Footpad sensors & shoe sole type in cold weather...

[RickN]

Now that it's getting colder I'm seeing online threads, YouTube and Reddit, about issues with footpad sensors not recognizing the rider. I've got 530mi on a Pint, most with no issues, but now in temperatures under 40degF, I had changed riding shoes and could not get the sensors to work. I'm a 6'1" 250lb rider so weight was not a problem, it had to be the shoe sole construction. My shoe of choice had been hiking boots, they have a pliable & cushioned sole, no issues. I tried changing to a pair of, like new, industrial (safety toed) Converse tennis shoes (left over from working life). It happened to be very cold that day and I immediately had trouble with the footpad sensors. I believe that the soles became stiff enough in the cold that they did not sag enough between footpad dead zones to activate the sensors. Going back to my hiking boots fixed the issue. I studied the Pint sensor pads by turning the wheel on and depressing the sensor pads with a finger as I moved my hand across the sensors. Each half of the sensor is surrounded by a very distinct dead zone. The surprising zone to me is a 1" wide strip between the screws at tire. My riding stance was not letting the heal sensor recognize that I was standing on the board using the non pliable soled shoe.

I measured my Pint sensepad today, the dead zones are about 1/2" on each side and the end measured from the edges of the grip tape. There's about a 1-1/4" dead zone right down the middle equally divided either side of the white dots. Then the 1" wide zone between the footpad screws.