Garmin updates flagship cycling computer for the first time in three years with Edge 1030 Plus

Cheapest end of the line also gets a refresh, with new Edge 130 Plus

Andrew Talansky of the USA and Team Cannondale-Garmin in action on stage 14 of the 2015 Tour de France, a 178km stage from Rodez to Mende, on July 18, 2015 in Mende, France (Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

Garmin has updated its flagship cycling computer for the first time in three years.

The Edge 1030 Plus looks almost identical to the Edge 1030, which has been available since 2017. But it adds new features that have come to Garmin's cheaper bike computers, including improved mapping and routing tools and better ways of understanding the effects of workouts.

The new computer sits at the very top of the line-up, selling for up to £599.99. It goes alongside the more recently refreshed Edge 530 and 830, which are smaller and lower priced.

At the same time, Garmin also said that it will update the Edge 130, its cheapest cycling computer, to the Edge 130 Plus.

Garmin tends to use its "Plus" branding for updates that represent a more evolutionary update to products rather than a whole overhaul. Both of the new computers feature largely similar designs to their predecessors, with small feature updates rather than dramatic changes, and come at comparable prices.

Garmin's Edge 1030 Plus, which has a largely similar design but drops the white details from its predecessor (Garmin)

The Edge 130 is more recently updated, having first been released in 2018. But it has still been left without some of the features that might be expected to trickle down from the more expensive end of the line-up.

The new, Plus version of the 130 includes better GPS tracking as well as an altimeter so that it can understand how much elevation it has covered. It can also better track health metrics such as heart rate tracking and other tools, as well as having a smartphone connection to allow for syncing of routes, notifications and the weather.

The Edge 1030 Plus update brings new mapping features that let users navigate using courses from either Garmin's own apps or third-party tools like Strava or Komoot. It also has improved health metrics – such as tracking recovery time and training load – as well as a new feature that will recommend workouts to cyclists based on their recent activity.

The process of setting the computer up will also be simpler, Garmin suggested. In the past, beginning with a new Edge unit meant starting from scratch with its settings and connections to external sensors, but they will now be imported over from other, older units.

It also includes tools to connect to smart trainers to take advantage of the recent boom in cycling indoors. Those features will come to the Edge 130 Plus in the future, Garmin said.

Many of those features have been available in the Edge 530 and 830, despite their lower price. Both of those cycling computers were updated last year, and stay in the middle of the line-up.

Some of the features – including the improved setup process – will come to the 530 and 830 as well as the non-Plus 1030 later this year, Garmin has said.

Garmin will sell both the new products in bundles that will also include the new Varia cycling radars, which can alert riders when a car is coming up behind them, it said.