Sigma Rox 9.0
On paper this is the mother of all cycle computers. As well as the usual parameters (wireless cadence, speed, distance), it measures heart rate, temperature, altitude, gradient, total ascent/descent and can probably predict what your mum’s cooking for dinner.
It interfaces with a PC via a USB connection and software supplied for ‘easy’ analysis. In theory it’s amazing, but in reality it feels over-complicated. As a cycle computer it works well: wireless sensors are reliable in transmission (although the shape of the speed mount didn’t like the shape of our fairly normal carbon forks) and having loads of information at your disposal retains your interest. But some of the onscreen data is hard to read due to its compact size, and the heart rate monitor took a while to pick up a signal. This is also non-compatible with Polar or Garmin chest straps, so for bike/run sessions that would, annoyingly, mean changing transmitter midway through.
The download software works well enough and doesn’t require the brains of a Grand Master to set up. But whether or not you’d want to analyse your rides in such microscopic detail, only you can say.
At £250 it feels very expensive, especially as there are GPS devices available at a similar price point, so it may struggle to compete on that level.
Contact : Madison www.madison.co.uk
Matt Baird
Editor of Cycling Plus magazine 
