Review of Echowell U9 cycle computer

With a little more time on our hands here we are reinstating our product "Thrash Test". The idea of a Thrash Test is to use a product to the end of its natural life and let you know how far they made it as well as quality and use ratings along the way. We also combine with this customer feedback, so by looking at how many we have sold and how many came back to us with complaints, we can get an idea of general quality and durability, beyond the few we Thrash Test. So here we go with the Echo U9 computer review.  (Review will periodically be updated as we get further into the Thrash test) Background: This product in one that we brought into the shop along with its big brother the U12 as a way to replace the Sigma computers which we were have a lot of problems with and complaints about.  The Echo computers were offered as a value item and compared to the CatEye computers which tended to have similar features, at a higher price.

We very quickly realized that most customers were not interested in the U12 version because the added features were not really worth the extra money,  so we sold off the rest of our U12 computers at the U9 price and thereafter only stock the U9.  After selling in the neighborhood of 50 or these with no complaints coming back from customers,  we decided that it might be time to pull one off the shelf and Thrash Test it. 

Features:
the 9 in U9 stands for 9 functions.
Current Speed
Average Speed
Maximum Speed
Trip Distance
Odometer
Riding Time
Speed Pacer
12/24 Hours Clock
CO2 Saving

Most people really only care about the first six.  The slightly less expensive u6 doesn't include max speed which most people like to know.  The more expensive U12 includes total CO2 saving, auto scan and total ride time which people generally don't care about,  so the U9 really is the sweet spot of the U series computers.

For those of you wondering what the CO2 saving thing is,  the computer figures that the average car produces 0.17g of CO2 emissions per Kilometer. It uses this number to tell you how much CO2 you would have produced if you had driven instead of ridden.    Because the computer has no way to input the actual emissions of your car this number is a neat idea, but wildly inaccurate and largely useless. 

Setup and Installation:
This is a wired computer and sets up relatively easily.  In other words, we did not notice anything that was either more difficult or especially time saving in the installation of this computer compared to others we have done.  The U9 does get points for using rubber band mounts rather than zip ties which allow the mount to be moved around if needed without having to waste or find new zip ties. 

Setting the computer was relatively easy,  most common tire sizes are listed in the instructions,  so there was no measuring needed.   All and all by following the instructions it took less than 20 minutes the install and set the computer.  If you have never installed a computer before you may wish to allow 45 min to an hour.  Usually the trickiest part is wrapping the wire around the brake cable so that you use enough wire so there is not slack,  but there is enough slack so that the sensor can reach the spoke magnet.

Ease of use:
Once the computer is installed.  There is only one button to push.  Pushing this button will scroll you through the different bits of data, like distance, max speed etc.  Current speed will always be displayed,  and the other information is displayed in smaller numbers below.

Overall First Impression:   After installing one of these on a commuter and putting about 50 miles on it,  we are happy with how it works.  It is easy to see, and does what it says it will do.  As of yet there are no real surprises for the good or the bad.


Pricing:
 MSRP for the U9 is $25 but pricing will vary dramatically especially online.   The variation is due to a relatively lax pricing policy.   Other brands like Cat Eye and Sigma are very strict with pricing control which means you will find most retail stores and online stores have them priced about the same.  The companies do this so that shops can compete with online retailers.  It has always been our opinion that you can expect to pay a premium at a shop because you will have a shop guy to help you pick out and install your computer.   If you are shopping online, doing the research yourself, and installing it yourself,  you should be able to save a little cash, and with Echowell,  you can.  Remember,  higher price doesn't necessarily mean better quality,  sometimes it is just price control and hype. 

Recommendation?

So far we like this computer and our customers seem to feel the same way.  It is a great value and does all the basic things that most people want out of a cycle computer.   We will put a couple thousand miles on it and see how it fares,  but so far it is a good choice,  especially if you are the type of person who likes to buy parts online and save yourself some cash by doing it yourself. 

Appologies across the board.

Hello all,   those of you who pay attention have noticed some changes at Goose Creek.   And what was  supposed to be a seamless transition has become somewhat of a cluster as the actual implementation took place.   But for those of  you who don't know,  here is what has been going on.

Goose Creek Cycle really has two sides,  the retail sales and service,  and the internet side.   Our local customers are familiar with the retail side and are probably vaguely aware that there is usually someone in the back grabbing things off the shelves putting them in boxes and swearing at the computer.    The reality is that the internet side is more than just the guy putting stuff in boxes,  and for quite some time the lions share of the work has been going on laptops and cell phones in places other than the store. 

Based on both personal necessity and as an attempt to get some of the clutter out of the shop we have decided to pull the internet operations completely out of the store.   This will free up space for the retail side,   and streamline the internet side.   It will also mean that we will have 2 separate inventories.   

As of this week the online side has been moved into a temporary location,  with a partial inventory.   We are hoping that this temporary location will be replaced by a new retail location that is large enough to handle both a larger retail store and a separate shipping facility either in the same building or adjacent to it.    All this is sort of getting ahead of ourselves though.  

The main point here was that we had a lot more problems with the move than expected.   Now almost a week into the transition we are just getting computers back up online.   (primary computer was crushed in the move and it took longer to get internet in than expected)   That being said we are so behind we cant think,  so we are actually going to pull the internet store down for about a week to catch up and separate online and retail inventory.   Those of you with pending orders we apologize for shipping delays,  we are going as fast as we can, and may products are having to be transferred over from the shop.  Bear with us,  we will be back in a week. 

SRAM XX1 - Info, Reviews, quirks, avaiability and more

Over the last year, idea of SRAM's new XX1 group has captured the interest of mountain bikers around the world.    Here at Goose Creek  we like to see a solid season on a product line before we go deep and really buy into a new concept.  Our reasoning is that we like to see the bugs worked out on other peoples bikes before we drop the cash into the newest latest and greatest.   As an added perk,  pricing tends to come down after the initial production.    This all assumes that the product takes off,  and I think it is safe to sat that XX1 will be arouind for a while.

With a limited production in 2012 and a continued wait for the 2013 products to hit the market,  the biggest problem with the group right now is availability.   Rear derailleurs and trigger shifters are especially in demand as there is no substitute or compatability between groups.  On the bright side,  hub manufacturers are stepping up to the plate and we are seeing increased availability of drivers that will now allow you to use the specialty XX1 cassette on hubs from DT Swiss, Hope, Stans No Tube, Industry 9 and others.   So lets have a quick look at the group and see what the fuss is about.

Concept:   SRAM's basic idea was to take the simplicity of the 1X (one by) system an eliminate the quirks.   For the past few years we have seen riders go to 1X systems   in order to simplify their bikes and eliminate problems arising from chain suck, and shifting issues.    The primary problem is that with the number of dropped chains riders have started adding bash guards,  chain guides and other trinkets which basically offset the weight savings of eliminating derailleurs, shifters and rings.     The second problem is that by definition you lose gear range on both high and low end.   By using specialty chainrings and cassette,  SRAM solves both issues.

Chainrings:   One of the most crutial aspects of the system is the customized chainring which features variable widths on the rings so that the ring perfectly meshes with the different widths of the wide and narrow links in the chain.   The precision of these rings and slightly longer teeth, allow you to run the system without guards.

Cassette:   With a huge range on this 10-42T cassette you can ride in almost any condition without feeling that you are missing gears.    The biggest obsticle here is that the small 10T cog is too small for standard hubs,  so sram developed a specialty driver that will replace the free hub body on your hub.   

Driver:  Unless you buy a wheel pre-setup for XX1,  you will need to replace your free hub body with a driver.    Drivers are available for a wide range of hubs and more are being added to the list.  As new drivers are added,  the overall cost of the group comes down because you have a wider selection of wheels and a higher chance of simply adapting your current wheels to the system.st

Cost:  Expect a XX1 upgrade to cost you about $1300 at retail pricing.  

Availability:   Right now,  parts are scarce unless your shop has a group in stock,  but we should see SRAM releasing a new batch to the public soon.   Here at Goose Creek we are trying to by up as  much of the XX1 as possible so that we have service parts for our existing customers.  Look for products up on our wesite shortly and if you want to touch and feel,  we should have products in store to look at shortly.  

Find the problem, win a prize

Ok,  as professional bicycle mechanics,   a significant amount of what we do is undoing what home mechanics did at home.    You may or may not beleive the number of people who say "I was trying to do (fill in blanlk) and it just doesen't seem to work right,  so I am giving it to you to figure out."  Most common on the list is "I had some spokes loose so I tighented them..."  Occasionally a home mechanic will create a mystery by doing something strange like using parts that are not compatable.  Often it takes you a while to find the mistake because your brian just doesn't question that it could ever be set up the way it is.    At any rate,  here is one we didn't notice until we started to put the bike back together.   The first person to spot the problem in the picture, and post what it is in the comments section will get a free waterbottle.   Also we know that the chain is not installed,  we just hadn't gotten that far when the picture was taken, the problem is more interesting than that.     (if you are local, you will have to pick the bottle up at the shop,  if you are elsewhere,  we will send you a coupon for a free waterbottle with order from our website.   Contest excludes employees and people who saw this bike while in the shop.)

Update:  Congrats to Peter who was the first to spot the problem.   As a side note, it may interest you that on this same bike they asked us to install this crank....

Night Lights and roadside hazzards

A near death experiance prompts me to remind eeryone that when you are riding at night your lights are not only safety and for vision of the road,  but also for keeping an eye on what is going on around you.     Oddly enough I came to this realization while testing out the x-fire Bike Lane tail light so I was really paying more attention to what was going on behind me than in front.

Those of you who know me know that I am a big advocate of the Knog Skink front light that has plenty of power to see the road ahead of you,  and for my commutes I go back and forth between my 350 lumen off road light and my little Skink. 

On my way home last night I had my Skink and my Knog Strobe both on flash mode and my new Xfire on the rear.   It had grown dark buy I had not yet moved my lights to constant mode,  and I was on a small back road (Old LaGrange Road for you locals).    This road is roughly wide enough for a car and a half,  so when there was an oncomming car, I knew I had space, but needed to be close to the edge of the road.   Those of you who night ride know that if it is truly dark,  an oncomming cars lights will blind you, unless your lights overpower the cars.

So that is where I was,  hugging the side of the road with very little visibility and luckly going pretty slowly when suddenly a deer stepped right in front of me.  Fortunately I had scared it enought that is started runnig,  but I came within a foot of it before it disaperared in a clatter of hooves.   Two otherse crossed in front of me,  at least one behind me,  and I looked up I looked up in time to see a large buck siloetted against the night sky standing on top of the railroad track.  

I bet the car had a great view of me crashing throught a herd of deer, but all I saw was a white tail and the buck.  A scarry moment,  but a cool memory,  and a reminder that if you are not in the city your lights ought to be bright enough to see whats coming at you from the side of the road as well. 

No Credit card surcharges...

Some of you may be wondering if Goose Creek will be among those adding a surcharge to credit card transacctions.   We will not be adding any new credit card surcharges,  but the thing that has been lost in the coverage of the new surcharge policy is that YOU ALREADY PAY THEM at every retailer who accepts credit cards. 

The fees that merchants pay are so widely variable between different cards that there is no way to keep them straight.  I usually just assume that it will cost me about 3% to make it easy,  but each card has a different "exchange rate" which is a percentage of total trannsaction that is retained by the issuer of the card.  (when i say "each card" I really mean it,   a Visa issued by your PNC bank will have a different rate than one issued by your Rebublic banks,  will be different than a Visa Gold, or Visa Platinum they are all different)   On top of that a merchant service comany will apply their own fee for being your link to the exchange.  This will usually look like a per transaction fee plus a percentage, plus batch, and monthly fees.

If we forget about batch and monthly fees,   an individual transaction for a particular card may be $0.10 plus 2.2%.     So if a customer buys a $500 bike in Kentucky the money trail looks like this.

Cost of bike $500
tax $30
Total Purchase Price $530
Credit card fees charged to merchant $11.76
amount received by merchan for sale $518.24
Tax given to government $30
Net amount retained by merchant $488.24

Because the merchant has to make sure he is paying for the product, paying his employees and making money based on teh $488.24 number it is safe to say that you are already paying a $11.76 surcharge on this sale already.    Until recently the merchant could not itemize this surcharge, you paid for it even if you were a cash customer.    

To combat this,  Goose Creek instituted a 2% discount for cash and Dwolla sales over $60 some time ago.   We will not be changing this policy.  As always we appreciate your business,  and remind you that when you pay with cash your money is going to the people providing the service rather than the credit card companies.