Customer Reviews

SIGMA BC1606L DTS Wireless Bicycle Speedometer

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This computer has everything a cyclist needs. Wiresless speed and cadence!

You will love the large displays that says "Trip Time" or "MAX SPD" instead of the tiny little letters that the Cateye computers uses like "tr" or "mx".

The design is very intuitive and you will be an expert using this computer in no time. It's very accurate and there are no dropouts with interference due to it's digital link. Ive compared with my handheld GPS over a 20 mile ride, and the results were within .01 miles of each other.

The speed display though, only shows speed in increments of .5 mph, so you will get 25.5mph instead of 25.7mph. Not a big deal to me, but some people might like more info.

I had a trouble with the computer coming off a little too easy, and I called customer support. Their customer service was responsive, nice and quick.

Lastly, the price of this bike computer is much cheaper than the competition taking into consideration it has wireless cadence/speed and a backlight. I also love the fact that is has Average Cadence, stop watch, and total riding time.

recommended

I have to admit to smiling at some of the comments about mounting the sensors on this computer. The O-ring mounting system is a bit odd. I think wire-ties would be more effective, but I mounted a Trek wireless for my gf and it had it's problems too, so I'm not sure I've seen a really well done mounting system yet. I would like to see a system where the mount and the sensor are separate, like my ToPeak seat bag or my tail light. Then lots of sticky, gooey, rubber stuff and zip ties to squeeze the gooey rubber stuff into the EXACT shape of the fork & chain-stay. I like the cadence zip-tie mount better than the speed sensor O-ring mount, but if you mount the speed sensor on a road bike on the left side it works perfectly. (always mount a sensor on the down-side of the wheel spin so if your wheel ingests a stick it will not pull your sensor into the wheel, ruin it and send you flying over the handle bars)

I have a mountain bike and I think this could be mounted successfully on a shocked fork, just drive down the the auto parts store and shell out $2 for an assortment of O-rings. Destroying the device because you can't think outside the box enough to see the mounting gear wasn't intended for the gargantuan forks of a mountain bike is pretty sorry. You could also just take the 2 O-rings supplied, put one on each side of the sensor and zip-tie them together on the back side. If you can't think your way through a simple problem like this please stay away from carbon bikes which have torque specs all over the place that are at very close tolerances. (use Krytox pure Teflon grease to prevent spalling on things like seat-post clamps and seat adjustment screws - or your torque feel will be waaaaay off)

My only beef with this computer is I wish the buttons were marked as I tend to forget which buttons I need to push to reset everything from my last trip and end up trying to read the display in Polish or inadvertently turn off the cadence sensor. There are 4 buttons, M1, M2, S, R... wouldn't kill them to mark the face or offer an optional flange that is marked. I'd like to see them ditch the button names and just use button colors instead. Simple, effective, no-brainer. Oh, the sensors are very attractive, and have very large (and long-lasting?) batteries, but especially the cadence sensor is HUGE!

I bought the computer and speed sensor for $60 and tax at REI, and spent $16 here and shipping to get the cadence sensor, so this is a great price.(REI sells the cadence capable 1606L, but doesn't sell the cadence sensor - stupid and annoying!) All in, it cost me about $85 and took a week to get the whole system together, but I needed the speed part bad enough I paid the price. Ouch!!! (When your riding partner is also a bike mechanic you have to go along with his RX once and awhile or find another riding partner! :D ) Relative to the Trek sensors, Sigma's magnets are waaaaaay better. All in all it is a very well made system, I just think the mounting could be done better.

UPDATE: 5/2/2008
I am remounting the cadence sensor using O-rings. The rubber O-rings grip the frame a lot better than any hard plastic zip-tie, and thereby hold the sensors in place much more effectively.

UPDATE II: 5/19/2008
I have now ridden 2 centuries with this and done a few dozen training rides and am developing a love-hate relationship with it. When it works, it's awesome, but, on the first century when I was trying to pace myself to catch up to my riding partner, the speed stopped displaying. On the century this weekend the cadence sensor stopped displaying (synch problem I assume)after a rest stop. Tired, and bucking strong headwinds is exactly when I need a cadence count. This kind of flaky performance is NOT, NOT, NOT acceptable and must be fixed.

On the other hand, it's very accurate, it survived a training ride crash with flying colors, and familiar now with the controls and operation I appreciate a lot of the small things - like the lower right button being used to step through the kind of data needed during a ride. When mounted on the right side of the handlebar stem this means you can still grip the handlebar firmly with your right hand and step through the data displays with just your thumb pressing forward. Aside from a fix for the infuriating lack of reliability, a nice feature that could be easily added would be crank rotations per ride calculated as average cadence times number of minutes, or the actual count of cadence triggers. This would be exactly analogous to steps on a pedometer. I have not used this device at night - yet. Can this device's firmware be updated? If not, why not?

Finally, I remounted the cadence sensor with the O-ring AND a single zip tie. I worry about twisting out of my pedals and knocking the sensor off with my heel. I also worry about it growing legs and walking off when I'm not looking. It's requires a bit of finesse to use both mounting systems together, but didn't budge in a 20mph crash.

UPDATE III: 6/9/2008
I changed the battery in the main unit and all of the flaky errors seem to have disappeared. These batteries are pretty cheap so I wish Sigma would just ship the computer without the batteries and cut the price $5. I had a problem with the speed sensor getting out of position relative to its trigger. I don't know if the sensor slipped down the fork on a sheen of Carnuba wax or if my mechanic moved the trigger on the spoke when he trued the wheels. In either case, if the speed indicator is acting up, keep this simple check in mind.

I'd really like way-points on my computer so I can record the time and distance to significant points on my training rides - like how far to the next water and bathroom. Right now I have about 20 way-points I build rides out of by mixing and matching. It would be a lot easier to do this if I could press a button and say "record all my ride stats at this point". Temp would be nice too, but I have that function in a cheap Casio watch, so not really missing that much.

UPDATE IV: 8/3/2008
Quite unexpectedly, I've now found a use for MINIMUM speed. I built a gear chart in Excel that gives gear ratios and speed based on average cadence. (another great use of the average cadence number this computer provides - in addition to torque * cadence to compute power output) So what low gears do I need for the kind of climbs I've started doing? Ummm, I don't know exactly because I don't have minimum speed or cadence. If I had minimum speed I could use a target cadence and compute the required gearing. As a general rule, if it CAN be calculated, then please do so. Somebody is going to find a good use for it.

UPDATE V: 9/9/2008
Down-shifting early, and spinning out the approach to a short hill, I glanced at the computer and got a cadence of 102 after having slowed down a bit. What was my max cadence for the ride? Who knows. One more thing this could easily accumulate and display (oh for the lack of a few 16 bit registers...sigh). Cadence, both max and min, matter a lot when working to optimize your gearing and shifting. This would be at least as useful as the up and down arrow display to indicate whether you are above or below average speed - which is only meaningful if you are riding on flat terrain. Such an arrow would be a lot more useful for cadence, which should be fairly constant no matter the terrain, or wind.

I've only ridden once with this, but it's as promised (though I bought it elsewhere), wireless speed & wireless cadence.

The only real negative I've had is mounting the speed transmitter on my front fork. It's an aero design and I had a tricky time getting it close enough to the spokes without it having a tendency to either fall into or away from the spokes, depending on orientation. I did use a bit of duct tape rolled backwards to increase the friction on the fork, though that wasn't really necessary, as the maiden ride showed that it is sufficiently on the fork. Otherwise, mounting options are good. It fits stem or handlebar orientations. The speed transmitter claims a max range of 30 cm, but it is actually further than that.

It has only two display lines, unfortunately. One is always speed. The other can be stop watch, cadence, average cadence, average speed, etc. The computer supports two bikes (if they have separate transmitters, you need simply to move the comp to the second bike and it picks up automatically).

Although its speed reading is in .5 increments, which I thought would be a problem, its trip distance and average speed both go to 1/100th of a mile, which is fantastic (overall odometer over multiple trips is at the single mile increment). There is a down or up arrow if you're currently substantially below/above average speed. If within about 1 mph, there is a black square by your speed.

It appears that the cadence does not turn on unless the speed is going, so I don't think that this would work on a trainer for cadence unless you had its speed setup to run off the back wheel (which it lacks the range for). When you stop moving, the thing pauses. When you start moving, it starts again--no need to press a button or anything.

The night feature is cool if one rides at night (most don't!).

If you want double wireless, this appears to be the cheapest computer with that, and it has a solid set of functions.

*EDIT* In fact, this works just fine with cadence-only. I just had it on my trainer and confirmed it; the front wheel does not need to spin for the computer to function.

I have been using this device for about a month now. At first I was very happy. Installing it was a breeze and I couldn't find a problem. I have recently moved to a urban area with long traffic lights. I find that if I'm stopped at a traffic light for a few minutes, or take a small break during my ride, the wireless connection is broken between the computer and the sensors. Once the connection is broken I haven't found a way to reestablish the connection.

This is my first wireless computer. I do not know if this is a common problem.

The first Sigma I got from Amazon seemed like refurbished. Its buttons were not ok, the counters were not in zero, the protection film was not in the correct place. Amazon replaced it promptly with another one that seems like new.

Installation was a breeze. Very easy and quick. Menu buttons are easy to use too. I bought the cadence kit and it works great with this computer. There are a few things that could be improved:

1) On some occasions the computer shows 0 speed though you are moving (and fast) and then it resumes showing the correct speed. I checked the distance between the magnets and also with the computer and things are correct. I adjusted distances and now the problem seldom occurs but it still happens.

2) Watch out! This product does not include the cadence kit. I must have misread the product descriptions since I missed that and ended up buying it separately. Still with Amazon's best price I ended up paying a very good deal.

3) Speed is always displayed at the top and you can only change what is displayed at the bottom. This is not of a big deal to me but it could be to you.

Bottom line: I recommend this product considering its price, features and quality.

Had good results using this. Easy to read, does a good job of minimizing screen clutter. The twist-on/off snap attachment works very well. So far, I'd had no wireless problems with the speed and cadence transmitters, but the rubberband ties for the cadence sensor often slips. They do provide cable ties as well though, so this is a minor problem. The cadence sensor is also more finicky for me, it needs less clearance for it to work than the speed sensor.

If you toggle between the two kmph/mph modes, however, the existing distances saved in the memory will NOT convert.

The front bezel scratches easily, especially if you take it off and on your bike often. The buttons can be hard to press sometimes, as they don't feel as positive as I would have liked. The speed readings are divided by .5 kmh/mph intervals. The backlight feature is adequate enough, but don't expect crystal-clear backlighting with this.

I had little difficulty locating the sensor and magnet in their correct locations on the wheel, but I thought that the setup of the computer was confusing. Also, I worry that if I hit the wrong button I will switch from English to French or some other language. I guess this is part of the learning curve. On the other hand, the large readout numbers are a boon for my deteriorating eyesight and make the setup problems only a minor annoyance.

I decided to purchase one of these for an alterative to my stardard MPH and milage guage for my motorcycle. I finally got the space and connections correct and it seems to work. A front motorcycle tire is a bit odd, compaired to a bicycle tire - size and travel. The speed has been off about 5-9 MPH slow and I will need to mess around with the tire size setup to dial it in. Should not be a problem.........

But...... for milege, trip odometer, clock, light and other calculations, this unit should work close enough for what I'm looking for. I'm glad they sell replacment parts (sensors, etc) here for this bike computer !!

almost impossible to attach the front fork sensor, I would not reccommend this otherwise excellent product for the new carbon road bikes.

I generally like this computer but have had a few issues with it:

1. I had issues with the original magnet and the Ksyrium SL spokes; a magnet replacement is fairly cheap and easy though.

2. The cadence reading maximum is 180rpm. On the trainer I do warm-up sprints above this, but for some time thought that my legs just weren't moving fast.

3. I always forget which button to press and hold for resetting.

4. The batteries only lasted 11 months.