Sigma Sport PC 7

Price Paid:  $29.00 at Nashbar

Bike Setup:
Orbea Mitis 2

Summary:
PC must stand for Pretty Cheap, you get what you pay for. This monitor is constantly dropping the signal from the chest strap. It is extremely annoying trying to use this in training. I've almost thrown this on the side of the road so a car would mercifully end its existence.

Strengths:
cheap and ugly blue color.

Weaknesses:
bad reception, or signal. Really annoying.

Price Paid:  $0.00

Bike Setup:
Which bike? Two road bikes, two mtbs, one cross bike. They're setup with pedals AND seats. Woo-hoo!

Summary:
First, Sigmasport as a company ROCKS. They give the kind of service you dream about. Lost a chest pickup? They sent me a new one. After three years my PC-6 broke (probably my fault) and they sent me a PC-7. Out of date, but brand new.

On to the device itself. It works. It has a stopwatch, upper and lower limits and an alarm. REALLY what more do you need? Polar's clever marketing ("This cheap one is for beginners only...") may convince you that you need multiple zone alarms but man, if you can't monitor your heart rate without them you're not paying attention to your workout.

Unlike a lot of other reviewers, I can't stand the way Polars start counting as soon as they get a signal. I know how to start and stop a stopwatch, thank you very much.

Strengths:
- Bulletproof
- Has everything you need
- Stopwatch starts when I start it, not when it picks up a signal (I HATE that...)

Weaknesses:
Body is a little big, but the newer models look slimmer

Similar Products Used:
Sigma PC-6, Ciclosport Alpin 4 (complete garbage), Polar 720 (love the altitude and power features, but the HRM functions are, gasp, better on this inexpensive Sigma)

Price Paid:  $75.00 at Andrew Bicycle and F

Favorite Ride:
All

Bike Setup:
Giant OCR3, carbon fork, carbon seat post, Wellgo clipless, SDG Bel-Air seat, Mavic CXP wheels

Summary:
Even though the monitor/watch is less than attractive the unit seems to work very well. Not too many features and the set-up was easy.

Strengths:
Simplicity. It works.

Weaknesses:
Not as stylish as some (Nike Triax)