Garmin are launching a new GPS bike computer in the shape of the Edge Touring. It looks like it shares the shell of the new Edge 810.
Interestingly, we’ve had no communication from Garmin about this new model, which is very strange. Usually, we know about their launches well in advance. This time, we just happened to spot the new computer on Wiggle before the weekend, then it disappeared, and now it’s back again. Curiouser and curiouser!
So, all we know about the Garmin Edge Touring is what’s on the Wiggle site. It’s so short that we might as well give it to you in full, so here you go…
“Edge Touring works like the GPS navigator in your car, featured with maps and POIs (points of interest) to help you find your way by bike. • On-road or off-road navigation with preloaded Garmin Cycle Map• Input a distance and choose from up to three round-trip ride options
• Plan and download new routes to follow
• Relive and share your rides with Garmin Connect or Garmin Adventures
• Points of Interest (POIs) specifically for cyclists
• Rugged and waterproof design
• Includes quarter-turn bike mount”
That's yer lot. There’s no mention there of the features you get with the Edge 810 if you connect it to your smartphone via Bluetooth, such as live ride tracking. There’s no mention of the real-time weather information that you can get with the 810 either, which is a shame – that could be really valuable while touring.
We’d also be interested in knowing about the runtime too. Garmin claim up to 17hrs with the 810 (although it’s considerably less with the Bluetooth functions enabled).
The chance to get three suggested round-trip options for any given ride distance sounds like an interesting feature, and one that features on Mio computers. The points of interest for cyclists could be good too, although we've yet to see it in action so we'll reserve judgement on that.
There’s no price given and no details on availability yet – although the fact that it’s listed on Wiggle suggests the release is imminent. Of course, we’ve contacted Garmin asking for more info. As soon as we get any, we’ll update you.
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20 thoughts on “Garmin to launch Edge Touring GPS computer”
Its gone again….
Its gone again…. 👿
Touring is the new sportives
Touring is the new sportives 😉
If it’s not powered by AA’s,
If it’s not powered by AA’s, it’ll be an epic fail.
I would much prefer AAA’s as
I would much prefer AAA’s as that’s what most of my touring lights run on. But yeah, it needs to be battery powered rather than just rechargeable to be truly touring.
Unless it comes with its own solar panel charger…
I understand you can run the
I understand you can run the Garmin computers on 5V external power through the socket in the back. Don’t quote me on it, but I remember reading somewhere that the socket is internally waterproof but may be subject to corrosion of made to carry a voltage when wet. Best check manual/garmin/dealer before trying it. Garmin sell an external battery pack so I’d hope they designed it to work in the rain.
My thoughts, if I ever need to do it, drop my 12V supply down to 5 with the internals of one of those cheap car USB adapters and run off that. I have an old Lumicycle set at 13.2V which is in range for those. The now old 4Ah NiMH battery is quite light. Modern ones are even lighter.
I remember when I was young (late 80s) meeting someone who’d built a battery charger that took power from the dynamo, so they were maintaining charge all the time they were cycling. This was to run their lights. I imagine it would be easy enough, and with a dynamo hub it would not cause noticeable drag.
The radio work I do means I also have bigger batteries I could tour with (12V 20Ah AGM) and solar, but this is adding weight.
AA’s for me too … AAA’s
AA’s for me too … AAA’s suck, expensive and low capacity. 👿
Yay this is the kind of GPS
Yay this is the kind of GPS computer I have been waiting for by Garmin (an out and out GPS). Recently with my EDGE 705 going bust I was looking to get the 800 but this looks more my type of thing for Riding on my own and Audax/Reliability rides where I’m useless at Navigation. Yes I know the 800 has these HR/Cadence fuctions, but I hardly ever use these as I’m not a racer/hardcore performance cyclist. I also don’t own/need a smartphone, so this looks great. I hope as with the others it is Strava compatible though. Now lets wait for price info 😀
Pah.
I sense that this will
Pah.
I sense that this will be more expensive and inferior to the Etrex30, except for it being more “aero”.
CyclingDan, have a look at the Etrex30, or the 20 if hrm is of no interest.
I use an eTrex30, and I agree
I use an eTrex30, and I agree that using AA’s is a big plus. I always chuck a spare pair in my bag (plus I use USBCell ones, so can always recharge them easily enough). It’d be had to see what this will offer that an eTrex doesn’t.
Okay, they’re not Strava compatible. But I simply export the track and import manually to Strava.
The battery obsession in the
The battery obsession in the comments is funny. Welcome to the 21st century.
mike_ibcyclist wrote:The
If its going to be for TOURING. It needs to be able to run from every day battery’s.
You cannot just rock up somewhere, pitch your tent and plug into electric to charge things….
mike_ibcyclist wrote:The
Why is it funny for people to want their devices to be useable and not just dead weight after a day or two?
It will use rechargeables or
It will use rechargeables or a custom NIMH pack.
Batteries: for those of us
Batteries: for those of us that either tour or ride Audax rides, battery life is a real concern, as is the terrible way Garmins bike computers deal with power.
I own an 800, and bought the 810 largely because of the better battery life, but it isn’t that much better. In addition, problems with the damn thing detract to the point that I regret the purchase.
-when you plug the 810 into a power source, it goes to almost full backlight, the same when it loses power!! Although, the 800 does the same thing. This is extremely irritating.
-It seems that the 810 cuts its own power if it thinks it has 100% battery. That would be fine if it was right, but it seems to think it has gotten to 100% on and off while charging via my dynamo. This means it goes back and forth on whether it is on power, and I have to reset the backlight level every time, otherwise I will be drawing more power than the dynamo provides!!
I don’t understand why Garmin can’t figure it out: if you have chosen a backlight level, that should be the backlight level the device always has until you tell it to have another backlight level. And strangely, the devices remember their “always on”, or “switch backlight off after 30 seconds” settings, just not the light level.
-the 800 introduced a really nice feature where it would notice movement and warn you that you were moving if you had stopped the timer. The 810 is not consistent with this. I had hoped Garmin would take it a step further with a feature that said “you have been moving for 27 (or whatever) seconds, should that movement be a part of your track?”
-when you stop a track (with the intention of starting it again) and put the device in your pocket (for example when you are touring, and go into a shop, or at an audax control), the devices screen shows two (easily pressable) buttons: reset the track, or discard it! Why on earth would you want to do either of those things!!
-And of course the intermittent loss of ANT+ connectivity with the damn thing (never seen on my 800) is also irritating.
What is even worse is seeing that Garmin keeps coming out with new devices, and seems to expend little to no effort at fixing the software in their old devices.
@durrin – I recently rode
@durrin – I recently rode with someone who was having similar problems with an 810 – he did a firmware update, and it sorted-out the ANT+ connectivity.
Garmin does seem to bring out new devices with bug-ridden software – although in their defence can you actually think of any company where the software is bug-free? (OK, I hope Airbus and Boeing are the exceptions)
All the comments about AA or AAA batteries are on the spot as far as a “touring” version, but if this new device is the same form-factor as an 800/810, I can’t see that there’s going to be the room. There’s always the option of something like the PowerMonkey, but again that adds yet another device to the handlebar.
I wonder if it will be
I wonder if it will be capable of of recording long rides? On some Audaxes I have ridden many riders have complained of their Edge 800s suffering a ‘white screen of death’ at around the 400km mark. This then requires a factory reset (with loss of all stored data) to overcome. I still use an Edge 305, which can only record ~200k (more if you remember to reset at each control), but the failure condition is much less severe.
It seems to me that Garmin have quite a narrow set of use-cases defined for their products. If you go outside that unpublished set of scenarios then the system often seems to fail.
@dockhill: I have the newest
@dockhill: I have the newest firmware on the 810. I have updated the firmware since I bought it, and before I had, it was even more unstable! I actually lost 3 tracks inside of 3 weeks with the original firmware.
It’s not like the ANT+ dropouts occur very frequently, but it has happened on 2 of my last 4 brevets.
And I don’t have a problem with a device having some bugs when I’m on the bleeding edge, as long as they get sorted within a reasonable amount of time, but the power issue has been present on the 800 for ages, and the 810 was born with it. And I really don’t understand why they make so easy to reset/delete a track. If I were a pure racer, and never stopped the track, I would probably have bought a 510 or 500!
@sponican: Yeah, I know of people who have had this problem as well. It’s not a 400km problem, but a 24hr problem. I have a friend who says that Garmin support has told him that they have fixed this problem so that an 800 or an 810 should now be able to record tracks up to 180 hours. He is doing a 600 next weekend and will test this out. Hopefully he wont ride too fast!
The power problem BTW is bad enough that I may well take my 800 on tour instead of the 810 because of it. It’s not like the 810 has better navigation than the 800, it’s actually worse!
Bike rumor has some pictures
http://www.bikerumor.com/2013/06/14/garmin-edge-touring-gps-bicycle-computer-spotted/Bike rumor has some pictures but it appears that the back may be screwed on so could be built in changeable only
Weather useful? Pull the
Weather useful? Pull the other one – not on this little island it ain’t. Maybe you won’t get wet, but you probably will.
My problem with the Garmins is they try to do everything. Ideally, you could configure the unit for its intended use, so that it could be set up through your PC for touring, or racing, etc.
Instead, Garmin just ladles everything into the unit and hope someone figures it out. The instructions are hopeless – I’ve never had anyone explain what the little triangle on the 200 Edge means. Ahead/behind some measure that I didn’t set?
I bought the 800 solely for the maps (so I would have preferred a “touring” model). It’s OK but too much money and too many features cluttering it up I don’t care about. It’s like selling a car GPS with performance features for racing – what’s that, 1% of users?
There are plenty of USB-friendly solar backup chargers at Maplin.
The triangle on the Edge
The triangle on the Edge tells you if you are going faster or slower than the average speed of the ride. Not massively useful.