GPS giant Garmin has two new cycling products: a top-end Edge 1030 GPS computer with a 3.5-inch hi-res touchscreen and a claimed 20-hour battery life, and Vector 3 power-meter pedals that do away with the dangling pods of their predecessors.
With the $599 / £499.99 Edge 1030, Garmin addressed a few complaints like battery life some riders had of the Edge 1000, and added a few new features like Trendline, which shows popularity routing on the map based on what Garmin claims to be billions of logged ride data from Garmin Connect.
The Edge 1030 can also send prewritten messages like “I’m almost there” to other riders without you having to pull out the phone.
Edge 1030 highlights
- 3.5-inch color touchscreen that works with gloves and in the wet
- Ambient light sensors auto-adjust brightness
- Claimed 20 hours of battery life, plus 24 more with battery pack attached under mount
- Garmin Cycle Map gives turn-by-turn directions with sharp-curve alert
- Rider-to-rider messages between Garmin 1030 users
Know where locals ride, and where your friends are
Following from Wahoo’s similar live track feature on its Elemnt computers, Garmin has offered GroupTrack on its recent Edge computers that shows your riding friends on screen — provided that you and said friends all have newer Edge computers tethered to smartphones.
Once set up, GroupTrack shows your riding companions as color-coded dots on the map, which could be helpful when meeting up or getting split up on unfamiliar roads.
What’s new is Trendline Popularity Routing, where the 1030 will highlight routes used most often by cyclists. So, as you come to intersections, the 1030 will show the way most riders go.
Another new feature is rider-to-rider messaging, where you can send preset messages like “Hey, I’m running late. Be there ASAP!” As with GroupTrack, this requires both parties using smartphone-tethered computers.
Big screen, even bigger battery life
The Edge 1000 has a 3-inch screen; the Edge 1010 has a 3.5-inch screen that Garmin says is sharper than previous iterations.
Perhaps most notable is the massive battery life — a claimed 20 hours top possible running time that can be extended by an additional 24 hours when you clip a separately sold battery pack to the bottom of the 1030 mount.
Running navigation and full-screen brightness will decrease battery life, but the 1030 also has a battery-save mode where the screen goes black when not actively being used.
Preloaded apps from Strava, TrainingPeaks
While the Edge 520 and 820 can use Strava Segments for real-time tracking of your performance versus your PR, your friend’s PR or the KOM/QOM, the 1030 adds the newest Strava Routes Connect IQ app that lets you navigate a route while also chasing a Strava time.
The TrainingPeaks CIQ app automatically loads each day’s workout onto the computer if you are a TrainingPeaks subscriber following a training plan. This is handy if you are religiously following the plan, but you can’t jump ahead or back to other workouts; only that day’s workout shows up.
BikeRadar's Matthew Allen gives his thoughts on the Edge 1030
Garmin Vector 3 highlights
- Single- (3s) and dual-sided (3) power-measuring options
- No pods
- Claimed +/- 1% accuracy
- ANT+ and Bluetooth
- Installs with standard pedal wrench, not Allen wrench
More accuracy, more batteries
The first two generations of Garmin's Vector power-meter pedals used pods that wrapped around the pedal spindle to house 2032 coin batteries and sensors. The new Vector 3 and 3S pedals do away with the pods, and instead use LR44 and SR44 batteries inside the pedals.
This brings battery life down to a claimed 120 hours from 175, but also does away with the ugly and sometime fragile pods.
Garmin claims its $999 / £849.99 Vector 3 and $599 / £499.99 Vector 3S power meters are more precise than the Vector 2, as +/-1% instead of +/-2%.
The Vector 3 and 3S also now work on Bluetooth as well as ANT+.
Stack height increased to 11.5mm from 10.5, but cornering clearance improved to 31.7 degrees from 30.6.
Claimed weight is 316g per pair of the dual-sided Vector 3 and 324g per pair of the single-sided Vector 3S.
The 3S measures power and cadence, while the Vector 3 measures power, cadence, left/right balance, seated/standing time and where on the pedal you produce power.
