Finally a reliable analog speedometer.

[JohnnyLoves]

I bought that not so good speedo that we've all been talking (Picture 1), installed that and like everyone said it ended up breaking on the 2nd bike ride out. I determined the problem wasn't the actual speedo but the wheel attachment.

It is as cheaply designed as it is cheap looking. There is basically a plastic wheel that turns a twist peg. Oviously the plastic cannot handle the vibrations, torque and speeds we tend to travel at, so that had to go. As seen in Pic 2 mine actually cracked and broke.

I replaced this pos plastic one with a nice vintage metal one I found on an old exercise bike. The only problem I ran into was the square cable slot on the old metal one was too small to fit the modern thicker pyramid cable. To solve this I heated up a square bit with a candle, than using a pair of vise grips a melted the inner plastic holder to size. I also took the whole cable out of the sheath and coated generously with lithium grease.The finished result is picture 3. It runs nice and smooth (no needle vibration) and the speedo is now very accurate (tested it versus the police radar box).

John

~Also threw in my newly installed rear tailight (Pic 4)~

 

[spunout]

good work, johnny.
i can speak for alot of us, that prefer the look of an analog over digi.
if i can find an old excersize bike, i'll give it a shot.
until then, my needle will bounce between 18-22mph...thats how i know i'm in the zone.
thats the biggest complaint (actually, the only) about analogs. looks like you slayed that dragon

 

[HoughMade]

Thanks for the insite- I have been using that speedo without a problem, but honestly at about $15, I figured on just replacing it as needed. If I get a few hundred miles, I figured no big deal.

The plastic wheel on mine works fine so far, but I will keep an eye out for a better, metal one and will grease the cable as you mentioned.

 

[JohnnyLoves]

I wonder if I finally broke this thing....

Today I was riding my bike normally, and well my speedometer needle will not return to 0 when stopped. However, when I pedel backwards or I unscrew the cable to release the tension it than returns to normal. Any ideas? I'm not really sure what might have broken here or what I can do to fix it.

John