Garmin is, by a large margin, the biggest brand in fitness tracking. It is kind of surprising that, over its decades of dominance, the brand had never come out with a computer made specifically for mountain biking. That changed in June with the release of the Edge MTB. We’ve had one in for review for the past five months to see whether Garmin’s first dedicated mountain bike effort was worth the wait.
The short of it is, the Edge MTB is impressive but not quite perfect. While there are some small issues, I think it should also be the default choice among Garmin devices for anyone looking for a computer that primarily rides mountain bikes, of any kind. Read on to find out why, what features set it apart from other Edges and any other bike computer, and what issues and limitations remain.
Garmin Edge MTB: What’s different
Garmin takes a few approaches to making the Edge MTB mountain bike-specific. As we covered when this computer launched over the summer, there’s significant added protection, scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass for the screen. It is lighter, just 58g in its slim casing, no touch screen, and two new ride profiles, all meant to appeal to off-road users. It’s also the first Garmin to use 5 Hz GPS tracking, though that is only available in certain modes to balance out the increased energy demands of that level of tracking.
The added layers of protection mean that the actual screen, while bright, is quite small. Small enough that it is quite a noticeable change going back and forth between the Edge MTB and an older Edge 530, let alone an 840. There’s lots of detail, and lots of information available. But it can be a bit trickier to see it while riding. That meant, for me, editing data screens to 2-3 data fields I really wanted to see. Garmin does also drop a lot of the advanced training and performance metrics, more targeted at the road crowd, from the Edge MTB.
The flip-side of that is that I really do appreciate the smaller screen for mountain biking. I liked the tiny Edge 130 when I tested that for the same reason. Not hitting trees is usually a bigger concern than seeing a lot of data while riding, so its nice to also not worry about having a large screen protruding off the front of the handlebars, waiting to be smashed.
On that front, Garmin also has a new top-tube mount for the Edge MTB….
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…