Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Sigma ROX 9.0--long term use and comparison notes

The Sigma Rox 9.0 bike computer has been available in the U.S. for about a year now. I've had one for just under that time and thought I would discuss some long term impressions of this powerful device.

While it will never have GPS capability, the ROX 9.0 has two things the Garmin 705 will never have: long battery life and temperature readings in tenths of a degree. These two features alone should sway some savvy shoppers to the Sigma device.

Other important advantages over other bike computers: data not lost during the annual battery change; system does not reset when leaving the bike for a coffee break; and night backlighting.

On the down side, the Sigma has this fault: the stopwatch will only display with the speedometer. Although heart rate, altitude, slope, and cadence normally display at all times, this area of the screen is replaced by the back and stop functions in stopwatch mode.

When time trialing, a rider wants to know his heart rate and elapsed time at a single glance. Can't do it with this computer. See the following photos to understand:

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_3FatgQj9IM8/Sz7O3xUNunI/AAAAAAAACBo/1SRl0U7E0WY/CIMG3355.JPG

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_3FatgQj9IM8/Sxn6RG9zTuI/AAAAAAAAAV4/cEGlCDWtfcw/CIMG3046.JPG

Also, I find it quite tough to obtain normal slope summary information on my PC. If the bike is lifted up slightly when taking a rest break, the "min/max" slope and "average" slope values are affected. However, even during a section of a ride with no rest break, average slope is most often reported incorrectly. See the attached zoomed in section of a century with unreasonable average slope (inclination) values:

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_3FatgQj9IM8/Sz7gMk1YR4I/AAAAAAAACDs/cIS2pJZ0NJw/sigma.jpg

18% average uphill is not correct. I have reported this error to Sigma months ago. Still waiting for a correction to software.

I've been using one since May. September. It's an awesome device. But it definitely has room for improvement.

Software
- On the ride view, it would be nice if it would mark a secondary axis on the right.
- The software doesn't have anything in the way of tracking longterm progess.
- There is no way to add waypoints from the software, only on the ride.
- Allow me to designate waypoints to altimeter sync points and rescale the climbing graph to make things more accurate for when barometric pressure changes during the ride.

Hardware
- Allow me to customize the 4 data items on the top ribbon.
- Allow me to display 2-4 data items on the bottom ribbon.
- Give me more Altimeter calibration points and allow me to name them.
- Let me customize the amount of time the
- Record a 1 minute average cadence in logs so I can get some sense of how I'm respoding to climbs.


As far as GPS goes, from everything I read Garmin is nowhere near perfect. No one else makes a competing unit and it seems to me that there is a market opportunity for another company to make GPS cycling computers. Garmin is releasing a Rox 9.0 type unit that has no mapping capbilities. Just tracking. This would be a good place to start. I'm hoping to see a Rox10.0 GPS next year.

My Garmin 305 GPS isn't perfect for sure, but it's remarkably good for cycling. (I have the Forerunner, not the Edge.) It's actually extremely accurate on the bike since distances traveled are greater than on foot. I actually can't criticize my Forerunner's GPS at all on the bike - my only minor complaints have to do with its form factor and screen layouts.

The Garmin 305 Forerunner + Cadence/Speed sensor (optional - GPS will work 100% without it) is the same price as the Rox, as well. Not bad for wireless HRM, GPS, stopwatch capabilities, and when using SportTracks, accurate "corrected" altitude for your entire route based on the GPS map data and online altitude maps.

I've been using one since May. September. It's an awesome device. But it definitely has room for improvement.

Software
- On the ride view, it would be nice if it would mark a secondary axis on the right.
- The software doesn't have anything in the way of tracking longterm progess.
- There is no way to add waypoints from the software, only on the ride.
- Allow me to designate waypoints to altimeter sync points and rescale the climbing graph to make things more accurate for when barometric pressure changes during the ride.

Hardware
- Allow me to customize the 4 data items on the top ribbon.
- Allow me to display 2-4 data items on the bottom ribbon.
- Give me more Altimeter calibration points and allow me to name them.
- Let me customize the amount of time the
- Record a 1 minute average cadence in logs so I can get some sense of how I'm respoding to climbs.


As far as GPS goes, from everything I read Garmin is nowhere near perfect. No one else makes a competing unit and it seems to me that there is a market opportunity for another company to make GPS cycling computers. Garmin is releasing a Rox 9.0 type unit that has no mapping capbilities. Just tracking. This would be a good place to start. I'm hoping to see a Rox10.0 GPS next year.

I like your thoughts and passion for accuracy. Named altimeter calibration points could help both vertically and laterally. You could in effect stake out your ride for input into a mapping program.

Customizing the top and bottom ribbons would really be wonderful, especially if one could time and view a constant heart rate race against the clock with a dual heart rate/stopwatch display.

I also think we need a master start button that sets your altimeter, resets your "Favourites" (sic) and starts your logbook.

These hardware changes are major, but fixing the software bugs just requires smart people who understand our needs and can write the code.

ROX 10.0 GPS with long life batteries would really challenge Garmin. Go Sigma!

Longer term, I'm disappointed by the Rox 9.0. I really wished I had gone for the Garmin 305.

On the hardware side, the battery life IS excellent. However, I plug the Rox into my computer so often that I'm not sure it matters.

The mount on the cadence is pretty lousy. I've snapped two of them. Luckily, they snapped where I could find them.

The computer itself looses contact with it's mount far too often. The best cure I've found so far is saliva. The main button on the computer itself is finicky. It's often hard to get waypoints to register. The paint on the button itself and the heartrate strap is peeling off.

The new software has nice long term tracking features. But data importation is still cludgy. And there are still serious issues with consistency between logs and trips. The new axis on the software has a fixed altitude. So if you ride in somewhere "non-mountainous" your hill climbs will barely register. And the whole graphing feature becomes useless.

Vs. Garmin where there are options for tracking runs as well as cycling, Sigma comes up empty. When one invests a lot of money into a computer system, you want options and there are none on the Sigma side.

It's still a good computer. There are some issues that Sigma is not working out. I'm inclined to switch to Garmin.

The Garmin 305 is just hard to beat for the price.

Longer term, I'm disappointed by the Rox 9.0. I really wished I had gone for the Garmin 305.

On the hardware side, the battery life IS excellent. However, I plug the Rox into my computer so often that I'm not sure it matters.

The mount on the cadence is pretty lousy. I've snapped two of them. Luckily, they snapped where I could find them.

The computer itself looses contact with it's mount far too often. The best cure I've found so far is saliva. The main button on the computer itself is finicky. It's often hard to get waypoints to register. The paint on the button itself and the heartrate strap is peeling off.

The new software has nice long term tracking features. But data importation is still cludgy. And there are still serious issues with consistency between logs and trips. The new axis on the software has a fixed altitude. So if you ride in somewhere "non-mountainous" your hill climbs will barely register. And the whole graphing feature becomes useless.

Vs. Garmin where there are options for tracking runs as well as cycling, Sigma comes up empty. When one invests a lot of money into a computer system, you want options and there are none on the Sigma side.

It's still a good computer. There are some issues that Sigma is not working out. I'm inclined to switch to Garmin.

Since the ROX 9.0 has been on the market, Garmin has come out with the Edge 500 and now the Edge 800. Sigma has only updated the software and come out with another color. Not much in this competitive market.

I strongly agree with two of your points: the silver finish on the heart rate strap and computer wears off over time and the new software altitude axis always starts at zero. Imagine if this were done with the Dow Jones Average graph--100 point swings would look like mere blips.

The computer does become loose after repeated removals from the mount. To fix this I just put a piece of electrical tape on the back. My cadence sensor mount and magnet work well, but I frequently need to reset the computer in its mount to make both cadence and heart rate pickup.

In Sigma's defense, when I last rode in the mountains with my group, a Garmin user called out the incline during a moderate climb. His instantaneous numbers were much higher than my steady, more believable ROX 9.0 display. I still believe that the computer display data along with trip data are averaged over a longer period than the 5 second logbook data I record. This may account for minor differences in max incline, speed, and total distance.

All in all, I still enjoy having the device and look forward to another software update.