Steve B.

Western Bike Works

Edge 1040, non solar, $479.99, reduced from $600

https://www.westernbikeworks.com/cart/viewcart?ie=

wayold

Or $600 for the Edge 1040 Solar - basically 20% off MSRP on everything in the store. I just stocked up on some Shimano drivetrain stuff that's rarely on sale.

Seattle Forrest

Solar might be valuable in a watch depending on your needs and how you use it, but isn't very useful in the 1040 for most people. The battery is already phenomenal, almost no one will need more in a single ride, and the solar doesn't add as much as people seem to expect.

On the other hand, if you have a good Garmin watch, a bigger screen is literally the only benefit of an Edge device, and it doesn't use the extra size very well. The map is so annoying to use because of all the zooming it does on its own that it's usually less frustrating to use the map in the watch. The 130 is the sweet spot among Edge devices.

Atlas Shrugged

Like saying the base A220 is the sweet spot in the Mercedes lineup.

I own a 1040 Solar as well as the Enduro 2 watch and I can’t imagine replacing the 1040 with the watch. The solar is a nice feature especially if you do multi day trips or just don’t feel like charging it frequently. It charges in standby as well so as long as it’s exposed to the sun it is charging so there is that.

Steve B.

I could see the usefulness of solar charging on a long self supported tour. Adding 42 minutes or whatever for each hours means a lot less charging. Not useful enough to make me pay $150 extra though. The 1040 has 35 hrs and thats plenty.

Seattle Forrest

I'm not saying people like you don't exist, I'm saying for every one of you there are 100 cyclists riding 5 hours a week. The non solar 1040 gets 40? hours to a charge, that's more than a month for the average cyclist. And also that a lot of people expect more from the solar than it can reasonably deliver and wind up being disappointed.

It's great that Garmin has a range of things to cover every type of cyclist and runner.

Seattle Forrest

​​​​​​I had to look this up. To clarify, that's (1) in battery saving mode on the Edge and (2) in 75,000 lux conditions with the Edge in full sun. 75k is bright sun. It's obviously less on cloudy days, very little in the woods or other shade, and none after sunset.

Solar is a great feature for people who need it, most don't. The battery is already more than most people need.

wayold

Maybe watches work for you on a bike, but they don't for me at all. Screen size is part of it, but having a steady source of information in my field of view without having to let go and/or look away even more so. I've used a few different manufacturers' bike computers and Garmin does a decent job of data presentation (not significantly better/worse than the others I've tried). I find the maps on the Garmins pretty usable - not without issues, but easy enough to get the information I need while riding. You could certainly make the argument that the high end Garmin bike computers aren't worth their nosebleed prices, but, as far as I can tell, they seem to work quite well for most of what I need.

Steve B.

Yes, I came to the same conclusion and purchased the regular 1040 on sale at my LBS last week. They let me apply a 20% off coupon, which they mostly never do for GPS electronics.

Seattle Forrest

​​​​​​FYI, you can turn off the "sharp turn ahead" warning by going into the activity profile (like road, gravel, MTB) in settings, going into navigation, and then it's in the menu and can be turned off. 🙂 👍

That one change makes the map less frustrating to use. If anybody in here knows how to make the map stop zooming on its own that would be very helpful to me. I need a zoomed out view for context much of the time and the 1030+ can't stay zoomed out because it wants to show me the details of intersections.

It also can't stay connected to my Varia as a tail light even though it has no trouble with the radar, so the bottom of the screen always says disconnected from light network.

All I want is for it to respect the map view I selected. The watch screen is smaller, but it behaves intuitively.

wayold

Have you tried turning off Auto Zoom in: Activity Profiles > Navigation > Map > Auto Zoom ?

Steve B.

What, are you kidding me, you actually found a solution by looking in the manual ?, that rarely happens with Garmin.

Seattle Forrest

I owe you a six pack!

pdlamb

No kidding. Last time I looked at one all I learned is I shouldn't charge it in the shower.