Edge 1050

Well the Edge 1050 has appeared on the Garmin site and it’s a wodge of cash (£650).

There doesn’t seem to be a solar option either which seems odd when you consider how big this was in previous launches; perhaps they didn’t sell.

I’m more than happy with my Explore 2 (and I only use a fraction of what that will do) but anyone interested?

https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/p/1196129

Not at that price 😂

tbh I’m back with a 540 now having tried an 800 size one in the past, just don’t need something that big/colour screen etc for the type of riding I do 🤷‍♂️

I think the lack of solar is two things a) no one is draining their battery in one ride so whats the point of being able to add 2 hours to 35 hours or whatever the old one was b) the new brighter screen will drink battery so it’ll make even less difference.

I’m very much in 2 minds.. Having recently started riding in a few new areas I’m finding that the previously completely unused map function on my Wahoo Bolt V2 is now my most used and given my ageing eyeballs the teeny tiny screen that’s not all that bright is making it very hard to navigate on the move. In order to see any useful detail on the map I have it zoomed in so far that turns appear on-screen with only 50m or so warning, which can be tricky if I’m needing to turn right in traffic, for example.

So the huge, HD (double the resolution of the 1040), bright screen is very attractive, even more so than my preferred option of the Wahoo Roam (I would love them to update that to a 1050’ish competitor as the screen is too small with stupid large bezels).  I like the ability to zoom, rotate, move the map using a touch screen as many, many years of smartphones have made this kind of manipulation subconscious and even after a year or so of using the Wahoo map feature, I still struggle to manipulate the map as needed with a 2 level set of button pushes, while riding at least.

So on balance it would seem a no-brainer, the 1050 does everything the Wahoo does and more, the screen should solve my usability issues but blimey the price is a kick in the nuts. It’s being marketed as ‘technically’ cheaper than the 1040 solar (launch price at least) but more realistically it’s £150 more expensive than the current price for a 1040 (non-solar), I don’t need the solar, 8 hours of riding is about as high as I’ll ever go in a day, so 20 hours would see me through a multi-day bikepacking trip, and realistically I’d be carrying a battery pack or finding a charging point for the phone then anyway.

Basically, I’m struggling with whether the screen improvements and increased storage is worth it. Garmin have said the 1040 isn’t going away and is due to get a firmware update to implement almost every new feature that they are showcasing on the 1050 so the screen and memory are the only real benefits.  Regardless £650 for a bike computer is kind of indicative of what’s gone wrong with the bike industry these days anyway isn’t it? That’s as much as a half decent, brand new smartphone.! (and yes I realise that by even considering the 1050 I’m part of the problem!)

Come on Wahoo, time to show us if you’ve got anything in the pipeline, or I might just jump ship.

Watched most of the DC rainmaker review video last night.

Similar price to the (pretty recently released) 1040, but it’s got newer, faster hardware, apparently many of the new features will be rolled out to the 1040 via Firmware updates anyway.

DCR said it has good battery performance, a lovely screen and is quick and responsive but using it is a bit fiddly at times, and a lack of buttons means sausage fingered users probably need not apply.

I can’t help thinking it’s a bit too wizzy and posh and the actual gap to address in the Garmin range is actually something in-between the 130+ and the 540, just a simpler device, B&W but with basic maps and Nav functions.

I can’t help thinking it’s a bit too wizzy and posh and the actual gap to address in the Garmin range is actually something in-between the 130+ and the 540, just a simpler device, B&W but with basic maps and Nav functions.

I think colour screens are so ubiquitous now, you’d have to have a very good reason to go with B&W. As shown with the 1040 you can have a colour screen and still get 20+hrs of battery life.

Garmin do have a device like that – it’s the Explore 2 which cuts out a lot of the performance features. I really like mine although the unit’s re-routing function is not without its foibles. And I’d go the opposite way with colours, i think they need more – or at least a clearer way of distinguishing between some of the map features other than fractionally different shades of the same colour…

Having picked up a factory refurbished 1030+ for £175 a few months ago, £650 seems like a lot of money to me.

I think colour screens are so ubiquitous now, you’d have to have a very good reason to go with B&W. As shown with the 1040 you can have a colour screen and still get 20+hrs of battery life

Price and battery life, as DCR pointed out in order to achieve that (fairly average) battery life with the posh screen and faster processing they’ve had to shove 50% more battery in it.

Like I said it feels like they’re concentrating all of their effort on the wrong end of the market.

There are reliable devices from competitors now for ~20% of the asking price that can do equivalent battery life, with navigation, the compromise is often a smaller more basic screen and fewer gimmicks, but if you’re spending that much time gawping at your GPS that you need a huge HD screen, then is cycling really for you?

“Like I said it feels like they’re concentrating all of their effort on the wrong end of the market.”

Well maybe…. i’d guess the margin on higher priced devices is much larger than on the lowest most competitive devices. No one really plays in the same space as the 1050/40 so from garmin’s point of view this is probably a good move. See also why ford pulled out of the super mini market – more expensive cars have much healthier margins.

Not needing to charge my 1040 solar for 3 or 4 days of riding (touring or bikepacking) is an absolute bonus.

I don’t think I’ll be going for 1050 until the 1060 (or 1070 ) comes out…

@highlander (sorry can’t get your real STW name, it’s too complicated). My solution for multi day bikepacking and crap eyes is stick with a 5 or 8 series but have a phone in airplane mode with good mapping for when required.

My 840 will last two long days in saver mode as will the phone in airplane mode. I either take an anker battery or use my exposure light as a battery.

So I’m going to stick for now, unless my long lost granny makes an appearance

3.5 inches is hardly a huge screen. My Karoo is 3.2 inches. The idea that if one has a screen that big cycling isn’t for you send odd. I spend less time looking at my Karoo than i did my old tiny monochrome display as i can work out what’s going on more easily

Garmin are hardly targeting just one part of the head market. Apparently the most popular unit on strava is the 530

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/products/why-the-humble-garmin-edge-530-is-still-the-most-used-cycling-computer-on-strava#

I think the interesting new head unit is the Coros. Apparently it has 100 hour battery life with no solar. But it has a proper solar panel which will add 2 hours charge in 1 hour, in good light. To me that would really made a difference. Unfortunately in other respects it’s a car crash. But it’s interesting to see what can be done

Absolutely bonkers we’ve got to the point where a GPS computer can cost ~£650!

tbh I’m back with a 540 now having tried an 800 size one in the past, just don’t need something that big/colour screen etc for the type of riding I do

5xx and 8xx have been the same size for years now. The touch screen is certainly better if you ever use the maps, but fair enough if you don’t need the rest of the spec

I have an 830 and a 1040 solar.  For info, I find the 1040 looks and feels a bit big on the gravel and mountain bikes, hence i use the smaller one on those.

Absolutely bonkers we’ve got to the point where a GPS computer can cost ~£650!

I paid £299 I think for my 800 in 2012-ish (2 years after it was launched)  that was, with inflation that’s about £450.  So assuming this drops a bit in 12 months it’s not that outrageous.

And the 800 was objectively a bit crap (cripplingly slow with the OS maps, the OS maps were low resolution bitmaps, the routing was rubbish, the screen was rubbish expect at night, and the battery life with the backlight on was woeful).

My solution for multi day bikepacking and crap eyes is stick with a 5 or 8 series but have a phone in airplane mode with good mapping for when required.

This is what I’m thinking. On the one had I’m a geek and a nerd, on the other, I’ve abandoned computers entirely and just use my watch for logging rides now.  Th only problem has been that since the club started organizing rides via Strava with pre-planned routes it’s become expected that everyone has the map.  Whereas before the leader would be a bit more proactive about marshaling everyone, calling out turns etc. So if I’m on the front we frequently miss turns because someone behind assumes I’ve got the route, and I assume someone behind will call the directions.

A 5xx to do bike computer things, and a big screen for the map probably having to run off either a battery pack of a dynamo.

Would I use a lot of the features – yes.  Do I need them though, probably not.

Absolutely bonkers we’ve got to the point where a GPS computer can cost ~£650!

How you interpret that statement is down to your age and historical use of GPS. Garmin’s 1st commercial unit in 1990 something cost thousands!

When a CooSpo, Xoss or similar basic Edge 20/50/130 equivalent can cost as little as £40 you can see why there’s no point chasing the lower end sales.

@kramer where did you get the 1030 from for that price please?

Hard pass from me, not bothered about the price but it looks too smartphone like and the user interface doesn’t have the clean easy to read feel that current units do which is important to me when I’m moving about at pace.

@nt80085 I got it off eBay from a reseller. They sent it to me instead of an 840.

I’m currently using a 530 and had been pondering an upgrade, awaiting the x50 series. Having seen the 1050 and the latest updates to the x40, I’m more likely just to go for that now. Still pondering 540 Vs 840 though.

Absolutely bonkers we’ve got to the point where a GPS computer can cost ~£650!

Yeah, I’m a bit of that mindset, I’m probably a bit of a hair shirt-warer, hence my earlier whinges about the 1050 but I suppose I’d not really considered that the 1040 actually came out 2 years ago now, and Garmin tend to update their range “top-down”. I’m just not target market for the 10xx devices.

I think maybe this is just a bit of an early release, so that well funded early adopters, or those more ‘serious’ riders with an aging 830 or 1030 can start warming up their CC for bigger Christmas self-presents.

540/840 are probably where many people, who want some useful battery and Nav functions, will end up looking in their current offerings. But I still stand by the statement that ‘something’ belongs in their range between the 130 and 540 (arguably the Explore 2 does that, but it’s more pitched at E-bikers and casual riders that would never require more than about 4hours Nav run-time without something to plug it into I think)…

I can imagine an Edge “340” level device that is functionally more akin to the old 520/520+ (basically decade old tech now) with more basic Nav (mainly the ability to follow a pre-loaded *.gpx route), a sensibly sized ~2.2″ screen (possibly B&W?) no touchscreen and none of the whizzy functions from 540 or above like live segments, group segments, climb-pro, etc and ideally 24+ hrs battery, something for the enthusiast that wants to do events and bike-packing but baulks at the current asking price of a 540 (cos it is a little steep). I’d be more excited by that than another new toy for the rich boys or a 5xx/8xx release.