Fun & Fitness over 50

There are two things I dread, income tax time and changing my bike computer.

You may recall I have been having trouble with my bike computer. It keeps counting time and miles even when I stop riding, raising havoc with my average speed numbers. It thinks the wheels are still turning when they're not.

For father's day, I got a new one, a Sigma BC1606 DTS. The good news is, it's a different make and model than my old one. The bad news is, it's a different make and model than my old one. Therein lies the dread. I have to figure out how to install and use another bike computer.

This wouldn't be quite so bad but for the skimpy documentation, another of my pet peeves. It's all done in pictures. What little text there is has been translated into all 42,806 languages there are in the world. I'll be half way into trying to read a sentence before I realize I'm not on the English page.

This model happens to be a wireless one for both speed and cadence so I thought this would make it neater and easier and it does to a point.

It took some prolonged looking, at the components and then at the pictures and then back again. Sigma uses rubber O-rings, essentially elastic bands on steroids, to fasten their components to the bike although, to their credit, they provide the option to use wire ties. And I'm glad they did.
The O-rings are much quicker and easier than the wire ties ... when they work. Plus, if you need to fiddle with the positioning of the magnets and sensors (and believe me you do!) it's also much easier to do.

I hooked everything up and then spun the cranks and the front wheel to test. The cadence worked right out of the gate. No problem there. The speed sensor took a little fiddling to get it to work ... and then it didn't work ... more fiddling. Finally got it and went back inside to read more of the documentation ... how to work the functions. I saw that I was supposed to have used the thicker, more sturdy O-ring for the speed sensor so ... back outside. I tried to get the thick O-ring to fit the groove in the speed transmitter but it didn't seem right so I decided to use the wire ties.

Now of course, it didn't work again. More fiddling. Finally got it. I hope it stays working!

Now I have to familiarize myself with the functions and buttons on the new computer.

More dread.

I hope this thing is worth it!