520, Stages & out front mounts.

This issue has come up before and there are no answers. One of the first posts was the same as yours, drops on the out front but not on the stem. You wouldn’t think such a small change in location would make a difference. I have used my first generation Stages with a 500, 800 and 520 on an out front mount without problems. But I have gotten drops with the 500 in my back pocket. The problem has occurred on various Edge models but it only occurs with the Stages. I have only seen one post about this since the 2nd generation Stages came out. I though maybe that fixed it. My 1st gen has a normal reception rate in the low 90s. The 2nd gen seems to be higher. Stages talks about drops on their website. My guess is there is something about the Stages signal pattern that makes it susceptible to blockage. I would contact Stages to see what they say. Maybe you could get a replacement to try. If your 520 is still under warranty you could see about trying a different 520.

Your dip in reception rate is a lot more than others have seen. Mine went from the low 90s to the 80s when I had it in the back pocket. The bigger change in reception may make it easier to see what effect changes in the Edge mounting location make. It would be interesting to see if moving the out front mount to the left or right has any effect.

I also have the stages gen2 and have my 520 mounted out front with no issues. Very stable reception.

My guess is your problem is related to reflections. Metal can to some extend both block and reflect 2.4ghz signals (ant). I'm guessing you have severe reflection problems, so a couple of tests could be interesting:

Try and move the out front mount 10cm to the right or left (away from the center handlebar mount - i'm guessing yours i aluminium). See if that helps.
The next test is to angle the out front mount very much downwards and out of line with the handlebar mount. Does that help?

If both situations help i'm positive your problem is as much reflection problems as signal blockage.

My bike is a size 62 (the biggest there is - thus my 520 is very far away from my stages meter) but my handlebar and mount is the all carbon PRO stealth, so I suffer no problems with reflections and blockage from metal.

The perfect test would be to try a carbon handlebar and handlebar mount.

My 520 is being held at my LBS right now and I'll be picking it up on Saturday. I also have a gen. 2 Stages and am planning on using it with an out-front mount. I'll report back here with how it goes.

Thanks for the responses so far, but this was especially interesting:

I also have the stages gen2 and have my 520 mounted out front with no issues. Very stable reception.

My guess is your problem is related to reflections. Metal can to some extend both block and reflect 2.4ghz signals (ant). I'm guessing you have severe reflection problems, so a couple of tests could be interesting:

Try and move the out front mount 10cm to the right or left (away from the center handlebar mount - i'm guessing yours i aluminium). See if that helps.
The next test is to angle the out front mount very much downwards and out of line with the handlebar mount. Does that help?

If both situations help i'm positive your problem is as much reflection problems as signal blockage.

My bike is a size 62 (the biggest there is - thus my 520 is very far away from my stages meter) but my handlebar and mount is the all carbon PRO stealth, so I suffer no problems with reflections and blockage from metal.

The perfect test would be to try a carbon handlebar and handlebar mount.

I'll try this and see if it helps.

My 520 is being held at my LBS right now and I'll be picking it up on Saturday. I also have a gen. 2 Stages and am planning on using it with an out-front mount. I'll report back here with how it goes.

Please do.

Oliver, do you have a carbon fiber stem?

Got my 520 today and did two rides. The first one was just a 30 minute test ride and the second one was an hour and a half. Had my 520 in the Garmin out-front mount that came with it and I had zero issues with my Stages power meter on both rides. I had the mount tilted slightly up so it kind of points the Garmin towards my head and had it basically centered in the handlebars. My handlebars are aluminum and not carbon fiber. Same with my stem. Just my frame and fork are carbon fiber in case you're wondering. I'll be doing a couple more rides tomorrow and I'll follow up here tomorrow night.

I got the two rides in today, both were over an hour each (1:06 & 1:16) and my Stages talked to my 520 just fine on both rides while using the out-front mount.

Oliver, do you have a carbon fiber stem?

No, aluminium.

Got my 520 today and did two rides. The first one was just a 30 minute test ride and the second one was an hour and a half. Had my 520 in the Garmin out-front mount that came with it and I had zero issues with my Stages power meter on both rides. I had the mount tilted slightly up so it kind of points the Garmin towards my head and had it basically centered in the handlebars. My handlebars are aluminum and not carbon fiber. Same with my stem. Just my frame and fork are carbon fiber in case you're wondering. I'll be doing a couple more rides tomorrow and I'll follow up here tomorrow night.

Thanks for reporting back. Perhaps I need to experiment with the tilt of my out front mount a little more. If that doesn't work I can only assume my power meters ANT+ transmitter is slightly defective??