I have been speeding around on a new bike this weekend, a cheap-o fixed gear I picked up in order to study for the Gadget Lab build-a-fixie project. I’m hooked — it’s so much fun riding the thing. Inevitably, I started wondering just how fast I was going, and also how much ground I was covering on my long trips around town. I decided to take a look at cheap cycle computers.
I picked the Sigma 1106L DTS, a choice based entirely on a balance between price and availability (it was in my local store and cost just €30). Actually, the tiny size and white color were also factors — I wouldn’t want to ruin the clean lines of the bike, would I?
The computer is only barely worthy of that name: You get a minimum
of information — speed, distance traveled and time riding — but this is
all I need. Anyone wanting cadence information, heart rate monitors,
GPS or other fancy functions will need to look elsewhere, and you’ll
need to visit an ATM along the way — prices go up fast.
The DTS part of the name stands for Digital Transmission System,
which means that this sucker is wireless. No wires means easy removal
and no hideous cable-mess. It also means two batteries (thin CR2032s),
but they’re lithium so they should last a while.
Fitting is easy. There are three main sections. A magnet which
screws onto the spokes, a transmitter which counts the revolutions and
a head-unit that sits up-top on the handlebars. The transmitter fixes
on with a rubber band, which is supplied and looks something like a
black o-ring. The head unit clicks into a plastic bracket which is also
attached by rubber band, but which also has a sticker pad and can stay
on permanently.
The setup is a bit of a pain. The computer comes from a German
company and is supplied in German. After switching to English
(following the confusing multi-lingual instructions) you can choose kph
or mph, set the time (annoyingly, if you choose mph you get a 12-hour
clock. 24-hour is only for those outside the US and UK, it seems) and
tell the unit your wheel circumference. This last is important, and
means that the computer only has to count revolutions to work out
distance, which in turn means that you can put the magnet and
transmitter box any distance from the center of the wheel. There’s a
handy table to find out the sizes you need from reading the markings on
your tires.
You can also use the computer with two bikes, although you’ll need
to spring for another transmitter. You can pick a wheel size for each
and then swap the head unit back and forth between bikes and it will
automatically know which is which. Of course, you could do this
manually, but that’s kind of a pain.
Once set up, operation is easy. The top edge has the Set and Reset
buttons. Reset you’ll need, Set you won’t (it’s just to access the main settings menu). On the front bottom is the
Mode button, which cycles between the following: Trip Distance, Trip
Time, Average Speed, Max Speed, Clock, Total Odometer and Total Time.
All of these keep the current speed showing in the top corner. The
display isn’t back-lit, but it’s clear enough to be read from the
saddle, and the Max Speed reading means you don’t have to be staring at
it when you’re speeding down a hill.
The easy to setup and remove design is great, and although the
rubber bands feel a little weak when you stretch them on, they hold up
well in practice. Unless you want to keep the lines of the bike super
sleek, I’d recommend using the sticky pad to affix the head unit,
otherwise it bounces around when you press buttons. Both sections feel
well made — light but solid — and the top unit has already been dropped
a few times and still works fine. Swapping modes on the fly is easy,
but pointless as you can review all the information later.
For me, this is a huge tech step up. My last odometer was an analog
fork-mounted box which got clicked forward by a pin on the spoke. And I
never had a speedometer before, although my school friends used huge
motorbike-style dials hooked up to wheel-rubbing spindles, proving that
quantum physics isn’t the only place where measurement affects the
outcome. Price around $50.
Product page [Sigma]
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