Like with most Garmin products that tack on a ‘Plus’ designator, the changes from the Edge 1030 to the Edge 1030 Plus aren’t earth-shattering. In fact, the Edge 1030 received overwhelmingly more changes last summer when it got a massive firmware update sweep of features from the then new Edge 530 & Edge 830. Still, this unit does have some minor new features that fill in some of the cracks. And ultimately, if you were looking to get an Edge 1030, then just like with a new model year Apple product, you’ll take the minor changes over not.
Still, the Edge 1030 Plus changes aren’t throwaway either. There’s now a streamlined setup process that’ll migrate your old Edge settings and sensors (even from an Edge 1000), plus you’ve now (finally) got free global detailed maps for anywhere you go (except Asia). And the LiveTrack now will actually show your route to the friends/family you share it with. Plus lots of minor changes like re-routing quick-select options when you go off-course, and increased storage up to 32GB. And finally, new daily suggested structured workouts based on your training load.
All of which you can get the full details on in one super efficient video by hitting play below:
I’ve been using the Edge 1030 Plus for all my rides since last month, and I’ve got a pretty good handle on how exactly it works and whether these changes are worth the extra cash for an upgrade from an older Garmin (the price remains the same as the Edge 1030 at $599USD). As usual, this media loaner Edge 1030 Plus will go back to Garmin once I wrap up here with it, and then I’ll go out and get my own. If you found this review useful, simply hit up the links at the bottom of the page. Or, become a DCR Supporter (also, at the bottom).
With that, let’s dive into it!
What’s new:
Now, I’m going to actually split this list in two. Mostly because it’s plausible (likely in fact), that someone looking at an older Edge 1030 review (even mine), might assume that a bunch of the features of the Edge 1030 Plus aren’t on the base Edge 1030. In fact, they are. They were just added last summer, nearly two years after the Edge 1030 came out.
So, this first list is the differences compared to a fully updated Edge 1030 unit today. In other words, if you just compared an up to date Edge 1030 to the new Edge 1030 Plus, what’s different:
– Now black instead of white: Just like the Bontrager Edge 1030 was, except this says Garmin instead of Bontrager
– *New setup routine: Sensors from your older Garmin unit are automatically imported for you on first use
– *New setup routine: Ride profiles and data fields from your older Garmin unit are automatically imported for you
– Now includes detailed maps for *ANYWHERE* you travel to (all regions…except Asia), free, inclusive of Topo data.
– Now includes Trailforks app pre-loaded (with full Trailforks data sets included)
– Now includes ForkSight, previous Edge 1030 update didn’t include this specifically
– New daily on-device workout suggestions based on training load
– New pause-route option (when you go freestyle off a course)
– New off-course re-route selection options
– *LiveTrack will now show the course/route that you’re on to your friends/family (whoever you’ve shared the route to)
– Onboard Storage size has been increased from 16GB to 32GB
– MicroSD card expansion slot has been removed (since you’ve got tons of on-board storage space)
– Beeper/Chirper an eff-ton louder (and a bit different)
– Up to 48 hours of GPS-on run time in a basic configuration, 36 in mid, and 24-hours in high navigation/sensor configuration
– New display/touchscreen to match that of the technology used on the Edge 830
– New Sony GPS Chipset (to match most other Garmin devices since 2019)
*These features will come to the existing Edge 1030, Edge 530, and Edge 830 later this year in Q4.
Now everything else you know about the Edge 1030 remains the same. The above are the only differences I’ve been able to find (or were told about).
As for the setup routine transfer bits, that’s actually pretty interesting. I’ll dig into it below, but in short, recent firmware updates for virtually every mid-range or higher Garmin Edge unit made in the last 6 years supports this. Specifically the Edge 1000, 1030, 520, 520 Plus, 530, 820, and 830.
Next though, we’ve got what is roughly the differences since release of the Edge 1030. This is somewhat of a throw-away list for users familiar with these products, but if you’re again coming from older reviews, it’s useful to understand what was added to the Edge 1030 from the Edge 530/830 series last year (via free firmware updates):
– Added ClimbPro: Automatically shows how much distance/elevation remains for each climb on route
– Added Mountain Bike Metrics: Shows Grit, Flow, and Jump details on both unit and Garmin Connect
– Added Heat Acclimation: Will automatically take into account heat/humidity for performance/recovery metrics
– Added Altitude Acclimation: Will automatically take into account (high) elevation for performance/recovery metrics
– Added Training Plan API support: This includes a redesigned structured workout execution page
– Added Courses API Support: This allows course/route downloads automatically from partners like Strava & Komoot
– Added Hydration/Nutrition Smart Alerts: When using a course/route, it’ll automatically figure out how much water/calories you should be taking
– Added Hydration/Nutrition Tracking: It allows you to record this data in ride summary screens and log it on Garmin Connect
– Added Performance Power Curve: This shows you your mean maximal power over different durations/time frames (like many training sites)
– Added Bike Alarm Feature: Used for cafes/bathroom stops, emits loud alarm if bike is moved
– Added ‘Find my Edge’ feature: Automatically record exact GPS location on your phone if Edge is disconnected (in case unit pops off)
– Added Training Plan Weather/Gear Tips: Basically tells you to HTFU when it’s cold out
Again, nothing on that list there is new to the Edge 1030 Plus. It’s simply making it clear that all those features that you might see marketed as Edge 1030 Plus features are also there on the Edge 1030 already today.
Ok, with that sweeping overview done, let’s dive into how to use it.
The Basics:
In general I tend to skip over some of the setup aspects of devices these days since it’s trivial and repetitive (assuming no issues). But with the Edge 1030 Plus it’s notable because it’s a major shift for Garmin away from the past. It’s also an area that historically Wahoo has done SO MUCH better than Garmin (and a key thing people cite as to why they switched to a Wahoo unit over a Garmin).
So this time around I’m gonna talk about it, again, cause it’s finally different. Which isn’t to say its perfect, but it’s an improvement. With the Edge 1030 Plus the setup process will do two key things:
A) It’ll import all your old screens/data field configuration from past Garmin Edge devices
B) It’ll import all your paired sensors automatically
How it does this is actually pretty interesting. With the first one, Garmin has released a firmware update for the following devices (Edge 520, Edge 520 Plus, Edge 530, Edge 820 Edge 830, Edge 1000, Edge 1030, Bontrager Edge 1030) quietly over the last month that enables those devices to be compatible with the Edge 1030 Plus setup process. So after you order your Edge 1030 Plus, go and update your older bike computer first and do a ride (even if just a few seconds) so that it’ll sync that data up.
As for sensors, those too are already happening in the background. Garmin will automatically pull in any paired sensors from the last 365 days of uploads to Garmin Connect – up to the maximum number of sensors the Edge 1030 Plus supports (30 total).
Here’s how this all looks in the real-world. First, it’ll pull in all your sensors found on Garmin Connect in the last 365 days.
In my case with all the device testing I do, that means it punches itself in the #$#@. But after it’s done doing that, it does indeed pull down the most recent 30 sensors paired. For normal humans, that’ll more than cover your situations. Also, it’ll even include whatever you named those sensors too (for example my PowerTap P2 pedals are named ‘P2’, and my second set of PowerTap pedals on the Peloton bike are named ‘54715p3’, because when I named them many months ago one random night – that made sense in my head.
Lucky, you don’t see the Favero Assioma pedals in this list, because those are literally named ‘Ass pedals’, since that’s the shortest thing to type on this display.
This is a one-time pull, so if you update the sensor’s names on other bike computers it won’t pull them in here the next time. Again, that’s fine for 99.99% of people.
Next, as you go through the setup process it’ll ask you if you want to copy in your activity profiles:
So you’ll see my main activity profile is named as such immediately after setup:
Now, with that all set let’s take a step back on the basics. The Edge 1030 Plus is a touch-screen driven unit with three dedicated buttons. One on the side for power, and then two at the bottom for stop/start, and lap.
The touchscreen is improved over the existing Edge 1030, and is now using the same touchscreen tech as the Edge 830 (which, some 14 months later people seem pretty darn happy with). However, just to demonstrate this, I took it out in the rain…and you can see the footage of that in the video at the start of this post.
On the bottom, you’ll find the same old tired micro-USB port. No USB-C here folks. I’m convinced they must ban shipments of USB-C ports to Kansas or something.
On the main dashboard of the touchscreen are the main features. To start a ride you’d tap the big bike icon. Right now you see ‘DCR Road’, which indicates that’s the activity profile I’ve named. These profiles let you group settings together (such as data fields or how the map looks, hydration/nutrition settings, and a gazillion other features).
You can create numerous activity profiles called anything you want with color coding:
Inside each activity profile you can make those aforementioned settings. Here’s a small survey of those settings:
Speaking of settings, there’s more general settings as well. These control things like sensors, safety features such as crash detection/notification, battery save modes, and even recording rates or HRV recording. It’s mostly dizzying what’s in here. Again, another gallery of various settings.
Since we’re talking settings and sensors, I’ll briefly dive into that. The Edge 1030 Plus supports pretty much every ANT+ & Bluetooth Sensor type in the fitness world for cycling, specifically the following:
ANT+ Cadence only sensors
ANT+ Edge Remote
ANT+ eBike
ANT+ Heart Rate
ANT Garmin inReach Devices (satellite messenger/communicator)
ANT+ Bike Lighting Control
ANT+ Power Meters
ANT+ Radar
ANT+ Gear Shifting (SRAM RED eTAP, Campagnolo EPS)
ANT Shimano DI2
ANT+ Speed/Cadence combo sensors
ANT+ Speed only sensors
ANT+ Varia Vision (aka remote displays)
ANT VIRB Action Cam
Bluetooth Smart Cadence only sensors
Bluetooth Smart Heart Rate
Bluetooth Smart Power Meters
Bluetooth Smart Speed/Cadence Combo
Bluetooth Smart Speed-only sensors
Oh, and then you’ve got 3rd party pieces like Muscle Oxygen sensor support via Connect IQ apps as well (for Moxy, and now discontinued BSX devices). Plus other 3rd parties have done other private-ANT implementations via Connect IQ too. Same goes for aerodynamic sensors too.
You can pair and store up to 30 sensors. When you activate the sensor on your bike (usually by just spinning the crank or wheel), it’ll wake up the sensor and automatically connect to it. This sensor pool concept has been around many years and works pretty well, especially when you have multiple bikes.
With Garmin now owning Tacx, it also means they’ve ramped up their trainer control interfaces. Nothing here dramatic, and nothing specific to the Edge 1030 Plus, but we’ve seen Garmin spend much of this winter making minor iterations in each new Edge 530/830/1030 Plus firmware version to better integrate trainers. And in fact, virtually all of these changes are applicable for every model of trainer, not limited to Tacx ones (by doing so via ANT+ FE-C trainer control protocol).
For example, you can now make indoor profiles not start LiveTrack automatically (or not start the lights automatically), or configure the trainer to ride a specific grade (instead of just a given wattage). And then there’s still the abilities to re-ride any route you’ve already ridden, or any route downloaded to the unit that has elevation data in it.
I’ll touch more on structured training later in this review though. Most of the time you’re probably gonna be riding outdoors with it. To do that, you’ll tap the bicycle icon, which takes you to the data fields you’ve configured. Before you do that though, up at the top you can see your current GPS status, sensor status, phone status, and whether or not you graduated high school on the honor roll.
Once in the data screens, you can simply press the start button to begin your ride:
You’ll swipe left and right to change your data screens. You can also long-hold a given data field to swap it out for something else if you want.
The lower left button is your lap button, while the lower right will pause your ride:
From a screen visibility standpoint,I’ve had zero issues seeing the screen. Nor have I seen any downstream impacts/issues with using the newer Edge 830 display technology (nor for that matter have I had any issues with my Edge 830’s display in the last 14 months or so).
Once you’re done with your ride it’ll sync via WiFi or Bluetooth Smart automatically to your phone or home WiFi network. Or, if you plug in your Garmin Edge 1030 Plus it’ll sync via USB with Garmin Express. Or, you can simply grab the completed .FIT file off of it like a USB hard drive. Once that’s done it’ll sync that ride to Garmin Connect and then onwards to platforms like Strava, TrainingPeaks, and more. The world is your oyster there (as long as that oyster isn’t Dropbox, sadly).
On the Garmin Connect Mobile app you can look more deeply at your ride and sensor data:
None of this has changed from any past Garmin device – it all works the same here.
With that, we’ve covered the basics of the Edge 1030 Plus. I’ve got separate sections for Mapping/Navigation, and another for the structured training aspects. Of course, there are so many features on the Edge 1030 Plus it’s impossible to write about them all without publishing an entire book (unless you consider this 10,000+ word review a book). So invariably there’s some aspect of the unit I didn’t cover here. I try and test and use the devices just like any other person and that includes the features I use personally. And just like you, I probably won’t use every feature combination personally (nobody could, there’s hundreds, if not thousands, of combinations).
But I think the features I do use are most indicative of what most folks use. So, let’s talk mapping.
Mapping & Navigation:
For the most part, the mapping and navigation on the Edge 1030 Plus hasn’t substantially changed. Instead, the changes are more incremental, though – one is a massive new ‘benefit’ – the inclusion of all maps globally (except Asia). When you buy an Edge 1030 Plus you’ll get on the device itself a ‘pair’, of two regions pre-loaded with detailed TopoActive maps. Here’s the listing of SKU’s and pairings:
North America SKU: Includes North America and European maps
Europe SKU: Includes North America and European / Africa maps
Australia/New Zealand SKU: Includes Australia / New Zealand and European / Africa maps
South America SKU: Includes North America and South American maps.
Asia: Now this is a tough nut. Folks from regions OUTSIDE of Asia will not get Asian maps. My assumption is this is due to the character sets loaded, but I’ve asked Garmin for a technical explanation of why this will. Will update when I hear back.
This by itself is a huge deal in the Garmin world. Up until now you only got maps for the region you bought it in. For anything else you had to use 3rd party maps (and you still can if you want). However, those maps lacked the underlying heatmap (aka Trendline Popularity routing) data that’s so useful when you’re out and about and want a faster/better/different route. So the fact that you now get multiple regions pre-loaded is big.
But what’s even bigger is Garmin is finally joining all of their rivals in allowing you to download maps for any region out there. To do that you’ll use a computer (Mac or PC) and the Garmin Express app, which shows you the regions you want. Remember the Edge 1030 Plus got expanded storage, now 32GB instead of 16GB. In general, regions tends to be about 7-9GB.
Here’s what my North America one shows (in this case, Africa falls under the Europe mapset), when I go to the new ‘Manage Maps’ option in Garmin Express:
Note that there isn’t a WiFi-driven option (like with Wahoo, Hammerhead, and Sigma). I’d love to see them offer that eventually. There’s pros and cons to both methods. For example, the WiFi one is great when you’re at home on a WiFi network that doesn’t have an ‘I Accept’ type page. However, that approach entirely breaks if you’re at a hotel, Starbucks, etc, where the bike computer can’t press the “I Accept” button. So in this case as long as you had a computer with you that could connect to WiFi, then you’re golden. Or just remember to add the regions ahead of time.
When it comes to the Edge 1030 Plus, you’ve got a few ways you can route:
– Load a course from a platform like Strava Routes, Komoot, RideWithGPS, or others
– Create a course on Garmin Connect (web or smartphone)
– Enter an address/location/point of interest on the Edge 1030 Plus itself
– Re-ride a past activity as a course on the Edge 1030 Plus
– Wave it around in the sky and hope it gets you somewhere
– Have it generate a ‘Round-Trip Course’ on the fly with a given distance/preferred direction
– Route to a saved location (such as your home/work/etc…)
– Browse the map and navigate to that location
– Leverage TrailForks for mountain bike trails (on-device)
– Manually load a GPX/TCX/FIT file course onto the Edge 1030 Plus
– Route ‘Back to start’ mid-ride
Seriously, there’s so many ways to ride a route/course it’s kinda nuts. And frankly, there’s even variants of the above.
It used to be that the main thing the Edge 10xx series devices had over lesser devices was being able to pick an address/POI/etc and route directly to it on the Edge. However, these days the Edge 830 can do that, and the Edge 530 can do aspects of that too. Instead, for the most part what you’re paying for with the Edge 10xx series is a larger screen.
In my case, I predominantly use Strava Routes for all my routes, though I’ve done a few recent ones with Komoot. One thing to be aware of with Garmin Routes is that *ONLY* Strava routes using the new routing API will include Strava Segments. So, if you use a Komoot route, you won’t get any Strava Live Segments on your Garmin during the ride (they’ll show up afterwards when you upload the ride). This sucks for people that really like other non-Strava mapping platforms but still like Strava Live Segments.
I wrote an entire post just a few weeks ago on how that all works, so I won’t re-hash it. But in short, once you create a route on Strava and then favorite it, it’ll automatically show up on your Edge 1030 Plus as soon as it syncs (via WiFi, Bluetooth, or USB). It won’t pull down previously starred routes though, so you’ll need to unstar and start them to get them to sync to a newly setup Edge 1030 Plus.
Though, there still isn’t any easy/obvious way to tell an already-on Edge to simply grab the latest routes from those platforms (like there is on the Wahoo units). In any case…from there you’ll tap Navigation > Courses > Saved Courses, and choose the course you want:
At this point you can view summary information about the course, as well as the map, elevation data, and even tweak the color of the line.
Note that depending on how big the course is, it won’t show the high detail map until you zoom in a bit, which is kinda weird.
Obviously, being in the city below with lots of canals, it’s kinda hard to see the blue line of the route.
You’ll go ahead and tap the ride button, which will start calculating the route. It won’t actually start your timer yet (but will remind you). Now the calculation is something that Garmin says they’ve significantly improved here, via increasing the processor hardware. Specifically they said it should be in line with the Edge 830 now and significantly faster than the original Edge 1030. It does seem that way in some places, but not others – notably, not in calculating routes though for me, which still takes a long-ass time (like, many minutes).
Garmin says a firmware update that the city-aspect with the extreme density of bike routes in Amsterdam is slowing things down. However, most places won’t see that level of density.
Now, it’s worthwhile noting that you don’t have to wait for it to finish ‘calculating’ the route. You can press start almost immediately and it’ll still give you routing details immediately. It’ll just finish the rest of the course in the background. I tried that on a few routes and it did it just fine.
While you’re riding you’ll get turn by turn directions as you approach a given turn. So you can stay on your normal data fields/pages, and then when you near a turn, it’ll chirp and show you this page – counting down till the turn. Here’s three different looks at that.
After the turn, it’ll go back to your regular data fields. You can also simply keep the map page up the entire time if you want as well:
Now if you go off-course it’ll warn you within usually about 3-5 seconds depending on your speed. However, this is where one of the changes is on the Edge 1030 Plus – the new re-routing and pause navigation options. Once you go off-course, you’ll get three new ‘Re-routing’ options:
A) Re-join where you left the course
B) Skip ahead to the next logical point to re-join course C) Cut across the course to somewhere way downstream
How each of these reacts will depend entirely on your course and where you are. For example, on my ride this morning (which was a wonky lollipop route), I made a purposeful route diversion in the first 60 seconds. The three options thus were quite drastically different, with the rejoin/skip being spot-on as expected, but the ‘Cut Across’ option basically said ‘Let’s call it a day and go home’. And you can’t really fault Garmin here, it’s doing exactly what it says – cut the course (useful on a much longer course when you just need to get home).
Here’s those three screens from today’s ride:
In addition, the new pause navigation option is handy when you might specifically go off-route to a coffee shop and don’t want to be constantly beeped about it. Or, recently I used it when I created a course that led me to a track where I was doing loops for a while. I didn’t want to create that as part of my route, so this allowed me to pause navigation while I did my loops, and then resume it when I was done.
You can see this comes up on any screen you’re o, so you don’t have to be in the map screen. That ‘Re-Route’ button takes you to the three options listed above.
From an overall routing standpoint, I haven’t had any route/re-routing/calculation type failures issues on any of my rides. I’ve purposefully gone off-course numerous times to see how it’d handle (and a few times not on course). In fact, over the last 2-3 weeks I’ve tried planning numerous new routes or portions of routes that I haven’t ever ridden before, just to put it to the test. And I’ve purposefully gone off course so many times I’m sure my LiveTrack following peeps thought I was stupid or drunk (or both).
Zero issues.
But then again, that’s probably not surprising. If we look at the Edge 1030 Garmin Forums, you’ll find over the last 30 days that there are a mere 2 threads related to routing issues (out of hundreds of posts). One thread had no usable detail/information, while the other did, but seemed related to loading additional maps. Point being, routing on these devices is rarely an issue in 2020 – and that’s what I saw.
The main factor that’s probably worth complaining about is more the speed of the display. Compared to the Hammerhead Karoo or Sigma ROX12 units based on Android, it’s substantially slower and less responsive (those act like the phones they are). The challenge is: Is that trade-off worth it?
From a routing standpoint, Garmin’s map layers have consistently performed better for me (especially in edge cases). But sidestepping that, and talking displays, it’s trickier. The Hammerhead Karoo has a stunning display and as you move around with your fingers to see what’s around you, it’s as fast as a phone. Though, it lacks POI (points of interest database) information. Visibility-wise both seem fine to me, no issues in sun or rain. And touch-screen-wise, all companies there have done things that makes that a non-issue (again, even in rain – as seen above).
Of course, the main reason Garmin uses the display technology they do is battery life. Specifically, conservation of it. Garmin claims upwards of 24hrs of runtime on the Edge 1030 Plus. Whereas the Karoo claims 12-15 hours depending on features. Now, whether or not that matters to an individual rider will vary. While the ‘that’s damn pretty’ aspect of me appreciates the Karoo display’s speed, the practical side of me knows that from a routing/re-routing standpoint it hasn’t really mattered any. As anyone in the industry will tell you, Garmin’s real secret sauce at this point is the heatmap (Trendline Popularity routing) data, which basically means taking all the tens of millions of rides that users upload each year to Garmin Connect automatically, and determining the best bike routes from that. Their other secret sauce is having simply done bicycle routing for more than a decade now. It makes it immensely difficult for their competitors to catch-up on that specific piece. Inversely, having a decades worth of features make it hard for Garmin to make tough decisions on legacy features that weigh it down.
Switching topics briefly to some of the on-device routing functions, there’s round-trip routing, which gives you three different one-off routes you can follow, based on the distance you selected. You can also specify a direction of travel.
The Edge 1030 series allows you to enter in a specific street address you want to route to:
As well as search for nearby points of interest. such as restaurants or tourist type things. Obviously, I always search for movie theaters with my Edge units.
I almost never use POI search, it’s not that it doesn’t work (it does). It’s just that my phone and Google Maps is simply so much better at that than Garmin’s unit – especially for handling things like whether or not a café is even open, or if the coffee is actually any good. Nobody wants a bad café mid-ride. And this is where I wish there was better one-off integration between the Garmin Connect Mobile app and the Edge 1030 Plus mid-ride. For example, on a Wahoo ELEMNT/ROAM/BOLT I can quickly do a one-off route to a given spot in a few seconds and off I go with the Wahoo. That’s simply not viable nor quick on the Edge series. In Garmin’s line of thinking, you do that one-off routing on-device. But I’m not sure that’s what people actually want in 2020.
Moving along, given this section is about navigating, it seems fitting to end on the new LiveTracking with course display feature. Mind you, LiveTracking is certainly not new to Garmin devices. It’s been around nearly a decade – and ignored nearly as long. But last year they started refocusing on behind the scenes platform aspects around reliability and stability, and this appears to be some of the culmination of some of that. Specifically, with today’s announcement two things happen:
– The LiveTracking platform gets a user interface refresh from 2010 to 2020
– LiveTracking now will display your planned course that you loaded on your Garmin
The first one will start being shown to everyone, given it’s a backend piece. While the second one will be rolled out to certain devices – notably the Edge 530, Edge 830, Edge 130 Plus, and Edge 1030 Plus. I don’t know about plans for any other devices/wearables (though Garmin says they have plans there, but haven’t finalized them yet).
From a user standpoint, you’ll enable LiveTracking as normal in the smartphone app. Remember, LiveTracking uses your phone to transmit your position to friends and family. The Edge doesn’t have any cellular connectivity/SIM card itself, so it needs that phone connection to access the interwebs. You can specify which e-mail addresses (or Twitter accounts) to send tracking details to.
Also, you can toggle the ability to automatically do this every time, as well as to use Strava Beacon (which can send text messages). Also, you can enable the option to extend how long the link lives, up to 24hrs. This is handy because otherwise once you end your workout, the link dies(which would be confusing to someone). So this way they know you’ve completed the activity.
I’ve got mine configured to simply send a live tracking link every time I ride. As long as Garmin Connect Mobile (the phone app) is running somewhere in the background on your phone it usually works. You’ll get confirmation at the top of the device that LiveTracking is functioning:
Also, on your phone, you’ll get a message that the LiveTrack has successfully initiated.
Meanwhile, your peeps get the following e-mail:
They can click on the link and that brings them here. In the below screenshot you can see I went specifically off-course (which is purple), where my blue line was off in the forest.
This page shows your current position, updated every 30 seconds, and then additional metrics on the side – including Speed, Elevation, Heart Rate, Power, and Cadence (if you have those sensors). They’ll also see splits.
Now, my experience with the route showing bit has been good – that’s worked. And again, it’s cool to see the off-course pieces show up on the live tracking link:
However, I’ve had numerous troubles with the actual underlying LiveTracking connection and my phone (it simply transmitting my position, and/or drops the connection to the Edge). Garmin has been extensively troubleshooting them with more logging than an astronaut. For whatever reason, over the years I’ve always had a really rough time with stability and Garmin LiveTrack. And up until today’s ride, that theme had continued.
On today’s ride though, using some updated software and a few other tweaks, I was able to get through the entire ride without a failure. I’ll keep trying over the next month or so and report back on whether that trend continues.
Finally, for lack of anywhere else to stick it – note that the Edge 1030 Plus supports the Garmin external battery pack if you plan to go more than 24-48 hours. Sure, you can simply use a micro-USB cable and a USB battery pack just fine (really, it works just fine) to provide constant power. The only catch with that is if it rains. But if you’re riding in sun – go forth!
Still, if you want a clean/integrated option, there’s the external battery pack that locks into the bottom of the unit with a Garmin mount:
The battery pack itself charges via micro-USB, like most battery packs out there today. It has a 3,300mAh capacity, so it’s on the lower end of USB battery packs its size. Though, it’s also designed to be waterproof (IPX7, so up to 1m for up to 30 mins) and snap onto the front of a bike computer at speed. Obviously, there are tradeoffs here compared to a simple USB lipstick charger.
The unit has battery status indicators on the edge of it, allowing you to see current battery status. Unfortunately there isn’t anything clever like Apple’s own iPhone case where it shows battery status of the battery within the Edge unit, though that’d be cool.
On the bottom of the unit, near the micro-USB charging port, you’ll also find a regular USB charging port so you can charge your phone or other device.
As a pro tip, I take along this simple and cheap charging cable with me if I’m headed out for a long ride. It allows me to charge my phone via it (has Micro-USB, USB-C, Apple Lightning, mini-USB connectors), and I can even plug the battery pack into a USB port at a café or such. It’s like my most favorite $8 cable ever.
Finally, this whole thing locks in place using a locking system on the out-front mount that you swap out. Hell, they even have a TT-compatible mount these days for it, in case you wanted to do a 48hr time-trial bike ride:
The thing is pretty stable though, so I don’t expect any issues. Nor have I had any issues in terms of cobbles or the like. It’s a rock-solid locking system, very similar to that of the Garmin UT-800 lights.
From a battery standpoint, the built-in battery on the Edge 1030 Plus has the following specs:
Note that Garmin says the number of vehicles that pass you can have an impact if using radar, as can the complexity of the course.
In looking at some of my rides, I’d roughly fall under the ‘High’ configuration (usually 3-4 sensors, with mapping), and taking a look at a random nearly 82-minute long ride (doing a structured workout atop mapping), I burned 6% of battery (from 94% to 87%). Also, in this case, the backlight was on HIGH (not auto), because I was also taking photos/video. As such, that’ll burn more battery than anything. In any case, that gives me a 5.12%/hour battery burn rate, or essentially 19 hours worth. But again, the backlight set for ‘HIGH’ is really what brought it down.
So, for another ride, I set the backlight on auto (on a sunny day), again, with navigation and four sensors. Here’s what that looked like – 3.16%/hour, or basically 31 hours worth.
Ultimately, battery fun aside, from a navigational standpoint the minor tweaks to the Edge 1030 Plus are appreciated. And from a functionality standpoint I didn’t have any errors on the navigational front during my rides (LiveTrack is different however, as noted). But more broadly than navigation is the map inclusions/loading piece. That’s huge if you travel a lot (as I do, well, did till this year anyway). That makes your life so much easier than dealing with loading 3rd party maps that don’t have all the heatmap cycling-specific data you want them to.
Structured Training:
The Edge 1030 Plus takes a quiet, but important, step forward in terms of Garmin making training recommendations for any given day. In fact, it’s the first Garmin unit to specifically recommend a workout/duration based on your day to day training load. This essentially follows what Polar did with the Polar Ignite a year ago, except, focused on cycling.
Anytime you power on the Edge 1030 Plus it’ll quickly and quietly go and grab your latest training load data from Garmin Connect behind the scenes. It’s doing this to ensure that if you did other workouts (like a run) on a Garmin product such as a Fenix or Forerunner watch, that it’s aware of that training load. It doesn’t want to give you a hard workout if you ran 20 miles yesterday. You’ll see this at the top of the screen, where it says ‘Downloading’. If you’re at home, it’ll do this via WiFi in most cases.
A few seconds later, once it’s done, you’ll get a workout of the day recommendation (officially called the ‘Daily Suggested Workout’), that you see in the photo above. When you tap ‘Review Workout’, you’ll get more details on it:
And then more details yet again n the specific steps, in this case a pretty…simplistic…workout:
Now, if you’re part of a specific training plan, such as one from TrainerRoad, then those will take precedence. However, as of today, it’ll still give me a recommendation ignoring that plan. I’m told that’ll change in the next firmware update very shortly to account for the known training plan. Also, it doesn’t seem to be pulling down anything more than just today’s TrainerRoad workout (it should at least also be pulling down tomorrow’s).
The daily suggested workout engine leverages the Training Status, Training Load Balance, and daily tracked VO2 Max data. However, in order for it to work it needs both heart rate and power meter data. Otherwise it doesn’t really know how much training load you’re actually getting.
You’ll see your training load after every ride, as well as in the dashboard menu under ‘My Stats’. You’ll first see this dashboard on your training status, which at the moment thinks I’m “unproductively” managing my training due to the higher load versus recovery. Normally I’d say ‘FU Garmin’, but honestly in this specific week it’s right.
If you tap on that ‘Unproductive’ banner, you’ll see your VO2Max stats, Training Load, and Load Focus. The Training Load page shows how much load you’ve had over the last 7 days, and the color-coding designates the load focus area. You can see yesterday (Sunday) I basically took the day off, with only a tiny little bit of easy pedaling with my kids. At the time I took this first photo, I hadn’t done my Monday ride yet.
If I look at the Load Focus, you’ll see it’s overwhelmingly way too much ‘High Aerobic’. Now, I’d generally disagree with Garmin/FirstBeat here on the distribution. I find in general it’s far too conservative for me on high aerobic balance. Yes, this week is definitely out of whack, but it’s almost unheard of for me to see the ‘High Aerobic’ in the right zone (the dotted lines).
However, about an hour after taking the above photos, I went out for a 90-minute ride. Nothing too hard, just base mileage cruising around. That ride apparently gave me redemption. Somewhat ironic if you ask me.
Seems a bit peculiar that it’s complaining about my load being too high one second, and then the next it’s OK with it. Though there also may be an element of timing here in that if my previous Monday ride (a bit harder) was higher and then ‘fell off’ the exact 7-day rolling window, replaced by this less challenging ride.
And then there’s your VO2 Max scores. This too requires a power meter. Keep in mind though that VO2 Max won’t shift much, but it’s also typically dependent on having hard VO2 Max workouts to trigger newer values.
If I go back to the main ‘Stats’ dashboard after this ride you’ll see my Recovery Hours remaining – 22 hours (about right), and then my current estimated FTP at 285w. Currently, my latest FTP test about three weeks ago with TrainerRoad put me at 299w, but I didn’t use this device for that test. So it’s had to make its calculations on other workouts. I suspect we’d see them very close after my next test.
You can dive into things like your power curve (Mean-Max power) over different time frames:
Or double-check your profile like age and weight. If you have a Garmin Index scale it’ll automatically update the weight for you.
It’s worth noting that you can connect your Zwift or TrainerRoad accounts to Garmin Connect and receive workouts into your Garmin account completed on Zwift/TrainerRoad. However, and this is a HUGE however, you WILL NOT get any training load credit on any of the above screens for those workouts. Nor on any other Garmin device. Frankly, this is stupid, frustrating, and infuriating. All it does is make you double-record things and then delete workouts. Why bother making an integration that just fires blanks?
Now, that said, if you do a TrainerRoad workout on your unit, then it’ll compute it. However, you’ll then lose out on all the descriptive text you’d get on the TrainerRoad app for inside workouts. I’ve got a separate post coming on that (probably), but we can touch on it briefly in terms of how structured workouts work on the Edge 1030 Plus. In fact, I’ve done a number of TrainerRoad Outside workouts on the Edge 1030 Plus in recent weeks, and those have worked well. And, since these work identically to other structured workouts you might create yourself or push from apps like TrainingPeaks, FinalSurge, or Today’s Plan, then I can show them all in one boat.
To begin, the Edge will display/suggest a workout pushed to it that’s on your calendar for that day. For example, this one:
Upon selecting it (or any other in your training library), you’ll see the exact steps listed out. Depending on how the workout is created, it’ll either automatically advance through each step, or some steps might wait for you. For example, on most of my TrainerRoad outside workouts it’ll actually wait for you to press the ‘lap’ button before advancing from a rest segment to a work interval – in case you’re contending with traffic lights or such.
Once you’ve begun your workout it’ll show you steps as they approach, and then list the current step targets. You can customize these fields however you’d want:
Rinse and repeat until the end of your workout. The most challenging part of doing a structured workout with specific power zones outside won’t be the technology, it’ll likely be your ability to pace power with rolling terrain to exacting targets. TrainerRoad actually has some good suggestions on how to set up your data fields to best tackle these workouts at the bottom of this page, and their suggestions apply no matter whether you’re using TrainerRoad or some other platform.
When it comes to structured workout execution, Garmin’s main competitors on the cycling-specific side here are Stages and Wahoo, with Hammerhead also adding in structured workouts recently to their Karoo. Again, I’ll dive into the nuances of those later on. It’s really a game of details and tiny differences between them all.
However, none of them have training load or similar concepts (at all). My (major) annoyances with lack of Zwift or TrainerRoad app load counting in the Garmin realm aside, there’s simply nothing on the market that has the depth and integration that Garmin does when it comes to cycling and training load tracking. Now, that doesn’t mean Garmin’s features (largely driven via Firstbeat’s algorithms) are always right. Nor that you’ll even use them.
But, if you want them – and if you don’t want to pay another company/platform/coach for them, then they’re there for the taking.
GPS Accuracy:
There’s likely no topic that stirs as much discussion and passion as GPS accuracy. A watch could fall apart and give you dire electrical shocks while doing so, but if it shows you on the wrong side of the road? Oh hell no, bring on the fury of the internet!
GPS accuracy can be looked at in a number of different ways, but I prefer to look at it using a number of devices in real-world scenarios across a vast number of activities. I use 2-6 other devices at once, trying to get a clear picture of how a given set of devices handles conditions on a certain day. Conditions include everything from tree/building cover to weather.
Over the years I’ve continued to tweak my GPS testing methodology. For example, I try to not place two units next to each other on my wrists, as that can impact signal. In the case of GPS bike computers, I put multiple units on my handlebars, though quite well separated (such as one on an out-front mount, another on the stem, and others to the side of the handlebars).
Next, as noted, I use just my daily training routes. Using a single route over and over again isn’t really indicative of real-world conditions, it’s just indicative of one route. The workouts you see here are just my normal daily rides/workout. At least as much as is possible in this COVID-19 world without being able to travel far, I’ve varied my workouts and terrain (cities/buildings, trees, quiet roads, bridges, etc…). But, given I live in a pretty flat place (Amsterdam), it means there’s very little high-altitude mountain type testing right now. Maybe later this summer. Sorry!
(Now, I’ll give you a spoiler since you made it thus far: By and large it’s pretty rare to see GPS screw-ups on road-cycling routes. And frankly, that continues here. This section is super boring because nothing ‘exciting’ happened.)
First up for a test ride is just from yesterday on a very diverse route where I was basically trying to break navigation. In this case there were some forested sections, lots of tree-lined sections, some farm roads, and some buildings/underpasses here and there. It’s comparing the Edge 1030 Plus, Edge 130 Plus, Wahoo ROAM, and a Fenix 6 Pro on my wrist. Here’s those data files:
While my path looks drunk, I mostly wasn’t. I was just following canals/rivers and see how many wrong turns I could make before I really upset the navigation of the unit. Turns out, I couldn’t. On the GPS-side though, we’ll start off with the beginning forested area, and you can see all the units are super close:
It continues this way, so close together that you can barely tell there’s multiple lines there. Even on the swerving sections along the river, no divergence:
Interestingly however, a bit later I did see some divergence, specifically from the Edge 130 Plus. It went askew for about 300 meters long, slightly offset perhaps 30 meters or so. You can see the Wahoo ROAM barely snuck its head out as well. So whatever was going on with that section of tree-lined roadway, seemed to impact both – though not the others.
Later on as I pass some tall apartment buildings for a block or two there’s a slight bit more divergence from the different units, but we’re talking a handful of meters. When the tracks look so perfect on the rest of the ride, even the tiniest bit difference is noticed:
Later on in the ride we see a bit more of that slight divergence from the Edge 130 Plus, but the 1030 Plus and others remain near lock-step. The Wahoo ROAM did cut some corners though as you can see:
Here’s another example of a ROAM cut corner. Well, I guess this is technically an overshoot followed by an undershoot. It’s Mario Karting.
OK, let’s move along to another one, this time making it a bit more complex. Sure, the overall geographic spread is smaller here, but it’s because I’m doing repeated laps over and over and over at a local cycling track/loop. As such, that’ll make things much more difficult to see if it can maintain lap after lap on the exact same track. Here’s that data set:
To begin, I start-out going under a gigantic 6 or 60 lane highway/train tunnel thing. Like, all the lanes. Either way, there’s no issues here from anyone here. There’s technically a gap half-way through those lanes where the units can see the sky. So we see a little blip there, but nothing more than a couple meters worth.
Next, cruising through/along a forest to get to the track. Everything is spot-on here too:
So, let’s get right to the good stuff: The Track.
I’m going to split it in two pieces, the upper half and the lower half. Now, looking at the upper half it’s a bit hard to tell what’s going on, because the Casio unit is a bit wobbly.
So, let’s get rid of that. Here we go:
Now you can see all the units are very close to each other. What’s interesting though is each unit tends to have a slight preference in certain parts of the track where it might meander in/out towards a given section. For example, on the upper straight-away the Fenix 6 Pro seems to favor the southern side. Whereas the Edge 830 favors the northern side. Meanwhile, on that upper left corner turn, the Edge 130 Plus seems to favor the inside while the Edge 1030 Plus seems to hang out more middle of the road.
Here’s the mid of the track:
And here’s the lower half of the track:
Realistically, any of these GPS tracks are fine. I’d say there’s a bit more variability overall from the wrist-based Fenix 6, but for the GPS bike computers they’re all virtually identical, and when the Strava Live Segments were triggering on each loop, they were doing so almost all in concert.
So, overall that ride looks pretty good.
Let’s take a look at one last ride, this time a big ol’ loop starting in the city, and then heading out to the countryside, before looping back to reality again Here’s that data set:
For this route I decided to make things as difficult as I could, at least initially. So, I went down a street next to plenty of tall buildings. So far, pretty good. Not perfect, but about norm for GPS next to tall buildings:
And then, by pure dumb luck I made a right turn off-course instead of a left turn. This meant I went through a bicycle underpass that curves (kinda like a ‘J’) rather than just going over the street. Turns out, none of the GPS units were happy with that:
Everybody crapped the bed here. Now to be fair, there’s four massive tall buildings, including one I then go through after coming out of the tunnel. I could see why all the units were displeased at this juncture.
That said, within just a few meters of getting out of the buildings, all but the Edge 530 returned to the bike path immediately (a couple of seconds). The Edge 530 took a few hundred more meters before it trusted my navigational skills again. I can understand the hesitancy there.
At this point, things basically get boring again from a GPS standpoint:
A handful of minor quibbles here and there when passing under bridges, but nothing of significance:
For the most part, all the units were stuck on each other. Sometimes, like below when I passed under high tension wires, you see slight differences, but nothing much.
Mostly, it’s just boring and looks like this:
And that’s the overall gist of things with GPS on both the new Edge 1030 Plus and Edge 130 Plus: Boringly accurate.
For all these tests I used GPS+GLONASS, and all of them were mounted on the handlebars or an out-front mount depending on the day (or sometimes my top-tube near the stem). I didn’t see any difference in GPS accuracy between those different positions.
As I stated earlier, it’s super rare to have meaningful GPS accuracy issues for road cycling. You tend to get a bit more mountain-biking in the actual mountains (which I lack). I took my road bike off-road here on trails, and didn’t see any issues there. In fact, it’s how I did the recent Strava Local Legends post, using the Edge 1030 Plus on my handlebars as I completed 26 laps of that Strava Segment. Zero issues, and super dependable on each lap of it.
(Note: All of the charts in these accuracy portions were created using the DCR Analyzer tool. It allows you to compare power meters/trainers, heart rate, cadence, speed/pace, GPS tracks and plenty more. You can use it as well for your own gadget comparisons, more details here.)
Summary:
At the end of the day, the Edge 1030 Plus is essentially the bike computer you buy when someone asks ‘What’s the best GPS bike computer no matter the cost?’. There’s very few people out there that would argue that line of thinking. There’s no bike computer out there that approaches anything near the number of features the Edge 1030 Plus has. Not even close. And more importantly, whether you’re talking the original Edge 1030 or new Edge 1030 Plus – it just works, really well for the most part.
However, the question you probably need to ask yourself is: Do I need all these features? And, are they executed the best out there?
And the answer to that is more complex. A variant of ‘It depends’.
When it comes to things like mapping or navigation, I’m pretty sure most would agree Garmin wins that depth easily. However, when it comes to ease of use or setup, most people would argue Wahoo is simpler. Though Garmin is clearly making strides here, as we see with the new setup process – yet it still lacks phone data field/page configuration. And for Garmin it’s a tough balance of giving people the hundreds of features they’ve had on their past Edge units for the last 13 years (seriously), versus going with a far more reduced feature set that you’d find on competitor units. I can’t tell you (or them) what that balance is, or whether or not you’d even use those added features.
Whether it be a Garmin Edge series or a Wahoo ELEMENT ROAM, both will happily download those Strava or Komoot routes, pair to your sensors, show your standard data, and get you to your destination pretty much the same. It’s the added features which differentiate the Edge 1030 series, such as all the on-device routing features, the heatmap-driven data for when you go freestyling, or the extensive training load/focus type functionality. None of that exists elsewhere.
As for comparing it to the Edge 530 or Edge 830? Frankly, it’s mostly screen-size driven (and the free added maps now). If you boil it all down, for the most part the Edge 1030 Plus is giving you a bigger screen with global maps. And some minor other features. I’ve used the Edge 530 & Edge 830 as my daily-driver bike computers for over a year now. I’m perfectly happy with them. Will I use the Edge 1030 Plus going forward? Maybe? I don’t know. My answer is usually driven by whatever unit is actually charged up and closest to my handlebars when I head out the door.
But if it ends up being the Edge 1030 Plus – I’m pretty happy with what I’ve seen in my testing thus far with it.
Found This Post Useful? Support The Site!
Hopefully you found this review useful. At the end of the day, I’m an athlete just like you looking for the most detail possible on a new purchase – so my review is written from the standpoint of how I used the device. The reviews generally take a lot of hours to put together, so it’s a fair bit of work (and labor of love). As you probably noticed by looking below, I also take time to answer all the questions posted in the comments – and there’s quite a bit of detail in there as well.
If you're shopping for the Garmin Edge 1030 Plus or any other accessory items, please consider using the affiliate links below! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but your purchases help support this website a lot. Even more, if you shop with TPC (The Pro's Closet), you'll save $40 on purchases over $200 with coupon code DCRAIN40! The Pro's Closet has been a long-time partner of the site here - including sponsoring videos like my cargo bike race, as well as just being an awesome Colorado-based company full of good humans. Check them out with the links below and the DCRAIN40 coupon!
And finally, here’s a handy list of accessories that work well with this unit (and some that I showed in the review). Given the unit pairs with ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart sensors, you can use just about anything though.
This magnetless Garmin Cadence Sensor attached to your crank arm and transmits cadence over both ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart to apps, watches, or bike computers.
This is a set of Garmin magnetless speed and cadence sensors. Both transmits over ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart, but the speed sensor also can record rides without a bike computer - perfect for using on a commuter bike.
The Garmin Varia radar alerts you to cars coming up behind you, well before you see them. It's awesome for quieter roads (country roads/mountains), especially on longer rides. It's less useful for city riding.
The Garmin Varia radar alerts you to cars coming up behind you, well before you see them. It's awesome for quieter roads (country roads/mountains), especially on longer rides. It's less useful for city riding. The RVR315 skips the light.
The Edge remote allows you to control functions (like data pages/screens, and laps) wirelessly right from your handlebars/drops. Super handy for mountain biking where taking your hands off the bars might be a bad idea.
If you need to go *REALLY* long with a Garmin Edge device, this snap-on/under weatherproof battery pack basically gets you double your battery life. It snaps under your existing Edge with an included mount. It can also be used as a standard USB battery back too (for your phone/etc...).
This wifi-connected scale will track your weight and related metrics both on the scale display and in Garmin Connect (plus 3rd party apps like TrainingPeaks). It'll also then sync your weight to your watch/bike computer, to ensure accurate calorie data.
The HRM-DUAL strap transmits not only concurrently on ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart, but actually has two Bluetooth channels, making it perfect for pairing to Zwift at the same time you also have it paired to another device/app via Bluetooth.
The HRM-PRO Plus is Garmin's top-end chest strap. It transmits dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart, but also transmits Running Dynamics & Running Pace/Distance metrics, stores HR data during a swim, and can be used without a watch for other sports. Also, it can transmit XC Skiing Dynamics as well.
And of course – you can always sign-up to be a DCR Supporter! That gets you an ad-free DCR, access to the DCR Quarantine Corner video series packed with behind the scenes tidbits...and it also makes you awesome. And being awesome is what it’s all about!
Thanks for reading! And as always, feel free to post comments or questions in the comments section below, I’ll be happy to try and answer them as quickly as possible. And lastly, if you felt this review was useful – I always appreciate feedback in the comments below. Thanks!
Configuration transfer is a very welcome improvement.
I do not own an Edge unit but I can imagine that it’s a pain to reconfigure newer unit the same way as your previous one.
The fact that the fields can still only be configured from a unit and not via phone / website is very upsetting, but I guess it’s just the fact of life.
Buttons are a bit weirdly poositioned. I get that they have been there for eternity, but looking at the pictures I see that they are very close to the handlebars – is it even convenient to use them there?
What I’m curious about is GPS accuracy. I started to notice that on my bike computer (ELEMNT) when I go under the trees it undercuts the speed. Is it also the case / not the case here?
I am excited that Garmin has finally begun to think about using smartphones as viable interfaces to allow profile transfers. Whilst from what you describe it is still a long way from Wahoo who I consider to have the gold standard here, it’s nice that Garmin are at least considering this now.
It would be interesting to see if they bring this 1030 Plus feature to the other newer Edge devices (and preferably to all Edge devices).
Great review. I like the offer of maps for other continents. Is it only for the new 1030+ or will we see it on other devices, too (for ex. wearables- they are higher priced as the 1030+)?
While Garmin hasn’t confirmed it, I fully expect that to be the case. Obviously, it’s slightly trickier with watches because of all the sport profiles, though not substantially so given it’s all standardized.
It’s supposedly a faster processor than the 830 actually. They’re saying that I should see speed “consistently faster” than the Edge 830 for most route calculations. I haven’t done side by side route calcs with the Edge 830, but have with the Edge 1030 (you can see some non-route calcs in the video, more just general usability speed).
Faster routing could also be the same processor paired with faster flash storage, or even the same processor just configured to be more liberal with battery consumption.
But it doesn’t matter to me, those sweet new rerouting options are much more than I expected, I’ve been waiting for exactly that improvement for more than half a decade now.
(and what’s the fuss with USB-C? Sure, I would have preferred that as well but only for convenience. I don’t see a future where I’d be traveling without both charging cables any time soon, plenty of existing, high value bike gear on micro that I expect to outlive the 1030+)
Well…technically there are ConnectIQ apps that benchmark the runtime environment. ConnectIQ apps have zero direct access to the hardware so while they give an indication of relative performance, could be wildly misleading at the same time. Not having access to processor throttling info, multithreading, core speed etc. leaves you making a lot of assumptions that just don’t necessarily play out for the Garmin firmware which is running natively.
The reason I don’t tend to do CIQ benchmarks as part of reviews on launch day is super simplistic:
A) The beta devices aren’t loaded into the production CIQ App store as compatible devices, so my only way to test them is if I reach-out to a given developer to get a PRG file (I believe within Garmin’s network they can do that, but I obviously don’t have access there).
B) Also, given it’s usually beta software until the last week or so, I don’t really want to spend time benchmarking something that’s maybe not accurate.
I would note that in general I’m just not hearing many people complain about CIQ app performance though. And as noted, the CIQ environment is sandboxed anyway, so it’s not indicative directly of the larger unit’s capabilites.
This is fair enough Ray, it’s not a 100% reliable indicator of performance. The 1030 Tree Benchmark result dropped from 15,000 to 10,000 since it was released, presumably due to changes in the CiQ sandbox. Still though, what else do we have as a performance indicator? It’s difficult.
Is there any way of finding out the hardware spec? Which soc for example? That would allow a better indicator of performance.
Looks like it’s time to replace my Edge 1000 – the USB connector is getting wonky and the power button is a bit knackered (I know there are 3D-printed fixes for that). Also looks like there might be an opportunity here for some clever people to offer a USB-C mod, even though it would void warranty.
You can buy and repair the whole back cover easily. Did it last summer, you find it at ebay including the battery, board with usb connector and the power button etc, which are all mounted to the back cover, and there is one sensor, I think for barometric pressure, because it looks to the down side – but it didnt really interested me at the moment. No big drama, you dont need to be an electronic engineer, just need this little torx screwdriver (thats mostly the biggest problem).
For example: link to smitacn.com they recommend due to cov19 buying it without battery
Just a quick update: I bought a replacement back panel, with battery, for my Edge 1000 from that link. It took about 3 weeks to ship to Delaware. I installed it today and it was a breeze, maybe 5 minutes — the hardest thing was getting hold of a 6mm Torx screwdriver, but it was a good excuse to update my tool kit! So now I have a 1030 Plus (which is working great BTW) and a refurbished 1000, with a fixed power button and a newer/less knackered battery, as a standby.
Interesting that the announcement email I just received about the 1030 Plus and 130 Plus came from Tacx rather than Garmin. I wonder if Garmin are intending to shift some of the branding of their cycling products towards Tacx? The title of the email even refers to “our” newest Edge Bike Computers, even though the unit has GARMIN plastered on the front of it.
I would very much doubt that they are rebranding the Edge series. It wouldn’t make sense (and would cause even more confusion) to have one series of fitness products branded “Tacx” and the other “Garmin” – the Garmin name is just too well known. I speak from some experience albeit in a different industry sector – before I retired the company I worked for rebranded an established well-known line of products on the advice of a very expensive consultancy (for “market differentiation” reasons) and it was an unmitigated disaster.
GArmin answered my question. Session started between Douglas and Bill
Bill:
Edge® 1030 Plus
Bill:
Is the USB connection 2.0 or 3.0?
Douglas:
I apologize. I am actually unsure of what version we use. I will transfer you to a specialist who can assist you.
Douglas has exited the session.
This chat conversation has been transferred to another associate. They will see your prior conversation.
Session started between Andrew and Bill
Andrew:
Hello, Bill. It would be a 2.0 for your 1030.
Bill:
and the 1030 Plus?
Andrew:
I think they use the same 2.0 but let me double check.
Bill:
That’s a deal breaker for loading large map files.
Andrew:
Yeah, it looks like none of our devices uses the 3.0, just the 2.0.
Bill:
Thanks for the info
Andrew:
You’re welcome,
I did it the other day and just went to lunch. Honestly, I figure if you’re flying to a 3rd continent, then spending a bit of time loading the maps isn’t a huge deal per se. My preference would be for them to enable WiFi downloading though.
And dont forget that you’ll be charging the device while the maps sync over – so you’re winning at the multi-tasking challenge. If you’re packing your bags while its doing that too, then proper kudos.
USB 2 can do about 60MB/sec. The 1030 (not plus) flash manages 8MB/sec and the 830 about 20MB/sec so USB 2 is likely not a bottleneck anyway unless the 1030 plus is significantly faster.
Ray, don’t suppose you could run crystaldiskmark and the CiQ benchmark against the 1030 plus?
For ref heres the disk results from 830 and 1030, I don’t have the CiQ benchmark handy
Interesting. I wonder if the bottleneck is the usb interface or the storage system. (if the garmin writes to the drive through a different interface that is more direct)
I assume by CiQ benchmark you mean one of the cpu benchmarks? Would be interesting if its the same as the 830 (guessing they put the 830 cpu into the 1030)
On benchmarks they often have to be modified to show as compatible with a new device so can’t be run until then. There’s some confusion over whether it’s a new faster soc (Ray mentions Garmin said it’s faster), or the same 530/830 soc. which GPlama mentions and shows benchmarks for.
I don’t suppose you have a video or tutorial for downloading additional continents please? I need to do this as am one of the very lucky people who have managed to travel during the pandemic (for work) and am going to sneak in some cheeky cycling off the back of it.
You wrote “If I look at the Load Focus, you’ll see it’s overwhelmingly way too much ‘High Aerobic’. Now, I’d generally disagree with Garmin/FirstBeat here on the distribution.”
But in the training summary views it seemed like you had default HR zones set up. Doesn’t the training load status get its data from time in HR zones?
The HR zones definitely affect the load focus. I changed mine and and the load focus changed after rides with the new zones updated the load distribution.
I have a Garmin Edge 1000 Touring and use (paid) Europe City Navigator for mapping and navigating, since there’s always a service car following our group of cyclists: so no towpaths along the canal for us. Any difference with the Edge 1030 Plus?
I’m just here to join the chorus of people saying they will not buy a device with a micro usb port. Besides my current (and very old) Edge and my Kindle I’ve pretty much eliminated it from my life.
As soon as there’s an Edge with USB-C I’ll buy it, but until then, I hope my old one keeps chugging along.
Kindle 10 and 8 now come with usb-c so their listening, what a pita it is to wait for it to charge my older model. But it still holds charge for 8 hours so can’t justify spending out on a new one just yet.
Hi Ray, great review even though I’m not a cyclist, still read every article.
You say ” New daily on-device workout suggestions based on training load” do you know if such a feature will be trickling down to the F6? Just occasionally I feel lousy before a run and even worse afterwards, although a 10 second pulse check doesn’t reveal anything untoward. Could be snake oil or something useful to me.
As a runner, I firmly believe that cycling is just another form of cheating. I’m therefore not the target market for an Edge.
However… I love my 945. I sincerely hope that Garmin are working towards app features that allow proper customisation of their devices. To *still* not be able to configure activity screens in the app is almost unforgivable.
I think it’s horses for courses. I hated my suunto ambit run 90% of the time because I needed the phone to do anything with the damn thing.
But if your reading this Mr Garmin it sure wouldn’t hurt to have this feature, I’d only use it sparingly myself but that way everyone would be 100% happy.
As a cyclist, I believe that runners are “cyclists in training”. When runners get injured, or get tired of repeatedly getting injured, many switch over to cycling, because it is a lower impact activity. I was a runner, but it was actually a knee (while playing basketball) injury that led to my “conversion”.
Look forward to seeing you on your bike in the future, Ginger!
Wowsers. Even more than the 1030 cost in the UK. And no platinum discount from wiggle.
I never normally get wound up by the super high prices as they always come down. But thinking about it, not sure how this is 200 quid more than the 830 when it’s basically the same thing but bigger
Hi Ray, everything sounds good on the 1030 plus but I’m waiting for a major improvement for me: does it include an electronic compass like the oregon series? Doing Mountainbiking is a much needed feature for me to have. On trails intersections, when you don’t move or move too slow, the gps compass do not works. I’m forced to used that massive brick that’s the Oregom 700 until garmin puts an electronic compass on the edge series.
Compass would be a biggie. Lots of stores seem to list a magnetometer amongst the features, but I suspect that they confuse it with the sensors in the bundle version (unlike most other “hub-wart” style sensors the garmin ones are based on magnetometers, not accelerometers). The same confusion already exists for the 830, which according to Ray’s review table (end everything else I’ve heard) is still missing an electronic compass. I’d be very surprised if there are hardware differences like that between 830 and 1030+, other than the obvious screen, storage and battery.
I just did the secret superpower thing that I always forget about and checked the online manual PDF: the Edge 1030 Plus manual contains instructions for calibrating a magnetic compass. I’d say that’s as clear of a yes as it gets. Really surprised that Garmin didn’t use that to bolster the tiny list of improvements the Plus has over a vanilla 1030, I think that does it for me, ordering today.
So for training load, if you use the Garmin to record the workout whilst also doing the workout in trainerroad/sufferfest etc, then save the workout in TR/SUF but discard on the Garmin, does training load get updated? I usually save virtual workouts using SUF then export to Garmin connect, whilst simultaneously recording on my Garmin but discard on the Garmin once complete.
sessions on non-Garmin-devices won’t contribute to trainingload (full disclosure: I did not check within the last year if this behavior changed).
If you enable sync (“Physio TrueUp”) then at least the session summary shows up (i.e. the Zwift Ride can be found in the history list of your Garmin.
My suggestion is to use Trainingpeaks for accurate and source-independent trainingload metrics.
Looking pretty good! I certainly hope that Garmin have managed to fix the show-stopper of an issue called “lost satellites”
I also wonder, whether Physio True Up will now include syncing Training Status/Load between two devices. I currently use my Fenix 6X Pro Solar to track everything from running to sessions on my Wattbike Atom. The big question here is whether I will be able to use the Edge 1030 Plus to not just show map guidance but also save activities that correctly carry over on to my daily driver the 6XPS.
Hi, looks like slowly Garmin is making improvements. Battery life looks impressive – and that without some impractical shenanigans like turning the screen off, I understand. Cool.
Improvements on the Touchscreen – cool, and frankly so bitter needed.
My question: how is the on board routing? Does it honor your prepared course?
I read the respective section, that the route got synched from strava (in your case) and then the device start’s the routing calculation. In every Garmin I ever had (including for a brief period the first 1030) this was completely uselesss. As in: it would take the downloaded route/track/whatever (format didn’t matter) only as an informative offering but would butcher it into oblivion. Cutting corners, leaving out complete stretches etc.
That’s bullshit in the best and leisurely times. That spells doom if you want to / have to follow the exact route. Because it’s a race with a mandatory course. Because you specifically planned to come across a certain section or don’t miss the start of a segment or because you wanted to just tag a very specific tile (Veloviewer MaxSquare) – i.e. all the reasons because you meticulously build a route at home until you satisfied or take the provided route of a race organizer.
In former times the standard procedure was always: take Garmin out of box, switch course calculation off in the settings and never switch it on again. Routes were getting followed as track (with the detriment, that track lines can’t switched to a user defined color and width and are very hard to follow in the cluttered Garmin maps. Sometimes even more when the display switches to night mode). I would have loved to see such a wide and bright pink line also for the display of a normal track line with routing switched off.
So – can one nowadays have routing switched on and nevertheless can be certain to stay on the original track (and not something the device thinks would be a neat diversion instead)?
I have an Edge 830 and use navigation quite a bit more than I have with my older Edges (it’s necessary for ClimbPro). I’ve been using Strava routes for about a year; before that usually I planned routes in Garmin BaseCamp. The 830 hasn’t shown any of the behavior you’ve described. It sticks to the route as planned. I have a lot of trouble keeping Strava from routing me onto single track in the mountains or dangerous “bike paths” next to perfectly good roads in the valleys, but once the path is laid out, the 830 follows it. I haven’t had any of the problems I’ve had with Edges in the old days (mid-ride loops, out and backs, starting at the finish point, it all works now). I’m sure the 1030+ will be just as good.
@Torsten: My experience with my Edge explore is the different from yours. I would like it to be a little looser in following the exact route that I have downloaded to the device. Sometimes it it just not possible (road closed) or you prefer a slightly different route. I would like it to be a bit more like a car navigation, that very quickly understands that a corner earlier or later still brings you to your destination. Instead, it keeps on beeping “off-course” and flashing “make a U-turn” on the screen, almost religiously trying to get me back on track.
I understand -sort of- that there is a difference between “waypoints” and “tracks” and that, if you download a route, it uses a “track” ? But I do see the “route calculation”, which is indeed odd if the route is already there.
Anyway, I would welcome the option to choose how to handle the off-course situation during the ride. Which is not likely to happen soon since Garmin is not giving away features that they sell for a lot of money in the more expensive models.
@ andre: The quick select rerouting option is shown as item #6 (5:45) in the video above ??. TBH, that will be the killer feature which will get me upgrade my 1030 to the 1030 Plus.
@Torsten: I’ve not had problems on my 820 or 1030, where routes were significantly altered when the course was built in the Garmin course tool or the Strava routes or the RideWithGPS route planner, but I seen some really weird #%@! with TCX/GPX “breadcrumb“ files of unknown origin.
Yes, diverse planning services can lead to diverse user experiences and results. For what it’s worth I’ve long since abandoned Strava as a routeplanning tool. They overhauled it a bit recently. But before that it was on “alpha status” forever as we all know it. In its early days one could use it as a road biker. Nowadays, depending on how active other bike disciplines (MTB) are in your area, you only get rubbish results for either discipline. They have a new option now which may help in the future. But I digress.
Once your route/course/track is ready planned with whatever service (even more so if it’s from one of the better known names in the game – RidewithGPS, Komoot, Strava etc.) the device shouldn’t mettle with it. Since you seem to know and experienced what I mean and nowadays doesn’t encounter it I take that as a good sign.
@ andre Hmm, ok. So each person certainly have their own preferences. Your reasoning might be if the main aim of your route is to bring you somewhat decent from A to B. That’s perfectly fine. I dare say that the vast majority of people who take the effort to build a route want to ride exactly that route. They want to follow _that_ trail and not some track or busy street which runs for a bit in somewhat the same direction but is heavily trafficed, has potholes, is way steeper (or less steep – depending what you are seeking). And that’s the whole point. You – or the provider of the route knows what they want. It’s just useless when your handlebar device isn’t capable of following that plan doesn’t even come close. Of course as I said – one can always switch routing in the device off. But alas then following the line is just harder to do as compared to a Wahoo Elemnt for example.
And certainly: If you encounter a road block on your downloaded and preplanned route or just decide you want to go explore another place in the midst of it, then (and only then) having the option to instigate a reroute is very nice. But only with your approval and as an offer. Not as a surprise.
To me, the Edge 1030 Plus was the most fluid Edge I’ve had to date in terms of going freestyle while on a planned route. Like, I did it near constantly trying to break it. The three options it gave me (though, I wish it gave me more time to select them, it happens pretty quick if you don’t stop within 10 seconds), were all legit. And when I ignored it and just let it use its brain, it did so almost instantly and without any wonk.
Granted, in the Netherlands it’s hard to have a bad cycling route. Inversely, it’s got so much trail data that it really struggles on initial route calculation at start of ride (but not during re-route).
Would be really nice if Garmin could incoporate a video camera into the front side one day. Looping as the Fly6, nothing special, just enough to catch those ‘incidents’. Oh, and a USB-C
I’m setting a calendar notification for 18 months from now. That’s when the software for the 1030 Plus will just start becoming somewhat stable, sorta.
thanks for the review! How is the glare on with the new screen? any issues with visibility in direct sunlight? i know that was an issue in the past and one of the reason i went with wahoo bolt. however, i’m not excited about the roam…
No issues with bright sunlight days. Somehow, that’s almost all we’ve had lately. Then again, I’ve never really had visibility issues with Garmin devices in the sun.
I’m not aware of any changes, but then again, its exceptionally rare to break a mount tab. If that happens twice, I’d look at the mount or something else going on there. I’ve yet to break a single Garmin Edge mount despite running typically 3 units concurrently on virtually every ride I do. :-/
Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I like pix that give a good impression of the size of the something. In many of your previous in-depths, you’d line up units side by side to show relative sizes from the front and edges. Yeah, actual dims are good, but good pix help. The wide angle foreshortened shots of the unit on the bars are not the best for this purpose. Other shots with nothing of commonly know size don’t help either. (I’d be good if a I had a Karoo lying around). Good old 3-views help too.
Yeah, I had it on my list to knock out, but just ran out of time. You’ll see the size comparison pics slid into the review over the next 24 hours. Though, given it’s identical to the Edge 1030 (case), you can look at that review or others until then.
You list this feature improvement: “Beeper/Chirper an eff-ton louder (and a bit different)”
I have a Varia and have trouble hearing the alerts with my 1030. You don’t appear to include the alert settings changes in your review. This info would be helpful to hearing challenged people.
Watch #13 on the video. Sounds about twice as loud and no longer a high pitched chirp.
Definitely an improvement but I’ll wait to hear 🙂 what Hammerhead does with the Karoo v2 before making any decisions.
Any sign of selectable font size yet from a usability point angle? Something I’d never have even thought about till I hit my late 40s, but these days my short-distance vision isn’t what it used to be and any message that pops up on my 1030 just leaves me thinking ‘I wonder what that said, hope it was nothing important’.
I’ve actually been testing the Edge 590 Pro Extreme. The Edge 530 Plus is old news, like Foursquare or MySpace.
In all seriousness, the Edge 530 just came out a year ago, typically speaking Garmin doesn’t refresh a given cycling product line each year (the Fenix and sometimes Vivoactive series are really the only ones that do, and even that’s more of a 14-16 month cycle).
There’s really no reason for Garmin to refresh the Edge 530 right now or anytime soon.
I’ve been looking into upgrading my old 810, which I basically use as a data screen and backup recording device for my Fenix 6 pro and sadly all of the newish edge devices don’t have compatibility with the Garmin Tempe ant+ temperature sensors? Why would they take that away? I keep one in the shade under the saddle to get more accurate temperature readings during workouts (since the on-device reading is always 5-15 degrees high while baking in the sun).
If I still have to record on my Fenix to record all of the sensors, guess it doesn’t make much sense to upgrade to the 1030 plus. And from the review it looks like it won’t pull over my activity profiles and data field configuration from the 810 either. Pros towards upgrading include connectIQ data fields, I guess.
As the owner of two Tempe’s, it’s always annoyed me that Edge’s can’t connect to them. (But my VIRB 360 can, and my Fenix 5+ can.) I clip a Tempe on a bike when I’m using the 360, but my Edge 830 can’t use it, even though it’s always reading high in sunlight. (Does the 810 connect with the Tempe? My 800 couldn’t.)
I think somebody could make an IQ-APP-Datafield for the Garmin Tempe ant+ Sensor. That Datafield could stare the ant+-Tempe as private in the fit file.
Possible you should look in the Connect-IQ Programmer forum and ask about if someone will do the job.
It’s absolutely not a Strava issue. Wahoo has no limit (and never has), Strava’s own app (live segments) has no segment limit. The data is available for Garmin from the private strava api, it’s just Garmin that limits the number of segments it installs on the device.
Am I the only person that wan’t something without tonnes and tonnes of high level features but a “huge” screen?
Currently using an Elemnt Bolt
I would like a computer with the same functionality as that (or perhaps the Roam) but with a 3.5″ colour display. I don’t use any advanced routing features (the bolt doesn’t have any) but would like a larger screen
This Garmin comes the closest but I’m not paying £520 when my phone cost a similar amount to that!
“The edge explore is only slightly smaller than the 1030. Great screen Great for navigation. Just missing Power data”
Also missing are advanced training features and in-depth fitness stuff. It does record heartrate but that’s about it. No training advice, recovery status, fitness test, Vo2 max estimate. No virtual racepartner, no Strava live segments either.
Have you actually tried the Roam? While the display with its 2.7 inches is smaller than the 3.5″ you’re aiming for its readability, particularly in sunlight and other unfavorable conditions, is simply unmatched. The pricing is an issue but its display is best in class in my opinion.
No live segments is a deal breaker for me, should have included that in my original list too! I don’t have a powermeter so don’t care about that. The advanced training metrics for recovery etc. are all missing from Wahoo so I wouldn’t miss those
The Roam is probably the best option for me, agreed. Based on the reviews here and elsewhere though it doesn’t seem well priced. I am hoping that the next device Wahoo produces moves the game on a bit more and is better value
I agree – the Wahoo Roam should match the price of the Edge 530 to stay competitive. However to be fair Wahoo’s head units, and the Roam in particular, has qualities which are hard to reduce to a spec sheet or feature list. Its excellent readability is a good example – hard to appreciate without actually experiencing it.
I’d also add that it has come a long way since DCR’s initial review and improved in certain areas like navigation (Strava turn by turn) or sensor compatibility (ANT+ radar support). This is exactly the reason why I’d love to see DC Rainmaker and other reviewers move towards on-going and occasionally updated reviews that take firmware updates and added features added into account. On-going software support, at least to me, is a major factor when it comes to making a buying decision after all.
I try and update where possible. That said, outside of radar support and fixing Strava (which I accounted for in my review), the ROAM has actually gotten basically nothing since launch. It’s a very un-Wahoo like concept to be honest.
And unfortunately, it was the one Wahoo product (and still is in my opinion) that really needed more features and focus than any other. As you noted, it’s still horribly overpriced (ironic to use that after my last comment). I agree there’s elements, primarily of the setup, that are definitely better and cleaner. And also agree, it’s hard to put those on paper. But I think it tremendously struggles against the Edge 530 these days, primarily because of price. People are by and large pretty happy there.
Inversely, I think something like the BOLT at $199 (where it is today) makes the Edge 130 Plus kinda silly. Unless you really really really want CLIMBPRO.
“The following devices can display this information as a data field only and require the use of a Garmin HRM-Tri, HRM-Run, or HRM-Dual strap:
Edge 530
Edge 830
Edge 1030 Plus”
Maybe it’s useless but I like to have it, I’ve just bought a 1030 plus and I found this nice surprise in my activity data fields, this seems to be another little but significant improvement vs 1030, not described in the review. It works also with my Polar H10 HRM (even if Garmin site says An HRM-Tri, HRM-Run, or HRM-Dual strap is required, but it’s not true)
Are you able to pause workouts while continuing to record your ride?
It’s trivial, but as someone who trains outside with lots of intersections, this is the one single feature that keeps me on Wahoo. Not that I would switch, but I won’t even consider it without this feature.
I believe that GP wasn’t asking for pause everything while stopped but for pause the workout (and only the workout) while passing through that village where you can’t hammer out intervals
I will not buy any new Garmin until they have a USB-C port. I doubt anyone from Garmin is reading these comments, but in case this gets around to them, I hope they realize how much people care about this.
I don’t suppose anyone knows if the battery pack supports pass through charging? So that on a tour someone can charge the battery pack with a dynamo while riding and have the battery pack simultaneously charge the 1030 plus or a phone?
Answering myself:
According to Garmin-Shawn link to forums.garmin.com
“it will charge itself and the power/charge the EDGE at the same time, but the external power charging the charge pack is not directly connected to the EDGE. But if an EDGE or other device is connected, the charge pack itself will recharge more slowly than if no external device was connected.” “In all cases the external power sources charge the charge pack, and the charge pack powers/charges the EDGE. External power sources connected to the charge pack do not directly power the EDGE.”
So, as I read it, not really pass through, but better for this scenario. This way the Edge doesn’t see any dips in voltage depending on the speed one is riding at, at the cost (and inefficiency) of having to do two voltage level conversions: external supply step down to internal battery (3.6-4.2v), and internal battery step-up to 5v to the Edge.
As I recall, the power pack started beeping every time the current went up/down as I went faster/slower, it didn’t always resume charging or passing through power from the dyno automatically, I pushed the button a lot of times trying to make it do something, it got very confused and sometimes did or didn’t work, until it eventually became unresponsive and never worked again. Garmin sent me a new one, which I never tried. I replaced the power pack with a Goal Zero Venture and put my 1030 back on my stem.
Lol I got to “no USB-C here” and stopped reading. It’s 2020, there is zero chance I will buy a brand new device which has micro-USB, it is the worst of the USB connectors and I’ve seen way too many failures. It’s not even like this is a hard change, USB-C is pin compatible if all they were doing was changing the connector, but this also means no fast charge and continuing to own another cable for 3-5 years that I don’t need anywhere else.
As I understand it, Garmin licenses those Firstbeats (?) algorithms depending on the device, and obviously the device’s price reflects those licensing costs.
So you wouldn’t be able to get those metrics if the original recording device isn’t licensed for it.
Now, if all your devices support a given metric, maybe that could be (already is?) combined in Garmin Connect. I don’t have enough devices to know if that’s already being done or not.
Exactly. It’s why I do every ride, run, hike etc. with my forerunner 945. I tried to get my head around physio true up when I had a 935 and 1030 and on Garmin Connect it was only showing one devices data at a time? Why not have every workout (say with a 1030 and 945) combined and working in harmony. I just make sure that every exercise I do (including rides) are done with my 945. I’ve tried to use a less expensive head unit since it’s hard to justify two expensive units, but the 1030 is just so good…..light network, clear screen….love getting ALL smart notifications etc. etc.
It’s more FirstBeat than Garmin. The license follows the device and the calculations are done there with R-R data (HRV). Apps like Zwift don’t capture R-R data, and even if they did they don’t have FirstBeat licenses.
Ideally I wish FirstBeat would allow you to apply your FirstBeat license to other apps like Zwift for the values, but then you’d need to convince those other apps to calculate it, which probably isn’t going to happen either.
I don’t even know if it’s possible, but in an ideal world it would be awesome if Zwift could transmit the location and elevation data back to the Garmin watch via ANT+ in Indoor mode to have the complete file.
For the time being I record on the Garmin and use my Zwift file, when I’m done I simply combine the two files and load them back up to GarminConnect. As long as you get the device and serial number right (the combining takes care of that) your training effect and status are updated perfectly.
Yeah, I’ve talked to FirstBeat about it at a high level in terms of capabilities. It doesn’t sound like this is a technology issues, or a licensing one.
I think it’s a more substantial issue that Garmin wants to admit. It’s frustrating that they spend all the time on all these nuanced licensed features from Firstbeat, but it all falls apart because I want to leverage some of their partnerships.
A great example is the trainer ride I just got off of. I was on a Tacx NEO 2 (a Garmin company product), controlled by TrainerRoad on an iPad. Sure, the Edge 130 Plus sitting there offered me the same workout, but then I wouldn’t have gotten all the text instructions. But no biggie, TR syncs the workout to Garmin, so all should be good?
Nope. I had to record it on the Fenix 6 Pro (because it was on my wrist, obviously I could have recorded it on the Edge). And again, the Fenix 6 offered me the workout too. But again, I didn’t want to look at my wrist on a trainer.
Garmin Connect only displays things on a per device basis.
But if you look at the Training Status, Recovery Time, etc Last Sport widget on your 945, the data from your 1030 IS there, and displayed on an integrated basis.
Just don’t ask me to figure out the logic of why it is integrated on the device, and not on GC.
So You are telling us that Garmin could calculate Training Load, Focus, etc for every ride uploaded to Garmin Connect, since there is no license problem here?
I’m saying that Firstbeat sees no technical or licensing limitations to doing so. Meaning, they may or may not charge Garmin a fee, but that’s not a limitation. Garmin licenses so many FirstBeat features that even if they were ultimately charged whatever crazy low rate they pay already, it’s relatively trivial. Ill give back some other feature to get that instead.
I’m another one who runs a 1030 effectively just for routing and data during a ride, but has everything recorded to a fenix, so I just delete the activity on the 1030 without even saving it once I know the fenix has synced to GC without any issues.
Trouble is, the 1030 still seems to generate performance stats based on these rides (which are not going to be very accurate as it doesn’t know about my other activities, as my fenix does), and when I sync it to GC (which I have to do to transfer new routes onto it), it overwrites some of them. For example, My VO2Max is about 54. I’ll do 3 rides and my fenix will agree that it’s still 54 for each of them, so that’s what GC will show. However, days later I sync my 1030 and find my VO2Max is maybe now showing as 51, 49 and 50 for those 3 rides, even though I didn’t even save them on my 1030, just paused and discarded them, and my VO2Max will now show as 50 in GC.
Until Trueup fully does what it should, I don’t actually want anything syncing back from my 1030 to GC. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like there’s any practical way of preventing this and still be able to get routes on to the device.
Which Fenix? You might be able to use the Extended Display mode on it, which just uses the 1030 as a larger screen. Ray did a review last year: link to dcrainmaker.com
Are you sure you have TrueUp enabled both ways, on both devices? While I do the same “discard on one device”, I never had VO₂ max overwritten like you say.
With proper TrueUp, you should see your Fenix rides on the Edge, but you say “as it doesn’t know about my other activities” which implies the two-way sync doesn’t work (as opposed to one-way only).
Correct. I want general ride recording to act normally in the background. But I want to manually pause just the workout, while the rest of the ride continues to record.
Sometimes (never) the timing of my intervals and the best sections of road don’t line up.
Seems like their PR team should have been involved in their mapping. Asia doesn’t exist and Africa falls under Europe? That doesn’t sound bad at all……
Also now that they are OSM based maps (so no licencing) will the other units be able to load map regions they didn’t come with? Seems like outside of artificial limits the other x30 units should be able to load regions, just won’t have the space for all of them at one time
Everybody who’s complaining about the lack of USB C: would it be sufficient to have an adapter that’s plugged into the battery pack connector?
Say, a semi-permanently adapter attached to the bottom of the bar mount? I don’t think that would make swapping between bikes any more difficult, you’d just have to have one adapter per bike. And that would mean just plugging the USB C cable to the underside of bar mount instead of the back of the Edge.
Or are people mostly removing their Edge units from their bars for charging? So an adapter like that would be no less of an annoyance than a (non-USB consortium compliant) C-to-micro adapter, except that it could be integrated into a cradle that would be quicker to plug in.
From what I understand, they’re worried about breakage. I’ve never broken one of either, but it’s supposed to be easier to break micro-USB than USB-C. So an adapter wouldn’t help; it’s the port itself that’s more robust.
Correct, it’s mostly about breakage for me. Sure, there’s speed/fast charging benefits, but honestly those are less interesting. Breakage is one, and better compatibility with chargers is the other. The only device I need a micro-USB cable for these days is really a Garmin Edge.
On breakage, I just got back my Edge 1030 from Garmin support for a broken USB port. And I’ve previously broken my Edge 520 Plus and 820 units.
But that’s my idea: have the adapter connected to the charging pins in the base. The pogo pin contacts in the base are pretty robust and won’t break. Then just have a USB C connector that charges the unit. I don’t know if the five contacts in the base provide communication or not…
Would be quite awesome if third-party product creativity would start taking advantage of the pogo charge port. But given the runtime of the 1030+ that market won’t be big. Charging on the bike doesn’t seem very inviting given the charge port location of the x30 generation. A wall mounted home charge dock could be quite attentive. (I do like to charge my 1000 on the bike, if it happens to be in range of the delightfully long Favero cables)
> The only device I need a micro-USB cable for these days is really a Garmin Edge.
Did any of the USB-rechargeable powermeters already do the switch?
(off-topic observation: when I connect all the USB charge ports on a bike equipped for travel it looks like a jacked-in fantasy from a 1980ies cyberpunk dystopia)
No, all the power meters that are rechargeable have their own funky-ass connectors. Part of of the reason when I travel, I travel with Vector 3 or PowerTap pedals.
At least for Favero and SRM-X, the funky connectors are micro-USB on the intake side, Podiiiium is taking micro directly.
A quick dive into datasheets on RS components shows that it is possible to implement C female within the general size envelope of micro, but IPX rated variants are still new to the market (e.g. listed on Mouser but not yet on RS)
Well, people have broken micro and I’m sure that they did not do so by reaching 10k insertions. But I’m also sure that a good implementation of micro will easily outlast a not so good implementation of C and that mainly people simply don’t yet have that much negative experience with C because most don’t have C long enough to wear out even the worst eggs.
Also, if you only use C for low power charging you will enjoy the quadruple redundancy in the power lines that are a side effect of the reversability. Therefore, the entire class of defects that comes from gunked up contact surfaces will be much rarer, you can lose six out of eight contacts and see no ill effect (except that it would burn up or something if you tried to force a fast charge over that connection)
USB-C may have the tiny durability advantage of not having users attempting to insert the cable head in the wrong orientation as often. More an issue of stress on the board connection or the crown than the pins of the port itself in that situation.
If nothing else USB-C and the Garmin watch connector styles may save a tiny amount of user frustration.
A breakage rating would be specific to a given manufacturer, and definitely not applicable to all devices. There’s very little debate micro-USB is less durable than USB-C. USB-C is by far a strong connector, especially in terms of lateral forces.
I’ve broken plenty of crappy micro-USB connectors on all assortment of devices over the years. I’ve yet to even come close to that with a USB-C connector.
I got so traumatized on how bad my Edge 820 was that is hard for me to take the decision whether I should upgrade to this new model or use a smartphone as cycling computer instead ?
That’s two of us. I’ve also had to reset my 820 so many times to fix crappy Garmin firmware updates that I’ve stopped really setting up screens. Garmin really needs to add the ability to “save” setup somehow so you can re-apply it when you need to default reset your device.
Copy the assorted setting fit files to your pc and then copy them back after the reset. Same for courses you may want to save. link to support.garmin.com
Would you consider this a larger 830, or a larger 820 with some upgrades? I had an 820 for a while and found it to be the worst Garmin device I’ve ever owned by a long shot. By comparison I’ve had great luck with the 830. I bought a 1030 (non-plus) about a year ago and it was just a really larger 820. If this one is actually an 830 with a larger screen that’d be good news.
Definitely a larger 830. Now, if you haven’t used the Edge 1030 in a long while, you might want to take it out and update the firmware. The bulk of the changes you’ll honestly just get via those summer/fall firmware updates. Though, the speed ones are the main differences you’d notice from the 1030 if a frequent 830 user.
The Bontrager Garmin Edge 1030 GPS Cycling Computer is on sale for $399. Is it still work it to buy this one? I want to be able to use Trailforks on it for mountain biking. Is that easily possible?
Thanks in advance!
Brent
Thanks for the detailed review. There is one thing that puzzles me always: I’m doing most of my rides with a Fenix 6 x sapphire (For recording) and an edge 1000 (for displaying and routing), the Fenix is sometimes giving me 10% more elevation gain, sometimes almost the same. If I ride with friends the elevation gain varies within up to 8-10% within the group. Is there any observation of you on this issue (I know that the Netherlands might not be the best place to address this issue)?
Thanks, Achim
Pretty sure by default the Edge uses a barometric sensor – that’s what the little hole in the back panel is for. You need to make sure it is unobstructed.
difficult to say where is a problem. My wife’s Vivoactive 3 was replaced 3 times because of losing steps count problem whereas my FR935 never had problems. It might be just some manufacturing hw faults
How long ago was this? In the beginning, my 830 would often tell me “Satellites lost” (or whatever it actually says) but it was never true. The position was still being recorded and displayed correctly. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it say that.
Agree. I think I saw that lost satellite thing once or twice last May. I believe right before my ‘Garmin Bugs’ post. My understanding was that was fixed around that same week though. I’ve never seen it again.
Hmm, it seems I’m not the only one not getting enough “low aerobic”, good to know 🙂
The lack of SD-card means that topo maps that Garmin uses to sell is a no-go anymore. Not that I used them much, but they have often better detail in the mountains. Download version, I guess, not reusable between devices ☹ and they’re not cheap either ☹☹.
I cannot agree more with your statement “but it’s almost unheard of for me to see the ‘High Aerobic’ in the right zone“!
On my Edge 1030, I’m either low aerobic, or anaerobic, hardly ever high aerobic in the right zone just like you wrote. I thought I was doing something wrong. Reading your above sentence was a “heck yeah!” moment. 🙂
Ray, planning to purchase my first GPS shortly. The only reason I’d go for a 1030 Plus over a 530/830 is if I find I need the larger screen size. Question for you on the 1030 Plus/1030 is the 1030s are already being discounted $100 or so; is it worth an extra $100 for the features you’d get with a 1030 Plus that you wouldn’t with a 1030?
BTW, our daughter is currently just a few towns to the south of you, working at TU Delft.
$100 is tough. That’s close enough that it’s nice to know longer term you’ll probably get better updates for the Plus series.
But at the same time, when it comes to updates, historically the Plus series has always gotten the shorter end of the stick (usually due to hardware claims). So basing the extra $100 on the assumption it might get an extra year or two’s features is probably misguided thinking, especially since in this case Garmin is saying these features (some anyway) are coming to the original Edge 1030 later this year.
Hope you’re daughter is enjoying it there. It’s a pretty town for sure!
In the spring, you could get the original 1030 in the UK for an amazing £299, which leads me to believe they will start selling them off later this year. Therefore, the question for me is: is the 1030 Plus worth a wopping £200 more?
I would look for 830 Vs 1030plus at you place, hot my hands on 830 yesterday, and it seems to be much more responsive in comparison to 1030. Same for animations speed, and route calculations.
Typically speaking Garmin releases cycling computers on an either 2 year or 3 year refresh cycle, depending on winds, moon phases, and tidal conditions. In other words, I wouldn’t expect any more bike computers till at earliest next spring.
Ray did leak about Edge release dates before, I don’t remember where exactly, but I’ll quote from memory:
“Most likely it will be a Tuesday”
From my own personal crystal ball I’d like to add that I expect those “40ies”, if they stick to the naming scheme, to all be released on the same Tuesday. It worked well for the paired release of the 530/530, and that release synchronization was also preceded by a “plus” (the 520+ that filled the gap from 520 to the 530 that was pushed back to the 830 release date).
When they are all released in parallel there will be no more awkward buying decisions along the lines of “this is my preferred form factor, but that one has a more recent CPU and/or won’t fall off the feature updates hotlist as early”.
My crystal ball is silent about wether Garmin will stick to three years (“40ies” in 2022, three years after [58]30) or increase cadence to two years (“40ies” in 2021). I suppose that it must be much easier to design three form factors in parallel on one shared technological base than three form factors overlapping, but offset by one year of progress each.
For Garmin, it’s always a Tuesday at 7AM US Eastern. Unless it’s not. But that’s super rare and really only happens when it’s timed to a specific show-open announcement (such as opening day of Eurobike or opening day of IFA, or CES, etc…). And even then, those are slowly fading away as brands realize announcing on opening show dates means less eyeballs as there’s lots of things consumers are distracted with.
Other companies have standard embargo times too. Strava is always 10AM Pacific. Wahoo is almost always 9AM Eastern. GoPro is 6AM Pacific. Fitbit is typically 9AM Eastern.
Is the beep volume adjustable? I like the idea of it being louder, but I worry that constant radar notifications would be too annoying at a higher volume.
Looking forward to hearing about this… and I am foolishly optimistic that they will offer global maps/asia maps to other devices such as the Fenix 6 series!
Knowing how 2020 has gone thus far, it is probably better that I assume they will release this on the 6 Plus but not other Fenix 6 models “just because”.
Typical Garmin support response time in answering a question like language support? When it says “Global” Garmin should have expected this question regarding Asia maps…
Sorry to be so mean but this the Garmin problem for years. 2020 and the top model is still region divided? How big is the CJK font library? Extra battery used to support the extra storage required?
…and, got clarification on the lack of Asia map swapping. I’m told it’s due to “map royalty issues”.
Which is funny, as that indirectly answers a question I was wondering the other day (to myself), which was that previously Garmin licensed their maps globally. But in the last few years they’ve leveraged more and more OSM. However, I’d wondered if there were still maps they licensed, or pieces of maps. I guess that answers that.
You should update your ‘OpenStreetMap guide’ page to include the 1030 Plus. Tried it myself and works a charm. Sucks that I still have to go through this extra hassle, but I do contribute to the OpenStreetMap project locally, so I get all my updates too 🙂
A bit unrelated to the Edge but… still somewhat relevant:do you think that Garmin will carry any of the biggest features from this release over to the Fenix 6 series (namely the global maps) as a software update?
I live in Japan but own a US market Fenix 6X Sapphire – I’ve uploaded open street map onto the watch and I’ve *even managed to put topo maps* of Japan on here after a hefty amount of searching for this on Japanese websites.
The OSM and Japan topo maps work but they seem to drag from time to time, especially towards the end of a longer run & certainly during long rides/hikes etc. This is most notable when switching from one data screen in an activity to the mapping screen.
All of this is to say: I hope Garmin adds global maps onto the Fenix 6 series – how likely do you think this might be?
I suspect we’ll see some things make it to the Fenix 6 series, but they beat to their own drum. Had it been rolled into a Forerunner device first, we’d see it quicker. But Edge to Fenix is usually a little bit longer.
I would expect something like the LiveTrack bits to show up faster than other pieces.
As for global maps for the Fenix 6? Honestly, I doubt it. One notable is that Garmin over the last year reduced the price point to $19 for a region, which is helpful. It’s still a cluster-fudge to get those on there though.
Thanks Ray. Good review as always. I was waiting for something like this to upgrade from my old Edge 1000. Some good new features in this unit, especially the almost world wide maps. My disappointments with it are
1. No Asia maps (just missing a few billion peoples here?).
2. Still using micro USB rather than USB-C with lots of mechanical failures on older edge units
3. Not taking into account indoor Zwift and TR data etc for estimating lots of important metrics.
4. Was hoping for a bigger screen, my bad.
5. Weird location for the lap and stop start buttons.
Here’s hoping they fixed the power button failures on so many older garmin units when the plastic starts to disintegrate.
I just looked into the battery pack at garmin.com and it says it’s compatible with some forerunners (935, 945..).
I know you can charge anything with an usb cable, but to list at compatibles it most do something different. Have you tried it?
Also it does not list the fenix 6 or 5. My guess here is the lack of a quick release kit for the fenix. So how does exactly the 945 connects to the battery pack?
I have the battery pack and a 935 w/ the quick release kit. I think they are saying you can use the USB cable. I don’t see any other way to attach the battery to the watch.
Steven is correct. I suspect someone was just sitting there going: ‘Well, I suppose technically it’s compatible…so…check this box, and that box, and this box…” 🙂
I for one like the fact that Garmin insists on making the devices “standalone” configurable (No smartphone needed). I bought a Apple Watch LTE years ago to avoid having to bring my smartphone on rides.
The ONE thing that could make me upgrade my garmin unit (520 plus) was a simple Apple Watch companion APP. It doesn’t need to do anything or have any interface. It should just connect to the Edge to provide LTE for Livetrack, and allow for relay of SMS/messages to the Edge.
If they did that, Garmin would be feature complete to me 🙂
Hi Ray, and thanks for another crystal clear and concise review.
One question – do you think that Garmin will roll out the mid-ride routing changes to other devices (e.g. 530/830/1030)? The current lack of dynamic re-routing when following a course (e.g. skip-ahead) is a pretty gaping hole in the functionality and would seem a great feature to include in the current generation of devices!
The only plausible reason I can imagine for not back-porting these re-routing features would be screen-layout issues to present the options.
Otherwise, it would seem like it would be more work to omit these features from software builds for other capable devices (e.g., the 530/830/1030 devices at least), but that assumes that the Garmin software development process is not completely f’d up. So…yeah.
Or, the suits think that reserving these features to the 1030 Plus will be a good way to drive sales of 1030Plus devices — which is magical thinking since it will really drive sales to Wahoo and Karoo.
One remark. You always write “There’s likely no topic that stirs as much discussion and passion as GPS accuracy.” Well, for me, I couldn’t care less about that. I always read your review entirely, but I just scan this part. Just so you know. Many people _don’t_ actually care that much about GPS accuracy. As long as it’s quite good, it’s good enough.
Don’t worry, I dislike writing that whole section as much as the next guy or gal.
But, it’s still true. God help any device that doesn’t show people where they actually went. I never hear the end of it. Thus, that section basically says “Here’s what you’ll get, even if heavily over-analyzed’.
I skip ahead to the conclusion of those sections just like everybody else, but the fact that they are there in case I want to really drill down is one of the many great things that set this site apart from all the shallow “slightly reword the press release” influencer stuff or there.
That said, I’d love to see an ‘altitude accuracy’ and ‘grade accuracy’ section. For a cycling device, accurate measurement of altitude and meters climbed is far more interesting than knowing you rode 130km instead of 130.2km. And this is an area in which many units fail.
That’s hard, and Ray, living in Flatland, isn’t well situated to test that. Accurate altitude from a barometric altimeter depends on frequent calibration, so it comes down to how well the manufacturer’s automatic calibration method (if any) works. Grade is usually just computed on the fly from altitude change/distance, although it could be measured by the appropriate sensor, provided it too calibrates itself (is the unit level when you start?). Consistent altitude gain over a loop course doesn’t rely on calibration, but does rely on whether or not temperature correction is applied to the standard atmosphere they use to convert pressure to altitude. Altitude gain would probably be the easiest thing to report on for repeat loops of the same course, but that of course takes time to get enough repeat rides to say anything useful about it.
Garmin have been taking the piss with their prices for years. Thats more than a top of the line mobile or next gen gaming computers and consoles. £500+ for whats basically a cycling computer, ridiculous.
I keep seeing this line of thinking (both overpriced and the phone bit). The phone aspect doesn’t really apply. Different use cases for 98% of the likely target market here. If you’re gonna use a phone as a bike computer on the regular, you’re not gonna buy a $299 bike computer, let alone a $599 one.
As for the overall price, it’s expensive – absolutely. But overpriced is tricky. After all, Garmin has been selling this model at this price for 3 years, and boatloads of people are buying it at that price and seemingly happy with it.
In my mind, overpriced is when, roughly:
A) Something isn’t priced to the market, and as such they lose market share
B) Something is priced based purely on brand value/attraction, and thus people overpay for what is usually inferior features/quality
But I don’t think either apply here. Again, just me.
It’s a shame… this sounds great, but after my awful experiences with Garmin over support on issues with my 830 (that reset every 2 days or so, taking the ride data with it, then I had to pay to sent it back to them for a warranty replacement), I can’t bring myself to give them another dime.
Hey there! Has Garmin made a software change to make Auto Pause functional when stopping during a structured workout ride outside?
It’s pretty frustrating the way it is today – needing to manually press Pause when stopping at lights, press Resume when starting to move again, and then the data screen jumps back to the Structured Workout screen instead of the one you were on before stopping.
Your paragraph about POI navigation hits home for me. This is my main gripe with Garmin devices (which I use anyway admittedly).
When we write software a feature is always developed like this: “as [who does your feature benefit?] I want to [what does your feature do?] so [what do you gain from it?]
Example: As [a cyclist away from home on a ride] I want to [get a fresh drink] so [I can quench my thirst].
I think that’s what underlines a feature like POI. If it worked that way, POIs would be a master feature of Garmin devices, in the same way Google Maps is probably the most important app on an Android Phone (I’d argue even more than the Phone app).
Now there is absolutely no way that the current implementation of POIs is the best you could think of. Or even passable fwiw. My personal ideal would be: stop the bike, take my phone out, open Google Maps, find a pub, click share, click “Share to Garmin Edge”, put my phone away, click “Go” on the Garmin. And savour that drink. YMMV with iOS but that’s the idea.
Now that doesn’t sound like a lot to ask. AFAIK all it needs is an implementation for this: link to developer.android.com , so Garmin appears like a sharing destination like any other app.
Until then, the actual experience goes: stop the bike, take my phone out, open Google Maps, find a pub, click Home on Garmin, Go to navigation menu, Find Address, Select country (like !!!!!, for real?), type in the beginning of the postcode of the pub, type in the street name of the pub, type in the street number of the pub, put my phone away click “Navigate To” on the Garmin. All of this with the poor on-screen keyboard experience on the Garmin (postcodes here in the UK are alphanumerical you keep switching between alphabet and number screens), my phone wanting to screen lock constantly and the Garmin 50% of the times not having the exact same information about street names, street numbers etc than Maps. Argh. ffs.
Mind you I appreciate they make sure you can cycle without a phone too, which is commendable. It’s just missing some love for the experience with a phone.
Fully agree, it should absolutely integrate with the navigation intents on android via connect app.
One complication that is easy to forget though is that the connect app has to cater for all kinds of garmin devices and they need to figure out what to do when you e.g. only use the app with the independently recording Bluetooth speed sensor, a Vivofit, or, I don’t know, the ANT+ weight scale? The original intent filter system is install time only and runtime (“direct”) share targets are a bit of an advanced topic.
Certainly doable but the fact that the connect app serves so many wildly different devices makes it a tougher but to crack than for, say, Wahoo. There also seems to be a bit of an intraorganizational responsibility problem, e.g. if the connectIQ team needs something implemented by the Connect App team there seems to be a lot of red tape in the way.
Yes you’re right and also they have to cater to wildly different types of users so priorities might not be the same for everyone. I’m a bit of a tourist and I do have a terrible sense of orientation so I use nav a lot but lots of people don’t necessarily use it at all. Actually in DCR posts it’s rarely that big a section for instance, which is fair considering the audience here.
Yeah, I don’t think either Wahoo or Garmin nail the experiance on ad-hoc nav yet. Garmin is great if you somehow forgot your phone at home. But Wahoo is easier when its ‘just get me to Ikea’, and done. Because in the app you can literally type Ikea, and off it’ll go instantly to the ROAM.
That’s the piece I wish Garmin had. Not Ikea per se, but just the quick ad-hoc ‘get me somewhere’ route, with using actual business names. Obviously Wahoo is just pulling that from some API, but it’s super useful.
Append all of that rigmarole with …
“Find a shady spot not in direct sunlight to better read your phone, then get your reading glasses out of your back pocket so you can read the tiny phone script, and reverse the process when the address is programmed in”
It s a genuine missed opportunity. Having hot keys for “Show me the nearest open food/drink shops/gas stations” and “Find me the nearest open pub”, “Find me the nearest bike shop”, and a few others that result in you being offered a list of alternatives in proximity order would be a real improvement. For rescue situations, when the last inner tube has been used, “Text Significant Other a link to where I am on Google maps” or “Text S.O. my what3words location” would be huge.
It should be easy. It seems not.
We’re a 1000/1030 family, I’m still undecided on the upgrade top the 1030 plus. Would love a front facing cam. That would be a killer app for me on the crowded UK roads.
What Garmin does nail is the use case of going without electronic navigation for most of the day and only dropping a pin on the map when overwhelmed by a difficult section, usually a city of sorts. You really don’t need help following a route that consists of major alpine passes back to back, or going about on your favorite winter training island, but the cities in between are always full of one way mazes, barriers like railroads, highways, rivers with few chokepoint passages that you must not miss even if that other road looks so much more inviting and so on.
In this situation I know exactly where I want to emerge from the city (e.g. the entry to a secluded climb, the low-traffic parallel to a major road that won’t have signs pointing to it) but I am super open to suggestions about how to get there.
When passing through cities I also don’t like to be stuck with a pre-planned route, as local traffic patterns, specifics of bike infrastructure and observing the local riders (Dirk Gently navigation method, locals know time-of-day specifics no heatmap will capture) often make me overthrow those plans when passing through urban areas. Dynamic recalculation that doesn’t care about anything pre-made other than the intended exit point is perfect for this.
Do you think there’s any chance the “Suggested Workout” feature will be able for the Forerunner 945 and Fenix 6 series? I’m really excited about seeing adaptive training features are finally getting implemented directly on these units.
I know people are complaining about the lack of USB-C. But, why hasn’t Garmin done away with the USB port all together? They don’t even need to use a wireless charging pad that phones use. There is already a place to charge new Garmins at the mount(aka where the external battery connects).
Removing mass storage access would piss off pretty much all customers who learned to use a garmin before they got Wi-Fi. And those are the ones least likely to switch to Wahoo (hard earned skills going to waste) unless pissed off, so Garmin wouldn’t want to do that. And in terms of charging, it would be a great loss of you couldn’t charge your GPS without some heavy and bulky special cable adapter. There are those of us who travel on the bike and any additional cable that only works for one of the many devices that have snuck into this activity won’t be welcomed at all.
But as others have already mentioned in this thread, some neat charging accessories utilizing the base contacts would be nice to have, in addition to the USB port. That would also increase longevity and reduce customer support cost, because the ports break from use, not from years. So it would even help those who absolutely insist on having some form of standardized USB if they could stick to base contacts charging while at home.
Agree, I hope they don’t go wireless charging. Plus, even fast wireless charging is slow. Both micro-USB and USB-C cables are available pretty much anywhere on earth. So you can walk into any hotel lobby or such if you forgot one and someone will let you borrow one of those cables. Most grocery stores and gas stations have them too.
Thank you for another great review! One question I did not see answered in the review is whether when you import the activity profiles from your old device is the “history” data imported as well? I have activity profiles set up for each bike and like to track the total mileage on each bike that way. Would prefer to not go back to zero again for the mileage. Thanks!
Hmm, I don’t typically track mileage for bikes. In theory general history comes over, but at the moment I’m not seeing that. I had reset mine two days ago to get one last set of photos/video, and the history piece hasn’t synced in yet.
Just got my unit today. Sadly, I can’t get the device to be recognized on the connecIQ app. Unreal, I had the 510 back in the day got distracted and went to wahoo. More or less happ w the bolt no major issues on wish the navigation was better. Was really excited to hear about all the advancements w Garmin and was it was no longer buggy… guess I was wrong. Called fermi support and said the IQ team probably did not update the app!!! WTF the main reason I got this init was to connec to TrainingPeaks and strava for my routes. Help anyone ???
Connect IQ app issue aside, you don’t need Connect IQ anymore for TrainingPeaks and Strava. With TrainingPeaks that changed a year ago, and Strava about a month ago.
Just ensure your account is connected with Garmin Connect for Workouts and Courses. Then they instantly show up. 🙂
ahhh, thanks! was going crazy looking for this. i made the connections and everything seems to be working except for the planned workouts. the workouts load to the device but i dont see them on the 1030 calendar for the day… does that take time to synch or did i miss a setting? BTW LOVE your review and content bravo!
Garmin maps supplied on a SD card are locked to the card and won’t work if copied off the card. To use them you need to have a GPS device with a SD card slot.
Hi ray
As far as I’m concerned on navigation maps we have still got the WHITE ARROW on the WHITE BACKGROUND.
Sat at home no problem, but on the move in busy traffic, rainy conditions, and even worse in night mode.
I’ve asked repeatedly to make the Arrow RED .
Just got the 1030 Plus today and it did not offer to transfer settings/sensors from the 1030 during set-up.
Both devices are linked to my Garmin account and have up-to-date firmware. Also, there is recent ride data (from the weekend) on the 1030. Is there any way to manually initiate the transfer? I really do not want to configure the new device from scratch ….
Ok, just unregistered the 1030 Plus from my account, removed the device from the Connect phone app, removed the Bluetooth pairing from the phone, removed the device from the Garmin Express Mac app and did a full device reset. Then I started over again.
This time my sensors were transferred and the “Indoor” profile transferred, but the “Road” profile did not. Looks like I’ll need to set up the screens for “Road” again, but at least I’m not totally starting from scratch.
Another odd thing is that in Garmin Express (Mac) I installed all of the map updates but Express continues to tell me that map updates are available. When I try to install the supposed updates the updates complete immediately, but Express still insists that they are available (even after disconnecting the 1030 Plus, exiting Express and then reconnecting).
I guess I should have known I’d encounter bugs for a new device. This is Garmin after all.
One more update. Perhaps the “Road” profile was not transferred because it uses Connect iQ apps. It looks like none of the iQ apps were transferred during set-up.
The Android version of the iQ app does not seem to recognize the 1030 Plus. When I go to the web version of the iQ store there are some iQ apps available for the 1030 Plus, but none of the apps I use on the 1030 are available.
Is this a Garmin issue or do developers have to update their iQ apps for the 1030 Plus?
Heard back from one developer who said that they are waiting for a device from Garmin to test with and that a new version of the CIQ app will be released sometime after that.
So, it looks like I have a brand new device that I cannot use for a while because I have hardware that depends on CIQ apps. I just assumed that since they were both “1030” devices that everything would work, which it doesn’t.
Well, this is always the situation with Garmin. I’ve seen a few (very few) apps that were released a while ago but already marked compatible, but the vast majority werent.
Is the same with Fenix updates, is a general issue with the CIQ system. Not sure I’d call it a problem; technically I understand the reason.
I have a few data fields I care much about, but it’s not like I can’t bike without them. So, I ordered.
You can most likely copy the app from your 1030 Garmin\Apps folder over to the 1030+. It’ll be a file with a .prg extension. It won’t do any harm. If you need to configure it through Garmin Connect, things get a little trickier.
Great review! I’ve noticed that the suggested workout pics are all based on power – is there an option for these to be based on HR zones for those of us without a power meter?
I am just wondering how long it will take before an Edge 1040 will be released?
As far as I can remember when the Edge 520 plus was released only a few months later they released the Edge 530/830.
How do you compare the update from the Edge 1030 to the 1030 plus and the update from the Edge 520 to the 520 plus. In the end the Edge 520 plus was not much more than adding maps/routing to the exisitng Edge 520, other than more memory not much changed to that HW. I have the impression that the Edge 1030 plus has more HW changes: faster processor/new GPS chipset, …
The 520+ was an emergency software trickle-down (with the bare minimum of accompanying hardware change) because of what Wahoo did. The 1030+ is an emergency trickle-up because the 830 was totally killing the 1030 and that’s never good for a company when the higher priced units have a bigger margin.
It’s 200 more expensive not because the bigger screen is good-plated but because there are people willing to pay that much and those who don’t can still get an 830. Everything that is priced in tiers is tightly calculated at the budget end and ends with a generous margin.
Does this tell us anything about when successors to 530/830/1030+ will arrive? No. But in terms of technology the 1030+ is as “old” as the 830 now, so it would make sense to replace them at the same time (like 530/830). Garmin could either use the synergies from concurrent hardware releases to increase cadence (840 and possibly friends in 21), decrease cadence because devices don’t leapfrog each other anymore so they can focus on keeping them competitive with software for as longer (840 and friends in 23) or stick to the established cadence of three years per hardware generation (840 and friends in 22)
I’m debating between getting the 1030+ and the 830. I’m coming from the 810 so pretty much everything will be an upgrade. Any thoughts on which one I should get?
I moved from 820 to 830 today, You can buy 830 under 350€, and 1030plus is 600€.
Feature list is just a little bigger on 1030plus, ask yourself if you want to spend almost twice for minor upgrade over 830
Great review, Ray. The one thing that’s really nice about this unit, compared to my 830, are the reroute options. As far as I can tell, 830’s idea of rerouting is to keep bugging me to turn around, which is…not helpful. Being able to pause the course, and choose how you want to rejoin it would be great. Garmin hasn’t said anything about bringing these options over to 830, I suppose?
Having used my 830 to route extensively in the last month, if you have some idea of how to proceed, eventually the 830 will realize that you’re not going to turn around, will stop prompting U-turns and will offer a way forward. That doesn’t help if you don’t know the roads in the area at all, because you won’t know where to go initially. As I said before, what Garmin has needed for a long time is a active way in real time to mark a road as impassible and ask the unit to reroute immediately. Their automotive GPS’s do that, but they get traffic information fed to them, which isn’t feasible for a cycling unit. (Besides, there might be a road where traffic will be technically open, but, for example, I don’t like riding through a mile long one-lane flagged construction zone because some flagmen do stupid things, and I don’t ride on sidewalks even if they’re marked “bike paths”.) What they’re doing here is pretty good, but I’d really like to see a way to immediately say “no, I can’t follow this route here, find me a way around”. But I’d still like to see what they’re doing now on the 1030+ to trickle down to the 830 because it’d be an improvement on the way things are now.
Coming from an Edge 1030 I just unboxed my 1030 Plus and wanted to set everything up for a ride tomorrow.
Long story short: It’s exactly the same half-baked user experience I’ve had with other Garmin devices over the last couple of years. Migration of profiles and sensors: Fine. Connect IQ apps? Naa… you don’t want to migrate your Connect IQ apps and settings over. Even if you wanted to, you’ll fail because all those apps are not yet compatible with your new device and need to be updated by their respective authors.
That’s not a problem because after like two years of usage you’ll finally agree that no one needs more than 2 data fields on their map screen, right?
In addition to that, there is no migration of basic system settings like wireless network or sound settings (I find the 1030 Plus to be really loud and there does not seem to be a volume adjustment option).
It’s so frustrating. So much potential, so little love for the product 🙁
Just finished the first ride with the 1030 plus, and as opposed to some other comments, it’s actually a good launch *for Garmin*.
I remember the 1030 crashing at the end of the activity for the first N months, live track not working reliably, many other issues at lunch.
Today, I spent probably an hour and a half before the ride to get it read, and it was almost “no problems” for a simple ride. The good parts:
* transferred sensors
* transferred activity profiles, even one with CIQ data fields
* easy pairing, got my VO₂max, my training load, etc.
* no crashes
* it is faster than the 1030 when riding, for sure
* reroute does indeed appear and it goes away after a while, non-intrusive
The bad parts
* some sensors did not work after transfer; mainly varia radar, but given this is complex to pair in the first place (it’s technically 2 “sensors” in one, radar + light network), I’m not very surprised; the other was edge remote, this is the dumbest thing ever, I am indeed surprised
* CIQ apps/fields/etc. are not there yet
So, I’m suprises at how well this works “out of the box” for a Garmin device. Almost unheard of 🙂
Might be off-topic: I never succeeded to enter the address navigation when I was following a route withe the Garmin Edge 830. Example: A friend asked me to meet up in a coffee shop during my ride. Or my friend asked me to pick her up during a ride. Is it possible with the 830 or the new model?
It’s there on my 830. Navigation->Search->Addresses Clunky to use because of the “keyboard”. If trying for a coffee shop, a better bet is Navigation->Search->POI Categories->Food and Drink->Cafe or Diner. For me that lists cafes (all the ones that I know about and more) in distance order from home, which is where I am now.
Notice there is no Asian maps in the global maps available in your screenshots, any chance these will become available, was hoping to pick up a US model and use here in Asia to get around the delayed Asian model firmware updates, my Edge 530 is still running 5.20 instead of the latest 5.50 available in the rest of the world.
Hi Ray, thanks for another thorough review. Any idea if the 1030 plus is a placeholder for a completely new version in a year from now, or will this one be around for a couple of years? Like you mentioned, it isn’t groundbreaking improvements, but is still the best out there. I need a new computer and am trying to decide if i bite the bullet and go with the 1030 plus or wait another year to see if they completely replace it.
Have Garmin published a battery chart (low, med, high) for 830 and 530?
I also fall into the “High” usage (power meter, HRM, Varia, backlight always on, live tracking on, route on, phone on, always on map page, etc.) and my 520 plus is burning through the battery in 5-6 hrs compared to the 15hrs advertised.
Would be nice if Garmin made the whole navigational interface more obvious – a bit like the ones you get in Car GPS devices. The smallness of the screens and number of streets they tend to show is difficult to follow in my view.
Thanks for the review. I have an edge 1000 with out front mounts on a few bikes, will the 1030 plus fit on the older 1000 out front mount or will I need to buy new mounts for all bikes again?
Garmin hasn’t changed the quarter turn mount since they first released it. My Edge 800, 1000, and 830 all work with the same mounts. I’m sure the 1030+ will too.
I can confirm that the 1030 Plus will work with an out front mount designed for the Edge 1000. I use a K-Edge and it works fine. The minor problem is that it can be difficult to reach the buttons, especially if you have big fingers, but I use a remote mounted to my handlebars so that’s not really a problem for me.
After reading your review I ordered one of these from CleverTrainer. I ordered on Monday and so far it hasn’t been shipped yet. I emailed to ask to change my shipping method to overnight (I would supply them with a credit card to pay for the extra charges) but I have received no reply other than an automated message. After reading some reviews about Clever Training, I see that many people have claimed that they are not very responsive and I’m beginning to get worried. I’m just wondering if you have any insight as to the best way to get in touch with them.
Never mind, they just replied and gave me a tracking number though it hasn’t shipped yet. I was hoping to get it soon because coincidentally my Garmin Edge 820 just broke down two days after I ordered the 1030 Plus.
My TrainingPeaks workout are not showing under today’s plan or when I turn in the device when I have a specific workout for the day. However I can find the synced From TP under workouts… glitch or am I doing something wrong???
Hi, have the same issue with my 830! TrainingPeaks training plans getting not fully synced (or synced at all) to the edge but are available in Garmin connect calendar… really annoying
I couldn’t for the life of me get the 1030 Plus to connect to either Garmin Basecamp or Garmin Express.
Turns out that I needed to use the USB cable shipped with the device, the other USB cables I had would let it charge, but for some reason not connect (they’re definitely data cables too, they’re not simple “charge only” cables.
Unsure why this is, maybe some quirk of the cable supplied with the 1030 Plus :\
I’ve connected the Edge 1030 plus to my windows using random cables I already had – very old ones, actually. But for sure, I didn’t unpack the one provided. Maybe your old cable (cables?) had some issue?
I am curious to know if anyone has an idea on the battery capacity for the new edge 1030 plus. It is 1900 mAh for edge 1030, but would be excellent to know what’s the capacity on 1030 plus since it has a higher battery life.
It’s the same 1900mAh battery (source: internal photos from the FCC registration). All the savings come from a more economical chipset.
This means that you get more extra hours if you e.g. top up during a coffee stop of a given length. The Roam for example requires a slightly bigger battery of 2000mAh to achieve its runtime.
Hello! Is anybody else facing issues with the 1030 (the old one, not the plus) after the firmware 9.50? For me it seems like the same what apple did some years ago – the older version has been slowed down with the software: the switching between the pages takes 2-3 seconds, the boot is also a lot slower. Today I will test the navigation, let’s see.
Quick question about the new setup process. If, say, I had to factory-revert my aging Edge 1000, would the new process transfer my old settings, sensors etc when I set it up again on the Garmin Connect app? Thanks.
Not on the Edge 1000. It’s a one-way thing to the newer Edge 1030/130 Plus.
It’s also, notably, a one-time thing. Meaning, even if you add sensors or tweak data pages on your Edge 1000, they won’t sync to the Edge 1030 Plus unless you fully reset your Edge 1030 Plus from scratch.
Thanks Ray, that’s kinda annoying. So it’s a backup and restore the old way. I’m having issues with the Edge 1000 shutting down mid-ride, most annoying.
Don’t think it’s anything to do with autopause/stop – it just shut down spontaneously mid-ride. I looked at the debug file, but I have no idea what any of it means.
1. Display looks like colours are washed out, pale and display a bit dark on some pics – like on my new Edge 1030 Plus when not in direct sunlight. Other pics with bright colourful screen – how did you reach the latter, especially indoor?
2. Cannot connect with BaseCamp BirdsEye for raster map download as BaseCamp not recognizes the Edge 1030 Plus (no problem with old Garmin Edge 1000). Important for me Do you know if Garmin will be able and willing to fix that?
I just take the photos either outside with natural light (preferably not sunlight actually – it’s too harsh for good photos, even if it makes the screen look brighter), or inside with studio lights. Double-check your backlight settings (it could be on auto, or manual, if it’s on manual, double-check it’s not at lowest setting).
Not sure on Basecamp, I haven’t played with that in a long while. :-/
Try looking for an update to BaseCamp. I’ve noticed a few times that when something new from Garmin comes out, it often takes a little while for their software to be told “yes, this is one of ours”. In the case of BirdsEye (I was surprised it still exists, but there it is in BaseCamp), since it’s subscription only, I’d guess that’s even more likely. And BaseCamp 4.8.4 for macOS is now telling me that 4.8.8 is available, so go get the new BaseCamp and try again.
Thanks. Displax is at manual, with100%.
I feel it is not so well to read in shadow or indoor.
@Paul: max I ask if you know or use other ways of uploading raster maps to an Edge 1030 Plus device than BirdsEye as you are surprised that it still exists?
I have no idea. It wouldn’t surprise me if it weren’t possible, either third party or BirdsEye itself. My comment about BirdsEye was because it used to be common for Garmin to mention it in ads, and I can’t remember having seen any mention of it in a long while. (I got a free trial with something I bought, maybe the Epix. Tried it out, didn’t like it.) It might be like the VIRBs, legacy support currently exists that’s going to disappear someday.
When I searched at buy.garmin.com, they’re still selling subscriptions to BirdsEye, but not a single Edge turned up in the search, just handhelds (and I’m not sure if they’re the current handhelds since I don’t keep up with them). There’s no mention of BirdsEye on the 1030+ page at buy.garmin.com. If BirdsEye doesn’t work with the latest BaseCamp, then you might have to call Garmin support and find out what the story is.
What is the difference in the screens of the 830 vs the 1030 Plus? I initially got the 830, but decided to try out the 1030 Plus when it came out. It seems like the 830 has darker darks and lighter lights as compared to the 1030 Plus. I figured they would have the same technology screens?
I’ve verified that all display settings are identical between the two devices. I can see both displays so it’s not a HUGE deal, but I definitely like the crisper display of the 830.
I learned from the forum that 1030 and 1030 plus have the new, more responsive display which is darker with pale colours except in direct sunlights. I was shocked when I compared displays of my old Edge 1000 and Edge 1030 Plus. Dont know why it is not possible to integrate a display which combines the brightness and strong colours of eg the cheap Edge Explore, 830 or 1000 with the
responsiveness of 1030 Plus.
I fin dthe display bad especially in shadow (in the wood) but I have to mnetion that many users do not have this problem and are satisfied with it.
Replying late to this so anyone is aware of the fact that the 1030 Plus screeen is really really bad compared with the 830 in indoors or low light conditions (like riding during the night, you have to push it to 100% brightness and even then is not even close).
Like you I own both, and the difference is day and night (no pun intended).
To be honest I find this quite unaceptable, specially considering the price point, as it currently stands the only difference between the 830 and 1030 is the screen size, and the 830 has the better screen.
Just wondering if it has the same irratating features as the 520 does?
I have an an Edge 520, and for me there are some features which are (very) anoying, stiff buttons require a lot of bracing to operate, every ten minutes or so the screen gets replaced by a picture of meaningless clock, at a random interval the screen gets replaced by the word “good” in a very small font. At least these do go away, the low battery warning does not without pressing a button.
and there is the price of the 1030+? you could get a pretty decent laptop for that, although it maybe trickier to use on longer rides.
The buttons on the Edge 1030 series have always been software than those on the original Edge 520.
I’ve never in my entire life seen my screen get replaced by a picture of a clock, on any interval. So, that sounds like you’ve got some odd Connect IQ app installed perhaps that’s doing that. I’d definitely double-check that. Or, maybe a time-alert enabled?
” at a random interval the screen gets replaced by the word “good” in a very small font”
Sounds like you might want to disable the feature “recovery advisor” if that annoys you. It displays “good” (or occasionally something else) about ten minutes after starting an activity.
and I forgot to add to my previous comment on the 520, that every time it is pluged or unplugged it switches itself on (now and again it will decided to switch itself off again, but not often). Crazy.
So just wondering if the 1030+ has this ‘feature’.
DC Rainmaker did you check if there is a limit for number of .kmz files (custom files) on Edge 1030 Plus. I faced the problem today that only 4 of 5 .kmz-files were shown on the device despite the fact thst I uploaded 5 .kmz-files into the custom maps-folder of the device properly.
Awesome detailled report – thx!
one Question: I installed my 1030 plus today to use on my MTB. Used routing “mountainbikíng” – still get routes not using trails but regular road – any experience?
Hi I see in the workout one data field it seem to be “Step Avg Power”, but I can´t find it in any place. Where did you find it? or what´s the name of it in the Garmin data fields?
when you’re pairing this as a smart trainer with a tacx or wahoo or stages, is there any way to enable external control? i can’t seem to find one. miss if so, because this looks to be the best way to pair with a smart bike (you can see all metrics including speed and distance from the single pairing), but when you do so you lose the ability to use the bike with literally anything else (zwift, fulgaz etc)
No, there’s no direct ‘Turn off control’ that I know of.
I typically pair it as a power meter, rather than a trainer, for the reasons you noted – and then pair to Zwift. Though, depending on the exact trainer, that may or may not include all the speed streams (all of them include cadence though).
yeah that’s been my finding and that’s what’s so frustrating about the way they implemented it. i can pair as a power meter and i’ll see power and cadence and it works in zwift, but i lose speed and distance. if i pair as “indoor bike” i see everything, speed, cadence, distance, power, but i can’t use zwift. annoying
and btw what makes it worse is that with the recent update stages pushed to the dash units, you can pair the bike as an indoor trainer, see all of the metrics and then enable “external control” which lets you happily use the head unit with full metrics in tow in your favorite app. garmin is really behind the curve here
Yeah, the challenge in that scenario is that in FE-C mode, the app knows/understands the parameters to define distance (via speed). Whereas in power meter mode, it doesn’t actually know that. It just knows the power, whereas the speed would be based on the terrain/etc…
Is there a walking / hiking mode on this? Saw some complaint on the Garmin forum re the 1030 but it was a while ago not sure if the new modes have been added…
Great review DCR – possibly my next computer. Any idea when Garmin will incorporate Approach Golf Computer functionality into Edge? That would be ideal!
Unfortunately, I doubt they will. While it would seem easy, ultimately it takes resources and Garmin would likely say that the cross-over there between customers is pretty small. 🙁
Which is the best Garmin watch to pair with 1030 Plus? I do multiple sports (cycle indoor & outside, swim, scull, hike). I use TrainerRoad for indoor training. I would like Garmin Connect to gather data on all of my activities and analyze it, if possible. The Fenix 6 seems to have many features that duplicate those offered on 1030 Plus. Is that duplication unnecessary or a useful redundancy? My longest activities is around 60+ hr bike rides so I don’t think that I need to solar features.
Ray — As of today, REI has an Edge 1030 Bundle deal, priced at $525 while supplies last. It “includes extended out-front mount, standard mount, speed sensor, cadence sensor, premium heart rate monitor, tether and USB cable.” The 1030 Plus is, as you know, $75 more. I don’t need any of the other stuff as I already have all of it on my road bike, and use a Viiiia for HR. But I could use the bundle to outfit my (rarely ridden) MTB with updated sensors and the out front mount. This is a long way of asking whether, bundle aside, do you think the Plus is worth $75 more than the original model. Also, do you expect the Plus to get firmware upgrades for much longer than the original? Thanks!
I bought and returned a model 1030 as it would NOT work with gloves. Here in Portland, OR my model 800 works with all my gloves including lobster gloves and glove liners – even in our constant rain.
Got mine. Worth noting that coming from an 820 to this i was suprised at the screen! The touch screen is way better but the display is washed out. Colours are paler and theres no crispness. Its harder to see for me just looking at it so the brightness is higher and therefore the contrast! Thought it was a defect at first but its how it is. Upgraded due to screen size and thats been deducted points for contrast. Battery life even on high is great though so fair enough.
Yeah, it pretty shocked me in the beginning, coming from Edge 1000. However it is really not so bad outside, even in shadow. But it is not excellent, yes.
Responsiveness with gloves and speed of maps are awesome. So overall it is an improvement.
I somehow missed the part of the review where Asia maps were NOT AVAILABLE when purchased outside Asia and bought one from the US (I live in Thailand). I saw the feedback from Garmin about ‘royalties’, which is code for ‘Our Asia dealers uplift the price and make a killing’ which is pretty much true on all Garmin devices here. The 1030 plus in Thailand goes for 25,900 baht or a cool $809. I bought mine on amazon from the US with shipping and import duties cost $600. So yea, the Asia dealers want to protect their FAT margins. Fortunately, the OpenStreetMap download is supported, so I just downloaded Thailand, and i’m good to go. Really short sighted of Garmin to not support Asian Maps. I suppose the $200 extra margin helps cover the distributor’s translation costs and local support – but I don’t want Thai language support so why make me pay that premium. If a customer wants local support (the distributor will not honor the global warranty if you didn’t buy from them) and they want local language, they will pay the premium – just include the damn maps!
Absolutely agree! My 1030 Plus is working fine with gloves and after spending about an hour getting it synced to my iPhone, the other functions are working well too.
And the screen is large enough to read.
Do Strava Live Segments work on the 1030 Plus without the “Off Segment” problem. On my aging 1000, Live Segments are work about 75% of the time on short segments. The longer the segment, the more likely that an Off Segment will occur.
Any know how to side load apps/widgets/data fields that are not officially compatible with the 1030 Plus? Is it as easy as just copying the relevant files from my old Edge 1000 to the same folder(s) on the Edge 1030 Plus. For example, ErgIQ is compatible with the 1000 but it doesn’t list the 1030 Plus as compatible. I’ve emailed the developer but no response yet. Thanks.
You’ll need the .PRG file from the app developer, and then you just plop it into the Apps folder.
However, I don’t think offhand you can move them from one unit to the next. But, I’ve not yet tried. In any case, if the developer sends you the .PRG file you’re in business. But it’s also just as easy for him to toggle the Edge 1030 Plus as compatible.
Thanks Ray. I looked at the files on the 1000 and couldn’t figure out which was which! In any event I contacted the ErgIQ developer and he said he would “look into it”. I followed up asking if he would send me the PRG file in the interim. At least the MyBikeRadar app is working!
Best guess on battery life given: Radar and Varia headlight paired, vector, speed sensor, HRM paired, Bluetooth on, livetrack running, notifications, battery save mode off, auto sleep off, GPS mode…..almost the worst case scenario on battery life. My edge 830 goes for about 6 hours given this.
Long shot, but can you disable the touchscreen and drive it like a 530? I want a nice big screen but I’ve sworn off Garmin touchscreens (and the 530 navigation is great)…
Oh thank you for this review, it finally pushed me to purchase a 1030 plus (have a 1000 with a broken power button).
One question, how did you migrate the sensors and stuff? It’s a mystery 🙂
Henrik, when you use your phone to do the initial set up you should be prompted to transfer settings and sensors etc. In my case, CIQ apps and data fields didn’t transfer nor did a couple of data screen settings, but that was a easy fix. I also use a Varia Vision and, while it transferred as a sensor, the display settings didn’t, so I had to fix those manually, but again, not a big deal. On the whole it went pretty smoothly.
FCC internal photos reveal an item with part number 1N54W next to the less obscure DRAM, flash and radio chips that suggests an NXP i.MX7. This is pretty much what you’d expect: an ARM CPU that has some basic graphics support but isn’t one of the multimedia powerhouses that the smartphone market is built on.
Vanilla 1030 FCC docs lack a picture with identifiable chip markings so it’s impossible to compare.
I had a Garmin 810 and then upgraded to the Garmin 1030 plus thinking it would take care of my live track problem, which is the Garmin disconnects , which then ends my live track. I went and upgraded my iphone to iphone 11 thinking that would help and i’m stilling having the disconnect problem. Is there a solution to this problem? I also noticed that my Garmin 810 has a faster time, then my Garmin 1030.
It’s typically a hard problem to troubleshoot, unfortunately.
I presume like most people you’ve got your phone in your back jersey pocket? One silly-sounding (but backed in science) thing to try is actually a different rear jersey pocket. For example I tend to carry mine in my back right pocket. But if for example you had three pockets, I’d avoid the center one, since then it’s more blocked your body.
But given you’ve removed the two core variables (phone and Garmin), it’s gonna be tough to know/fix.
I ditched Garmin 4 years ago and went with a Bolt – all ease of use. And I’ve been very happy with Wahoo until this summer when I started riding an event route in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where there is no cell service and GPS is essential. I’d “upgraded” to the Roam prior to riding the route. I have now ridden all the route distances for this event – the Roam failed 3 of four times. The route distances are 250, 110 and 53. The only route that the Roam could manage was the 53. It I had not had a charged phone with the route loaded to GaiaGPS I’d still be out there. The Roam just freezes. No warning. The first time I ended up far off route and hiked the bike through swamps and logging areas to get to road. Wahoo said they have a known bug and they are “working on it”. Riders using Garmins have had the best results on this “enhanced gravel” route. Last week when I did successfully complete the route I ran a bolt and a roam on my bar – plus my phone. Failures for all except the phone. Losing your data when you’re doing the biggest ride of your life really sucks. I am going to sell the Roam and move back to Garmin. I also purchased an inreach mini this summer to increase safety since I ride alone a lot. Don’t be fooled by Wahoo’s claims of what the Roam can do. If you ride in the wilderness – it’s not a good tool and they are not being transparent about the fact the unit freezes up.
I am wondering how the lack of cell service could freeze the ROAM. Maybe is the live tracking feature? Have you tried disabling bluetooth to disconnect the ROAM from your phone?
That has to be very frustrating. On a side note, my wife and I have spent quite a bit of time in the UP (Houghton) over the past few years dealing with some family matters. It’s different up there but beautiful in the summer (I’m sure it is in the winter too, but we were only there in the summers) and the people are extremely friendly and helpful. I’ve often thought what it would be like to ride up there. Oh, and great Cornish pasties! (as a Brit I am a bit of an expert!).
Quick comment about battery life. I did a 102 mile organised ride today – the Amish Country Bike Tour leaving from, and returning to, Dover, DE (with appropriate COVID precautions). 7:05 hours elapsed time, 6:19 moving time. My 1030 Plus (with latest firmware) was on the whole time and navigating the route: backlighting off; cadence and speed sensors, Varia radar and Varia vision, and wrist HRM all connected. At the end of the ride, the battery was down to 86%. Pretty impressive. On the same ride last year, I had an external battery plugged into my venerable Edge 1000 for the whole ride because the battery life had got so bad. By the way, I have a new back plate and battery on its way to me from China, so I can refurbish the 1000 to have on standby.
Hi Ray, thannks for this in depth review, I am tryiing to figure out what computer to get and leaning towards the 830, have you oticed any degredation in using these units when using the V2 speed sensor, my older 820 seems to drop battery life substantially when i swithed to a new V2 speed cadence sensor? Any commentary is appreciated.
It’s designed as a bike computer. You could probably add third party apps for hiking but there are much cheaper options around such as the Garmin watches – the Vivoactive 3 or 4, or Venu for example. They have dedicated “walking” activities and a plethora of third party hiking apps are available if the built in app isn’t suffice for you. I used a Garmin watch on a hike in Morocco last October and it worked fine.
we use it for biking as well as hiking. You can upload Garmin Birds Eye maps as well as your individual custom maps. Both works fine. Tracks of course too.
i always turn to dcrainmaker for his perspective. one area of constructive feedback. Have to mention the inability to get live segments when navigating a course. even if that course is created in strava and segment starred, it just doesn’t work.. strava support page also admits this as well you do a long and great video segment reviewing the karoo2 on their live segment display while following a course, but no mention of live segments in this review.
i think not having live segments is a big deal. link to support.strava.com
secondly if you do a course, you have a virtual partner on your maps page. you mention all the training tools, but don’t mention the virtual partner which garmin touts as a virtual training buddy, but from my experience and a very popular request on garmin forums reveal that many folks want to have the option to remove the virtual partner. they make the arrow representing the virtual partner larger and more prominent than the arrow that represents the actual rider. gets confusing when the two are close and the Vp approaches a turn first.
I’d recommend opening up a ticket with Garmin or Strava, as the Strava Live Segments while following a Strava Course definitely work for me – no issues there. So something else must be occurring or disabled?
As for why including it in the Karoo 2 video and not in other videos, it’s actually purely a practical thing. In the case of the Hammerhead units, I can actually screen record (recording as a video exactly what the screen is showing), whereas I can’t do that on a Garmin device (just screen-shots, which aren’t really good at showing things like I showed in that video). Adding to the complexity is that here in the Netherlands it’s illegal to hand-hold an electronic device while riding ones bike. So, I have to use mounts and such, and typically it just looks bad when I try and record the screen using a camera mounted above the bike computer.
funny thing is that they’re sending me a replacement unit now because my map freezes after going in a tunnel and it says i’m in the same location for the remainder of the ride on multiple occasions. they looked at the data on the unit and the pics i sent of the frozen screen, so they’ve been responsive to that. happy with their support.
hopefully a hardware replacement addressing the other issue somehow fixes the live segment issue also, but strava faq also says on that support site dated 7/20/20
“ Can I use Live Segments on my Garmin while following a course?
At this time the segment feature will not overlay on top of the course screen.
so i’m doubtful. sometimes i can get it to work on the strava iq app which is no longer supported and glitchy, but most of the time it just doesn’t work.
thanks again for your response. the karoo2 looks pretty sweet and that screen record closeup was awesome.
I also have the 1030plus and Live Segments simply doesn’t not work as expected during a Strava created route. I have the latest FW as well.
There are times where it’ll show me txt of the segment name after I passed the section but completely useless as the Garmin Strava Segment screen never shows up. I’ve starred and unstarred routes and segments. COMPLETELY reset the device but no success.
When no routing/course is being used – Strava Live Segments work.
Also – Wahoo Roam for example does Strava Live Segments regardless. It works with Strava and GPSmyRide courses.
But I prefer the 1030plus HW and loads of features.
Garmin device is also way buggy and doesn’t connect to my phone consistently.
DCRM – You could just “walk the route” so you can legally video the segment. I wasted money on a feature that simply doesn’t work. Frustrating as well reading your review and I trusted it to be accurate.
Just out of curiosity – I presume the Strava routes are being sent to your Edge 1030 Plus via Auto-Sync*, and not via the Connect IQ app or some other manual process, right?
Again, I’d really encourage folks having this issue to open a case with Garmin. There’s clearly some variable that’s not working in your situation, but is for the vast majority of people (otherwise we’d honestly never hear the end of it, if it wasn’t working across the board).
Correct. The auto-sync feature is what I use. I did quick search and outside of your confirmation, I can’t find anyone that actually says it works.
So kinda the opposite. Nobody is reporting that Strava created routes using auto sync works with Live Segments. There’s even a post in the comments that says if doesn’t work as well. And also other forums on Garmin.
I’d be surprised if it works for you as you reported.
Try creating a route that has an existing starred segment included.
Star the route (usually automatically starred in Strava).
Make sure 1030plus is on and synced.
Go back to Strava and star a NEW segment that happens to be on the route.
Both scenarios fail to show live segment during a Strava route/course.
I’m posting here (beyond opening a ticket which i have with no response yet) is to also get a community response that this actually does work! I have yet to find one person outside of DCRM to post that Strava Live Segments works during a Strava created route. (Not using the IQ discontinued option).
Not looking for TS support but seeing if others can get this to work.
Did Garmin respond that support is forthcoming for the 1030plus to have live segments like the 1030? The fact that the 1030 has it gives me hope that they’ll get it for the 1030plus as well.
So I actually went back into my folder of images for the Edge 1030 Plus, and found some phone pictures I took stopped by the side of the ride in the middle of a Strava Segment, showing it both mid-segment, and then the next picture in the course.
But, just for fun, I went out 10 minutes and shot this quick 90-second video showing it working on a Strava created course with a Strava Live Segment initiating about half-way through the video and updating as expected.
Note, this video is not the pinnacle of DCR cinematography. It’s a GoPro on a gooseneck mount on a cargo bike with all manner of hideous reflections, but, you can see what’s going on here pretty easily: link to dropbox.com
Steps:
1) Already had a starred segment in play
2) Created a new Strava Route, it was automatically set to Star.
3) Let Edge 1030 Plus Sync
4) Went out for ride, shot video.
Exact same as I’ve seen for all other devices since Auto Sync. Note that I wouldn’t overthink the Edge 1030 Plus not being on the lists above, those articles were published prior to the Edge 1030 Plus announcing.
That’s great. Thank you for doing that. I have done the same with the steps being slightly different. I had created a local strava route just to test live segments(short maybe 3-4 miles), hitting 4 close, non downhill segments, and route was automatically starred, segments starred. synced with 1030plus, and confirmed segments were in garmin connect and garmin device, route was also in the saved courses on the garmin. Went out for ride. Only the first segment worked, and the remaining 3 didn’t. Subsequent rides, I would get a bar at the bottom of the map which showed the name of segment, and then “segment ended” but no live segment. It’s very odd.
Anyways, your video has given me hope that it can/may work. I put out a question on garmin forums if anyone has gotten theirs to work while following a course, and not one person had responded affirmatively, but others responded it can’t be done. Perhaps, I have to be off the map screen, and just be on the data screen as your video shows. I’ll try that next.
Lastly, I like your urban arrow cargo bike. We almost got that one, but ended up getting the riese and muller load 75. Thanks again!!!
Thank you for the vid. I don’t get why mine doesn’t work. I’d ask you to run a bunch of different permutations but you proven it works. Like show the Nav page not data page while routing. And see if it kicks off properly.
Garmin support says not supported! But I don’t trust them.
Matt – I gave another twist a whirl today on the way to pickup the kids, since it crossed the same route initially, this time leaving it on the map page, and it triggered exactly like in the video for the data pages.
Honestly, it’s so normal to me I don’t think about it. It’s just been doing it like that for months on the 530/830/1030 Plus that I primarily use.
If someone has a Garmin support case ID number where Garmin is saying otherwise, shoot me it via e-mail (ray at my domain), and I’ll follow-up with some folks and see if we can that ticket into the right engineering hands to start troubleshooting. Also, if someone has the Garmin Forums link, that’d be helpful too.
As long as we are on the topic of Live Segments, can anyone comment on the luck they have had with downloading leaderboard times. I can consistently get PR and KOM and usually have success with “RIVALS”. These are of little use since most of the times were set when riding in a paceline. What I really want is LAST and
(most of all) RECENT BEST. These are rare. It seems to matter as well as to what connection you are using to download. That is, USB/Garmin Express versus Bluetooth/Connect.
Ray – I will email you my case #. I am hoping they have access to my chat with the support tech.
Now after you proving it works. I spent a good 2-3hrs to figure out what was happening. Did a test run. And IT WORKS. But I figured out what and why things were happening.
I need to post the exact findings but here’s what I think is happening.
– Garmin/Strava embeds the starred segments in the Strava Route
– This is a STATIC data point
– In the Connect App – you must confirm in the courses section that these segment “flags” are visible. It’s represented as “Start” and “End”
– If there’s just an “End” without a corresponding “Start” Flag, it will behave strangely. This could explain the random behavior I saw when the segment name will appear during the end of the segment only.
– Not tested but overlapping segments may cause this or other issues
Now for why the inconsistency.
– When the Strava Route is auto synced, the SEGMENTS MUST be pre-selected. Any new segments will sync to Garmin’s “GENERAL” segment section but IT WILL NOT update the Strava route already synced previously with the newly starred segment. Hence the STATIC nature of the course/route.
– How do you address this? Any new starred segments added after the Strava Route/Course is created and synced MUST BE UNSTARRED and RESTARRED. But careful with timing. This forces a resync.
– This can be simply verified on the Connect App Courses section by looking for the new starred segment ON THAT SPECIFIC COURSE.
– NOTE: You must DELETE the old Strava Course from your GARMIN DEVICE each time an update is made on the course OR segment. This way when the device is SYNCed the new updates are now part of the new map.
I need to fully test this part but the static nature seems to coincide.
This is why the results are so sporadic and for me the timing and updates was off or conflicting with pre-existing courses that I thought the updates were dynamic on the routes on my device.
– Wahoo seems to treat segments as a separate service and does not require the segments flags embedded in the route.
– Garmin does the same as Wahoo ONLY for non-course riding.
This is the reason I think why GARMIN says it doesn’t support Strava Live Segments when on a course.
But after they figured that it could work if they embed the segment flags on the route itself.
My guess is why the conflicting info support VS unsupported.
Sorry long post but here’s the steps:
– Create Strava Route/Course
– Pre-select any segments (star them)
– THEN star/auto sync the Strava Route
– Make sure your device doesn’t have an existing/older version of the route.
– If so DELETE the route before device sync with Connect
– Verify segment start/end flags are present on the course in the Connect app
– Sync to device
Now if the segment flags are missing, either it’s overlapping issue (untested) or it has a negative gradient greater than -.25 which Strava won’t sync anymore.
I hope this helps others with the kludgy implementation of live segment via a Strava Course.
Going to share my steps on Garmin support site or Strava so others can save the headache
Ray, do you think the new re-routing and pause navigation options will come to the original 1030 or will these features just be for the 1030 Plus? Those seem like great new features.
Do any of the Edge units allow you to customize the Live Segment screen? I don’t see it on my 520. I want the ability to see power while also seeing ahead/behind on the same screen. Currently you have to switch screens to see your power and then you lose the ahead/behind value. Does a Bolt allow for this?
Thanks.
RICK
I don’t use the Live Segment screen on either my Edge 1000 or 1030plus. I don’t know what is available on the 520, but on my units, I can set a data field on a regular screen to TIME AHEAD to see how far ahead/behind I am. I also set a data field to DIST TO DEST in order to see how much distance I have left in the segment. You can, of course, use other fields on the same screen for power, etc.
Yes, on my edge 1030plus, you can choose to add 2 data fields. One of course can be power. Currently I use the default, distance to go and time to go, but yes you can swap it to power.
Yes, on my edge 1030plus, you can choose to add 2 data fields. One of course can be power. Currently I use the default, distance to go and time to go, but yes you can swap it to power.
DAVID
Do you find the graphic on the Live Segment screen to be of any use? I turned off the pop-up Live Segment screen and just swipe to a regular screen with my Live Segment data fields. I tried to get rid of the graphic but was unable to do so.
I have a problem, I have the Edge 830 and 1030 Plus, the 2 new ones, the 830 screen looks clear, the white background light and the colors of the maps are sharp, but on the 1030 Plus the background looks bluish and the colors off (not the problem with the blue halo of the 1030). Is the 1030 Plus really like that? I don’t like it, I see it as a problem.
I attach a photo
Thank you!!
Yes, this is one of the very few disadvantages of the Edge 1030 Plus. Also look on the Garmin Forum- you will find tons of posts according to this deficiency there.
Advantage on the other hand of this new display is the much better battery endurance + the possibility to use it with gloves perfectly.
I also had my problems in the beginning, however in sunlight it is fine and even in shadow/woods one can read the display well enough.
Just to clarify; is it so that the old non-plus Edge 1030 does not have the Sony GPS chip? I’m a bit unhappy with my FR945 taking its time to find satellites, the speedometer display is a bit sluggish as well. I didn’t have these issues with my previous FR935 (No Sony on that one). Unfortunately that unit is on the bottom of a lake these days..
I can get the old 1030 which I found for 449 or the 1030 Plus for 570?
Or as this is the first computer I get for the bike, start with something else? I do like Garmin though.
Great as ever! I’d be lost without DC… I can say that all of my Garmin smartwatches have been purhcased ONLY after an accurate check through your pages!!!!
I am thinking buy a cycling computer. What do you recommend? Garmin edge 1030, Garmin edge 1030 plu or gain edge 830? I’m a bit confused, but I think that the Garmin edge 1030 plus is very expensive. Thanks
I am thinking buy a cycling computer. What do you recommend? Garmin edge 1030, Garmin edge 1030 plus or garmin edge 830? I’m a bit confused, but I think that the Garmin edge 1030 plus is very expensive. Thanks
Ray, I have Garmin 1030 plus, Fenix 6X Sapphire, HRM-PRO, and SPEED/CADENCE 2. Of cousre the 1030 is going to have the best navigation integrations and display. But between the 10230 and the Fenix, which do you think does the best job with the data accuracy capure including the data capured by the HRM-PRO and the SPEED/CADENCE 2. Personally I am a numbers cruncher and I love reviewing the data so I was wondering which one I should use to record health metrics?
I previously posted, asking whether the 1030plus could also be used for hiking. I like to do several sports recreationally, and found it a big ask to pay 600 bucks (euros in my case) for a cycle-only device. I have a Fenix watch but in my experience the map/navigation function is not of practical use on such a small device. So I took the plunge with the 1030plus, and so far I am very happy how it can support hiking/running.
Here are a few things I did:
– There is no “hiking/walking/running” profile, so I created a new one and adjusted the parameters to fit better with hiking (e.g. lap, auto pause etc). The activity type is still “cycling”, but after transfer to Connect it is simple to update this to “hiking” (or whatever).
– I was disappointed to find that a large part of the huge 32GB storage was filled up with regional cycle maps, many of which I would never use. After some digging around to check which map files were which (for me I did not need NA region maps), I deleted them.
– Having created loads of space I loaded up some really nice hiking topo maps based on OSM (in my case I used the really good and detailed Frikart maps leaving a small donation). Unfortunately I ran into problems after loading lots of maps (it seems that there is a limit on the device… in my case 16). To get round this I merged the country maps using gmaptool.
In use, the device works really well. With this set up I cannot imagine much more I would want from a hiking device. A pity that Garmin doesn’t make this possible as standard. Oh, and it works quite well when I go mountain biking too 🙂
Thanks Steve for sharing your experience. Agree that a watch like the Fenix, while ok for navigating via its map in a pinch, is not optimal for intensive map navigating due to screen size limitations and the lack of a touchscreen.
Just out of curiosity, how are you and others holding or carrying the device while hiking?
Wondering if people have it attached to their belts, somewhere else, etc.
Hi smileman, I had the same thought, but have started out simply with the device in my coat pocket, taking it out to check the route at path junctions etc. The GPS signal appears to be fine.
I have found the Edge 1030 Plus US Cycle Map to be terrible. Much worse than the RideWithGPS OSM Cycle Map. It does not show dirt roads with double dashed lines and shows roads that are blocked off and/or not rideable by a road bike. Garmin’s support staff are terrible and can not even explain the difference between the six types of preloaded maps or agree as to whether I can load City Navigator on the 1030 Plus.
Just a note – in comparison tool, it’s stated, that this unit has GPS based compass but you have the option to calibrate the compass in the menu and also – rotating the device rotates the map (if the compass is properly calibrated). So I guess that though Garmin page doesn’t list compass, they are indeed equipped with one.
The other thing is the touchscreen performance in the rain. Compared to Garmin Oregon 700 that I used previously, the device is indeed usable during the rain, i.e. you can lock the screen and observe navigation instructions, what was not possible with Oregon (you’ve got only whole screen message that the screen is locked and you need to unlock it when you want to use it). But my experience with using the screen during the rain is, that is working quite well when you have dry hands. But if I have wet hands (which is usual after 1+ hour of riding in rain) it either stops from recognizing my touch, or starts doing some random stuff.
To sum up, it’s a great progress in touchscreen technology, but compared to devices with buttons, I’d say that it’s barely usable in the rain.
Hey Ray,
Do you happen to know why the 1030+ is not compatible with the RideWithGPS IQ app??
Garmin kindly replaced my 1030 with a 1030+, which I assumed was a win win for me, only to find I can’t browse my RwGPS routes anymore!! 🙁
Is this just a case of ticking a box again?
I have resorted to the work around of pinned RwG routes being added to my Garmin courses but that’s sub-optimal.
Thanks.
David.
David I had to pay partly for my 1030+ replacement; my 1030 (non plus) was out of warranty. Can you describe your situation how you got your plus and if you had to pay out of pocket at all?
I got lucky (apart from the fact that I lost some functions I liked)
I sent mine back in late Nov so they could give me a refurbished replacement due to the blue halo fault.
Then they said the replacements were delayed until Feb and offered me a 1030+! I was sure they’d want money but no – so Kudos to Garmin! (a rare thing)
Now I hope someone can answer my question and explain why Ride w GPS is not compatible with it. 😉
The 1030 isn’t “compatible with RWGPS” either, in the sense that Garmin had a feature they didn’t port to the plus. But there is a cIQ app from RWGPS that you apparently had installed and that RWGPS apparently hasn’t compiled as “compatible with the 1030 plus” yet.
Connect IQ simply isn’t made to provide implicit best effort runtime compatibility features (those come with a heavy rat’s tail of issues, it’s just so much simpler this way). The responsibility for filling the “yes, this is expected to work with the 1030plus” checkbox rests on the shoulders of RWGPS, even if the outcome is most likely the exact same file just with a different device model ID. Just ask RWGPS nicely to declare plus compatibility and reupload, it’s probably just a few minutes of work.
Fantastic review. Thank you!
The Edge 1030 works amazingly well. Have recently purchased the power bank and that is a bit of a problem. Can’t seem to find the right holder for it. The standard Garmin holder does not fit my TT bike or my Road bike.
Are there any other holders out there besides the Garmin ones that can hold both the computer and battery pack?
TT bike = trek speed concept 2019 & shiv specialized 2020
Road bike = canyon 2019 stealth CSR
Rec-mounts (the bike electronics holder specialist from Japan) has the 400-GMUT adapter that can be used to add Garmin power bank capability to a number of their mounts. Not all rec-mounts holders gain Charge compatibility from the 400-GMUT (many lack the matching opening, on those the 400 is only good for attaching lights like the UT-800) but the wide range of specialist kit offered by rec-mounts is likely your best bet to get the Garmin Charge working between aerobars.
Don’t suppose anyone has had issues with the route that’s loaded, it just disappears. Today I had to reload the same route 3 times on the 1030 plus, on a 100k route.
It disappeared 70k in, reloaded, then disappeared another 10k down the road. For absolutely no reason whatsoever?
Typical Garmin. Makes me want to go back to wahoo?
Did a 10 hour ride the other day and mid way through the 1030 crashed. Pleasingly it rebooted itself and carried on where it left off which I was happy with.
However, upon finishing the ride, I found that none of the load metrics got calculated into Connect which now means Garmin thinks I did no ride and now going backwards in fitness and stuffs up all my fitness data now and for the future. The annoying thing is all the data is there, I just cant get Garmin to calculate it again.
So it is not a system software clutch then, another question on your 1030 plus device is everything present and correct in the ride summary for your 10 hour ride?
If the full ride summary is on your Garmin 1030 plus then here is a manual way to upload it to Garmin Connect
Manually uploading activities to Garmin Connect
1. Connect device to computer using USB cable if that is where the file is saved.
2. Sign in to Garmin Connect.
3. Select in top right corner of page.
4. Select Import Data.
5. Select Browse.
6. Locate and select and select your 10 hour ride file
7. Select Import Data.
Yes most of the data appears correct except for the below:
-Calories burnt is only showing 944 which is obviously wrong.
-Respiration Rate graph stops at the same time that my Garmin crashed (around 1hr50m in) and never records again.
-Aerobic and Anaerobic TE are blank
-Exercise Load is 90 which is also wrong
The ride is present on Garmin Connect, but its just the training load metrics which I believe is calculated on the Garmin Edge unit itself which is missing. This data is also missing on the Edge unit itself when I view the summary of the ride.
I guess the loss of power then restart thing on your Garmin device has had affected the recording and calculation of metrics. It is a real disappointment when you have completed a 10 hour ride and expended a lot of effort doing so.
Well done on your ride and fingers crossed your Garmin records all the information on your future rides.
It’s possible that some of the data was corrupted by the crash. Might be an idea to run to through one of the Fit File Tools at https://www.fitfiletools.com to see if they can fix it, or through Matthias Krall’s FitFileRepair tool: link to fitfilerepairtool.info The latter has fixed a few files for me since I have been using it.
Hi, I seem not to be able to find a function on my 1030+ that I miss dearly:
How to change the navigation while continuing my workout, which is so easy to do on the wahoo.
Thanks Wolf
It’s possible to push a new navigation without ending the activity via connectIQ from a smartphone with the gimporter/gexporter app pair or something similar (e.g. Locusmaps should do that as well). If you are on iOS it’s a bit tough because nobody has bothered yet charming/swaying/bribing Apple to have gexporter on the Apple store (the code exists) and on the 1030+ you might have to manually disable Wifi before the connection between cIQ and the smartphone app becomes functional. But it’s possible. The Garmin software will occasionally hiccup upon being force-fed a new navigation during the activity, but then it just reboots and a few seconds later you are again in the old activity (yes, Garmin maintains activity during reboot!), with the new nav. I use it all the time, on both 1030+ and before that on the 1000.
I’ve been using the 1030 Plus for two days now and I’m not really getting used to it.
I got lost twice because the routing wasn’t clear, and today I ended up on a nasty forest road with a mud pack, even though I had ruled out everything possible and really only wanted to be on “normal” roads, here in the north of Spain, Asturias.
In addition, Pro Climb covered up a turn-off the day before yesterday, so I continued happily and only after the climb did I get the message “Exit route, recalculate”.
A a few times still the nasty “turn back” without any other option.
And then the millions of nested menu items.
Just bagged it up and back to the dealer tomorrow, it’s not worth the 520 euros to me (personally!), I’ve had almost the same problems with the WAHOO ROAM for less money.
Hey! I had a question regarding the normal edge 1030 and I hope anyone with that model can help me out. I know the new plus version gives you multiple rerouting options, but I was wondering what the default option of the ‘normal’ edge 1030 is. I know that people complained in the past that the rerouting option only gave you instructions to get to the exact point from where you deviated from the course and even if you re-joined the course a little down the road it first directed you to go back to the point where you left of before it continued to guide you trough the rest of the course. Is this still the case? I could not find anywhere if there was an update that fixed this. If it still is the case I will opt for the plus model. Thanks in advance!
I would not use the reroute option on either Edge 1030 without reviewing the route and knowing the condition of the roads. Both versions use OSM maps that are inaccurate, including roads that are dirt (some could be 6 inch deep mud now) and roads that are not passable. With OSM maps you generally can not distinguish a paved road from a dirt road from a mountain bike track.
Bring back Garmin City Navigator with accurate maps to the new Edges.
So I connect my Edge 1030 Plus to Garmin Express. I am always getting a message about ‘Map Updates’. I push the buttons. I select either or both American and European maps. Unfortunately, my device never updates. The circular arrow goes round and round for a bit. Then. Nothing. Is the ‘Trail Forks’ app my problem? Am I being punished for not owning a smart phone? Comments? Suggestions?
I told Garmin about my problem months ago. They asked me to send them certain elements from my software package. They never got back. (My Garmin Express is up to date).
Garmin support is dismal, many of their staff do not know the product. Keep calling and speaking to different people until they find a resolution. The company has grown to big with too many products and does not care about the features people need, like navigation.
Hey Ray,
Thanks for the outstanding review! I still have a few questions.
Can the Garmin Edge 1030 plus control a Wahoo Kicker? I would like to know if the Garmin will automatically adjust the resistance of kicker when I cycle the daily suggested workout (based on training load)? Can the Garmin Edge 830 also do this with the latest update? Does the Edge 830 have the same ‘back to route’ functions as the 1030 plus?
In short, is there a software difference between the 830 and the 1030 plus, except for the maps? I doubt between both devices but I’m not willing to pay the extra money if it is only for the bigger screen and the longer battery life.
Wondering as to the Garmin Edge 1030 Plus how your experience has been with LiveTrack since you originally reviewed, as you indicated it remained glitchy like earlier versions and you were going to come back to it. My GF complains about that for my earlier 1030 and before that my 1000 (which I replaced in hopes that the 1030 would fix it). Would appreciate your update as I consider potentially upgrading again to get consistency on that.
I’ve generally had pretty good livetrack success on recent Garmin devices over the last 6 months or so. All of my rides usually trigger at least one or two livetrack sessions depending on how many Garmin devices I’m using that ride (often to record power meter or other data).
And I don’t remember any recently dying mid-ride, which is a substantial improvement over years past.
Please provide me your input and recommendation on whether I should purchase and use a Garmin Edge 1030 or Garmin eTrex 32x for bikepacking long routes/tracks of up to 4,000kms. For example this summer I have created a route in RideWithGPS that is 3,883 kms. I have an older Edge 800 and eTrex 20 that I want to replace. I know the eTrex units in their spec are limited to 10,000 points per “track”. For a particular segment of my route 10,000 points is about 400km. I know that track points per km depends on the route curvature complexity. The Edge units are in their spec limited to 200 points per “course”. I was able to load onto my Edge 800 a track segment of 23,724 points and 850km. Garmin support told me that the Edge is limited to 200 points per “course” or “track” and that the unit reduces the points to 200. This means that the 850km track accuracy was reduced from 23,724 points to 200 points or 99%! A quick visual inspection of the route in the Edge doesn’t show that the route is inaccurate approximated by 200 points/straight lines. So should I buy Garmin Edge 1030 or Garmin eTrex 32x for bikepacking long routes/tracks of up to 4,000kms, that will minimize the number of sub tracks that will have to be created to fit the units limits?
Had a Edge 820 for about 5 years. Has done its job, but touchscreen has always been poor (while riding with gloves I only use Shimano Di2 buttons to scroll between pages), and it has started to be a bit unreliable, with the unit occasionally freezing and being too slow to react (causing me to miss turns). Often works fine for several consecutive rides, then lets me down when I really need it! Battery life is also poor (I have to use it in power saving screen-off mode, and it still isn’t great).
I think I would appreciate the larger screen, quicker processor and better battery life that the 1030 plus offers. Simple question, do I go for the 1030 plus, or will Garmin release a newer version in spring or early summer (1040?)? Happy to continue to wait a few months for the latest version. Thanks in advance.
Rab: Thanks for your reply to my post. For your Edge 820 what has been the longest track gpx file that you have loaded and have you found that track accurate to follow when loaded? That is my main question/concern. Battery life isn’t my main concern as I have dynamo hub, usb converter and battery cache. Garmin also makes a cache battery that fits underneath the unit.
One thing the 1030 plus adds not in the 1030 is respiration rate. A hrv based metric that came from first beat. No reason the 1030 couldn’t do it since they don’t have to pay extra for it
My 1030 Plus is constantly 20-25 seconds lag. I have only noticed this in the last month or so, as I am doing lots of relatively short hill reps. Not only does this highlight the problem but it makes my device useless for this activity. Have tried all sorts to fix it but various forums are talking about this being a chip problem. Any thoughts to how I can resolve this?
Do you know what the deal is when booting up the Edge 1030 plus, I get the message “Cannot load maps” tried looking at the Garmin discussion board but did not really work for me. I don’t know of any other errors with functionality just the annoying message.
Are these manually loaded maps by chance (as opposed to pre-loaded ones)? Typically if I see that message with manually loaded maps, it’s because I screwed something up on the file copy.
But for regular pre-loaded maps, that might indicate some sort of weird out of region activate lock type thing. still, super odd.
Np on delay. These are maps added via Garmin express – Manage Maps. I added Korea and other Asian countries as part of my want to do bike trip list. I read somewhere it might be related with trailforks or Komoot account authentication not being able to load maps. I login in with both accounts and retried to no avail. Also I personal maps with both accounts and I have not tried to upload them either.
My past experience has taught me the location of the computer can effect temperature. For instance if the airflow around the computer is limited/block or if the bike computer has a protective case around the body or protective screen. Personally I have not had issues with temp on 1030+, but I ride solo most of the time.
I’m very careful about the position with the device. However, I kept the same position and mount as 1030, I didn’t change, and found this temperature differences.
I absolutely love your review. They are the most comprehensive reviews I have ever read. Please keep them going!!
I purchased a Garmin 1030 Plus. I am having issues with the Turn by Turn Guidance. It’s not working. I had a Garmin 1030 and when I loaded a course from Ride with GPS it would give me the Turn by Turn. Now, with the Garmin 1030 Plus, I dont have it. I compared all the settings from the 1030 to the 1030 Plus and it still doesnt work. I called Garmin Support and they couldnt not help me.
I was riding the other day around town and the map did not give me the upcoming roads. It just told me the road that I was riding on. I’m pretty disappointed in the 1030 Plus. I reset the settings to when I purchased it. Any assistance you could provide would be absolutely wonderful.
If you are getting a sensor registering twice then delete the connection you do not want. The 1030 plus is set to connect to Ant plus and Bluetooth. I had the same problem with my Garmin Heart sensor and deleted the Bluetooth connection from the sensor list so it now connects by Ant plus as that is now the only option on the sensor list.
I don’t know if it just the 1030 Plus, but I got an update yesterday that has given me more map options & a loaded course now has direction arrows to show you which direction you are supposed to be following the route. They seem to be intelligently done so, if you have an out & back section they only show the way you are supposed to be going. The course line seemed wider & clearer too but it had defaulted to the “high contrast” map & I didn’t fiddle with the settings til after the ride.
The latest update with routing arrows does help a lot, particularly on routes using the same road in opposite directions. It also helps distinguish the route from major roads which are the same red color. I have read that some people show their route in magenta which clearly distinguishes it from major routes. But my 1030 has always, and still, shows the route and major roads in the same red color. The only magenta I see is when I reroute. Wish Garmin would show the planned route in magenta. But then it would also be even better if they enabled the use of City Navigator maps which distinquish dirt roads and don’t show abandoned roads that are not rideable.
When using route guidance in UK roundabout directions so bad they fringe on being dangerous. Why dosn’t
Garmin use exit numbers like all other route maps Iv’e used? A roundabout is not an obstacle.
I could not find your follow up on Garmin 1030 Plus units bought in Asia (specifically Thailand). I am assuming that I would get maps for Thailand and Asia – but would I be able to download maps for USA or Europe. I would like to think that I would be able to use my Garmin unit there after downloading the map set for Europe or the USA, once the skies re-open after this COVID situation has finally reached its conclusion.
I have the Edge 530 now – was thinking about upgrading to a touchscreen model. I have opportunity to buy a 1030(not plus) at around the price of a new 830.
Thanks for the great review.
Question: how can one join an uploaded route mid-way (ie do the entire route/loop, but not from the starting point as defined in the route).
For example: some routes pass nearby where I live, but the defined starting point of the route is 15 KM away.
I tried by replying no to the question posed at starting the ride (smth like ‘bring me to starting point’), but it still guided me to the starting point…
For me this just works? Answer “no” for routing to the beginning, and a bit after joining the route, it will realise that you don’t want to do the whole route. Not immediately, but in a few minutes.
I also use this when I change my mind mid-ride and start another route, for example.
Thx for the feedback. I was referring to edge 1030 plus, your experience is referring also to this device?
If you succeed in this with edge 1030+, what happens at the defined end of the route? Device assumes you end it? Or can you ride on, until the point you entered the route , and the device considers your entry point as alternate start/end? (As I would then like to just do the complete loop/route)
The device assumes the ride is over. All you need to do is select the same route and now it will start where you are – the beginning.
Your time and distance should not reset.
Any experience or comments on comparing the 1030 plus to an Etrex 32x for long distance bike packing trips? Battery life on both seem good, and route track capacity both seems good. Biggest difference is battery type and extra features on 1030 for day to day cycling. Thanks in advance for any extra observations!
For those in the UK, Garmin are having a ‘birthday sale’ on these and selling the base unit for £380. I’ve not seen it as cheap as that here before: link to buy.garmin.com
any news when Garmin is going to fix the issue with its very, very slow gradient display? A short climb is completely frustrating when the gradient slowly increases and keeps increasing when I am half down the other side. Is this a firmware fix or a hardware issue?
The Bontrager Garmin Edge 1030 GPS Cycling Computer is on sale for $399. Is it worth it to buy this one? I want to be able to use Trailforks on it for mountain biking. Is that easily possible?
Thanks in advance!
Brent
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I am not buying any new Garmin products before they switch to USB-C
I am buying one now! … Oh wait… it says they don’t deliver them yet. Darn. 🙁
Some retail shops should have inventory from today actually.
Micro USB is pretty much a deal breaker for any new device coming out these days.Might seem minor now but will become increasingly annoying.
I stopped reading at micro-USB…
Configuration transfer is a very welcome improvement.
I do not own an Edge unit but I can imagine that it’s a pain to reconfigure newer unit the same way as your previous one.
The fact that the fields can still only be configured from a unit and not via phone / website is very upsetting, but I guess it’s just the fact of life.
Buttons are a bit weirdly poositioned. I get that they have been there for eternity, but looking at the pictures I see that they are very close to the handlebars – is it even convenient to use them there?
What I’m curious about is GPS accuracy. I started to notice that on my bike computer (ELEMNT) when I go under the trees it undercuts the speed. Is it also the case / not the case here?
Thanks for another great detailed review Ray,
I am excited that Garmin has finally begun to think about using smartphones as viable interfaces to allow profile transfers. Whilst from what you describe it is still a long way from Wahoo who I consider to have the gold standard here, it’s nice that Garmin are at least considering this now.
It would be interesting to see if they bring this 1030 Plus feature to the other newer Edge devices (and preferably to all Edge devices).
Great review. I like the offer of maps for other continents. Is it only for the new 1030+ or will we see it on other devices, too (for ex. wearables- they are higher priced as the 1030+)?
Hi Ray, great review. Do you know if Garmin will offer the global maps for 830 users?
No plans there I’m aware of (I asked which/if any) features were going to other units. That one wasn’t on the list.
Ray – do you expect the settings (profile) transfers to also happen on Garmin watches going forward? I feel like that would be a HUGE win.
While Garmin hasn’t confirmed it, I fully expect that to be the case. Obviously, it’s slightly trickier with watches because of all the sport profiles, though not substantially so given it’s all standardized.
Global maps seems to lack maps for Asia?
No maps of Asia for North American models?
Can your unit display Asian characters like Chinese or Japanese?
Hi Ray,
I can see one mention of processor power on the route calculation section of the review. To be clear, is this now the same processor as the 830?
I am an 830 owner, but would much rather the larger screen of the 1030. Just the speed as put me off.
That said i would have upgraded in a heart beat if they had implemented USB-C. I think i will wait for the next gen now!
It’s supposedly a faster processor than the 830 actually. They’re saying that I should see speed “consistently faster” than the Edge 830 for most route calculations. I haven’t done side by side route calcs with the Edge 830, but have with the Edge 1030 (you can see some non-route calcs in the video, more just general usability speed).
Faster routing could also be the same processor paired with faster flash storage, or even the same processor just configured to be more liberal with battery consumption.
But it doesn’t matter to me, those sweet new rerouting options are much more than I expected, I’ve been waiting for exactly that improvement for more than half a decade now.
(and what’s the fuss with USB-C? Sure, I would have preferred that as well but only for convenience. I don’t see a future where I’d be traveling without both charging cables any time soon, plenty of existing, high value bike gear on micro that I expect to outlive the 1030+)
There are connect iq apps that benchmark the devices.
Well…technically there are ConnectIQ apps that benchmark the runtime environment. ConnectIQ apps have zero direct access to the hardware so while they give an indication of relative performance, could be wildly misleading at the same time. Not having access to processor throttling info, multithreading, core speed etc. leaves you making a lot of assumptions that just don’t necessarily play out for the Garmin firmware which is running natively.
The reason I don’t tend to do CIQ benchmarks as part of reviews on launch day is super simplistic:
A) The beta devices aren’t loaded into the production CIQ App store as compatible devices, so my only way to test them is if I reach-out to a given developer to get a PRG file (I believe within Garmin’s network they can do that, but I obviously don’t have access there).
B) Also, given it’s usually beta software until the last week or so, I don’t really want to spend time benchmarking something that’s maybe not accurate.
I would note that in general I’m just not hearing many people complain about CIQ app performance though. And as noted, the CIQ environment is sandboxed anyway, so it’s not indicative directly of the larger unit’s capabilites.
This is fair enough Ray, it’s not a 100% reliable indicator of performance. The 1030 Tree Benchmark result dropped from 15,000 to 10,000 since it was released, presumably due to changes in the CiQ sandbox. Still though, what else do we have as a performance indicator? It’s difficult.
Is there any way of finding out the hardware spec? Which soc for example? That would allow a better indicator of performance.
285W and 3,22W/kg means that you weight 88,5 kg :-O
No, it means that his weight is set in the app/profile to 88.5kg
(scarily close to my own #lockdown #injured weight!)
Will the option to ‘Wave it around in the sky and hope it gets you somewhere’ be coming to the 530?
Looks like it’s time to replace my Edge 1000 – the USB connector is getting wonky and the power button is a bit knackered (I know there are 3D-printed fixes for that). Also looks like there might be an opportunity here for some clever people to offer a USB-C mod, even though it would void warranty.
You can buy and repair the whole back cover easily. Did it last summer, you find it at ebay including the battery, board with usb connector and the power button etc, which are all mounted to the back cover, and there is one sensor, I think for barometric pressure, because it looks to the down side – but it didnt really interested me at the moment. No big drama, you dont need to be an electronic engineer, just need this little torx screwdriver (thats mostly the biggest problem).
For example:
link to smitacn.com they recommend due to cov19 buying it without battery
Oh man, now you’ve ruined my justification in one fell swoop. Good job my missus doesn’t read DCR.
Thanks for the Smita link. I just ordered the replacement base and battery for my aging 1000, $49 delivered in the US.
Just a quick update: I bought a replacement back panel, with battery, for my Edge 1000 from that link. It took about 3 weeks to ship to Delaware. I installed it today and it was a breeze, maybe 5 minutes — the hardest thing was getting hold of a 6mm Torx screwdriver, but it was a good excuse to update my tool kit! So now I have a 1030 Plus (which is working great BTW) and a refurbished 1000, with a fixed power button and a newer/less knackered battery, as a standby.
don’t you have to pry the screen off? that seems scary.
Is it possible, that the new user defined rerouting comes via update to older devices?
Interesting that the announcement email I just received about the 1030 Plus and 130 Plus came from Tacx rather than Garmin. I wonder if Garmin are intending to shift some of the branding of their cycling products towards Tacx? The title of the email even refers to “our” newest Edge Bike Computers, even though the unit has GARMIN plastered on the front of it.
I would very much doubt that they are rebranding the Edge series. It wouldn’t make sense (and would cause even more confusion) to have one series of fitness products branded “Tacx” and the other “Garmin” – the Garmin name is just too well known. I speak from some experience albeit in a different industry sector – before I retired the company I worked for rebranded an established well-known line of products on the advice of a very expensive consultancy (for “market differentiation” reasons) and it was an unmitigated disaster.
Is it a USB 2 or 3 port? Without an uSD option, uploading maps over 2 would be painful.
GArmin answered my question. Session started between Douglas and Bill
Bill:
Edge® 1030 Plus
Bill:
Is the USB connection 2.0 or 3.0?
Douglas:
I apologize. I am actually unsure of what version we use. I will transfer you to a specialist who can assist you.
Douglas has exited the session.
This chat conversation has been transferred to another associate. They will see your prior conversation.
Session started between Andrew and Bill
Andrew:
Hello, Bill. It would be a 2.0 for your 1030.
Bill:
and the 1030 Plus?
Andrew:
I think they use the same 2.0 but let me double check.
Bill:
That’s a deal breaker for loading large map files.
Andrew:
Yeah, it looks like none of our devices uses the 3.0, just the 2.0.
Bill:
Thanks for the info
Andrew:
You’re welcome,
I did it the other day and just went to lunch. Honestly, I figure if you’re flying to a 3rd continent, then spending a bit of time loading the maps isn’t a huge deal per se. My preference would be for them to enable WiFi downloading though.
And dont forget that you’ll be charging the device while the maps sync over – so you’re winning at the multi-tasking challenge. If you’re packing your bags while its doing that too, then proper kudos.
USB 2 can do about 60MB/sec. The 1030 (not plus) flash manages 8MB/sec and the 830 about 20MB/sec so USB 2 is likely not a bottleneck anyway unless the 1030 plus is significantly faster.
Ray, don’t suppose you could run crystaldiskmark and the CiQ benchmark against the 1030 plus?
For ref heres the disk results from 830 and 1030, I don’t have the CiQ benchmark handy
**** Edge 830 disk ****
——————————————————————————
CrystalDiskMark 7.0.0 (C) 2007-2019 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World: link to crystalmark.info
——————————————————————————
* MB/s = 1,000,000 bytes/s [SATA/600 = 600,000,000 bytes/s]
* KB = 1000 bytes, KiB = 1024 bytes
[Read]
Sequential 1MiB (Q= 8, T= 1): 15.940 MB/s [ 15.2 IOPS]
Sequential 1MiB (Q= 1, T= 1): 15.519 MB/s [ 14.8 IOPS]
Random 4KiB (Q= 32, T=16): 7.733 MB/s [ 1887.9 IOPS]
Random 4KiB (Q= 1, T= 1): 7.502 MB/s [ 1831.5 IOPS]
[Write]
Sequential 1MiB (Q= 8, T= 1): 19.925 MB/s [ 19.0 IOPS]
Sequential 1MiB (Q= 1, T= 1): 19.924 MB/s [ 19.0 IOPS]
Random 4KiB (Q= 32, T=16): 1.853 MB/s [ 452.4 IOPS]
Random 4KiB (Q= 1, T= 1): 1.360 MB/s [ 332.0 IOPS]
Profile: Default
Test: 16 MiB (x5) [Interval: 5 sec]
Date: 2020/05/02 17:35:13
OS: Windows 10 Professional [10.0 Build 18363] (x64)
**** Edge 1030 disk ****
——————————————————————————
CrystalDiskMark 7.0.0 (C) 2007-2019 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World: link to crystalmark.info
——————————————————————————
* MB/s = 1,000,000 bytes/s [SATA/600 = 600,000,000 bytes/s]
* KB = 1000 bytes, KiB = 1024 bytes
[Read]
Sequential 1MiB (Q= 8, T= 1): 3.775 MB/s [ 3.6 IOPS]
Sequential 1MiB (Q= 1, T= 1): 3.355 MB/s [ 3.2 IOPS]
Random 4KiB (Q= 32, T=16): 2.933 MB/s [ 716.1 IOPS]
Random 4KiB (Q= 1, T= 1): 2.872 MB/s [ 701.2 IOPS]
[Write]
Sequential 1MiB (Q= 8, T= 1): 6.711 MB/s [ 6.4 IOPS]
Sequential 1MiB (Q= 1, T= 1): 8.808 MB/s [ 8.4 IOPS]
Random 4KiB (Q= 32, T=16): 1.039 MB/s [ 253.7 IOPS]
Random 4KiB (Q= 1, T= 1): 0.719 MB/s [ 175.5 IOPS]
Profile: Default
Test: 16 MiB (x5) [Interval: 5 sec]
Date: 2020/05/02 17:46:23
OS: Windows 10 Professional [10.0 Build 18363] (x64)
For anyone interested, I ran CrystalDiskMark on my Edge 530:
**** Edge 530 disk ****
——————————————————————————
CrystalDiskMark 7.0.0 x64 (C) 2007-2019 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World: link to crystalmark.info
——————————————————————————
* MB/s = 1,000,000 bytes/s [SATA/600 = 600,000,000 bytes/s]
* KB = 1000 bytes, KiB = 1024 bytes
[Read]
Sequential 1MiB (Q= 8, T= 1): 16.954 MB/s [ 16.2 IOPS]
Sequential 1MiB (Q= 1, T= 1): 16.538 MB/s [ 15.8 IOPS]
Random 4KiB (Q= 32, T=16): 6.096 MB/s [ 1488.3 IOPS]
Random 4KiB (Q= 1, T= 1): 5.634 MB/s [ 1375.5 IOPS]
[Write]
Sequential 1MiB (Q= 8, T= 1): 21.597 MB/s [ 20.6 IOPS]
Sequential 1MiB (Q= 1, T= 1): 21.375 MB/s [ 20.4 IOPS]
Random 4KiB (Q= 32, T=16): 0.858 MB/s [ 209.5 IOPS]
Random 4KiB (Q= 1, T= 1): 0.916 MB/s [ 223.6 IOPS]
Profile: Default
Test: 1 GiB (x5) [Interval: 5 sec]
Date: 2020/06/16 12:44:55
OS: Windows 10 Professional [10.0 Build 19645] (x64)
Comment: Garmin Edge 530 firmware version 5.50
Interesting. I wonder if the bottleneck is the usb interface or the storage system. (if the garmin writes to the drive through a different interface that is more direct)
I assume by CiQ benchmark you mean one of the cpu benchmarks? Would be interesting if its the same as the 830 (guessing they put the 830 cpu into the 1030)
I suspect it’s the flash that’s the bottleneck.
On benchmarks they often have to be modified to show as compatible with a new device so can’t be run until then. There’s some confusion over whether it’s a new faster soc (Ray mentions Garmin said it’s faster), or the same 530/830 soc. which GPlama mentions and shows benchmarks for.
Micro USB 3 has an additional 5 pins next to existing ones, so much wider connector. With type-c connector is the same for USB 2 and 3.
I don’t suppose you have a video or tutorial for downloading additional continents please? I need to do this as am one of the very lucky people who have managed to travel during the pandemic (for work) and am going to sneak in some cheeky cycling off the back of it.
You wrote “If I look at the Load Focus, you’ll see it’s overwhelmingly way too much ‘High Aerobic’. Now, I’d generally disagree with Garmin/FirstBeat here on the distribution.”
But in the training summary views it seemed like you had default HR zones set up. Doesn’t the training load status get its data from time in HR zones?
Hmm, interesting, I’ll have to look. I presumed the power-zones would overwrite that element of it.
The HR zones definitely affect the load focus. I changed mine and and the load focus changed after rides with the new zones updated the load distribution.
I think it’s still Firstbeat Technologies. Sounds pretty heart-y 🙂
Garmin site sells both 1030 and 1030 plus for same price.
Why would you still buy 1030 ??? Color ?
Perhaps someone owns stock in a MicroSD card company and really wants to be able to support the share price?
The Santana bike tours have a policy of only giving out route maps on sd cards for Garmin.
They are going to have to change.
@ Stephen Hemminger: Do they only give out routes on an SD card as way share routes? Or do they see it as a proprietary thing?
If they give out the actual maps, then that piece is no longer needed.
If they’re talking about the route GPX/etc files, then honestly I think in 2020 that’s like being upset that your iPhone doesn’t take film. 🙂
To be fair, with 32 Gb microSD card and 16 Gb internal memory you are getting more map storage in 1030 vs 1030 plus
“Keep in mind though that VO2 Max won’t shift much, but it’s also typically dependent on having hard VO2 Max workouts to trigger newer values.”
This was an extremely helpful mention for me. Learned somethin. Thanks.
For the record, that’s incorrect. FirstBeat calculates VO2max from rides at any and all intensities.
Hello Ray
I have a Garmin Edge 1000 Touring and use (paid) Europe City Navigator for mapping and navigating, since there’s always a service car following our group of cyclists: so no towpaths along the canal for us. Any difference with the Edge 1030 Plus?
Thanks and great review (again).
Krgrds
Edwin
Disappointed they kept the buttons on the bottom of the unit where they are tricky to access when using an out-front mount.
Got to say I love the 830, hope the free maps come to the 830 as well, you said Live Track changes are coming…. another brilliant review Ray
I’m just here to join the chorus of people saying they will not buy a device with a micro usb port. Besides my current (and very old) Edge and my Kindle I’ve pretty much eliminated it from my life.
As soon as there’s an Edge with USB-C I’ll buy it, but until then, I hope my old one keeps chugging along.
Kindle 10 and 8 now come with usb-c so their listening, what a pita it is to wait for it to charge my older model. But it still holds charge for 8 hours so can’t justify spending out on a new one just yet.
Come on Garmin get with the times
Hi Ray, great review even though I’m not a cyclist, still read every article.
You say ” New daily on-device workout suggestions based on training load” do you know if such a feature will be trickling down to the F6? Just occasionally I feel lousy before a run and even worse afterwards, although a 10 second pulse check doesn’t reveal anything untoward. Could be snake oil or something useful to me.
As a runner, I firmly believe that cycling is just another form of cheating. I’m therefore not the target market for an Edge.
However… I love my 945. I sincerely hope that Garmin are working towards app features that allow proper customisation of their devices. To *still* not be able to configure activity screens in the app is almost unforgivable.
I think it’s horses for courses. I hated my suunto ambit run 90% of the time because I needed the phone to do anything with the damn thing.
But if your reading this Mr Garmin it sure wouldn’t hurt to have this feature, I’d only use it sparingly myself but that way everyone would be 100% happy.
As a cyclist, I believe that runners are “cyclists in training”. When runners get injured, or get tired of repeatedly getting injured, many switch over to cycling, because it is a lower impact activity. I was a runner, but it was actually a knee (while playing basketball) injury that led to my “conversion”.
Look forward to seeing you on your bike in the future, Ginger!
Colin: so true!
No wiggle link for the UK?
Ignore me! Sorry
Sorry, it’s coming! They had one, and then pulled it. So I’m waiting for the right one. Hopefully soon!
Hi Struan – Wiggle link is up!
Here ya go! link to awin1.com
Thanks for the support!
Wowsers. Even more than the 1030 cost in the UK. And no platinum discount from wiggle.
I never normally get wound up by the super high prices as they always come down. But thinking about it, not sure how this is 200 quid more than the 830 when it’s basically the same thing but bigger
Hi Ray, everything sounds good on the 1030 plus but I’m waiting for a major improvement for me: does it include an electronic compass like the oregon series? Doing Mountainbiking is a much needed feature for me to have. On trails intersections, when you don’t move or move too slow, the gps compass do not works. I’m forced to used that massive brick that’s the Oregom 700 until garmin puts an electronic compass on the edge series.
Compass would be a biggie. Lots of stores seem to list a magnetometer amongst the features, but I suspect that they confuse it with the sensors in the bundle version (unlike most other “hub-wart” style sensors the garmin ones are based on magnetometers, not accelerometers). The same confusion already exists for the 830, which according to Ray’s review table (end everything else I’ve heard) is still missing an electronic compass. I’d be very surprised if there are hardware differences like that between 830 and 1030+, other than the obvious screen, storage and battery.
My 920 and 935 watch has an electronic compass so is pretty sad the edge doesn’t have this yet
I just did the secret superpower thing that I always forget about and checked the online manual PDF: the Edge 1030 Plus manual contains instructions for calibrating a magnetic compass. I’d say that’s as clear of a yes as it gets. Really surprised that Garmin didn’t use that to bolster the tiny list of improvements the Plus has over a vanilla 1030, I think that does it for me, ordering today.
That’s a very good catch, seems even the 830 has introduced it. There are mentions of it also in the Garmin forums
So for training load, if you use the Garmin to record the workout whilst also doing the workout in trainerroad/sufferfest etc, then save the workout in TR/SUF but discard on the Garmin, does training load get updated? I usually save virtual workouts using SUF then export to Garmin connect, whilst simultaneously recording on my Garmin but discard on the Garmin once complete.
I am interesting in finding this out as well.
I do things in a similar way but I discard the activity on Zwift/Wattbike Hub and save it on my Garmin.
sessions on non-Garmin-devices won’t contribute to trainingload (full disclosure: I did not check within the last year if this behavior changed).
If you enable sync (“Physio TrueUp”) then at least the session summary shows up (i.e. the Zwift Ride can be found in the history list of your Garmin.
My suggestion is to use Trainingpeaks for accurate and source-independent trainingload metrics.
Makes sense. I am, however, referring to two Garmin devices: 6X Pro Solar+ Edge 1030 Plus.
I do the same as Nick (without bothering to delete on Watthub). I really don’t see a problem with recording indoor workouts on the Garmin.
Neil, Maybe your Physio Trueup problems are due to incompatible versions on different devices:
link to support.garmin.com
Looking pretty good! I certainly hope that Garmin have managed to fix the show-stopper of an issue called “lost satellites”
I also wonder, whether Physio True Up will now include syncing Training Status/Load between two devices. I currently use my Fenix 6X Pro Solar to track everything from running to sessions on my Wattbike Atom. The big question here is whether I will be able to use the Edge 1030 Plus to not just show map guidance but also save activities that correctly carry over on to my daily driver the 6XPS.
Any ideas Ray?
The 530, 830 and 1030 already do this.
Hi, looks like slowly Garmin is making improvements. Battery life looks impressive – and that without some impractical shenanigans like turning the screen off, I understand. Cool.
Improvements on the Touchscreen – cool, and frankly so bitter needed.
My question: how is the on board routing? Does it honor your prepared course?
I read the respective section, that the route got synched from strava (in your case) and then the device start’s the routing calculation. In every Garmin I ever had (including for a brief period the first 1030) this was completely uselesss. As in: it would take the downloaded route/track/whatever (format didn’t matter) only as an informative offering but would butcher it into oblivion. Cutting corners, leaving out complete stretches etc.
That’s bullshit in the best and leisurely times. That spells doom if you want to / have to follow the exact route. Because it’s a race with a mandatory course. Because you specifically planned to come across a certain section or don’t miss the start of a segment or because you wanted to just tag a very specific tile (Veloviewer MaxSquare) – i.e. all the reasons because you meticulously build a route at home until you satisfied or take the provided route of a race organizer.
In former times the standard procedure was always: take Garmin out of box, switch course calculation off in the settings and never switch it on again. Routes were getting followed as track (with the detriment, that track lines can’t switched to a user defined color and width and are very hard to follow in the cluttered Garmin maps. Sometimes even more when the display switches to night mode). I would have loved to see such a wide and bright pink line also for the display of a normal track line with routing switched off.
So – can one nowadays have routing switched on and nevertheless can be certain to stay on the original track (and not something the device thinks would be a neat diversion instead)?
I have an Edge 830 and use navigation quite a bit more than I have with my older Edges (it’s necessary for ClimbPro). I’ve been using Strava routes for about a year; before that usually I planned routes in Garmin BaseCamp. The 830 hasn’t shown any of the behavior you’ve described. It sticks to the route as planned. I have a lot of trouble keeping Strava from routing me onto single track in the mountains or dangerous “bike paths” next to perfectly good roads in the valleys, but once the path is laid out, the 830 follows it. I haven’t had any of the problems I’ve had with Edges in the old days (mid-ride loops, out and backs, starting at the finish point, it all works now). I’m sure the 1030+ will be just as good.
@Torsten: My experience with my Edge explore is the different from yours. I would like it to be a little looser in following the exact route that I have downloaded to the device. Sometimes it it just not possible (road closed) or you prefer a slightly different route. I would like it to be a bit more like a car navigation, that very quickly understands that a corner earlier or later still brings you to your destination. Instead, it keeps on beeping “off-course” and flashing “make a U-turn” on the screen, almost religiously trying to get me back on track.
I understand -sort of- that there is a difference between “waypoints” and “tracks” and that, if you download a route, it uses a “track” ? But I do see the “route calculation”, which is indeed odd if the route is already there.
Anyway, I would welcome the option to choose how to handle the off-course situation during the ride. Which is not likely to happen soon since Garmin is not giving away features that they sell for a lot of money in the more expensive models.
@ andre: The quick select rerouting option is shown as item #6 (5:45) in the video above ??. TBH, that will be the killer feature which will get me upgrade my 1030 to the 1030 Plus.
@Torsten: I’ve not had problems on my 820 or 1030, where routes were significantly altered when the course was built in the Garmin course tool or the Strava routes or the RideWithGPS route planner, but I seen some really weird #%@! with TCX/GPX “breadcrumb“ files of unknown origin.
Yes, diverse planning services can lead to diverse user experiences and results. For what it’s worth I’ve long since abandoned Strava as a routeplanning tool. They overhauled it a bit recently. But before that it was on “alpha status” forever as we all know it. In its early days one could use it as a road biker. Nowadays, depending on how active other bike disciplines (MTB) are in your area, you only get rubbish results for either discipline. They have a new option now which may help in the future. But I digress.
Once your route/course/track is ready planned with whatever service (even more so if it’s from one of the better known names in the game – RidewithGPS, Komoot, Strava etc.) the device shouldn’t mettle with it. Since you seem to know and experienced what I mean and nowadays doesn’t encounter it I take that as a good sign.
@ andre Hmm, ok. So each person certainly have their own preferences. Your reasoning might be if the main aim of your route is to bring you somewhat decent from A to B. That’s perfectly fine. I dare say that the vast majority of people who take the effort to build a route want to ride exactly that route. They want to follow _that_ trail and not some track or busy street which runs for a bit in somewhat the same direction but is heavily trafficed, has potholes, is way steeper (or less steep – depending what you are seeking). And that’s the whole point. You – or the provider of the route knows what they want. It’s just useless when your handlebar device isn’t capable of following that plan doesn’t even come close. Of course as I said – one can always switch routing in the device off. But alas then following the line is just harder to do as compared to a Wahoo Elemnt for example.
And certainly: If you encounter a road block on your downloaded and preplanned route or just decide you want to go explore another place in the midst of it, then (and only then) having the option to instigate a reroute is very nice. But only with your approval and as an offer. Not as a surprise.
Sounds good.
To me, the Edge 1030 Plus was the most fluid Edge I’ve had to date in terms of going freestyle while on a planned route. Like, I did it near constantly trying to break it. The three options it gave me (though, I wish it gave me more time to select them, it happens pretty quick if you don’t stop within 10 seconds), were all legit. And when I ignored it and just let it use its brain, it did so almost instantly and without any wonk.
Granted, in the Netherlands it’s hard to have a bad cycling route. Inversely, it’s got so much trail data that it really struggles on initial route calculation at start of ride (but not during re-route).
Thank you 🙂
Would be really nice if Garmin could incoporate a video camera into the front side one day. Looping as the Fly6, nothing special, just enough to catch those ‘incidents’. Oh, and a USB-C
The Xplova units had that for a while: link to dcrainmaker.com
I liked the concept. Execution was mostly non-ideal, but that’s an easy fix.
Hi, Do you have any idea if they plan on releasing a new model of the 830?
I would not expect any refresh of any Garmin Edge series device that’s only been out a year.
Did you accidentally out the Edge 530 Plus in the GPS accuracy section or was that a typo?
Just a typo. Too many plus products on the brain today.
I’m setting a calendar notification for 18 months from now. That’s when the software for the 1030 Plus will just start becoming somewhat stable, sorta.
thanks for the review! How is the glare on with the new screen? any issues with visibility in direct sunlight? i know that was an issue in the past and one of the reason i went with wahoo bolt. however, i’m not excited about the roam…
No issues with bright sunlight days. Somehow, that’s almost all we’ve had lately. Then again, I’ve never really had visibility issues with Garmin devices in the sun.
Do you know if quarter mount tab strength has been improved? On mine 1030 it was broken after 5k km (happened to me twice so far). Thanks.
I’m not aware of any changes, but then again, its exceptionally rare to break a mount tab. If that happens twice, I’d look at the mount or something else going on there. I’ve yet to break a single Garmin Edge mount despite running typically 3 units concurrently on virtually every ride I do. :-/
Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I like pix that give a good impression of the size of the something. In many of your previous in-depths, you’d line up units side by side to show relative sizes from the front and edges. Yeah, actual dims are good, but good pix help. The wide angle foreshortened shots of the unit on the bars are not the best for this purpose. Other shots with nothing of commonly know size don’t help either. (I’d be good if a I had a Karoo lying around). Good old 3-views help too.
Yeah, I had it on my list to knock out, but just ran out of time. You’ll see the size comparison pics slid into the review over the next 24 hours. Though, given it’s identical to the Edge 1030 (case), you can look at that review or others until then.
Is the InReach compatability not worth my curiosity? If you still have that Mini, do you plan to test it with the 1030 Plus?
Since the InReach probably uses a ConnectIQ app, using it probably wouldn’t be much different from any other touchscreen Edge unit.
Ray already called out InReach compatibility among all the other ANT+ and Bluetooth profiles.
Yeah, I’ve been meaning to circle back on that sometime and give it all a whirl.
You list this feature improvement: “Beeper/Chirper an eff-ton louder (and a bit different)”
I have a Varia and have trouble hearing the alerts with my 1030. You don’t appear to include the alert settings changes in your review. This info would be helpful to hearing challenged people.
Watch #13 on the video. Sounds about twice as loud and no longer a high pitched chirp.
Definitely an improvement but I’ll wait to hear 🙂 what Hammerhead does with the Karoo v2 before making any decisions.
Correct. Plus, the YouTube video is chaptered too, so it’s easy to skip to the 2nd to last chapter with almost any YouTube app/player.
Any sign of selectable font size yet from a usability point angle? Something I’d never have even thought about till I hit my late 40s, but these days my short-distance vision isn’t what it used to be and any message that pops up on my 1030 just leaves me thinking ‘I wonder what that said, hope it was nothing important’.
Is round-trip routing the minimum distance of 10 km as before?
A shorter distance – like the Forerunner 945 – would be interesting for short hikes.
Inquiring minds want to know if you’ve been testing an Edge 530 Plus?
Yes, i’m interested in this as well. Will a new 530 plus come out in the next couple of months?
I’ve actually been testing the Edge 590 Pro Extreme. The Edge 530 Plus is old news, like Foursquare or MySpace.
In all seriousness, the Edge 530 just came out a year ago, typically speaking Garmin doesn’t refresh a given cycling product line each year (the Fenix and sometimes Vivoactive series are really the only ones that do, and even that’s more of a 14-16 month cycle).
There’s really no reason for Garmin to refresh the Edge 530 right now or anytime soon.
Ray, the confusion is maybe coming from a typo you have in the GPS accuracy section, search for “530 Plus” in your review text.
Ahh, gotchya. Too many Plus’s on the brain today, but a 530 Plus is definitely not one of them. Thanks!
I’ve been looking into upgrading my old 810, which I basically use as a data screen and backup recording device for my Fenix 6 pro and sadly all of the newish edge devices don’t have compatibility with the Garmin Tempe ant+ temperature sensors? Why would they take that away? I keep one in the shade under the saddle to get more accurate temperature readings during workouts (since the on-device reading is always 5-15 degrees high while baking in the sun).
If I still have to record on my Fenix to record all of the sensors, guess it doesn’t make much sense to upgrade to the 1030 plus. And from the review it looks like it won’t pull over my activity profiles and data field configuration from the 810 either. Pros towards upgrading include connectIQ data fields, I guess.
As the owner of two Tempe’s, it’s always annoyed me that Edge’s can’t connect to them. (But my VIRB 360 can, and my Fenix 5+ can.) I clip a Tempe on a bike when I’m using the 360, but my Edge 830 can’t use it, even though it’s always reading high in sunlight. (Does the 810 connect with the Tempe? My 800 couldn’t.)
I think somebody could make an IQ-APP-Datafield for the Garmin Tempe ant+ Sensor. That Datafield could stare the ant+-Tempe as private in the fit file.
Possible you should look in the Connect-IQ Programmer forum and ask about if someone will do the job.
I’ll ask but I don’t expect an answer because it never gets answered over the years: is the 100 segment limit for Strava live segments increased yet?
Nope
Just got a 1030 Plus and this 100 limit on Segments is awful 🙁
That limit of 100 has always been there. That is a Strava issue not a Garmin problem.
It’s absolutely not a Strava issue. Wahoo has no limit (and never has), Strava’s own app (live segments) has no segment limit. The data is available for Garmin from the private strava api, it’s just Garmin that limits the number of segments it installs on the device.
Am I the only person that wan’t something without tonnes and tonnes of high level features but a “huge” screen?
Currently using an Elemnt Bolt
I would like a computer with the same functionality as that (or perhaps the Roam) but with a 3.5″ colour display. I don’t use any advanced routing features (the bolt doesn’t have any) but would like a larger screen
This Garmin comes the closest but I’m not paying £520 when my phone cost a similar amount to that!
The edge explore is only slightly smaller than the 1030. Great screen Great for navigation. Just missing Power data……
“The edge explore is only slightly smaller than the 1030. Great screen Great for navigation. Just missing Power data”
Also missing are advanced training features and in-depth fitness stuff. It does record heartrate but that’s about it. No training advice, recovery status, fitness test, Vo2 max estimate. No virtual racepartner, no Strava live segments either.
Have you actually tried the Roam? While the display with its 2.7 inches is smaller than the 3.5″ you’re aiming for its readability, particularly in sunlight and other unfavorable conditions, is simply unmatched. The pricing is an issue but its display is best in class in my opinion.
No live segments is a deal breaker for me, should have included that in my original list too! I don’t have a powermeter so don’t care about that. The advanced training metrics for recovery etc. are all missing from Wahoo so I wouldn’t miss those
The Roam is probably the best option for me, agreed. Based on the reviews here and elsewhere though it doesn’t seem well priced. I am hoping that the next device Wahoo produces moves the game on a bit more and is better value
I agree – the Wahoo Roam should match the price of the Edge 530 to stay competitive. However to be fair Wahoo’s head units, and the Roam in particular, has qualities which are hard to reduce to a spec sheet or feature list. Its excellent readability is a good example – hard to appreciate without actually experiencing it.
I’d also add that it has come a long way since DCR’s initial review and improved in certain areas like navigation (Strava turn by turn) or sensor compatibility (ANT+ radar support). This is exactly the reason why I’d love to see DC Rainmaker and other reviewers move towards on-going and occasionally updated reviews that take firmware updates and added features added into account. On-going software support, at least to me, is a major factor when it comes to making a buying decision after all.
I try and update where possible. That said, outside of radar support and fixing Strava (which I accounted for in my review), the ROAM has actually gotten basically nothing since launch. It’s a very un-Wahoo like concept to be honest.
And unfortunately, it was the one Wahoo product (and still is in my opinion) that really needed more features and focus than any other. As you noted, it’s still horribly overpriced (ironic to use that after my last comment). I agree there’s elements, primarily of the setup, that are definitely better and cleaner. And also agree, it’s hard to put those on paper. But I think it tremendously struggles against the Edge 530 these days, primarily because of price. People are by and large pretty happy there.
Inversely, I think something like the BOLT at $199 (where it is today) makes the Edge 130 Plus kinda silly. Unless you really really really want CLIMBPRO.
So the 830 has respiration rate, but the 1030 Plus doesn’t?
It does. One can actually see it in my screenshots from GCM.
On Garmin Site I can see the following statement:
“The following devices can display this information as a data field only and require the use of a Garmin HRM-Tri, HRM-Run, or HRM-Dual strap:
Edge 530
Edge 830
Edge 1030 Plus”
Maybe it’s useless but I like to have it, I’ve just bought a 1030 plus and I found this nice surprise in my activity data fields, this seems to be another little but significant improvement vs 1030, not described in the review. It works also with my Polar H10 HRM (even if Garmin site says An HRM-Tri, HRM-Run, or HRM-Dual strap is required, but it’s not true)
Yeah, basically it’ll work with most ANT+ straps from my testing.
Are you able to pause workouts while continuing to record your ride?
It’s trivial, but as someone who trains outside with lots of intersections, this is the one single feature that keeps me on Wahoo. Not that I would switch, but I won’t even consider it without this feature.
Garmin has had auto pause forever.
link to www8.garmin.com
I believe that GP wasn’t asking for pause everything while stopped but for pause the workout (and only the workout) while passing through that village where you can’t hammer out intervals
I will not buy any new Garmin until they have a USB-C port. I doubt anyone from Garmin is reading these comments, but in case this gets around to them, I hope they realize how much people care about this.
I don’t suppose anyone knows if the battery pack supports pass through charging? So that on a tour someone can charge the battery pack with a dynamo while riding and have the battery pack simultaneously charge the 1030 plus or a phone?
Answering myself:
According to Garmin-Shawn
link to forums.garmin.com
“it will charge itself and the power/charge the EDGE at the same time, but the external power charging the charge pack is not directly connected to the EDGE. But if an EDGE or other device is connected, the charge pack itself will recharge more slowly than if no external device was connected.” “In all cases the external power sources charge the charge pack, and the charge pack powers/charges the EDGE. External power sources connected to the charge pack do not directly power the EDGE.”
So, as I read it, not really pass through, but better for this scenario. This way the Edge doesn’t see any dips in voltage depending on the speed one is riding at, at the cost (and inefficiency) of having to do two voltage level conversions: external supply step down to internal battery (3.6-4.2v), and internal battery step-up to 5v to the Edge.
I would trust Garmin Shawn on this one (mostly, because Shawn is super sharp and knowledgeable on the cycling side).
But what he says matches my recollection when I looked at it way back when.
That was my thread 🙂
As I recall, the power pack started beeping every time the current went up/down as I went faster/slower, it didn’t always resume charging or passing through power from the dyno automatically, I pushed the button a lot of times trying to make it do something, it got very confused and sometimes did or didn’t work, until it eventually became unresponsive and never worked again. Garmin sent me a new one, which I never tried. I replaced the power pack with a Goal Zero Venture and put my 1030 back on my stem.
Lol I got to “no USB-C here” and stopped reading. It’s 2020, there is zero chance I will buy a brand new device which has micro-USB, it is the worst of the USB connectors and I’ve seen way too many failures. It’s not even like this is a hard change, USB-C is pin compatible if all they were doing was changing the connector, but this also means no fast charge and continuing to own another cable for 3-5 years that I don’t need anywhere else.
Sorry Garmin, hard no on this one.
Any news from Garmin on whether they ever intend to start keeping more than one Physio Trueup compatible device (Edge+Fenix/Forerunner) in sync?
In my experience, things like Training Status/Load/Stress are calculated on a per device basis, rather than being aggregated in the back end.
Any chance this has been fixed with the new Edge 1030 Plus?
As I understand it, Garmin licenses those Firstbeats (?) algorithms depending on the device, and obviously the device’s price reflects those licensing costs.
So you wouldn’t be able to get those metrics if the original recording device isn’t licensed for it.
Now, if all your devices support a given metric, maybe that could be (already is?) combined in Garmin Connect. I don’t have enough devices to know if that’s already being done or not.
See, the problem is that I am referring to devices that are capable of recording these metrics independently.
The problem is that they aren’t aggregated in the back end, resulting in two different sets of data which defeats the whole purpose.
Exactly. It’s why I do every ride, run, hike etc. with my forerunner 945. I tried to get my head around physio true up when I had a 935 and 1030 and on Garmin Connect it was only showing one devices data at a time? Why not have every workout (say with a 1030 and 945) combined and working in harmony. I just make sure that every exercise I do (including rides) are done with my 945. I’ve tried to use a less expensive head unit since it’s hard to justify two expensive units, but the 1030 is just so good…..light network, clear screen….love getting ALL smart notifications etc. etc.
Yeah, sadly that seems to be the only solution. It’s also what I do with my Wattbike Atom and Fenix 6X Pro- I only save activities on the Garmin.
No excuse for Garmin that zero training load/status data aggregation is done in the background..
It’s more FirstBeat than Garmin. The license follows the device and the calculations are done there with R-R data (HRV). Apps like Zwift don’t capture R-R data, and even if they did they don’t have FirstBeat licenses.
Ideally I wish FirstBeat would allow you to apply your FirstBeat license to other apps like Zwift for the values, but then you’d need to convince those other apps to calculate it, which probably isn’t going to happen either.
I don’t even know if it’s possible, but in an ideal world it would be awesome if Zwift could transmit the location and elevation data back to the Garmin watch via ANT+ in Indoor mode to have the complete file.
For the time being I record on the Garmin and use my Zwift file, when I’m done I simply combine the two files and load them back up to GarminConnect. As long as you get the device and serial number right (the combining takes care of that) your training effect and status are updated perfectly.
How do you go about combining the files?
Fit File Repair Tool is what I use, it does a great job. A bit slow, but pretty powerful.
Yeah, I’ve talked to FirstBeat about it at a high level in terms of capabilities. It doesn’t sound like this is a technology issues, or a licensing one.
I think it’s a more substantial issue that Garmin wants to admit. It’s frustrating that they spend all the time on all these nuanced licensed features from Firstbeat, but it all falls apart because I want to leverage some of their partnerships.
A great example is the trainer ride I just got off of. I was on a Tacx NEO 2 (a Garmin company product), controlled by TrainerRoad on an iPad. Sure, the Edge 130 Plus sitting there offered me the same workout, but then I wouldn’t have gotten all the text instructions. But no biggie, TR syncs the workout to Garmin, so all should be good?
Nope. I had to record it on the Fenix 6 Pro (because it was on my wrist, obviously I could have recorded it on the Edge). And again, the Fenix 6 offered me the workout too. But again, I didn’t want to look at my wrist on a trainer.
Gunnar,
Garmin Connect only displays things on a per device basis.
But if you look at the Training Status, Recovery Time, etc Last Sport widget on your 945, the data from your 1030 IS there, and displayed on an integrated basis.
Just don’t ask me to figure out the logic of why it is integrated on the device, and not on GC.
So You are telling us that Garmin could calculate Training Load, Focus, etc for every ride uploaded to Garmin Connect, since there is no license problem here?
I’m saying that Firstbeat sees no technical or licensing limitations to doing so. Meaning, they may or may not charge Garmin a fee, but that’s not a limitation. Garmin licenses so many FirstBeat features that even if they were ultimately charged whatever crazy low rate they pay already, it’s relatively trivial. Ill give back some other feature to get that instead.
I’m another one who runs a 1030 effectively just for routing and data during a ride, but has everything recorded to a fenix, so I just delete the activity on the 1030 without even saving it once I know the fenix has synced to GC without any issues.
Trouble is, the 1030 still seems to generate performance stats based on these rides (which are not going to be very accurate as it doesn’t know about my other activities, as my fenix does), and when I sync it to GC (which I have to do to transfer new routes onto it), it overwrites some of them. For example, My VO2Max is about 54. I’ll do 3 rides and my fenix will agree that it’s still 54 for each of them, so that’s what GC will show. However, days later I sync my 1030 and find my VO2Max is maybe now showing as 51, 49 and 50 for those 3 rides, even though I didn’t even save them on my 1030, just paused and discarded them, and my VO2Max will now show as 50 in GC.
Until Trueup fully does what it should, I don’t actually want anything syncing back from my 1030 to GC. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like there’s any practical way of preventing this and still be able to get routes on to the device.
Which Fenix? You might be able to use the Extended Display mode on it, which just uses the 1030 as a larger screen. Ray did a review last year: link to dcrainmaker.com
Are you sure you have TrueUp enabled both ways, on both devices? While I do the same “discard on one device”, I never had VO₂ max overwritten like you say.
With proper TrueUp, you should see your Fenix rides on the Edge, but you say “as it doesn’t know about my other activities” which implies the two-way sync doesn’t work (as opposed to one-way only).
Yeah but I need to be running an activity on the Edge itself for the mapping to work (and I don’t think EDM counts)
Correct. I want general ride recording to act normally in the background. But I want to manually pause just the workout, while the rest of the ride continues to record.
Sometimes (never) the timing of my intervals and the best sections of road don’t line up.
Seems like their PR team should have been involved in their mapping. Asia doesn’t exist and Africa falls under Europe? That doesn’t sound bad at all……
Also now that they are OSM based maps (so no licencing) will the other units be able to load map regions they didn’t come with? Seems like outside of artificial limits the other x30 units should be able to load regions, just won’t have the space for all of them at one time
I guess the 1030 Plus is still divided into different regions based on language / characters.
SKU1: European / English characters (that is what “Global” really mean)
SKU2: CJK characters (“Asia” version)
Everybody who’s complaining about the lack of USB C: would it be sufficient to have an adapter that’s plugged into the battery pack connector?
Say, a semi-permanently adapter attached to the bottom of the bar mount? I don’t think that would make swapping between bikes any more difficult, you’d just have to have one adapter per bike. And that would mean just plugging the USB C cable to the underside of bar mount instead of the back of the Edge.
Or are people mostly removing their Edge units from their bars for charging? So an adapter like that would be no less of an annoyance than a (non-USB consortium compliant) C-to-micro adapter, except that it could be integrated into a cradle that would be quicker to plug in.
From what I understand, they’re worried about breakage. I’ve never broken one of either, but it’s supposed to be easier to break micro-USB than USB-C. So an adapter wouldn’t help; it’s the port itself that’s more robust.
Correct, it’s mostly about breakage for me. Sure, there’s speed/fast charging benefits, but honestly those are less interesting. Breakage is one, and better compatibility with chargers is the other. The only device I need a micro-USB cable for these days is really a Garmin Edge.
On breakage, I just got back my Edge 1030 from Garmin support for a broken USB port. And I’ve previously broken my Edge 520 Plus and 820 units.
But that’s my idea: have the adapter connected to the charging pins in the base. The pogo pin contacts in the base are pretty robust and won’t break. Then just have a USB C connector that charges the unit. I don’t know if the five contacts in the base provide communication or not…
Would be quite awesome if third-party product creativity would start taking advantage of the pogo charge port. But given the runtime of the 1030+ that market won’t be big. Charging on the bike doesn’t seem very inviting given the charge port location of the x30 generation. A wall mounted home charge dock could be quite attentive. (I do like to charge my 1000 on the bike, if it happens to be in range of the delightfully long Favero cables)
> The only device I need a micro-USB cable for these days is really a Garmin Edge.
Did any of the USB-rechargeable powermeters already do the switch?
(off-topic observation: when I connect all the USB charge ports on a bike equipped for travel it looks like a jacked-in fantasy from a 1980ies cyberpunk dystopia)
No, all the power meters that are rechargeable have their own funky-ass connectors. Part of of the reason when I travel, I travel with Vector 3 or PowerTap pedals.
At least for Favero and SRM-X, the funky connectors are micro-USB on the intake side, Podiiiium is taking micro directly.
A quick dive into datasheets on RS components shows that it is possible to implement C female within the general size envelope of micro, but IPX rated variants are still new to the market (e.g. listed on Mouser but not yet on RS)
Micro USB and USB-C are both rated to 10,000 insertion cycles. So there is no breakage advantage to updating the usb connector. link to gct.co
Well, people have broken micro and I’m sure that they did not do so by reaching 10k insertions. But I’m also sure that a good implementation of micro will easily outlast a not so good implementation of C and that mainly people simply don’t yet have that much negative experience with C because most don’t have C long enough to wear out even the worst eggs.
Also, if you only use C for low power charging you will enjoy the quadruple redundancy in the power lines that are a side effect of the reversability. Therefore, the entire class of defects that comes from gunked up contact surfaces will be much rarer, you can lose six out of eight contacts and see no ill effect (except that it would burn up or something if you tried to force a fast charge over that connection)
USB-C may have the tiny durability advantage of not having users attempting to insert the cable head in the wrong orientation as often. More an issue of stress on the board connection or the crown than the pins of the port itself in that situation.
If nothing else USB-C and the Garmin watch connector styles may save a tiny amount of user frustration.
A breakage rating would be specific to a given manufacturer, and definitely not applicable to all devices. There’s very little debate micro-USB is less durable than USB-C. USB-C is by far a strong connector, especially in terms of lateral forces.
I’ve broken plenty of crappy micro-USB connectors on all assortment of devices over the years. I’ve yet to even come close to that with a USB-C connector.
I like the cyclist figurines in your first picture.
Is your picture of the Hammerhead Karoo using a new Advanced Test Group release?
Hmm, probably. I was added a month or so ago for testing the Strava stuff that was released then.
I got so traumatized on how bad my Edge 820 was that is hard for me to take the decision whether I should upgrade to this new model or use a smartphone as cycling computer instead ?
That’s two of us. I’ve also had to reset my 820 so many times to fix crappy Garmin firmware updates that I’ve stopped really setting up screens. Garmin really needs to add the ability to “save” setup somehow so you can re-apply it when you need to default reset your device.
Copy the assorted setting fit files to your pc and then copy them back after the reset. Same for courses you may want to save. link to support.garmin.com
Would you consider this a larger 830, or a larger 820 with some upgrades? I had an 820 for a while and found it to be the worst Garmin device I’ve ever owned by a long shot. By comparison I’ve had great luck with the 830. I bought a 1030 (non-plus) about a year ago and it was just a really larger 820. If this one is actually an 830 with a larger screen that’d be good news.
Definitely a larger 830. Now, if you haven’t used the Edge 1030 in a long while, you might want to take it out and update the firmware. The bulk of the changes you’ll honestly just get via those summer/fall firmware updates. Though, the speed ones are the main differences you’d notice from the 1030 if a frequent 830 user.
Awesome, thanks!
LiveTracking with iOS Connect APP has lost Facebook Integration in last year (or the year before?).
Huh, good catch!
Great job as always!
I may have missed it but will updates offered the 1030 be also available to the Bontrager 1030?
Yes. All of the updates headed to the Edge 1030 are also going to the Bontrager edition.
The Bontrager Garmin Edge 1030 GPS Cycling Computer is on sale for $399. Is it still work it to buy this one? I want to be able to use Trailforks on it for mountain biking. Is that easily possible?
Thanks in advance!
Brent
Thanks for the detailed review. There is one thing that puzzles me always: I’m doing most of my rides with a Fenix 6 x sapphire (For recording) and an edge 1000 (for displaying and routing), the Fenix is sometimes giving me 10% more elevation gain, sometimes almost the same. If I ride with friends the elevation gain varies within up to 8-10% within the group. Is there any observation of you on this issue (I know that the Netherlands might not be the best place to address this issue)?
Thanks, Achim
Your Fenix 6 may be using the barometer to determine elevation change whereas your EDGE is using GPS?
I personally had issues with elevation from a Fenix watch and had to replace it.
Something else that may be worth trying is that can also use the web version of Garmin Connect to adjust your elevation post-ride based on map data.
Pretty sure by default the Edge uses a barometric sensor – that’s what the little hole in the back panel is for. You need to make sure it is unobstructed.
Ray,
Is the louder beeper a firmware update or hardware improvement. I cannot hear the beep on my edge 1030 with the Varia Radar, which is disappointing…
Hardware change. You can hear it at the end of the video.
literally just extra $200 for 1″ compare to 830… pfff
Hopefully better GPS signal retention. I went through 3 Edge 830 units before giving up and getting a refund from Garmin direct.
Satellites lost was a major irritant back then.
don’t think so, the same Sony GPS chip on both
The Fenix 6x pro uses the same chipset and has no such issues. There’s far more than the chipset make and model at play.
difficult to say where is a problem. My wife’s Vivoactive 3 was replaced 3 times because of losing steps count problem whereas my FR935 never had problems. It might be just some manufacturing hw faults
With three consecutive Edge 830 units? Just look at the Edge 830 forum- it is far from a rare issue.
How long ago was this? In the beginning, my 830 would often tell me “Satellites lost” (or whatever it actually says) but it was never true. The position was still being recorded and displayed correctly. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it say that.
Agree. I think I saw that lost satellite thing once or twice last May. I believe right before my ‘Garmin Bugs’ post. My understanding was that was fixed around that same week though. I’ve never seen it again.
As mentioned, I went through 3! units with the same problem. The Garmin forums are still full of people reporting this issue.
Garmin gave me a full refund twice even after claiming it is no longer possible that I am experiencing this issue.
Latest 530/830 firmware (5.50) supposedly addresses this.
But it was certainly plenty annoying.
Hmm, it seems I’m not the only one not getting enough “low aerobic”, good to know 🙂
The lack of SD-card means that topo maps that Garmin uses to sell is a no-go anymore. Not that I used them much, but they have often better detail in the mountains. Download version, I guess, not reusable between devices ☹ and they’re not cheap either ☹☹.
Ray,
I cannot agree more with your statement “but it’s almost unheard of for me to see the ‘High Aerobic’ in the right zone“!
On my Edge 1030, I’m either low aerobic, or anaerobic, hardly ever high aerobic in the right zone just like you wrote. I thought I was doing something wrong. Reading your above sentence was a “heck yeah!” moment. 🙂
Ray, planning to purchase my first GPS shortly. The only reason I’d go for a 1030 Plus over a 530/830 is if I find I need the larger screen size. Question for you on the 1030 Plus/1030 is the 1030s are already being discounted $100 or so; is it worth an extra $100 for the features you’d get with a 1030 Plus that you wouldn’t with a 1030?
BTW, our daughter is currently just a few towns to the south of you, working at TU Delft.
Thanks!
$100 is tough. That’s close enough that it’s nice to know longer term you’ll probably get better updates for the Plus series.
But at the same time, when it comes to updates, historically the Plus series has always gotten the shorter end of the stick (usually due to hardware claims). So basing the extra $100 on the assumption it might get an extra year or two’s features is probably misguided thinking, especially since in this case Garmin is saying these features (some anyway) are coming to the original Edge 1030 later this year.
Hope you’re daughter is enjoying it there. It’s a pretty town for sure!
I found 1030 for 400 Eur, so it would be 200 discount over 1030Plus, I too have hard decisions to make now.
In the spring, you could get the original 1030 in the UK for an amazing £299, which leads me to believe they will start selling them off later this year. Therefore, the question for me is: is the 1030 Plus worth a wopping £200 more?
I would look for 830 Vs 1030plus at you place, hot my hands on 830 yesterday, and it seems to be much more responsive in comparison to 1030. Same for animations speed, and route calculations.
As an ageing MAMIL my eyes are weakening so I need the bigger screen. So, a £300 older, slower version or a £500 faster one…
How long til new 530 plus? Or 540? Or 830 plus, or 840? ;o 1040?
Waiting for these.
Typically speaking Garmin releases cycling computers on an either 2 year or 3 year refresh cycle, depending on winds, moon phases, and tidal conditions. In other words, I wouldn’t expect any more bike computers till at earliest next spring.
Ray did leak about Edge release dates before, I don’t remember where exactly, but I’ll quote from memory:
“Most likely it will be a Tuesday”
From my own personal crystal ball I’d like to add that I expect those “40ies”, if they stick to the naming scheme, to all be released on the same Tuesday. It worked well for the paired release of the 530/530, and that release synchronization was also preceded by a “plus” (the 520+ that filled the gap from 520 to the 530 that was pushed back to the 830 release date).
When they are all released in parallel there will be no more awkward buying decisions along the lines of “this is my preferred form factor, but that one has a more recent CPU and/or won’t fall off the feature updates hotlist as early”.
My crystal ball is silent about wether Garmin will stick to three years (“40ies” in 2022, three years after [58]30) or increase cadence to two years (“40ies” in 2021). I suppose that it must be much easier to design three form factors in parallel on one shared technological base than three form factors overlapping, but offset by one year of progress each.
For Garmin, it’s always a Tuesday at 7AM US Eastern. Unless it’s not. But that’s super rare and really only happens when it’s timed to a specific show-open announcement (such as opening day of Eurobike or opening day of IFA, or CES, etc…). And even then, those are slowly fading away as brands realize announcing on opening show dates means less eyeballs as there’s lots of things consumers are distracted with.
Other companies have standard embargo times too. Strava is always 10AM Pacific. Wahoo is almost always 9AM Eastern. GoPro is 6AM Pacific. Fitbit is typically 9AM Eastern.
Is the beep volume adjustable? I like the idea of it being louder, but I worry that constant radar notifications would be too annoying at a higher volume.
What about maps for Asia? Didnt see these anywhere.
Yeah, I’m waiting for the Asia maps answer. That question apparently broke the Q&A machine and lots more digging was required. Hope to know shortly.
Looking forward to hearing about this… and I am foolishly optimistic that they will offer global maps/asia maps to other devices such as the Fenix 6 series!
Knowing how 2020 has gone thus far, it is probably better that I assume they will release this on the 6 Plus but not other Fenix 6 models “just because”.
Typical Garmin support response time in answering a question like language support? When it says “Global” Garmin should have expected this question regarding Asia maps…
Sorry to be so mean but this the Garmin problem for years. 2020 and the top model is still region divided? How big is the CJK font library? Extra battery used to support the extra storage required?
Ok, got clarification back there on Asia maps, and it’s non-ideal: Asia maps will *not* be available for swapping to non-Asia units.
I’ve asked for technical clarification on why that is exactly. In the meantime, I’ve updated the post accordingly.
…and, got clarification on the lack of Asia map swapping. I’m told it’s due to “map royalty issues”.
Which is funny, as that indirectly answers a question I was wondering the other day (to myself), which was that previously Garmin licensed their maps globally. But in the last few years they’ve leveraged more and more OSM. However, I’d wondered if there were still maps they licensed, or pieces of maps. I guess that answers that.
You should update your ‘OpenStreetMap guide’ page to include the 1030 Plus. Tried it myself and works a charm. Sucks that I still have to go through this extra hassle, but I do contribute to the OpenStreetMap project locally, so I get all my updates too 🙂
Hey DCR,
A bit unrelated to the Edge but… still somewhat relevant:do you think that Garmin will carry any of the biggest features from this release over to the Fenix 6 series (namely the global maps) as a software update?
I live in Japan but own a US market Fenix 6X Sapphire – I’ve uploaded open street map onto the watch and I’ve *even managed to put topo maps* of Japan on here after a hefty amount of searching for this on Japanese websites.
The OSM and Japan topo maps work but they seem to drag from time to time, especially towards the end of a longer run & certainly during long rides/hikes etc. This is most notable when switching from one data screen in an activity to the mapping screen.
All of this is to say: I hope Garmin adds global maps onto the Fenix 6 series – how likely do you think this might be?
Cheers,
MZ in JP
I suspect we’ll see some things make it to the Fenix 6 series, but they beat to their own drum. Had it been rolled into a Forerunner device first, we’d see it quicker. But Edge to Fenix is usually a little bit longer.
I would expect something like the LiveTrack bits to show up faster than other pieces.
As for global maps for the Fenix 6? Honestly, I doubt it. One notable is that Garmin over the last year reduced the price point to $19 for a region, which is helpful. It’s still a cluster-fudge to get those on there though.
Thanks Ray. Good review as always. I was waiting for something like this to upgrade from my old Edge 1000. Some good new features in this unit, especially the almost world wide maps. My disappointments with it are
1. No Asia maps (just missing a few billion peoples here?).
2. Still using micro USB rather than USB-C with lots of mechanical failures on older edge units
3. Not taking into account indoor Zwift and TR data etc for estimating lots of important metrics.
4. Was hoping for a bigger screen, my bad.
5. Weird location for the lap and stop start buttons.
Here’s hoping they fixed the power button failures on so many older garmin units when the plastic starts to disintegrate.
Hi
I just looked into the battery pack at garmin.com and it says it’s compatible with some forerunners (935, 945..).
I know you can charge anything with an usb cable, but to list at compatibles it most do something different. Have you tried it?
Also it does not list the fenix 6 or 5. My guess here is the lack of a quick release kit for the fenix. So how does exactly the 945 connects to the battery pack?
Thanks
I have the battery pack and a 935 w/ the quick release kit. I think they are saying you can use the USB cable. I don’t see any other way to attach the battery to the watch.
Steven is correct. I suspect someone was just sitting there going: ‘Well, I suppose technically it’s compatible…so…check this box, and that box, and this box…” 🙂
Greedy Garmin Australia have priced the 1030+ at $999, the previous model 1030 was $749.
Even with a fluctuating currency price, an increase of $250 is price gouging. And a formal complaint is underway.
$999.00 is utterly ludicrous. ‘Whatever the public will bear’ is the usual business plan. Vote with your feet. Go elsewhere.
Great review! How is the back of the new 1030 Plus unit? Is this the same clip system like the previous models?
Same quarter-turn mount.
Hi dc,
at the beginning of this thread there are some questions about the new map feature for the 1030+ (will it come to other devices, no maps for Asia…).
Perhaps you have overlocked that. Would be nice, if you can tell us something about that.
Thanks
Sorry, my bad. For Asia maps you have already asked Garmin. For other devices?
There’s no plans for other devices at this point.
I for one like the fact that Garmin insists on making the devices “standalone” configurable (No smartphone needed). I bought a Apple Watch LTE years ago to avoid having to bring my smartphone on rides.
The ONE thing that could make me upgrade my garmin unit (520 plus) was a simple Apple Watch companion APP. It doesn’t need to do anything or have any interface. It should just connect to the Edge to provide LTE for Livetrack, and allow for relay of SMS/messages to the Edge.
If they did that, Garmin would be feature complete to me 🙂
How does the display compare to the Edge 530/830?
I believe the smaller Garmins have far better panels versus the Edge 1030.
Hi Ray, and thanks for another crystal clear and concise review.
One question – do you think that Garmin will roll out the mid-ride routing changes to other devices (e.g. 530/830/1030)? The current lack of dynamic re-routing when following a course (e.g. skip-ahead) is a pretty gaping hole in the functionality and would seem a great feature to include in the current generation of devices!
Thanks again
They didn’t specify they would when I asked. So I don’t expect it at this point unfortunately.
The only plausible reason I can imagine for not back-porting these re-routing features would be screen-layout issues to present the options.
Otherwise, it would seem like it would be more work to omit these features from software builds for other capable devices (e.g., the 530/830/1030 devices at least), but that assumes that the Garmin software development process is not completely f’d up. So…yeah.
Or, the suits think that reserving these features to the 1030 Plus will be a good way to drive sales of 1030Plus devices — which is magical thinking since it will really drive sales to Wahoo and Karoo.
Nice review!
One remark. You always write “There’s likely no topic that stirs as much discussion and passion as GPS accuracy.” Well, for me, I couldn’t care less about that. I always read your review entirely, but I just scan this part. Just so you know. Many people _don’t_ actually care that much about GPS accuracy. As long as it’s quite good, it’s good enough.
Don’t worry, I dislike writing that whole section as much as the next guy or gal.
But, it’s still true. God help any device that doesn’t show people where they actually went. I never hear the end of it. Thus, that section basically says “Here’s what you’ll get, even if heavily over-analyzed’.
Keep it up!
I skip ahead to the conclusion of those sections just like everybody else, but the fact that they are there in case I want to really drill down is one of the many great things that set this site apart from all the shallow “slightly reword the press release” influencer stuff or there.
Thanks, I appreciate it!
That said, I’d love to see an ‘altitude accuracy’ and ‘grade accuracy’ section. For a cycling device, accurate measurement of altitude and meters climbed is far more interesting than knowing you rode 130km instead of 130.2km. And this is an area in which many units fail.
That’s hard, and Ray, living in Flatland, isn’t well situated to test that. Accurate altitude from a barometric altimeter depends on frequent calibration, so it comes down to how well the manufacturer’s automatic calibration method (if any) works. Grade is usually just computed on the fly from altitude change/distance, although it could be measured by the appropriate sensor, provided it too calibrates itself (is the unit level when you start?). Consistent altitude gain over a loop course doesn’t rely on calibration, but does rely on whether or not temperature correction is applied to the standard atmosphere they use to convert pressure to altitude. Altitude gain would probably be the easiest thing to report on for repeat loops of the same course, but that of course takes time to get enough repeat rides to say anything useful about it.
Speculating that next models of Fenix + Forerunner may be equipped with all maps as well
Waaaayyy overpriced!! £530 for the bundle?!?!?
Garmin have been taking the piss with their prices for years. Thats more than a top of the line mobile or next gen gaming computers and consoles. £500+ for whats basically a cycling computer, ridiculous.
I keep seeing this line of thinking (both overpriced and the phone bit). The phone aspect doesn’t really apply. Different use cases for 98% of the likely target market here. If you’re gonna use a phone as a bike computer on the regular, you’re not gonna buy a $299 bike computer, let alone a $599 one.
As for the overall price, it’s expensive – absolutely. But overpriced is tricky. After all, Garmin has been selling this model at this price for 3 years, and boatloads of people are buying it at that price and seemingly happy with it.
In my mind, overpriced is when, roughly:
A) Something isn’t priced to the market, and as such they lose market share
B) Something is priced based purely on brand value/attraction, and thus people overpay for what is usually inferior features/quality
But I don’t think either apply here. Again, just me.
I’d add the Useful Life factor to it. In my view the Edge devices got much longer life than a Garmin watch so they’re less “overpriced” than a Fenix.
Agree on the ‘Useful Life factor’. I bought my edge 1000 in 2014 and still see no real reason to upgrade (I would if new models had usb-c).
Waiting on the new Hammerhead to come out
Ditto that, Vince.
It’s a shame… this sounds great, but after my awful experiences with Garmin over support on issues with my 830 (that reset every 2 days or so, taking the ride data with it, then I had to pay to sent it back to them for a warranty replacement), I can’t bring myself to give them another dime.
Hey there! Has Garmin made a software change to make Auto Pause functional when stopping during a structured workout ride outside?
It’s pretty frustrating the way it is today – needing to manually press Pause when stopping at lights, press Resume when starting to move again, and then the data screen jumps back to the Structured Workout screen instead of the one you were on before stopping.
Your paragraph about POI navigation hits home for me. This is my main gripe with Garmin devices (which I use anyway admittedly).
When we write software a feature is always developed like this: “as [who does your feature benefit?] I want to [what does your feature do?] so [what do you gain from it?]
Example: As [a cyclist away from home on a ride] I want to [get a fresh drink] so [I can quench my thirst].
I think that’s what underlines a feature like POI. If it worked that way, POIs would be a master feature of Garmin devices, in the same way Google Maps is probably the most important app on an Android Phone (I’d argue even more than the Phone app).
Now there is absolutely no way that the current implementation of POIs is the best you could think of. Or even passable fwiw. My personal ideal would be: stop the bike, take my phone out, open Google Maps, find a pub, click share, click “Share to Garmin Edge”, put my phone away, click “Go” on the Garmin. And savour that drink. YMMV with iOS but that’s the idea.
Now that doesn’t sound like a lot to ask. AFAIK all it needs is an implementation for this: link to developer.android.com , so Garmin appears like a sharing destination like any other app.
Until then, the actual experience goes: stop the bike, take my phone out, open Google Maps, find a pub, click Home on Garmin, Go to navigation menu, Find Address, Select country (like !!!!!, for real?), type in the beginning of the postcode of the pub, type in the street name of the pub, type in the street number of the pub, put my phone away click “Navigate To” on the Garmin. All of this with the poor on-screen keyboard experience on the Garmin (postcodes here in the UK are alphanumerical you keep switching between alphabet and number screens), my phone wanting to screen lock constantly and the Garmin 50% of the times not having the exact same information about street names, street numbers etc than Maps. Argh. ffs.
Mind you I appreciate they make sure you can cycle without a phone too, which is commendable. It’s just missing some love for the experience with a phone.
Fully agree, it should absolutely integrate with the navigation intents on android via connect app.
One complication that is easy to forget though is that the connect app has to cater for all kinds of garmin devices and they need to figure out what to do when you e.g. only use the app with the independently recording Bluetooth speed sensor, a Vivofit, or, I don’t know, the ANT+ weight scale? The original intent filter system is install time only and runtime (“direct”) share targets are a bit of an advanced topic.
Certainly doable but the fact that the connect app serves so many wildly different devices makes it a tougher but to crack than for, say, Wahoo. There also seems to be a bit of an intraorganizational responsibility problem, e.g. if the connectIQ team needs something implemented by the Connect App team there seems to be a lot of red tape in the way.
Yes you’re right and also they have to cater to wildly different types of users so priorities might not be the same for everyone. I’m a bit of a tourist and I do have a terrible sense of orientation so I use nav a lot but lots of people don’t necessarily use it at all. Actually in DCR posts it’s rarely that big a section for instance, which is fair considering the audience here.
Yeah, I don’t think either Wahoo or Garmin nail the experiance on ad-hoc nav yet. Garmin is great if you somehow forgot your phone at home. But Wahoo is easier when its ‘just get me to Ikea’, and done. Because in the app you can literally type Ikea, and off it’ll go instantly to the ROAM.
That’s the piece I wish Garmin had. Not Ikea per se, but just the quick ad-hoc ‘get me somewhere’ route, with using actual business names. Obviously Wahoo is just pulling that from some API, but it’s super useful.
Append all of that rigmarole with …
“Find a shady spot not in direct sunlight to better read your phone, then get your reading glasses out of your back pocket so you can read the tiny phone script, and reverse the process when the address is programmed in”
It s a genuine missed opportunity. Having hot keys for “Show me the nearest open food/drink shops/gas stations” and “Find me the nearest open pub”, “Find me the nearest bike shop”, and a few others that result in you being offered a list of alternatives in proximity order would be a real improvement. For rescue situations, when the last inner tube has been used, “Text Significant Other a link to where I am on Google maps” or “Text S.O. my what3words location” would be huge.
It should be easy. It seems not.
We’re a 1000/1030 family, I’m still undecided on the upgrade top the 1030 plus. Would love a front facing cam. That would be a killer app for me on the crowded UK roads.
What Garmin does nail is the use case of going without electronic navigation for most of the day and only dropping a pin on the map when overwhelmed by a difficult section, usually a city of sorts. You really don’t need help following a route that consists of major alpine passes back to back, or going about on your favorite winter training island, but the cities in between are always full of one way mazes, barriers like railroads, highways, rivers with few chokepoint passages that you must not miss even if that other road looks so much more inviting and so on.
In this situation I know exactly where I want to emerge from the city (e.g. the entry to a secluded climb, the low-traffic parallel to a major road that won’t have signs pointing to it) but I am super open to suggestions about how to get there.
When passing through cities I also don’t like to be stuck with a pre-planned route, as local traffic patterns, specifics of bike infrastructure and observing the local riders (Dirk Gently navigation method, locals know time-of-day specifics no heatmap will capture) often make me overthrow those plans when passing through urban areas. Dynamic recalculation that doesn’t care about anything pre-made other than the intended exit point is perfect for this.
Thanks for the super-detailed review, Ray!
How does the touchscreen behave with gloves? Is it at least “somehow working” or not working at all?
If behaves the same as the Edge 830, pressing with gloves works great. Sliding left/right or up/down with gloves – not as much.
No integration with garmin Explore app?
How come when I wear bone conduction headphones the turn by turn directions come through on them, but the Varia Radar beeps do not…
Do you think there’s any chance the “Suggested Workout” feature will be able for the Forerunner 945 and Fenix 6 series? I’m really excited about seeing adaptive training features are finally getting implemented directly on these units.
Hi Ray
Wiggle link is not working. Message is that “this item is no longer available”
Huh, that’s weird. It’s working here.
Quick question, which country are you in? For me the site is redirecting to the Netherlands site, but I’m wondering if something else is amiss?
Thanks for the support attempt!
I know people are complaining about the lack of USB-C. But, why hasn’t Garmin done away with the USB port all together? They don’t even need to use a wireless charging pad that phones use. There is already a place to charge new Garmins at the mount(aka where the external battery connects).
Removing mass storage access would piss off pretty much all customers who learned to use a garmin before they got Wi-Fi. And those are the ones least likely to switch to Wahoo (hard earned skills going to waste) unless pissed off, so Garmin wouldn’t want to do that. And in terms of charging, it would be a great loss of you couldn’t charge your GPS without some heavy and bulky special cable adapter. There are those of us who travel on the bike and any additional cable that only works for one of the many devices that have snuck into this activity won’t be welcomed at all.
But as others have already mentioned in this thread, some neat charging accessories utilizing the base contacts would be nice to have, in addition to the USB port. That would also increase longevity and reduce customer support cost, because the ports break from use, not from years. So it would even help those who absolutely insist on having some form of standardized USB if they could stick to base contacts charging while at home.
Agree, I hope they don’t go wireless charging. Plus, even fast wireless charging is slow. Both micro-USB and USB-C cables are available pretty much anywhere on earth. So you can walk into any hotel lobby or such if you forgot one and someone will let you borrow one of those cables. Most grocery stores and gas stations have them too.
Thank you for another great review! One question I did not see answered in the review is whether when you import the activity profiles from your old device is the “history” data imported as well? I have activity profiles set up for each bike and like to track the total mileage on each bike that way. Would prefer to not go back to zero again for the mileage. Thanks!
Hmm, I don’t typically track mileage for bikes. In theory general history comes over, but at the moment I’m not seeing that. I had reset mine two days ago to get one last set of photos/video, and the history piece hasn’t synced in yet.
Just got my unit today. Sadly, I can’t get the device to be recognized on the connecIQ app. Unreal, I had the 510 back in the day got distracted and went to wahoo. More or less happ w the bolt no major issues on wish the navigation was better. Was really excited to hear about all the advancements w Garmin and was it was no longer buggy… guess I was wrong. Called fermi support and said the IQ team probably did not update the app!!! WTF the main reason I got this init was to connec to TrainingPeaks and strava for my routes. Help anyone ???
Connect IQ app issue aside, you don’t need Connect IQ anymore for TrainingPeaks and Strava. With TrainingPeaks that changed a year ago, and Strava about a month ago.
Just ensure your account is connected with Garmin Connect for Workouts and Courses. Then they instantly show up. 🙂
Here’s my Strava post on it: link to dcrainmaker.com
And here’s TP’s thing on it: link to help.trainingpeaks.com
ahhh, thanks! was going crazy looking for this. i made the connections and everything seems to be working except for the planned workouts. the workouts load to the device but i dont see them on the 1030 calendar for the day… does that take time to synch or did i miss a setting? BTW LOVE your review and content bravo!
Ok, 32 gb storage sounds great at first glance, but they have removed the sd card slot. So if you already own Garmin topo maps on a sd card…
I assume you’d just copy them via USB to the device.
Garmin maps supplied on a SD card are locked to the card and won’t work if copied off the card. To use them you need to have a GPS device with a SD card slot.
Hi ray
As far as I’m concerned on navigation maps we have still got the WHITE ARROW on the WHITE BACKGROUND.
Sat at home no problem, but on the move in busy traffic, rainy conditions, and even worse in night mode.
I’ve asked repeatedly to make the Arrow RED .
Are the accessories for the old 1030 model compatible with the new 1030 plus model?
I am talking about a case and a screen protector…
They are exactly the same form factor, so, yes they are.
Just got the 1030 Plus today and it did not offer to transfer settings/sensors from the 1030 during set-up.
Both devices are linked to my Garmin account and have up-to-date firmware. Also, there is recent ride data (from the weekend) on the 1030. Is there any way to manually initiate the transfer? I really do not want to configure the new device from scratch ….
Ok, just unregistered the 1030 Plus from my account, removed the device from the Connect phone app, removed the Bluetooth pairing from the phone, removed the device from the Garmin Express Mac app and did a full device reset. Then I started over again.
This time my sensors were transferred and the “Indoor” profile transferred, but the “Road” profile did not. Looks like I’ll need to set up the screens for “Road” again, but at least I’m not totally starting from scratch.
Another odd thing is that in Garmin Express (Mac) I installed all of the map updates but Express continues to tell me that map updates are available. When I try to install the supposed updates the updates complete immediately, but Express still insists that they are available (even after disconnecting the 1030 Plus, exiting Express and then reconnecting).
I guess I should have known I’d encounter bugs for a new device. This is Garmin after all.
One more update. Perhaps the “Road” profile was not transferred because it uses Connect iQ apps. It looks like none of the iQ apps were transferred during set-up.
The Android version of the iQ app does not seem to recognize the 1030 Plus. When I go to the web version of the iQ store there are some iQ apps available for the 1030 Plus, but none of the apps I use on the 1030 are available.
Is this a Garmin issue or do developers have to update their iQ apps for the 1030 Plus?
Heard back from one developer who said that they are waiting for a device from Garmin to test with and that a new version of the CIQ app will be released sometime after that.
So, it looks like I have a brand new device that I cannot use for a while because I have hardware that depends on CIQ apps. I just assumed that since they were both “1030” devices that everything would work, which it doesn’t.
Wish I had known that before I ordered.
Well, this is always the situation with Garmin. I’ve seen a few (very few) apps that were released a while ago but already marked compatible, but the vast majority werent.
Is the same with Fenix updates, is a general issue with the CIQ system. Not sure I’d call it a problem; technically I understand the reason.
I have a few data fields I care much about, but it’s not like I can’t bike without them. So, I ordered.
You can most likely copy the app from your 1030 Garmin\Apps folder over to the 1030+. It’ll be a file with a .prg extension. It won’t do any harm. If you need to configure it through Garmin Connect, things get a little trickier.
Great review! I’ve noticed that the suggested workout pics are all based on power – is there an option for these to be based on HR zones for those of us without a power meter?
I am just wondering how long it will take before an Edge 1040 will be released?
As far as I can remember when the Edge 520 plus was released only a few months later they released the Edge 530/830.
How do you compare the update from the Edge 1030 to the 1030 plus and the update from the Edge 520 to the 520 plus. In the end the Edge 520 plus was not much more than adding maps/routing to the exisitng Edge 520, other than more memory not much changed to that HW. I have the impression that the Edge 1030 plus has more HW changes: faster processor/new GPS chipset, …
The Edge 520 Plus was released Apr 18th, 2018.
The Edge 530/830 was released Apr 24th, 2019.
I’d argue there’s a much bigger bump in hardware from Edge 1030 to 1030 Plus than 520 to 520 Plus.
The 520+ was an emergency software trickle-down (with the bare minimum of accompanying hardware change) because of what Wahoo did. The 1030+ is an emergency trickle-up because the 830 was totally killing the 1030 and that’s never good for a company when the higher priced units have a bigger margin.
It’s 200 more expensive not because the bigger screen is good-plated but because there are people willing to pay that much and those who don’t can still get an 830. Everything that is priced in tiers is tightly calculated at the budget end and ends with a generous margin.
Does this tell us anything about when successors to 530/830/1030+ will arrive? No. But in terms of technology the 1030+ is as “old” as the 830 now, so it would make sense to replace them at the same time (like 530/830). Garmin could either use the synergies from concurrent hardware releases to increase cadence (840 and possibly friends in 21), decrease cadence because devices don’t leapfrog each other anymore so they can focus on keeping them competitive with software for as longer (840 and friends in 23) or stick to the established cadence of three years per hardware generation (840 and friends in 22)
I’m debating between getting the 1030+ and the 830. I’m coming from the 810 so pretty much everything will be an upgrade. Any thoughts on which one I should get?
I moved from 820 to 830 today, You can buy 830 under 350€, and 1030plus is 600€.
Feature list is just a little bigger on 1030plus, ask yourself if you want to spend almost twice for minor upgrade over 830
The specs mentioned by Garmin for the 1030 Plus are correct?
– no Bikealarm – ok for me
– no ClimbPro – thats a no go
Umm, both of them are right there on the 1030+ page at buy.garmin.com: link to buy.garmin.com
Great review, Ray. The one thing that’s really nice about this unit, compared to my 830, are the reroute options. As far as I can tell, 830’s idea of rerouting is to keep bugging me to turn around, which is…not helpful. Being able to pause the course, and choose how you want to rejoin it would be great. Garmin hasn’t said anything about bringing these options over to 830, I suppose?
Having used my 830 to route extensively in the last month, if you have some idea of how to proceed, eventually the 830 will realize that you’re not going to turn around, will stop prompting U-turns and will offer a way forward. That doesn’t help if you don’t know the roads in the area at all, because you won’t know where to go initially. As I said before, what Garmin has needed for a long time is a active way in real time to mark a road as impassible and ask the unit to reroute immediately. Their automotive GPS’s do that, but they get traffic information fed to them, which isn’t feasible for a cycling unit. (Besides, there might be a road where traffic will be technically open, but, for example, I don’t like riding through a mile long one-lane flagged construction zone because some flagmen do stupid things, and I don’t ride on sidewalks even if they’re marked “bike paths”.) What they’re doing here is pretty good, but I’d really like to see a way to immediately say “no, I can’t follow this route here, find me a way around”. But I’d still like to see what they’re doing now on the 1030+ to trickle down to the 830 because it’d be an improvement on the way things are now.
Chatting with Garmin support they denied that there was any migration process. Where can I find documentation on it?
Coming from an Edge 1030 I just unboxed my 1030 Plus and wanted to set everything up for a ride tomorrow.
Long story short: It’s exactly the same half-baked user experience I’ve had with other Garmin devices over the last couple of years. Migration of profiles and sensors: Fine. Connect IQ apps? Naa… you don’t want to migrate your Connect IQ apps and settings over. Even if you wanted to, you’ll fail because all those apps are not yet compatible with your new device and need to be updated by their respective authors.
That’s not a problem because after like two years of usage you’ll finally agree that no one needs more than 2 data fields on their map screen, right?
In addition to that, there is no migration of basic system settings like wireless network or sound settings (I find the 1030 Plus to be really loud and there does not seem to be a volume adjustment option).
It’s so frustrating. So much potential, so little love for the product 🙁
Just finished the first ride with the 1030 plus, and as opposed to some other comments, it’s actually a good launch *for Garmin*.
I remember the 1030 crashing at the end of the activity for the first N months, live track not working reliably, many other issues at lunch.
Today, I spent probably an hour and a half before the ride to get it read, and it was almost “no problems” for a simple ride. The good parts:
* transferred sensors
* transferred activity profiles, even one with CIQ data fields
* easy pairing, got my VO₂max, my training load, etc.
* no crashes
* it is faster than the 1030 when riding, for sure
* reroute does indeed appear and it goes away after a while, non-intrusive
The bad parts
* some sensors did not work after transfer; mainly varia radar, but given this is complex to pair in the first place (it’s technically 2 “sensors” in one, radar + light network), I’m not very surprised; the other was edge remote, this is the dumbest thing ever, I am indeed surprised
* CIQ apps/fields/etc. are not there yet
So, I’m suprises at how well this works “out of the box” for a Garmin device. Almost unheard of 🙂
Do you have informations about “Advanced workout recommendation” on Fenix 6 line ?
There’s nothing planned there that I’m aware of.
Might be off-topic: I never succeeded to enter the address navigation when I was following a route withe the Garmin Edge 830. Example: A friend asked me to meet up in a coffee shop during my ride. Or my friend asked me to pick her up during a ride. Is it possible with the 830 or the new model?
It’s there on my 830. Navigation->Search->Addresses Clunky to use because of the “keyboard”. If trying for a coffee shop, a better bet is Navigation->Search->POI Categories->Food and Drink->Cafe or Diner. For me that lists cafes (all the ones that I know about and more) in distance order from home, which is where I am now.
Notice there is no Asian maps in the global maps available in your screenshots, any chance these will become available, was hoping to pick up a US model and use here in Asia to get around the delayed Asian model firmware updates, my Edge 530 is still running 5.20 instead of the latest 5.50 available in the rest of the world.
Oops see this was already asked a bunch of times, but any answer forthcoming from Garmin yet?
Thanks for the review! Just got the new 1030 plus.
One question:
Do you know the DF Memory size? Same as Edge 1030 (127632)?
Thank you!
Hi Mclnner1, can you do us a favor and check if you see Asia maps in your 1030 plus?
No.
Bought in Europe. Have North America and Africa.
Hi Ray, thanks for another thorough review. Any idea if the 1030 plus is a placeholder for a completely new version in a year from now, or will this one be around for a couple of years? Like you mentioned, it isn’t groundbreaking improvements, but is still the best out there. I need a new computer and am trying to decide if i bite the bullet and go with the 1030 plus or wait another year to see if they completely replace it.
My training peaks workout is not appearing under today plan, any thoughts? However, they appear under workouts???
Have Garmin published a battery chart (low, med, high) for 830 and 530?
I also fall into the “High” usage (power meter, HRM, Varia, backlight always on, live tracking on, route on, phone on, always on map page, etc.) and my 520 plus is burning through the battery in 5-6 hrs compared to the 15hrs advertised.
Would be nice if Garmin made the whole navigational interface more obvious – a bit like the ones you get in Car GPS devices. The smallness of the screens and number of streets they tend to show is difficult to follow in my view.
There are already some OSMs where the width of the streets has been increased.
See here: link to speichenkarte.de.
And these cards can be imported into the Edge 1030 Plus via USB, although the import is very slow due to the outdated USB 2.0.
The 1030, however, is much faster with the memory card removed and a reader.
And then you can still zoom if necessary.
Thanks for the review. I have an edge 1000 with out front mounts on a few bikes, will the 1030 plus fit on the older 1000 out front mount or will I need to buy new mounts for all bikes again?
Garmin hasn’t changed the quarter turn mount since they first released it. My Edge 800, 1000, and 830 all work with the same mounts. I’m sure the 1030+ will too.
I can confirm that the 1030 Plus will work with an out front mount designed for the Edge 1000. I use a K-Edge and it works fine. The minor problem is that it can be difficult to reach the buttons, especially if you have big fingers, but I use a remote mounted to my handlebars so that’s not really a problem for me.
Hello DC Rainmaker!
After reading your review I ordered one of these from CleverTrainer. I ordered on Monday and so far it hasn’t been shipped yet. I emailed to ask to change my shipping method to overnight (I would supply them with a credit card to pay for the extra charges) but I have received no reply other than an automated message. After reading some reviews about Clever Training, I see that many people have claimed that they are not very responsive and I’m beginning to get worried. I’m just wondering if you have any insight as to the best way to get in touch with them.
Never mind, they just replied and gave me a tracking number though it hasn’t shipped yet. I was hoping to get it soon because coincidentally my Garmin Edge 820 just broke down two days after I ordered the 1030 Plus.
Sorry Paul – just catching up here! Good to hear it’s on the way! Thanks for the support!
My TrainingPeaks workout are not showing under today’s plan or when I turn in the device when I have a specific workout for the day. However I can find the synced From TP under workouts… glitch or am I doing something wrong???
Hi, have the same issue with my 830! TrainingPeaks training plans getting not fully synced (or synced at all) to the edge but are available in Garmin connect calendar… really annoying
its still uses wifi to connect your ride on strava ?
I read somewere the get rit of the wifi signal
From the Garmin website:
CONNECTIVITY Bluetooth®, ANT+®, Wi-Fi®
Seems like a nice bike computer. I think its too expensive for me though. I don’t see that much more value above my 520 Plus.
I couldn’t for the life of me get the 1030 Plus to connect to either Garmin Basecamp or Garmin Express.
Turns out that I needed to use the USB cable shipped with the device, the other USB cables I had would let it charge, but for some reason not connect (they’re definitely data cables too, they’re not simple “charge only” cables.
Unsure why this is, maybe some quirk of the cable supplied with the 1030 Plus :\
I’ve connected the Edge 1030 plus to my windows using random cables I already had – very old ones, actually. But for sure, I didn’t unpack the one provided. Maybe your old cable (cables?) had some issue?
Agree. I use all the cables under the rainbow. I’m a skittles bag of cables. No issues, as long as it’s a data cable.
It’s plausible your other cable has a broken internal pin. Not actually that uncommon.
Did all of you connect to Basecamp with different cables?
I can’t get my 1030+ to control my neo 2. It’s paired as a trainer? Any ideas
Are you sure you paired it as a trainer…or as a power meter? The trainer pairing is in an entirely different menu (weird, but it is what it is).
Defo paired as a trainer though the wired menu!
I am curious to know if anyone has an idea on the battery capacity for the new edge 1030 plus. It is 1900 mAh for edge 1030, but would be excellent to know what’s the capacity on 1030 plus since it has a higher battery life.
It’s the same 1900mAh battery (source: internal photos from the FCC registration). All the savings come from a more economical chipset.
This means that you get more extra hours if you e.g. top up during a coffee stop of a given length. The Roam for example requires a slightly bigger battery of 2000mAh to achieve its runtime.
Hello! Is anybody else facing issues with the 1030 (the old one, not the plus) after the firmware 9.50? For me it seems like the same what apple did some years ago – the older version has been slowed down with the software: the switching between the pages takes 2-3 seconds, the boot is also a lot slower. Today I will test the navigation, let’s see.
Thanks for such a great review.
I’ve heard that 1030plus doesn’t have a wifi connection. If so, how they manage to upload the courses? (only through your phone?)
Many thanks, Ray
From the Garmin website:
CONNECTIVITY Bluetooth®, ANT+®, Wi-Fi®
All UK (maybe Europe) retailers I have looked at, and Garmin UK website do not list Wi-Fi. This has me concerned.
Quick question about the new setup process. If, say, I had to factory-revert my aging Edge 1000, would the new process transfer my old settings, sensors etc when I set it up again on the Garmin Connect app? Thanks.
Not on the Edge 1000. It’s a one-way thing to the newer Edge 1030/130 Plus.
It’s also, notably, a one-time thing. Meaning, even if you add sensors or tweak data pages on your Edge 1000, they won’t sync to the Edge 1030 Plus unless you fully reset your Edge 1030 Plus from scratch.
Thanks Ray, that’s kinda annoying. So it’s a backup and restore the old way. I’m having issues with the Edge 1000 shutting down mid-ride, most annoying.
Had the same problem. There is a point concerning kind of auto-stop in one of the menus. Think you have to switch it off
Regards
Don’t think it’s anything to do with autopause/stop – it just shut down spontaneously mid-ride. I looked at the debug file, but I have no idea what any of it means.
Pretty detaiied report.
2 questions please:
1. Display looks like colours are washed out, pale and display a bit dark on some pics – like on my new Edge 1030 Plus when not in direct sunlight. Other pics with bright colourful screen – how did you reach the latter, especially indoor?
2. Cannot connect with BaseCamp BirdsEye for raster map download as BaseCamp not recognizes the Edge 1030 Plus (no problem with old Garmin Edge 1000). Important for me Do you know if Garmin will be able and willing to fix that?
Thanks
Wolfgang
I just take the photos either outside with natural light (preferably not sunlight actually – it’s too harsh for good photos, even if it makes the screen look brighter), or inside with studio lights. Double-check your backlight settings (it could be on auto, or manual, if it’s on manual, double-check it’s not at lowest setting).
Not sure on Basecamp, I haven’t played with that in a long while. :-/
Try looking for an update to BaseCamp. I’ve noticed a few times that when something new from Garmin comes out, it often takes a little while for their software to be told “yes, this is one of ours”. In the case of BirdsEye (I was surprised it still exists, but there it is in BaseCamp), since it’s subscription only, I’d guess that’s even more likely. And BaseCamp 4.8.4 for macOS is now telling me that 4.8.8 is available, so go get the new BaseCamp and try again.
Thanks. Displax is at manual, with100%.
I feel it is not so well to read in shadow or indoor.
@Paul: max I ask if you know or use other ways of uploading raster maps to an Edge 1030 Plus device than BirdsEye as you are surprised that it still exists?
Regards
I have no idea. It wouldn’t surprise me if it weren’t possible, either third party or BirdsEye itself. My comment about BirdsEye was because it used to be common for Garmin to mention it in ads, and I can’t remember having seen any mention of it in a long while. (I got a free trial with something I bought, maybe the Epix. Tried it out, didn’t like it.) It might be like the VIRBs, legacy support currently exists that’s going to disappear someday.
Yeah but Garmin states Edge 1030 Plus as compatible device on BirdsEye Select sales website.
When I searched at buy.garmin.com, they’re still selling subscriptions to BirdsEye, but not a single Edge turned up in the search, just handhelds (and I’m not sure if they’re the current handhelds since I don’t keep up with them). There’s no mention of BirdsEye on the 1030+ page at buy.garmin.com. If BirdsEye doesn’t work with the latest BaseCamp, then you might have to call Garmin support and find out what the story is.
According to Garmin buy website for Germany and Austria Edge 1030 Plus is a compatible Edge gear for BirdsEye
link to buy.garmin.com
Regards
What is the difference in the screens of the 830 vs the 1030 Plus? I initially got the 830, but decided to try out the 1030 Plus when it came out. It seems like the 830 has darker darks and lighter lights as compared to the 1030 Plus. I figured they would have the same technology screens?
I’ve verified that all display settings are identical between the two devices. I can see both displays so it’s not a HUGE deal, but I definitely like the crisper display of the 830.
I learned from the forum that 1030 and 1030 plus have the new, more responsive display which is darker with pale colours except in direct sunlights. I was shocked when I compared displays of my old Edge 1000 and Edge 1030 Plus. Dont know why it is not possible to integrate a display which combines the brightness and strong colours of eg the cheap Edge Explore, 830 or 1000 with the
responsiveness of 1030 Plus.
I fin dthe display bad especially in shadow (in the wood) but I have to mnetion that many users do not have this problem and are satisfied with it.
Replying late to this so anyone is aware of the fact that the 1030 Plus screeen is really really bad compared with the 830 in indoors or low light conditions (like riding during the night, you have to push it to 100% brightness and even then is not even close).
Like you I own both, and the difference is day and night (no pun intended).
To be honest I find this quite unaceptable, specially considering the price point, as it currently stands the only difference between the 830 and 1030 is the screen size, and the 830 has the better screen.
Just wondering if it has the same irratating features as the 520 does?
I have an an Edge 520, and for me there are some features which are (very) anoying, stiff buttons require a lot of bracing to operate, every ten minutes or so the screen gets replaced by a picture of meaningless clock, at a random interval the screen gets replaced by the word “good” in a very small font. At least these do go away, the low battery warning does not without pressing a button.
and there is the price of the 1030+? you could get a pretty decent laptop for that, although it maybe trickier to use on longer rides.
Rob.
The buttons on the Edge 1030 series have always been software than those on the original Edge 520.
I’ve never in my entire life seen my screen get replaced by a picture of a clock, on any interval. So, that sounds like you’ve got some odd Connect IQ app installed perhaps that’s doing that. I’d definitely double-check that. Or, maybe a time-alert enabled?
” at a random interval the screen gets replaced by the word “good” in a very small font”
Sounds like you might want to disable the feature “recovery advisor” if that annoys you. It displays “good” (or occasionally something else) about ten minutes after starting an activity.
and I forgot to add to my previous comment on the 520, that every time it is pluged or unplugged it switches itself on (now and again it will decided to switch itself off again, but not often). Crazy.
So just wondering if the 1030+ has this ‘feature’.
DC Rainmaker did you check if there is a limit for number of .kmz files (custom files) on Edge 1030 Plus. I faced the problem today that only 4 of 5 .kmz-files were shown on the device despite the fact thst I uploaded 5 .kmz-files into the custom maps-folder of the device properly.
Thank you in advance
ProfGruen
No, I didn’t look into that. Honestly, I haven’t used KMZ/KML files in probably 6-8 years now. Sorry!
Thank you. Do you use raster maps on your Edge? If yes, which one do you recommend?
Thanks
Awesome detailled report – thx!
one Question: I installed my 1030 plus today to use on my MTB. Used routing “mountainbikíng” – still get routes not using trails but regular road – any experience?
Hi I see in the workout one data field it seem to be “Step Avg Power”, but I can´t find it in any place. Where did you find it? or what´s the name of it in the Garmin data fields?
Thank you, great article.
It’s shown when you enable the workout page.
when you’re pairing this as a smart trainer with a tacx or wahoo or stages, is there any way to enable external control? i can’t seem to find one. miss if so, because this looks to be the best way to pair with a smart bike (you can see all metrics including speed and distance from the single pairing), but when you do so you lose the ability to use the bike with literally anything else (zwift, fulgaz etc)
No, there’s no direct ‘Turn off control’ that I know of.
I typically pair it as a power meter, rather than a trainer, for the reasons you noted – and then pair to Zwift. Though, depending on the exact trainer, that may or may not include all the speed streams (all of them include cadence though).
yeah that’s been my finding and that’s what’s so frustrating about the way they implemented it. i can pair as a power meter and i’ll see power and cadence and it works in zwift, but i lose speed and distance. if i pair as “indoor bike” i see everything, speed, cadence, distance, power, but i can’t use zwift. annoying
and btw what makes it worse is that with the recent update stages pushed to the dash units, you can pair the bike as an indoor trainer, see all of the metrics and then enable “external control” which lets you happily use the head unit with full metrics in tow in your favorite app. garmin is really behind the curve here
Look here:
link to dcrainmaker.com
Yeah, the challenge in that scenario is that in FE-C mode, the app knows/understands the parameters to define distance (via speed). Whereas in power meter mode, it doesn’t actually know that. It just knows the power, whereas the speed would be based on the terrain/etc…
Is there a walking / hiking mode on this? Saw some complaint on the Garmin forum re the 1030 but it was a while ago not sure if the new modes have been added…
No. Though, you can change the activity type afterwards. But the maps are cycling focused (though, you could load hiking maps instead).
Great review DCR – possibly my next computer. Any idea when Garmin will incorporate Approach Golf Computer functionality into Edge? That would be ideal!
Thanks!
Unfortunately, I doubt they will. While it would seem easy, ultimately it takes resources and Garmin would likely say that the cross-over there between customers is pretty small. 🙁
The live track is broken on the edge 1030 plus.
Auto start set and no email or strava beacon is sent.
Have to manually start from phone to get this to work. Also garmin email did not show my route even though one was being followed
Which is the best Garmin watch to pair with 1030 Plus? I do multiple sports (cycle indoor & outside, swim, scull, hike). I use TrainerRoad for indoor training. I would like Garmin Connect to gather data on all of my activities and analyze it, if possible. The Fenix 6 seems to have many features that duplicate those offered on 1030 Plus. Is that duplication unnecessary or a useful redundancy? My longest activities is around 60+ hr bike rides so I don’t think that I need to solar features.
Ray — As of today, REI has an Edge 1030 Bundle deal, priced at $525 while supplies last. It “includes extended out-front mount, standard mount, speed sensor, cadence sensor, premium heart rate monitor, tether and USB cable.” The 1030 Plus is, as you know, $75 more. I don’t need any of the other stuff as I already have all of it on my road bike, and use a Viiiia for HR. But I could use the bundle to outfit my (rarely ridden) MTB with updated sensors and the out front mount. This is a long way of asking whether, bundle aside, do you think the Plus is worth $75 more than the original model. Also, do you expect the Plus to get firmware upgrades for much longer than the original? Thanks!
Can you advise how to change region in my device?
Overseas maps are sitting in it as default. Of no use if you live in Europe and space eating.
I bought and returned a model 1030 as it would NOT work with gloves. Here in Portland, OR my model 800 works with all my gloves including lobster gloves and glove liners – even in our constant rain.
Will the 1030plus work with gloves???
Pretty fine with gloves. Also map zoom in out no problem
Got mine. Worth noting that coming from an 820 to this i was suprised at the screen! The touch screen is way better but the display is washed out. Colours are paler and theres no crispness. Its harder to see for me just looking at it so the brightness is higher and therefore the contrast! Thought it was a defect at first but its how it is. Upgraded due to screen size and thats been deducted points for contrast. Battery life even on high is great though so fair enough.
Yeah, it pretty shocked me in the beginning, coming from Edge 1000. However it is really not so bad outside, even in shadow. But it is not excellent, yes.
Responsiveness with gloves and speed of maps are awesome. So overall it is an improvement.
interesting, Garmin is releasing FW Beta for Edge1030 Plus after their Outage:
link to www8.garmin.com
Planned since long. Useful fixes which garmin users awaites.
Miss only extension of 100 to 250 tiles for .kmz in description.
We’ll see.
I somehow missed the part of the review where Asia maps were NOT AVAILABLE when purchased outside Asia and bought one from the US (I live in Thailand). I saw the feedback from Garmin about ‘royalties’, which is code for ‘Our Asia dealers uplift the price and make a killing’ which is pretty much true on all Garmin devices here. The 1030 plus in Thailand goes for 25,900 baht or a cool $809. I bought mine on amazon from the US with shipping and import duties cost $600. So yea, the Asia dealers want to protect their FAT margins. Fortunately, the OpenStreetMap download is supported, so I just downloaded Thailand, and i’m good to go. Really short sighted of Garmin to not support Asian Maps. I suppose the $200 extra margin helps cover the distributor’s translation costs and local support – but I don’t want Thai language support so why make me pay that premium. If a customer wants local support (the distributor will not honor the global warranty if you didn’t buy from them) and they want local language, they will pay the premium – just include the damn maps!
As it seems a number of you have used both the 1030 and the 1030 Plus, which would you buy if you could get the 1030 at $450?
Thanks!
1030 plus. Faster and display can be usednwith gloves
Absolutely agree! My 1030 Plus is working fine with gloves and after spending about an hour getting it synced to my iPhone, the other functions are working well too.
And the screen is large enough to read.
Thank you both. Sounds like the extra $150 is money well spent.
Do Strava Live Segments work on the 1030 Plus without the “Off Segment” problem. On my aging 1000, Live Segments are work about 75% of the time on short segments. The longer the segment, the more likely that an Off Segment will occur.
strava live segments don’t work for me while navigating a course.
Any know how to side load apps/widgets/data fields that are not officially compatible with the 1030 Plus? Is it as easy as just copying the relevant files from my old Edge 1000 to the same folder(s) on the Edge 1030 Plus. For example, ErgIQ is compatible with the 1000 but it doesn’t list the 1030 Plus as compatible. I’ve emailed the developer but no response yet. Thanks.
You’ll need the .PRG file from the app developer, and then you just plop it into the Apps folder.
However, I don’t think offhand you can move them from one unit to the next. But, I’ve not yet tried. In any case, if the developer sends you the .PRG file you’re in business. But it’s also just as easy for him to toggle the Edge 1030 Plus as compatible.
Thanks Ray. I looked at the files on the 1000 and couldn’t figure out which was which! In any event I contacted the ErgIQ developer and he said he would “look into it”. I followed up asking if he would send me the PRG file in the interim. At least the MyBikeRadar app is working!
Best guess on battery life given: Radar and Varia headlight paired, vector, speed sensor, HRM paired, Bluetooth on, livetrack running, notifications, battery save mode off, auto sleep off, GPS mode…..almost the worst case scenario on battery life. My edge 830 goes for about 6 hours given this.
Long shot, but can you disable the touchscreen and drive it like a 530? I want a nice big screen but I’ve sworn off Garmin touchscreens (and the 530 navigation is great)…
you can lock the touchscreen. while navigating or after having started a route, just tap power button.
Oh thank you for this review, it finally pushed me to purchase a 1030 plus (have a 1000 with a broken power button).
One question, how did you migrate the sensors and stuff? It’s a mystery 🙂
Henrik, when you use your phone to do the initial set up you should be prompted to transfer settings and sensors etc. In my case, CIQ apps and data fields didn’t transfer nor did a couple of data screen settings, but that was a easy fix. I also use a Varia Vision and, while it transferred as a sensor, the display settings didn’t, so I had to fix those manually, but again, not a big deal. On the whole it went pretty smoothly.
I have a new watch coming in to replace my aging Fenix and I wish there was something like this to transfer settings as well.
I’m less concerned on sensors, but data screens, active apps/widgets, their order etc.
they keep talking about the better processor – but which processor they actually use in this garmin? anyone knows specifics about the hardware?
FCC internal photos reveal an item with part number 1N54W next to the less obscure DRAM, flash and radio chips that suggests an NXP i.MX7. This is pretty much what you’d expect: an ARM CPU that has some basic graphics support but isn’t one of the multimedia powerhouses that the smartphone market is built on.
Vanilla 1030 FCC docs lack a picture with identifiable chip markings so it’s impossible to compare.
I had a Garmin 810 and then upgraded to the Garmin 1030 plus thinking it would take care of my live track problem, which is the Garmin disconnects , which then ends my live track. I went and upgraded my iphone to iphone 11 thinking that would help and i’m stilling having the disconnect problem. Is there a solution to this problem? I also noticed that my Garmin 810 has a faster time, then my Garmin 1030.
It’s typically a hard problem to troubleshoot, unfortunately.
I presume like most people you’ve got your phone in your back jersey pocket? One silly-sounding (but backed in science) thing to try is actually a different rear jersey pocket. For example I tend to carry mine in my back right pocket. But if for example you had three pockets, I’d avoid the center one, since then it’s more blocked your body.
But given you’ve removed the two core variables (phone and Garmin), it’s gonna be tough to know/fix.
I ditched Garmin 4 years ago and went with a Bolt – all ease of use. And I’ve been very happy with Wahoo until this summer when I started riding an event route in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where there is no cell service and GPS is essential. I’d “upgraded” to the Roam prior to riding the route. I have now ridden all the route distances for this event – the Roam failed 3 of four times. The route distances are 250, 110 and 53. The only route that the Roam could manage was the 53. It I had not had a charged phone with the route loaded to GaiaGPS I’d still be out there. The Roam just freezes. No warning. The first time I ended up far off route and hiked the bike through swamps and logging areas to get to road. Wahoo said they have a known bug and they are “working on it”. Riders using Garmins have had the best results on this “enhanced gravel” route. Last week when I did successfully complete the route I ran a bolt and a roam on my bar – plus my phone. Failures for all except the phone. Losing your data when you’re doing the biggest ride of your life really sucks. I am going to sell the Roam and move back to Garmin. I also purchased an inreach mini this summer to increase safety since I ride alone a lot. Don’t be fooled by Wahoo’s claims of what the Roam can do. If you ride in the wilderness – it’s not a good tool and they are not being transparent about the fact the unit freezes up.
I am wondering how the lack of cell service could freeze the ROAM. Maybe is the live tracking feature? Have you tried disabling bluetooth to disconnect the ROAM from your phone?
That has to be very frustrating. On a side note, my wife and I have spent quite a bit of time in the UP (Houghton) over the past few years dealing with some family matters. It’s different up there but beautiful in the summer (I’m sure it is in the winter too, but we were only there in the summers) and the people are extremely friendly and helpful. I’ve often thought what it would be like to ride up there. Oh, and great Cornish pasties! (as a Brit I am a bit of an expert!).
Quick comment about battery life. I did a 102 mile organised ride today – the Amish Country Bike Tour leaving from, and returning to, Dover, DE (with appropriate COVID precautions). 7:05 hours elapsed time, 6:19 moving time. My 1030 Plus (with latest firmware) was on the whole time and navigating the route: backlighting off; cadence and speed sensors, Varia radar and Varia vision, and wrist HRM all connected. At the end of the ride, the battery was down to 86%. Pretty impressive. On the same ride last year, I had an external battery plugged into my venerable Edge 1000 for the whole ride because the battery life had got so bad. By the way, I have a new back plate and battery on its way to me from China, so I can refurbish the 1000 to have on standby.
Great informative videos.
Where are the “Great informative videos”?
Hi Ray, thannks for this in depth review, I am tryiing to figure out what computer to get and leaning towards the 830, have you oticed any degredation in using these units when using the V2 speed sensor, my older 820 seems to drop battery life substantially when i swithed to a new V2 speed cadence sensor? Any commentary is appreciated.
Is the 1030Plus a pure and dedicated bike computer or does it also have basic capability for hiking? Thanks.
It’s designed as a bike computer. You could probably add third party apps for hiking but there are much cheaper options around such as the Garmin watches – the Vivoactive 3 or 4, or Venu for example. They have dedicated “walking” activities and a plethora of third party hiking apps are available if the built in app isn’t suffice for you. I used a Garmin watch on a hike in Morocco last October and it worked fine.
we use it for biking as well as hiking. You can upload Garmin Birds Eye maps as well as your individual custom maps. Both works fine. Tracks of course too.
Thanks for the tip Nigel.
Good to know Wolfgang, thanks!
i always turn to dcrainmaker for his perspective. one area of constructive feedback. Have to mention the inability to get live segments when navigating a course. even if that course is created in strava and segment starred, it just doesn’t work.. strava support page also admits this as well you do a long and great video segment reviewing the karoo2 on their live segment display while following a course, but no mention of live segments in this review.
i think not having live segments is a big deal.
link to support.strava.com
secondly if you do a course, you have a virtual partner on your maps page. you mention all the training tools, but don’t mention the virtual partner which garmin touts as a virtual training buddy, but from my experience and a very popular request on garmin forums reveal that many folks want to have the option to remove the virtual partner. they make the arrow representing the virtual partner larger and more prominent than the arrow that represents the actual rider. gets confusing when the two are close and the Vp approaches a turn first.
I’d recommend opening up a ticket with Garmin or Strava, as the Strava Live Segments while following a Strava Course definitely work for me – no issues there. So something else must be occurring or disabled?
As for why including it in the Karoo 2 video and not in other videos, it’s actually purely a practical thing. In the case of the Hammerhead units, I can actually screen record (recording as a video exactly what the screen is showing), whereas I can’t do that on a Garmin device (just screen-shots, which aren’t really good at showing things like I showed in that video). Adding to the complexity is that here in the Netherlands it’s illegal to hand-hold an electronic device while riding ones bike. So, I have to use mounts and such, and typically it just looks bad when I try and record the screen using a camera mounted above the bike computer.
I’d love for Garmin to change that though…
funny thing is that they’re sending me a replacement unit now because my map freezes after going in a tunnel and it says i’m in the same location for the remainder of the ride on multiple occasions. they looked at the data on the unit and the pics i sent of the frozen screen, so they’ve been responsive to that. happy with their support.
hopefully a hardware replacement addressing the other issue somehow fixes the live segment issue also, but strava faq also says on that support site dated 7/20/20
“ Can I use Live Segments on my Garmin while following a course?
At this time the segment feature will not overlay on top of the course screen.
so i’m doubtful. sometimes i can get it to work on the strava iq app which is no longer supported and glitchy, but most of the time it just doesn’t work.
thanks again for your response. the karoo2 looks pretty sweet and that screen record closeup was awesome.
I also have the 1030plus and Live Segments simply doesn’t not work as expected during a Strava created route. I have the latest FW as well.
There are times where it’ll show me txt of the segment name after I passed the section but completely useless as the Garmin Strava Segment screen never shows up. I’ve starred and unstarred routes and segments. COMPLETELY reset the device but no success.
When no routing/course is being used – Strava Live Segments work.
Also – Wahoo Roam for example does Strava Live Segments regardless. It works with Strava and GPSmyRide courses.
But I prefer the 1030plus HW and loads of features.
Garmin device is also way buggy and doesn’t connect to my phone consistently.
DCRM – You could just “walk the route” so you can legally video the segment. I wasted money on a feature that simply doesn’t work. Frustrating as well reading your review and I trusted it to be accurate.
Just out of curiosity – I presume the Strava routes are being sent to your Edge 1030 Plus via Auto-Sync*, and not via the Connect IQ app or some other manual process, right?
Again, I’d really encourage folks having this issue to open a case with Garmin. There’s clearly some variable that’s not working in your situation, but is for the vast majority of people (otherwise we’d honestly never hear the end of it, if it wasn’t working across the board).
*https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2020/03/strava-rolls-out-significant-new-routes-feature.html
Correct. The auto-sync feature is what I use. I did quick search and outside of your confirmation, I can’t find anyone that actually says it works.
So kinda the opposite. Nobody is reporting that Strava created routes using auto sync works with Live Segments. There’s even a post in the comments that says if doesn’t work as well. And also other forums on Garmin.
I’d be surprised if it works for you as you reported.
Try creating a route that has an existing starred segment included.
Star the route (usually automatically starred in Strava).
Make sure 1030plus is on and synced.
Go back to Strava and star a NEW segment that happens to be on the route.
Both scenarios fail to show live segment during a Strava route/course.
I’m posting here (beyond opening a ticket which i have with no response yet) is to also get a community response that this actually does work! I have yet to find one person outside of DCRM to post that Strava Live Segments works during a Strava created route. (Not using the IQ discontinued option).
Not looking for TS support but seeing if others can get this to work.
Who else has this working?!
As a follow up – I opened up a support chat and Garmin says it is NOT SUPPORTED.
But DCRM says it works and to your defense, there’s this that says for 1030 (not plus) that it does work.
Strava says it does not:
link to support.strava.com
Strava says it does for 1030:
link to support.strava.com
DCRM: you tested this on a 1030Plus?
Did Garmin respond that support is forthcoming for the 1030plus to have live segments like the 1030? The fact that the 1030 has it gives me hope that they’ll get it for the 1030plus as well.
So I actually went back into my folder of images for the Edge 1030 Plus, and found some phone pictures I took stopped by the side of the ride in the middle of a Strava Segment, showing it both mid-segment, and then the next picture in the course.
But, just for fun, I went out 10 minutes and shot this quick 90-second video showing it working on a Strava created course with a Strava Live Segment initiating about half-way through the video and updating as expected.
Note, this video is not the pinnacle of DCR cinematography. It’s a GoPro on a gooseneck mount on a cargo bike with all manner of hideous reflections, but, you can see what’s going on here pretty easily: link to dropbox.com
Steps:
1) Already had a starred segment in play
2) Created a new Strava Route, it was automatically set to Star.
3) Let Edge 1030 Plus Sync
4) Went out for ride, shot video.
Exact same as I’ve seen for all other devices since Auto Sync. Note that I wouldn’t overthink the Edge 1030 Plus not being on the lists above, those articles were published prior to the Edge 1030 Plus announcing.
That’s great. Thank you for doing that. I have done the same with the steps being slightly different. I had created a local strava route just to test live segments(short maybe 3-4 miles), hitting 4 close, non downhill segments, and route was automatically starred, segments starred. synced with 1030plus, and confirmed segments were in garmin connect and garmin device, route was also in the saved courses on the garmin. Went out for ride. Only the first segment worked, and the remaining 3 didn’t. Subsequent rides, I would get a bar at the bottom of the map which showed the name of segment, and then “segment ended” but no live segment. It’s very odd.
Anyways, your video has given me hope that it can/may work. I put out a question on garmin forums if anyone has gotten theirs to work while following a course, and not one person had responded affirmatively, but others responded it can’t be done. Perhaps, I have to be off the map screen, and just be on the data screen as your video shows. I’ll try that next.
Lastly, I like your urban arrow cargo bike. We almost got that one, but ended up getting the riese and muller load 75. Thanks again!!!
just subscribed for an annual membership and to support what you do. thanks again.
Thank you for the vid. I don’t get why mine doesn’t work. I’d ask you to run a bunch of different permutations but you proven it works. Like show the Nav page not data page while routing. And see if it kicks off properly.
Garmin support says not supported! But I don’t trust them.
Thank you for doing that! Much appreciated
Thanks for the support David, I appreciate it!
Matt – I gave another twist a whirl today on the way to pickup the kids, since it crossed the same route initially, this time leaving it on the map page, and it triggered exactly like in the video for the data pages.
Honestly, it’s so normal to me I don’t think about it. It’s just been doing it like that for months on the 530/830/1030 Plus that I primarily use.
If someone has a Garmin support case ID number where Garmin is saying otherwise, shoot me it via e-mail (ray at my domain), and I’ll follow-up with some folks and see if we can that ticket into the right engineering hands to start troubleshooting. Also, if someone has the Garmin Forums link, that’d be helpful too.
As long as we are on the topic of Live Segments, can anyone comment on the luck they have had with downloading leaderboard times. I can consistently get PR and KOM and usually have success with “RIVALS”. These are of little use since most of the times were set when riding in a paceline. What I really want is LAST and
(most of all) RECENT BEST. These are rare. It seems to matter as well as to what connection you are using to download. That is, USB/Garmin Express versus Bluetooth/Connect.
Ray – I will email you my case #. I am hoping they have access to my chat with the support tech.
Now after you proving it works. I spent a good 2-3hrs to figure out what was happening. Did a test run. And IT WORKS. But I figured out what and why things were happening.
I need to post the exact findings but here’s what I think is happening.
– Garmin/Strava embeds the starred segments in the Strava Route
– This is a STATIC data point
– In the Connect App – you must confirm in the courses section that these segment “flags” are visible. It’s represented as “Start” and “End”
– If there’s just an “End” without a corresponding “Start” Flag, it will behave strangely. This could explain the random behavior I saw when the segment name will appear during the end of the segment only.
– Not tested but overlapping segments may cause this or other issues
Now for why the inconsistency.
– When the Strava Route is auto synced, the SEGMENTS MUST be pre-selected. Any new segments will sync to Garmin’s “GENERAL” segment section but IT WILL NOT update the Strava route already synced previously with the newly starred segment. Hence the STATIC nature of the course/route.
– How do you address this? Any new starred segments added after the Strava Route/Course is created and synced MUST BE UNSTARRED and RESTARRED. But careful with timing. This forces a resync.
– This can be simply verified on the Connect App Courses section by looking for the new starred segment ON THAT SPECIFIC COURSE.
– NOTE: You must DELETE the old Strava Course from your GARMIN DEVICE each time an update is made on the course OR segment. This way when the device is SYNCed the new updates are now part of the new map.
I need to fully test this part but the static nature seems to coincide.
This is why the results are so sporadic and for me the timing and updates was off or conflicting with pre-existing courses that I thought the updates were dynamic on the routes on my device.
– Wahoo seems to treat segments as a separate service and does not require the segments flags embedded in the route.
– Garmin does the same as Wahoo ONLY for non-course riding.
This is the reason I think why GARMIN says it doesn’t support Strava Live Segments when on a course.
But after they figured that it could work if they embed the segment flags on the route itself.
My guess is why the conflicting info support VS unsupported.
Sorry long post but here’s the steps:
– Create Strava Route/Course
– Pre-select any segments (star them)
– THEN star/auto sync the Strava Route
– Make sure your device doesn’t have an existing/older version of the route.
– If so DELETE the route before device sync with Connect
– Verify segment start/end flags are present on the course in the Connect app
– Sync to device
Now if the segment flags are missing, either it’s overlapping issue (untested) or it has a negative gradient greater than -.25 which Strava won’t sync anymore.
I hope this helps others with the kludgy implementation of live segment via a Strava Course.
Going to share my steps on Garmin support site or Strava so others can save the headache
Also having problems getting getting all leaderboard data (last, PR, etc.) on my 1030+, as are others on the Garmin Forums.
Ray, do you think the new re-routing and pause navigation options will come to the original 1030 or will these features just be for the 1030 Plus? Those seem like great new features.
Do any of the Edge units allow you to customize the Live Segment screen? I don’t see it on my 520. I want the ability to see power while also seeing ahead/behind on the same screen. Currently you have to switch screens to see your power and then you lose the ahead/behind value. Does a Bolt allow for this?
Thanks.
RICK
I don’t use the Live Segment screen on either my Edge 1000 or 1030plus. I don’t know what is available on the 520, but on my units, I can set a data field on a regular screen to TIME AHEAD to see how far ahead/behind I am. I also set a data field to DIST TO DEST in order to see how much distance I have left in the segment. You can, of course, use other fields on the same screen for power, etc.
Yes, on my edge 1030plus, you can choose to add 2 data fields. One of course can be power. Currently I use the default, distance to go and time to go, but yes you can swap it to power.
Yes, on my edge 1030plus, you can choose to add 2 data fields. One of course can be power. Currently I use the default, distance to go and time to go, but yes you can swap it to power.
DAVID
Do you find the graphic on the Live Segment screen to be of any use? I turned off the pop-up Live Segment screen and just swipe to a regular screen with my Live Segment data fields. I tried to get rid of the graphic but was unable to do so.
Hi Ray,
thanks for the analysis!
I have a problem, I have the Edge 830 and 1030 Plus, the 2 new ones, the 830 screen looks clear, the white background light and the colors of the maps are sharp, but on the 1030 Plus the background looks bluish and the colors off (not the problem with the blue halo of the 1030). Is the 1030 Plus really like that? I don’t like it, I see it as a problem.
I attach a photo
Thank you!!
Yes, this is one of the very few disadvantages of the Edge 1030 Plus. Also look on the Garmin Forum- you will find tons of posts according to this deficiency there.
Advantage on the other hand of this new display is the much better battery endurance + the possibility to use it with gloves perfectly.
I also had my problems in the beginning, however in sunlight it is fine and even in shadow/woods one can read the display well enough.
Very helpful, you are my go to reviewer for cycling things all all things Garmin. Thank you.
Will the “New daily on-device workout suggestions based on training load” be available on the 1030 as well?
Just to clarify; is it so that the old non-plus Edge 1030 does not have the Sony GPS chip? I’m a bit unhappy with my FR945 taking its time to find satellites, the speedometer display is a bit sluggish as well. I didn’t have these issues with my previous FR935 (No Sony on that one). Unfortunately that unit is on the bottom of a lake these days..
@dcrainmaker do you forsee any sale in the Edge 1030 Plus this coming black Friday weekend?
I’d doubt we’ll see the Plus, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Edge 1030 on sale again.
I can get the old 1030 which I found for 449 or the 1030 Plus for 570?
Or as this is the first computer I get for the bike, start with something else? I do like Garmin though.
Can I replace my broken 1030 plus screen with 1030 replacement screen?
Great as ever! I’d be lost without DC… I can say that all of my Garmin smartwatches have been purhcased ONLY after an accurate check through your pages!!!!
I am thinking buy a cycling computer. What do you recommend? Garmin edge 1030, Garmin edge 1030 plu or gain edge 830? I’m a bit confused, but I think that the Garmin edge 1030 plus is very expensive. Thanks
I am thinking buy a cycling computer. What do you recommend? Garmin edge 1030, Garmin edge 1030 plus or garmin edge 830? I’m a bit confused, but I think that the Garmin edge 1030 plus is very expensive. Thanks
The 1030 Plus works with long fingered gloves. That’s critical to me.
The 1030 does not. Don’t know about the 830.
My 830 works fine with my Pearl Izumi full fingered gloves.
Ray, I have Garmin 1030 plus, Fenix 6X Sapphire, HRM-PRO, and SPEED/CADENCE 2. Of cousre the 1030 is going to have the best navigation integrations and display. But between the 10230 and the Fenix, which do you think does the best job with the data accuracy capure including the data capured by the HRM-PRO and the SPEED/CADENCE 2. Personally I am a numbers cruncher and I love reviewing the data so I was wondering which one I should use to record health metrics?
Joseph – both.
I previously posted, asking whether the 1030plus could also be used for hiking. I like to do several sports recreationally, and found it a big ask to pay 600 bucks (euros in my case) for a cycle-only device. I have a Fenix watch but in my experience the map/navigation function is not of practical use on such a small device. So I took the plunge with the 1030plus, and so far I am very happy how it can support hiking/running.
Here are a few things I did:
– There is no “hiking/walking/running” profile, so I created a new one and adjusted the parameters to fit better with hiking (e.g. lap, auto pause etc). The activity type is still “cycling”, but after transfer to Connect it is simple to update this to “hiking” (or whatever).
– I was disappointed to find that a large part of the huge 32GB storage was filled up with regional cycle maps, many of which I would never use. After some digging around to check which map files were which (for me I did not need NA region maps), I deleted them.
– Having created loads of space I loaded up some really nice hiking topo maps based on OSM (in my case I used the really good and detailed Frikart maps leaving a small donation). Unfortunately I ran into problems after loading lots of maps (it seems that there is a limit on the device… in my case 16). To get round this I merged the country maps using gmaptool.
In use, the device works really well. With this set up I cannot imagine much more I would want from a hiking device. A pity that Garmin doesn’t make this possible as standard. Oh, and it works quite well when I go mountain biking too 🙂
Sure why not. Just change the activity when it uploads to a hike
Thanks Steve for sharing your experience. Agree that a watch like the Fenix, while ok for navigating via its map in a pinch, is not optimal for intensive map navigating due to screen size limitations and the lack of a touchscreen.
Just out of curiosity, how are you and others holding or carrying the device while hiking?
Wondering if people have it attached to their belts, somewhere else, etc.
Hi smileman, I had the same thought, but have started out simply with the device in my coat pocket, taking it out to check the route at path junctions etc. The GPS signal appears to be fine.
I have found the Edge 1030 Plus US Cycle Map to be terrible. Much worse than the RideWithGPS OSM Cycle Map. It does not show dirt roads with double dashed lines and shows roads that are blocked off and/or not rideable by a road bike. Garmin’s support staff are terrible and can not even explain the difference between the six types of preloaded maps or agree as to whether I can load City Navigator on the 1030 Plus.
Just a note – in comparison tool, it’s stated, that this unit has GPS based compass but you have the option to calibrate the compass in the menu and also – rotating the device rotates the map (if the compass is properly calibrated). So I guess that though Garmin page doesn’t list compass, they are indeed equipped with one.
The other thing is the touchscreen performance in the rain. Compared to Garmin Oregon 700 that I used previously, the device is indeed usable during the rain, i.e. you can lock the screen and observe navigation instructions, what was not possible with Oregon (you’ve got only whole screen message that the screen is locked and you need to unlock it when you want to use it). But my experience with using the screen during the rain is, that is working quite well when you have dry hands. But if I have wet hands (which is usual after 1+ hour of riding in rain) it either stops from recognizing my touch, or starts doing some random stuff.
To sum up, it’s a great progress in touchscreen technology, but compared to devices with buttons, I’d say that it’s barely usable in the rain.
Hey Ray,
Do you happen to know why the 1030+ is not compatible with the RideWithGPS IQ app??
Garmin kindly replaced my 1030 with a 1030+, which I assumed was a win win for me, only to find I can’t browse my RwGPS routes anymore!! 🙁
Is this just a case of ticking a box again?
I have resorted to the work around of pinned RwG routes being added to my Garmin courses but that’s sub-optimal.
Thanks.
David.
David I had to pay partly for my 1030+ replacement; my 1030 (non plus) was out of warranty. Can you describe your situation how you got your plus and if you had to pay out of pocket at all?
I got lucky (apart from the fact that I lost some functions I liked)
I sent mine back in late Nov so they could give me a refurbished replacement due to the blue halo fault.
Then they said the replacements were delayed until Feb and offered me a 1030+! I was sure they’d want money but no – so Kudos to Garmin! (a rare thing)
Now I hope someone can answer my question and explain why Ride w GPS is not compatible with it. 😉
The 1030 isn’t “compatible with RWGPS” either, in the sense that Garmin had a feature they didn’t port to the plus. But there is a cIQ app from RWGPS that you apparently had installed and that RWGPS apparently hasn’t compiled as “compatible with the 1030 plus” yet.
Connect IQ simply isn’t made to provide implicit best effort runtime compatibility features (those come with a heavy rat’s tail of issues, it’s just so much simpler this way). The responsibility for filling the “yes, this is expected to work with the 1030plus” checkbox rests on the shoulders of RWGPS, even if the outcome is most likely the exact same file just with a different device model ID. Just ask RWGPS nicely to declare plus compatibility and reupload, it’s probably just a few minutes of work.
Fantastic review. Thank you!
The Edge 1030 works amazingly well. Have recently purchased the power bank and that is a bit of a problem. Can’t seem to find the right holder for it. The standard Garmin holder does not fit my TT bike or my Road bike.
Are there any other holders out there besides the Garmin ones that can hold both the computer and battery pack?
TT bike = trek speed concept 2019 & shiv specialized 2020
Road bike = canyon 2019 stealth CSR
Rec-mounts (the bike electronics holder specialist from Japan) has the 400-GMUT adapter that can be used to add Garmin power bank capability to a number of their mounts. Not all rec-mounts holders gain Charge compatibility from the 400-GMUT (many lack the matching opening, on those the 400 is only good for attaching lights like the UT-800) but the wide range of specialist kit offered by rec-mounts is likely your best bet to get the Garmin Charge working between aerobars.
Hi DC,
Don’t suppose anyone has had issues with the route that’s loaded, it just disappears. Today I had to reload the same route 3 times on the 1030 plus, on a 100k route.
It disappeared 70k in, reloaded, then disappeared another 10k down the road. For absolutely no reason whatsoever?
Typical Garmin. Makes me want to go back to wahoo?
Did a 10 hour ride the other day and mid way through the 1030 crashed. Pleasingly it rebooted itself and carried on where it left off which I was happy with.
However, upon finishing the ride, I found that none of the load metrics got calculated into Connect which now means Garmin thinks I did no ride and now going backwards in fitness and stuffs up all my fitness data now and for the future. The annoying thing is all the data is there, I just cant get Garmin to calculate it again.
Brendan
Have you checked if your software is up to date?
Cheers
Jamie
Hi Jamie,
Yes I’m running 4.00
Brendan
Brendan
So it is not a system software clutch then, another question on your 1030 plus device is everything present and correct in the ride summary for your 10 hour ride?
Cheers
Jamie
Brendan
If the full ride summary is on your Garmin 1030 plus then here is a manual way to upload it to Garmin Connect
Manually uploading activities to Garmin Connect
1. Connect device to computer using USB cable if that is where the file is saved.
2. Sign in to Garmin Connect.
3. Select in top right corner of page.
4. Select Import Data.
5. Select Browse.
6. Locate and select and select your 10 hour ride file
7. Select Import Data.
Cheers
Jamie
Hi Jamie,
Yes most of the data appears correct except for the below:
-Calories burnt is only showing 944 which is obviously wrong.
-Respiration Rate graph stops at the same time that my Garmin crashed (around 1hr50m in) and never records again.
-Aerobic and Anaerobic TE are blank
-Exercise Load is 90 which is also wrong
Cheers,
Brendan
Hi Jamie,
The ride is present on Garmin Connect, but its just the training load metrics which I believe is calculated on the Garmin Edge unit itself which is missing. This data is also missing on the Edge unit itself when I view the summary of the ride.
Cheers,
Brendan
Cheers Brendan
I guess the loss of power then restart thing on your Garmin device has had affected the recording and calculation of metrics. It is a real disappointment when you have completed a 10 hour ride and expended a lot of effort doing so.
Well done on your ride and fingers crossed your Garmin records all the information on your future rides.
Good luck
Jamie
It’s possible that some of the data was corrupted by the crash. Might be an idea to run to through one of the Fit File Tools at https://www.fitfiletools.com to see if they can fix it, or through Matthias Krall’s FitFileRepair tool: link to fitfilerepairtool.info The latter has fixed a few files for me since I have been using it.
Hi, I seem not to be able to find a function on my 1030+ that I miss dearly:
How to change the navigation while continuing my workout, which is so easy to do on the wahoo.
Thanks Wolf
It’s possible to push a new navigation without ending the activity via connectIQ from a smartphone with the gimporter/gexporter app pair or something similar (e.g. Locusmaps should do that as well). If you are on iOS it’s a bit tough because nobody has bothered yet charming/swaying/bribing Apple to have gexporter on the Apple store (the code exists) and on the 1030+ you might have to manually disable Wifi before the connection between cIQ and the smartphone app becomes functional. But it’s possible. The Garmin software will occasionally hiccup upon being force-fed a new navigation during the activity, but then it just reboots and a few seconds later you are again in the old activity (yes, Garmin maintains activity during reboot!), with the new nav. I use it all the time, on both 1030+ and before that on the 1000.
I’ve been using the 1030 Plus for two days now and I’m not really getting used to it.
I got lost twice because the routing wasn’t clear, and today I ended up on a nasty forest road with a mud pack, even though I had ruled out everything possible and really only wanted to be on “normal” roads, here in the north of Spain, Asturias.
In addition, Pro Climb covered up a turn-off the day before yesterday, so I continued happily and only after the climb did I get the message “Exit route, recalculate”.
A a few times still the nasty “turn back” without any other option.
And then the millions of nested menu items.
Just bagged it up and back to the dealer tomorrow, it’s not worth the 520 euros to me (personally!), I’ve had almost the same problems with the WAHOO ROAM for less money.
Hey! I had a question regarding the normal edge 1030 and I hope anyone with that model can help me out. I know the new plus version gives you multiple rerouting options, but I was wondering what the default option of the ‘normal’ edge 1030 is. I know that people complained in the past that the rerouting option only gave you instructions to get to the exact point from where you deviated from the course and even if you re-joined the course a little down the road it first directed you to go back to the point where you left of before it continued to guide you trough the rest of the course. Is this still the case? I could not find anywhere if there was an update that fixed this. If it still is the case I will opt for the plus model. Thanks in advance!
I would not use the reroute option on either Edge 1030 without reviewing the route and knowing the condition of the roads. Both versions use OSM maps that are inaccurate, including roads that are dirt (some could be 6 inch deep mud now) and roads that are not passable. With OSM maps you generally can not distinguish a paved road from a dirt road from a mountain bike track.
Bring back Garmin City Navigator with accurate maps to the new Edges.
So I connect my Edge 1030 Plus to Garmin Express. I am always getting a message about ‘Map Updates’. I push the buttons. I select either or both American and European maps. Unfortunately, my device never updates. The circular arrow goes round and round for a bit. Then. Nothing. Is the ‘Trail Forks’ app my problem? Am I being punished for not owning a smart phone? Comments? Suggestions?
I have the exact same issue and I have the iPhone app so it’s not because of the app..
I told Garmin about my problem months ago. They asked me to send them certain elements from my software package. They never got back. (My Garmin Express is up to date).
Garmin support is dismal, many of their staff do not know the product. Keep calling and speaking to different people until they find a resolution. The company has grown to big with too many products and does not care about the features people need, like navigation.
Hey Ray,
Thanks for the outstanding review! I still have a few questions.
Can the Garmin Edge 1030 plus control a Wahoo Kicker? I would like to know if the Garmin will automatically adjust the resistance of kicker when I cycle the daily suggested workout (based on training load)? Can the Garmin Edge 830 also do this with the latest update? Does the Edge 830 have the same ‘back to route’ functions as the 1030 plus?
In short, is there a software difference between the 830 and the 1030 plus, except for the maps? I doubt between both devices but I’m not willing to pay the extra money if it is only for the bigger screen and the longer battery life.
Thanks for your help.
Wondering as to the Garmin Edge 1030 Plus how your experience has been with LiveTrack since you originally reviewed, as you indicated it remained glitchy like earlier versions and you were going to come back to it. My GF complains about that for my earlier 1030 and before that my 1000 (which I replaced in hopes that the 1030 would fix it). Would appreciate your update as I consider potentially upgrading again to get consistency on that.
I’ve generally had pretty good livetrack success on recent Garmin devices over the last 6 months or so. All of my rides usually trigger at least one or two livetrack sessions depending on how many Garmin devices I’m using that ride (often to record power meter or other data).
And I don’t remember any recently dying mid-ride, which is a substantial improvement over years past.
Please provide me your input and recommendation on whether I should purchase and use a Garmin Edge 1030 or Garmin eTrex 32x for bikepacking long routes/tracks of up to 4,000kms. For example this summer I have created a route in RideWithGPS that is 3,883 kms. I have an older Edge 800 and eTrex 20 that I want to replace. I know the eTrex units in their spec are limited to 10,000 points per “track”. For a particular segment of my route 10,000 points is about 400km. I know that track points per km depends on the route curvature complexity. The Edge units are in their spec limited to 200 points per “course”. I was able to load onto my Edge 800 a track segment of 23,724 points and 850km. Garmin support told me that the Edge is limited to 200 points per “course” or “track” and that the unit reduces the points to 200. This means that the 850km track accuracy was reduced from 23,724 points to 200 points or 99%! A quick visual inspection of the route in the Edge doesn’t show that the route is inaccurate approximated by 200 points/straight lines. So should I buy Garmin Edge 1030 or Garmin eTrex 32x for bikepacking long routes/tracks of up to 4,000kms, that will minimize the number of sub tracks that will have to be created to fit the units limits?
Had a Edge 820 for about 5 years. Has done its job, but touchscreen has always been poor (while riding with gloves I only use Shimano Di2 buttons to scroll between pages), and it has started to be a bit unreliable, with the unit occasionally freezing and being too slow to react (causing me to miss turns). Often works fine for several consecutive rides, then lets me down when I really need it! Battery life is also poor (I have to use it in power saving screen-off mode, and it still isn’t great).
I think I would appreciate the larger screen, quicker processor and better battery life that the 1030 plus offers. Simple question, do I go for the 1030 plus, or will Garmin release a newer version in spring or early summer (1040?)? Happy to continue to wait a few months for the latest version. Thanks in advance.
Rab: Thanks for your reply to my post. For your Edge 820 what has been the longest track gpx file that you have loaded and have you found that track accurate to follow when loaded? That is my main question/concern. Battery life isn’t my main concern as I have dynamo hub, usb converter and battery cache. Garmin also makes a cache battery that fits underneath the unit.
Greg, my post was not a reply to your post. It was a general enquiry for the community, or whoever might be reading this page :-).
Greg, my post was not a reply to your post. It was a general enquiry for the community, or whoever might be reading this page :-).
One thing the 1030 plus adds not in the 1030 is respiration rate. A hrv based metric that came from first beat. No reason the 1030 couldn’t do it since they don’t have to pay extra for it
Hi Ray,
do you think some of the 4.18 beta update features (for example “directional arrows”) will be added to the edge 830, too?
Ok, directional arrows were added via beta fw update to 530/830 now.
My 1030 Plus is constantly 20-25 seconds lag. I have only noticed this in the last month or so, as I am doing lots of relatively short hill reps. Not only does this highlight the problem but it makes my device useless for this activity. Have tried all sorts to fix it but various forums are talking about this being a chip problem. Any thoughts to how I can resolve this?
Ray,
Do you know what the deal is when booting up the Edge 1030 plus, I get the message “Cannot load maps” tried looking at the Garmin discussion board but did not really work for me. I don’t know of any other errors with functionality just the annoying message.
TIA
Hi Joseph, sorry for the delay!
Are these manually loaded maps by chance (as opposed to pre-loaded ones)? Typically if I see that message with manually loaded maps, it’s because I screwed something up on the file copy.
But for regular pre-loaded maps, that might indicate some sort of weird out of region activate lock type thing. still, super odd.
Np on delay. These are maps added via Garmin express – Manage Maps. I added Korea and other Asian countries as part of my want to do bike trip list. I read somewhere it might be related with trailforks or Komoot account authentication not being able to load maps. I login in with both accounts and retried to no avail. Also I personal maps with both accounts and I have not tried to upload them either.
Hey All,
Anyone is getting higher temperature readings with your 1030 Plus, compared to other devides?
I’ve riding with friends and the 1030 Plus units have higher (+2 degress) than the others like 1030, 820 or Wahoo.
Thanks!
My past experience has taught me the location of the computer can effect temperature. For instance if the airflow around the computer is limited/block or if the bike computer has a protective case around the body or protective screen. Personally I have not had issues with temp on 1030+, but I ride solo most of the time.
@Joseph,
I’m very careful about the position with the device. However, I kept the same position and mount as 1030, I didn’t change, and found this temperature differences.
Let’s see if Garmin will release a correction.
As always, thank you for the thorough reviews!
I absolutely love your review. They are the most comprehensive reviews I have ever read. Please keep them going!!
I purchased a Garmin 1030 Plus. I am having issues with the Turn by Turn Guidance. It’s not working. I had a Garmin 1030 and when I loaded a course from Ride with GPS it would give me the Turn by Turn. Now, with the Garmin 1030 Plus, I dont have it. I compared all the settings from the 1030 to the 1030 Plus and it still doesnt work. I called Garmin Support and they couldnt not help me.
I was riding the other day around town and the map did not give me the upcoming roads. It just told me the road that I was riding on. I’m pretty disappointed in the 1030 Plus. I reset the settings to when I purchased it. Any assistance you could provide would be absolutely wonderful.
Hi Kimberly,
I missed the same feature, but solved exporting the .fit and saving into NewFiles folder.
The RidewithGPS app isn’t compatible with the Plus yet.
Best,
Vinicius
Thank you so much. I really appreciate the feedback.
Hi all,
Is it possible to let the 1030 plus scan only for ANT+ sensors (and not BLE)?
Some of my sensors are dual band equipped and therefore appear twice
Mark
If you are getting a sensor registering twice then delete the connection you do not want. The 1030 plus is set to connect to Ant plus and Bluetooth. I had the same problem with my Garmin Heart sensor and deleted the Bluetooth connection from the sensor list so it now connects by Ant plus as that is now the only option on the sensor list.
Cheers
Jamie
Thanks for the quick reply Jamie,
I’ll look into that, sounds like a good solution.
Kind regards
Mark
I don’t know if it just the 1030 Plus, but I got an update yesterday that has given me more map options & a loaded course now has direction arrows to show you which direction you are supposed to be following the route. They seem to be intelligently done so, if you have an out & back section they only show the way you are supposed to be going. The course line seemed wider & clearer too but it had defaulted to the “high contrast” map & I didn’t fiddle with the settings til after the ride.
The latest update with routing arrows does help a lot, particularly on routes using the same road in opposite directions. It also helps distinguish the route from major roads which are the same red color. I have read that some people show their route in magenta which clearly distinguishes it from major routes. But my 1030 has always, and still, shows the route and major roads in the same red color. The only magenta I see is when I reroute. Wish Garmin would show the planned route in magenta. But then it would also be even better if they enabled the use of City Navigator maps which distinquish dirt roads and don’t show abandoned roads that are not rideable.
When using route guidance in UK roundabout directions so bad they fringe on being dangerous. Why dosn’t
Garmin use exit numbers like all other route maps Iv’e used? A roundabout is not an obstacle.
I could not find your follow up on Garmin 1030 Plus units bought in Asia (specifically Thailand). I am assuming that I would get maps for Thailand and Asia – but would I be able to download maps for USA or Europe. I would like to think that I would be able to use my Garmin unit there after downloading the map set for Europe or the USA, once the skies re-open after this COVID situation has finally reached its conclusion.
I have the Edge 530 now – was thinking about upgrading to a touchscreen model. I have opportunity to buy a 1030(not plus) at around the price of a new 830.
Would you do it? Or buy the new 830?
Yes of couse.
Thanks for the great review.
Question: how can one join an uploaded route mid-way (ie do the entire route/loop, but not from the starting point as defined in the route).
For example: some routes pass nearby where I live, but the defined starting point of the route is 15 KM away.
I tried by replying no to the question posed at starting the ride (smth like ‘bring me to starting point’), but it still guided me to the starting point…
For me this just works? Answer “no” for routing to the beginning, and a bit after joining the route, it will realise that you don’t want to do the whole route. Not immediately, but in a few minutes.
I also use this when I change my mind mid-ride and start another route, for example.
Thx for the feedback. I was referring to edge 1030 plus, your experience is referring also to this device?
If you succeed in this with edge 1030+, what happens at the defined end of the route? Device assumes you end it? Or can you ride on, until the point you entered the route , and the device considers your entry point as alternate start/end? (As I would then like to just do the complete loop/route)
The device assumes the ride is over. All you need to do is select the same route and now it will start where you are – the beginning.
Your time and distance should not reset.
Yes, was referring to edge 1030 plus. It behaves for me the same way as Merlin said.
Any experience or comments on comparing the 1030 plus to an Etrex 32x for long distance bike packing trips? Battery life on both seem good, and route track capacity both seems good. Biggest difference is battery type and extra features on 1030 for day to day cycling. Thanks in advance for any extra observations!
For those in the UK, Garmin are having a ‘birthday sale’ on these and selling the base unit for £380. I’ve not seen it as cheap as that here before:
link to buy.garmin.com
any news when Garmin is going to fix the issue with its very, very slow gradient display? A short climb is completely frustrating when the gradient slowly increases and keeps increasing when I am half down the other side. Is this a firmware fix or a hardware issue?
The Bontrager Garmin Edge 1030 GPS Cycling Computer is on sale for $399. Is it worth it to buy this one? I want to be able to use Trailforks on it for mountain biking. Is that easily possible?
Thanks in advance!
Brent