Customer Reviews

Cateye CC-MC100W Micro Wireless 10-Function Bicycle Computer (Black)

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(38)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

The Micro Wireless is one of the newest additions to the Cay Eye Companies long line of trusted cyclocomputers. I had a hard time choosing between this and a more expensive model with heart rate and cadence.

I decided to go with this and purchased a separate wrist HR monitor for around 25 bucks. It saved a good deal of money and could be the solution to one of your concerns.

If you are looking for a basic model without wireless: I suggest checking out the "Enduro 8"; it is cheaper and has most of the basic features (without wireless and backlight).

With that said: I really like this model, it's smaller and has more features than the Enduro; wireless and back-light. It was easier to setup and quickly switches between bikes (with the purchase of a second mount/sensor kit.)

I broke the computer mount in a minor training collision and Cay Eye sent me a replacement mount for free. I suggest you "defiantly get a cat eye", especially at this price; they have great customer service and make an excellent wireless computer.
(I have used this product for six months.)

I bought two units. One for my bike and one for my daughter's.
Installation couldn't have been easier. Ten minutes per bike and I was done.
After installation, all you have to do is input tire size and width and you're ready to go.
A good test to see how accurate these units are was taking a ride with my daughter being that we have two different size bikes. Ater reaching our destination, both units read exactly the same mileage. The unit is very unobtrusive on the handlebar and very easy to read. I won't go into all the features (you can read that in the item description), but I believe it has all I'll ever need.
We are both very happy with this product.

I have two "Wired" CatEye mirrors and they are great. The wirless one is even better. I had another brand that you couldn't read in bright sunshine, but the CatEye "wireless" can be read in any light (Yes, it even has a back-light for night).

The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five is that the operating/set-up instructions are poor.

I purchased this speedometer a month ago and I am very pleased with it. I have biked over 200 miles and each ride it holds true to its readings with prior rides, very consistent. Highly recommended!

Works well but the instructions are terrible. I'm sure there's much more that this unit can do but the "international" Ikea style manual leaves a lot to be desired. I'm still trying to figure out how to reset the odometer without resetting everything!

Of the many choices you have for a bicycle computer, give serious consideration to this model. It was a snap to install, is accurate, and provides all the basic information you'll want. The wireless feature is pretty cool, too, making the install very clean. The price is tough to beat, so unless you want cadence or heart rate functions, give this unit a look. I think you'll be happy you did.

This is the first bicycle computer I've purchased but CAT EYE provides a rosetta stone of guidance in no fewer then twelve languages and with their instructions I installed my computer in just a few minutes.

I use my bicycle daily to commute several miles to and from work as well as for recreation on the weekends and after several hundred miles my computer is still performing flawlessly.

My only complaint is that some careful button pressing technique is required to reset daily trip time and distance. Two buttons must be held for the reset but part of the same button sequence changes modes between bicycle one and bicycle two.

For the price I would happily order another computer for a second bike and forego this feature in favor of more intuitive display of ride-leg information or perhaps even an additional button to simplify reset.

The best designs promote intuitive operation but I'm happy with the product and with practice I'll master the technique.

The Micro is a great bike computer in terms of most of its features, but it has a major problem with electrical interference, which throws off the recorded data. I'll address this more at the end of this review.

Getting everything hooked up is relatively easy. Basically, you just attach an included magnet to one of your front tire's spokes and then zip-tie a sensor to the front fork. The magnet must pass closely by the sensor when the tire spins in order to register the data the computer displays and records. You then zip-tie a mounting bracket to your handle bars and attach the computer to the bracket.

You need to do some setup of the computer before you'll be ready to use it. Most importantly, you'll need to tell the computer the circumference of your tires. If you know your tire size (which should be on the side of the tire) you can have the computer use preset data in its database to approximate the circumference. You can also measure the circumference yourself and input the exact measurement if you want to ensure greatest accuracy.

The instructions are fairly basic, and it's not entirely clear how to perform certain functions such as resetting the odometer after a battery change, which wipes out the odometer data. I found CatEye's website helpful for filling in the blanks left by the instruction manual. You can find it by Googling "CatEye Knowledgebase".

The computer can be configured to operate on two different bikes with different wheel circumferences, although using it for two bikes is not quite as simple as it sounds. It's easy enough to detach the computer from its mounting bracket on the handlebars, but the bracket itself attaches to the bike with tiny zip ties, as does the tire sensor, so transferring them from one bike to another would require you to cut their zip ties. The easier solution is to purchase a second mounting bracket, tire sensor and magnet for the other bike. Looking at CatEye's website, it appears you can purchase those separately, but it doesn't indicate the price. Anyway, if you plan on using the two-bike feature, just be aware that you're in for additional expense beyond just the price of one unit.

The Micro's backlight is the weak green light you find on some cheaper watches. It isn't very bright, and the screen is hard to read while riding. I really wish it had a nice Indiglow style light. The button to turn on the light is located on the back of the unit. It is small and hard to depress when wearing full-fingered gloves. Given the weak light coupled with the hard-to-press button, I've essentially given up on using the backlight. I just wait until I pass under a street light to read my screen.

The following is a list of the first set of data this computer will give you (which I'll call Data 1):

CURRENT SPEED (which you can preset to mph or km/h)

By pressing the Mode button (the big black button directly beneath the screen) you can toggle between the following additional features:

CLOCK (which you can preset to 12 or 24 hours)
ELAPSED TIME (which you can manually start and stop or, much more conveniently, set to Auto--that starts the clock when the wheel starts spinning and stops the clock when you stop your bike)
DISTANCE
AVERAGE SPEED
MAX SPEED
ODOMETER

There is also a second set of data (which I'll call Data 2) for the following:

ELAPSED TIME
DISTANCE
AVERAGE SPEED

Data 2 can be handy if, say, in the middle of a ride you wanted to time yourself on a hill or a short stretch of road. In order to do this, you would hold down the Mode button for a couple seconds. That puts the computer in Data 2 mode. Data 2 records simultaneously with Data 1, so it's ELAPSED TIME, DISTANCE and AVERAGE SPEED data is normally identical to Data 1's. In order to use Data 2 to time a separate stretch of road you would need to reset its data to zero. To do that, you simultaneously press the Mode button and another button that is located directly beneath it on the bottom of the unit (you can just barely see it in the product photo). (BTW, I've accidentally wiped out my ride data before by hitting both buttons unintentionally while riding, so be careful when cycling through the different modes.) After doing that procedure, you would then climb your hill or whatever and then read the results off the computer. There's no way to pause Data 1 or Data 2 short of stopping the bike if in Auto mode or stopping if in manual mode, so you couldn't just pause Data 2 to read the results after your ride. You would need to either quickly review the data while you ride or stop and record it. A lot of info, I know, but I want to give prospective buyers an idea of how this function works in real-world use. I like to time myself separately on certain hills, but I've found it's easier just to use a separate stop watch, so Data 2 doesn't get much use on my unit. However, I have used it before to salvage my ride data when I accidentally wiped out Data 1 during a ride, as I mentioned above.

FATAL FLAW

I would happily give the Micro five stars but it suffers from a major problem that will be a deal-killer for many urban riders: The sensor is very sensitive to electrical interference found at traffic signals--at least it is at the ones in my city of Seattle. When I stop at a light, interference from something at the intersection makes the Micro think I'm flying along at autobahn speeds--usually 80+ mph. That then throws off my other data, including MAX SPEED (of course), ELAPSED TIME (not a huge deal as I'm usually not at a light very long), DISTANCE (a much bigger deal as I frequently rack up more than a mile of recorded distance doing 80+ mph in the time it takes a light to change) and ODOMETER. I have tried watching the computer and memorizing the approximate false distance added so that I can subtract it later when I record my data at the end of my ride. You can manually adjust your Odometer to add or subtract miles, but it's still a major frustration to have to deal with this problem. A friend I ride with bought a CatEye Micro at the same time I did, and he has the same interference issues with his unit. He has already given up and decided to replace his with a wired version. I probably will be joining him soon.

The CatEye Knowledgebase website has this to say about the interference problem:

"Why is my maximum speed unrealistically high?

The unusual maximum speed readout that you are incurring is due to the cordless computer unit registering interference from an outside electrical field. Sources of such fields include RR crossings, power lines, security systems, radio towers, home computers, televisions, radios, cell phones, garage door openers, high intensity discharge lighting systems, etc. When all speed related functions are accurate except maximum speed, this is almost certainly the case, as cordless/wireless models manifest such reception of outside interference as an abnormal max speed readout as described. Unfortunately, there is no solution for this, as the FCC requires electronic devices such as bike computers to accept all such outside interference."

I've only noticed the interference problem at traffic lights, while inside the Performance Bike store in Seattle (no idea why) and one instance where I was holding it while seated in front of a computer (although I've held it while using several other computers that didn't cause this problem). If you ride in an urban environment that crosses paths with traffic lights and such, I do not recommend the Micro. Go with a wired version or perhaps a wireless model from a different company, although I don't know if this is a problem all wireless bike computers have.

I have the Strada and now this device, both great devices.

The instructions; really are the only reason why I write this.

My gosh! they need to be re-written. The diagrams don't even match what is on the monitor's display. 90 minutes from start to finish installing and setting up. I too do IT support and run and enter energy management programs for a hotel...

In terms of capturing information, the only things this baby doesn't have are cadence data and power data. That said, if you put it in "automatic" mode -- preferred for urban riding, when you are doing a lot of traffic stops -- it is highly prone to radiofrequency interference from everything from store security scanners to laptop computers. I have seen it tell me I'm riding at 75mph when I'm standing still at a red light, and I've seen it change my odometer information overnight between logging a ride on a training journal and putting it back on my bicycle in the morning.

The newer, higher-end wireless models are apparently less prone to interference. That said, I'd rather run the wires and have accurate information.