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Garmin's Edge bike computers have been accompanying thousands of road cyclists during training for many years, feeding Strava with recorded kilometres or navigating gravel tracks. After the new Plus versions of Edge 130 and 1030 Garmin is now launching a completely new model on the market in 2020. And at the top of the product line. With the Edge 1040 bike computer, the US company is launching a new top-of-the-range model. For the first time, Garmin is integrating a solar charging function - as seen in the Fenix 7 smartwatch - into a bike computer. A solar charging lens is integrated around the 3.5-inch colour touchscreen display, which uses the power of the sun to charge the battery while riding. This makes the new Edge 1040 slightly larger than the Edge 1030 (dimensions 59.3 x 117.6 x 20.0 mm). But the battery life increases to up to 45 hours in GPS mode. If you use the bike computer with solar charging function in energy-saving mode, Garmin claims up to 100 hours. This means that the Edge 1040 Solar should be connected to the charging cable significantly less often than its predecessors. This is because during sunny day trips, solar charging can provide up to 42 additional minutes of battery life per hour of riding time.
Edge 1040 series with new functions and more navigation accuracy
The Edge 1040 models should also be even more accurate when it comes to determining locations and recording routes. Thanks to multi-frequency reception, the bike sat nav uses all available satellite systems (GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDou). This should help to determine the position even more precisely, especially in narrow mountain valleys or in dense forests. Garmin has also revised the user interface. This makes it easier to scroll through the many navigation, performance and safety functions and pages, while the detailed pages are now clearer. Also new: The start page can be customised with information and the summary by trip is much clearer and provides the most important key figures for the trip in a compact format. At the same time, all settings, including the configuration of the data fields, can be made both directly on the device and in the Garmin Connect app. This was not possible before. Overall, Garmin has put a lot of work into the Edge 1040 in terms of intuitive menu navigation and improved data visualisation. The flood of information provided by the mastermind on the handlebars should be clearer, more compact and easier to access.
Stamina, Power Guide & daily training suggestions: New training and performance functions
For ambitious road cyclists and gravel bikers, the Edge 1040 has a huge range of training functions on board. Thanks to the data obtained from heart rate or power meters and extensive metrics, the Edge series provides key figures such as VO2 max, recovery time, training load or load focus (aerobic vs. anaerobic), just like its predecessor models. This means you always know how your body is reacting to the training load and when the right time is for the next training session. Also still on board: the function to determine how well you have acclimatised to the heat or altitude or whether your fluid balance is correct. But with the Edge 1040 There are also new features for cyclists who train specifically or compete in races and cycling marathons. For example, you get Individual workout suggestions based on the previous training load and VO2max directly on the Edge. Here Three other new functions of the Edge 1040 at a glance:
Cycling ability
The Edge 1040 recognises the user's strengths and weaknesses based on journeys and the data collected and compares them with the requirements of a planned route. This should enable you to better assess what to expect.
Power Guide
This function helps cyclists who have only recently started using power meters to find the optimum power input for the planned route and the underlying elevation profile. This allows you to better organise your performance based on suggested values. Depending on the speed and FTP, recommended wattage values are displayed, and the route is divided into sectors beforehand in power guide mode.
Stamina
The Stamina function is completely new and is aimed at experienced cyclists who are familiar with power measurement. It also relates to cycling performance, but is based on other parameters such as the Power Guide function. It shows the personal available energy reserves in real time. This should make it easier to keep an eye on energy consumption, for example to avoid premature exhaustion during a race or to better assess whether you still have reserves for an attack.
Map update for better navigation
Garmin has also worked on its worldwide, pre-installed bike map for the Edge 1040. Depending on the activity (road bike, MTB or gravel bike), a different overlay is placed over the maps to display popular routes from the Garmin Connect community. Garmin also draws on the wealth of knowledge from its heatmap when planning routes on the device. These so-called "Trendline Popularity Maps" draw on billions of kilometres uploaded by users to Garmin Connect and highlight the most popular routes in colour - depending on which bike you are riding. A large number of new points of interest (POIs) have also been added.
The most important facts about the Garmin Edge 1040 at a glance
- New top model in the Edge series with 3.5-inch touchscreen
- Greater accuracy thanks to reception of several global satellite systems (GPS, Glonass, Galileo)
- Complete configuration possible directly on the Edge or via smartphone (Connect app)
- Clearer user interface with new overview and detail pages
- Smart features such as smart notifications, live tracking, accident notification, group track
- Map update with popularity overlay depending on activity type
- New training and performance functions: Cycling ability, power guide, stamina, daily workout suggestions
- Dimensions: 59.3 x 117.6 x 20.0 mm
- Sensors: ANT+ / Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) / WLAN
- Battery life (GPS mode): up to 35 hours / up to 45 hours (solar)
- Internal memory: 32 GB / 64 GB (Solar)
- Weight: 126 grams / 134 grams (solar)
- Prices: 599.99 euros (Edge 1040) / 749.99 euros (Edge 1040 Solar).
