sti harness is attached.The flight deck functions are controlled from the brake hoods.The newer models have one buton on each side.If you are still not positive by looking a the hoods,peel back the hood and look for a small plastic plate with two screws in it that can be removed.Without this it's not going to happen.I also think that it Started only with
9 speeds and 105 and up.But looking at the levers is a sure thing.
The flight deck is a wonderfull product,but you can accidentally
shut off the computer by grabbing the hoods hard,as in a sprint
or a climb.That is not fun on a century when you loose ? miles.
I rode ? miles last Friday?

khuon

I keep hearing stories about people accidently "shutting off" their FlightDecks when grabbing the hoods but I personally have never seen it happen with any of the people I ride with nor have I done it myself. I have found many faults with the FlightDecks but this seems to be a red herring in my experience.

2manybikes

Interesting.I think I shut off my older ones with two buttons, on the right hood 2 or three times in about 6,000 miles.And the new type with one button on each side twice in about 600 miles.BUT......that's what I think happened,because it came back on when I hit the button. And I remember grabbing the hoods in a certain way.There could be something else going on that I don't know about. A short or an open circuit might do that too.

What kinds of things have you heard about? Thanks.

I had 1999 105 and now I have 2003 Dura ace.

Resident

I still can't get my head around 'virtual cadence'. Coasting downhill = cadence 180!!!

khuon

I don't doubt that you can accidently shut off the recording by accidently gripping the hoods and blipping the st/stp button. I've heard many people complain about this. I just have never actually seen it happen. However, if your computer is actually going into sleep mode then that's a different issue. Also, the buttons do take quite a bit of pressure to activate... at least on my D-A hoods (2001 model with one button on each hood) so even if I brush up against them, I rarely ever trigger them inadvertantly. Maybe other hoods have different activation pressures?

As far as things to complain about on the FlightDeck:

[1] Wireless can get screwed up with errant magnatic fields such as traffic sensors.

[2] Display on the older 6500 unit used to show gear ratio as well as gear position numerically. The newer 6501 shows number of teeth. I would like to have it show number of teeth numerically along with gear development.

[3] I sometimes forget to wake the computer (6501) by pressing the "B" button on the right backside of the computer. The 6500 woke automatically upon wheel movement. I understand this is a "feature" in order to save power.

[4] Reprogramming the computer always is a chore and tyre circumference only goes in 5mm increments. It would be nice if it went by 1mm increments with an "acceleration" feature of 5mm steps if you hold down the stepping button for more than a couple of seconds.

[5] It would be nice if it had a backlight.

[6] I'd like to see a 30 second bridge-battery so you don't lose all your settings when replacing the battery.

[7] As mentioned in another threads, some sort of split-memory feature like the Cateye CC-8000 would be great. The stupid lap-counter is useless without actually logging any information.

As I've said in another thread, personally I'd like to see the interface to the shifters be made open or licensable so that people who actually are in the business of making bike computers could use it (yes I know Campy's Ergobrain is actually made by Cateye but that's under stricter special license). For that matter, I wouldn't mind it if frame and fork manufacturers provided provisions for wiring and sensor placement themselves. I was just at my FBS after a ride this morning with the owner and the shop was building up a bike with Campy Record 10 and the Ergobrain. Wires were going everywhere (Ergobrain isn't wireless). The worse wire to deal with seemed to be the cadence sensor for the crank magnet. There was simply no good place to tuck or hide it.

khuon

I've two minds about that.

[1] I really only care about my cadence when I'm "loaded". If I'm freewheeling, cadence is sorta moot. Having no cadence sensor means no wires and cadence wires are the hardest to deal with/route cleanly, IMHO. I have yet to see a computer with a wireless cadence sensor (maybe I didn't look hard enough)... it'd be nice if they had one.

[2] If the computer did cadence logging and had features like avg cadence (not sure what that would mean in terms of training anyways) or a split-memo feature so you could snapshot a particularly interesting moment on the ride then real cadence would be nice and virtual cadence bad.

Big H

Hi Guys

I had the problem of shutting off the flightdeck. It normally happens when I stand up in the pedals and grip the hoods. During this years ARGUS it happend to me. Luckily there was electronic timing and my wife has her own computer on the back. I solved the problem in a very easy way. The offending button was normnally the left hand bitton. I lifted the hood rubber and slipped a suitably sized O-ring between the body and the hood rubber. VIOLA!!!!!! Problem solved. It only now takes alittle extra effort to get the computer zeroed when we go out to cycle or race.

Keep those wheels spinning!!!!!

Big H

msz

Can you tell me the difference between the 6500 and the 6501 models of the Flight Deck? thanks

khuon

6500 is the older model. The newer one is the 6501. The biggest difference between them is that the 6501 supports four bikes whereas the 6500 only supported one. The 6500 also used to display both gear ratios (ie. "1.03") and numeric positioning of the gears (ie. "2-6" indicating middle chainring and 6th cog from the left) whenever one changed gears. The 6501 on the other hand only displays tooth count (ie. "53-15" indicating 53 tooth chainring and 15 tooth cog) when you changed gears. The graphical optical gear display "bubbles" remains the same between the two models and I actually feel that the numeric position on the 6500 is redundant. I'm glad the 6501 has size information instead. The 6501 also has to be manually woken up (press the "B" button on the back right side of the computer) before each ride whereas the 6500 was constantly monitoring the wheel sensor. This drained the battery sooner so that's why Shimano decided to force you to manually wake it. I think it's a non-issue as my 6500 only requires a battery replacement once every couple of years anyways and my 6501's battery doesn't seem to last that much longer. I think for people who don't ride their bikes much, it makes a difference. Both computers have auto-start/stop features once initially woken. There are also some operational differences in how one sets the computer but day-to-day operations of the buttons remain the same.

2manybikes

What a wealth of good information!~

I guess I'm better off than I though.I have a 6500 hard wired into 2003 D-A hoods.I had the 6500 on a 2000 105 bike first.I did have to re route the wires on the first bike it was a mess from the bike shop.I did the new one myself when I converted to all D-A parts.I like the o ring suggestion,my buttons are very sensitive.
The old computer fit into a new harness to go with having a button on each side.My older 2000 hoods had very stiff buttons.
I had to put the button plate in just right to keep the buttons from binding.I finally put a drop of wd 40 into one button,then it was much better.There has to be some slight tolerance variations when molding the plastic parts,and assembling them.We don't all have exactly the same smooth operation of the buttons.You can't really do much about that.My first battery went about two years also.I was very upset when I realized I wiped out the total miles
when replacing the battery.I have so many bikes that I keep mileage records to know when to repack hubs etc.I use a sigma
sport computer light sometimes to light the flight deck at night.

Still I think, a great product.

talkdj

On my C'dale I have the 105 STI shifters and the buttons are great on them. I have never had a problem with the Flight Deck and the buttons. I like it much better than what I have on the Trek 7500. There I am using Deore LX group and had to use an "a/b" button(s) group on the bars.

I originaly had the 6500 computer but change to the 6501 when I went to two bikes. I love it. Works great too.

-Wynn