Garmin Edge MTB

It's not very often that we are invited to media camps that require only a short flight and no passport. But when Garmin reached out and invited me to attend an event being hosted by Garmin Canada, it meant a 60-minute flight to Calgary and a 35-minute Uber to Cochrane, Alberta - a sawmill town about 30 minutes due west of Calgary, and the home of Garmin Canada. Cursory research taught me that it began as Dynastream Innovations in 1998, and that their first product was a sensor that helped monitor a runner's distance and speed. Their first client? Nike. They quickly rose to prominence in a rapidly growing field, and Garmin went from being a client to acquiring Dynastream in 2006, which is when it became Garmin Canada. Their fast growth has continued; a few years ago, they added another floor to the top of the building in order to open up space for about a hundred more engineers, bringing the number of gearheads in the Canadian office to somewhere between two and three hundred. Today, Garmin Canada works on products for Garmin's fitness and outdoor categories, including Edge computers, smartwatches (like the Forerunner and Fenix lines) notably including development of the wrist sensors that measure things like heart rate and blood oxygenation, and the Varia line of lights and cameras that use radar to help keep riders safer on the road.

In short, they're working on lots of really cool, cutting edge shit in Cochrane. And I had an idea we'd get a peek inside the office, and they told us to pack riding gear as we'd be spending a few days out at the Canmore Nordic Centre, where they have a fairly extensive trail network, and were going to be hosting a Canada Cup. But I had no idea what they were bringing media in to see.

Turns out, quite a bit.

More or less since 2019, I've worn a Garmin Fenix on my wrist, and for most of what I need, it's the one for me. It's got enough smartwatch features to help keep my phone out of my hands at least some of the time, but its primary value to me is for tracking rides and monitoring health metrics like sleep and body battery; those latter two have helped me learn how to rest and recover better and, when I'm behaving, drink less alcohol, because man does that ever crush your body's ability to do work and recover from efforts.

Garmin computers, though, are something I used for the first time in 2019,

especially in 2021 for BC Bike Race, and sporadically in the years since. They offer tons of useful functions, but the Fenix on my wrist took care of a lot of them, and when I needed help with navigation, I always relied on my phone unless I had a route pre-loaded, which is not how I normally plan a ride, at least at home. For races like BCBR, though, long rides in unfamiliar territory, or when I'm not wearing a Garmin watch (more about watches in a later article) it's a fairly easy process to select a route and get it onto your Edge computer, which will then keep you from straying from your plan, but also deliver handy information like distance to the end, grade and length of climbs, etc. Again, not stuff I need daily, but I have used Edge computers a fair bit off and on since then, primarily the Edge 530 and 840 Solar.

Garmin Edge MTB

Edge is the family name for Garmin's computers, and higher numbers denote more features and larger screens. The newest member of the family, though - the Garmin Edge MTB - has no number. It is closest in size and features to an Edge 540, though it is a bit smaller that that model. But unlike other Edge computers, or any other Garmin product for that matter, Edge MTB is Garmin's first MTB-specific product. Here are the features that make that distinction notable:

Durable design

All seven buttons are overmolded to help keep out water, dust, and dirt. And in a first for a Garmin, a scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass lens will resist scratches far better than...whatever they were using before.

There's a new top tube mount included (with bases that will fit a traditional, round profile tube, or a flatter one that'll work with modern carbon top tube shapes) that you can bolt to an accessory mount or attach using an included ski strap, as well as the more traditional bar mount.

Built-in maps

Trailforks comes pre-loaded, which feels like both a no-brainer and a great addition. There's a feature called the Trendline Popularity Routing that helps you find routes most traveled by other Garmin cyclists. Preloaded Garmin TopoActive maps let you navigate paved and unpaved pathways, streets, etc. You can also access maps and activity profiles for other types of riding like road, gravel, etc. This is a lot of nice versatility that I expect we'll see in all of Garmin's next gen of computers but for now, the Edge MTB offers the most mapping utility for multi-disciplinary users that are also mountain bikers.

Enduro and Downhill Ride Profiles

Enduro ride mode splits your rides into climb and descent mode (you select manually as you ride) to help you track laps or, if you're racing, stages (provided you logically classify transfer stages as climbs and race stages as descents). Downhill mode automatically turns tracking off during the shuttle or chairlift ride back up so your decending stats aren't affected (the same way Garmin watches work in downhill ski mode).

Multi-band GPS with 5 Hz GPS recording

The default fidelity for Garmin's computers is 1 Hz (1 reading per second) but when in descending mode, Edge MTB automatically kicks into 5 Hz mode. This will let you see trail lines in greater detail and improve accuracy, but also drains your battery faster and creates larger GPX files - both worthwhile tradeoffs given some of the user profiles for this computer.

Timing gates

This was the feature that caused me to really perk up about this new computer. Just like it sounds, this lets you set timing gates along a course to track split times during a race or ride and, very cool bonus, also see in real-time if those times are ahead or behind previous splits. I've already set a course on the loop I ride most close to home, and this will be a great way to inject a little fun into those rides, but there are a ton of other uses: training for racers (obviously), racing against friends (they'll need their own Edge MTB, though), or comparing how fast your regular rear tire is against the new one you're testing out.

It's easy to set up a course, your computer can house many at a time (Edge MTB has 32 GB of internal memory) and the real-time splits are fun to race against.

Forksight mode

View names of trails up ahead, elevation profiles, distance back to start, trail difficulty, primary direction of travel and more.

MTB dynamics

Track mountain bike metrics like jump count and distance, hang time, and Garmin's two proprietary metrics: Grit and Flow. Honestly, these don't resonate or provide much utility in my opinion, although some may find value in tracking number of jumps or hang time (and with 5 Hz mode it'll be a lot more accurate than it used to be).

We spent two days getting acquainted with the Edge MTB on the trails of Canmore, as well as a few other products (coming soon). The staff also took us for a tour of the testing lab at Garmin Canada, which was an eye-opener. Some of the things we saw, like 5(+)axis CNC machines, were fairly typical of a bike co. machine shop (at least one that creates its own prototypes or components); however, Garmin has added variables to contend with: water, dust, vibration, RF interference, and on and on.

Seeing some of this testing in action was interesting. Did you know (I sure didn't) that in order to install a vibration table in a lab, it has to be attached to an entirely different foundation than the rest of the building? Otherwise, everyone in the building would be subjected to non-stop shaking (and it likely also helps them isolate vibrations just to the test table). So, that was one thing that had to be planned/accounted for before they built their current facility.

Sticking with the vibration theme, one tidbit stood out, which is that Garmin makes products for bike and moto applications. In order to ensure they test for things like vibration in true real world applications, they'll mount measurement devices and go use them on the specific products they'll be used on. Example: a moto display would be mounted to a Honda Goldwing AND a Harley SG Ultra, for example, so that the different vibration maps can be incorporated into their test protocols. They cover the bases, and know how to do so because the staff are also enthusiasts.

I could go on forever about the great people we met at Garmin (from the Canadian and Kansas offices) and other things we saw, but that's a story for another day. I will say this: Ross Stirling, the director of engineering at Garmin Canada, is always looking for good people, specifically engineers, and Cochrane (or nearby Calgary or Canmore) would be pretty great places to live. If you're reading this and thinking Garmin Canada might be of interest, you should reach out - they might want to hear from you.

Wrapping up on the Edge MTB, I'll take a deeper dive into using Garmin computers vs watches in the future - it's a big subject. If you think the Edge MTB might be of interest, just know there's a LOT more I haven't covered in terms of features - things that other computers in the Edge lineup also provide - and you can learn about all of them here. It's a training aid, a navigational tool (though not as geared to nav as some of their other computers) and will be useful for racers or anyone who already has an HR monitor that is compatible. You can use it as a head unit to track data like speed and range, and battery on your e-bike; it'll also communicate with your SRAM AXS or Shimano Di2 unit to track what gear you're in and all kinds of other stuff. Garmin COACH will help you train for specific events. The list goes on and on. So far, it's working great, but inevitable future updates and a season's wear will be better indicators of its suitability. Upon initial release, though, I can recommend the Edge MTB for riders looking for solid data collection, training assistance, and light navigation in a robust little package that will live up to the abuses of riding in all weather and conditions.

Garmin Edge MTB - 399 USD / 579 CAD