When I got my Richard Sachs tourer in '78, it had the most sophisticated stuff I could get for it. It started out with the Huret belt drive odometer. Then followed a huge Cateye Computer with a big liquid crystal display and 'AA' batteries. It used a large, 6" or so diameter plastic ring attached to the spokes and a pickup which clamped between the dropout and nut for the hub. When a fatefull bounce made it start to read Klingon on the display (permanently), I bought the model 20 Avocet shortly after it first came out, mostly just racers seemed to be using them at the time in Baltimore. I then went to the Cateye Solar, which displayed cadence, speed and distance at the same time, though eventually went back to Avocet when the Cateye Solar seemed to need batteries at least twice a year. I even had the night light for its solar and another goofy Charger for it with D cells to coax their batteries to last longer. Would they be collector items? I've had the Cateye micro, but Cateye's wire harnesses didn't seem to last and were quite expensive. Avocets wire harnesses were cheap and pretty reliable, but mostly cheap. As a result most of my bikes have the harness for the one Avocet I pretty much use all the time, the model 50 with altimeter.
Dan Artley
Parkton, Maryland
>>> "renaissance-cycles" <info@renaissance-cycles.com> 01/28/02 09:03AM >>>
Yeh!!............2 long years, a higher price than what was advertised and
being
released prematurely with a few buggs still not worked out of it!!
You got it!!.............They were released with a fault of 2!! And Avocet did so knowingly!!
This was all passed on to me from a customer whose Law firm was representing the company (Can't remember the name!) that was Designing/R&D for Avocet!! Avocets was sueing this co. for lost of revenues and market shares. Something to do with the release of the unit from Cateye........At least this is what I was told and this was well over 10 years ago!!...........Anybody knows for sure when cateye was hitting the shelves?? Before or after Avocet??
Anyway this customer and his law firm were in need of one of the bad units but he wasn't able to find one due to the warrenty guarantees from Avocet!!........He said darn we have been searching for some time for one, would you know where I might be able to find one??.........I said sure!!.............Dugg out a shoe box full and said here you go!! Never heard anything from there on.............He walked away a happy camper!!
I could be a little off with this info but this is the best I could remember!!
Regards, BC Baron Corpuz............and the gang.............Holland.
>
> In a message dated 1/26/02 5:58:21 PM, Bill_Bryant@prodigy.net writes:
>
> <<
>
> feldman wrote:
>
> > Avocet holds the "vaporware" record for the bike business with that
> > computer--they advertised the original one for two solid years before it
> > actually existed.
> >
> > David Feldman >>
>
> Hello gang,
>
> One old story that was quite funny about the 2 year advertising to
shipping
> schedule (did anybody get them in just two years) goes as follows.
>
> "Hey How many employees does Avocet have? That's easy two. One guy makes
up
> the ads and the other guy answers the phone and says they don't have them
in
> yet."
>
>
> In fairness they were pushing the envelope in low cost computers for
bikes.
> Several were over $100.00 each in those days and while full featured
compared
> to the basic three function #20. I often wonder if the few low cost
computers
> of the day were destroyed by the long term low cost price advertising for
a
> product that did not exist in the real world. Also the original price
> advertised was $19.95 but before the shipment materialized they were
> advertised for just $24.95, a real difference in their day.
>
> Regards,
>
> Gilbert Anderson
>
> The North Road Bicycle Company
> your bicycle outfitter
> 519 W. North St.
> Raleigh, NC 27603
> USA
> ph toll free in USA :800/321-5511
> Local ph: 919/828-8999
> E-Mail: cyclestore@aol.com