First Rides on the Garmin Edge 1040 Solar: Solar Charging, Multi-Band GNSS Technology & More

garmin edge 1040 solar review — L: Garmin 1040 Solar, R: Garmin 1030 Plus

Packed with Garmin’s performance, navigational, safety and connectivity features, cyclists can ride longer, explore farther and train harder.

First Rides & More on the Garmin Edge 1040 Solar

Alternative Video Link for those reading via email subscription.

In this video, JOM Of the Gravel Cyclist crew unboxes the all-new Garmin 1040 Solar, covers some of the new features, and documents some real-world ride experiences with the 1040. Long-term review coming later.

Continued from Above:

“Today, Garmin launches the ultimate GPS bike computer featuring solar charging and multi-band GNSS technology. Harnessing the power of the sun, the Edge 1040 Solar features a Power Glass™ solar charging lens, giving cyclists even more ride time between charges – up to 100 hours in battery saver mode – while multi-band GNSS technology provides more accurate GPS positioning in challenging ride environments, such as dense urban areas or under deep tree cover.”

“Packed with state-of-the-art navigation, performance, safety and connectivity features, the Edge 1040 Solar boasts a completely refreshed, modernized user experience, giving cyclists easier access to key information, the ability to customize the home page, an improved ride summary view and more – all in a 3.5-inch touchscreen display.”

What’s New

Designed for cyclists, by cyclists, the Edge 1040 Solar features innovative advancements in technology and performance metrics, including:

Solar charging: Power Glass solar charging lens extends the battery life to up to 100 hours in battery saver mode, giving cyclists an additional 42 minutes per hour during daytime riding.
Multi-band GNSS technology: Receive better positional accuracy and coverage, even in the most challenging environments.
Cycling ability and course demands: Classify strengths and weaknesses as a cyclist, focus on improvement and prepare for the demands of a specific course.
Power guide: Recommended power targets make it easier to manage efforts throughout a course.
Real-time stamina insights: Monitor and track exertion levels in real-time during a ride.
Simple setup: Custom ride profiles prepopulate based on previous Edge data, ride types, and sensors. From there, cycling activity profiles can be managed directly on your compatible smartphone from the Garmin Connect™ smart device app.
Physically, the Garmin 1040 gets a new metal twist-lock interface, and a USB-C charging interface.

Indoor, one of 3 Activity Profiles, others are Road & Mountain, or create your own.

Pricing

Edge 1040 Solar $US 749
Edge 1040 $US 599

Training & Performance

“To help cyclists boost their performance, the Edge 1040 Solar provides insights from Firstbeat Analytics™ such as VO2 max, recovery time, training load, training focus and more to see how their body is responding to their training efforts.2 They will even get daily workout suggestions based on their current training load and VO2 max. During a ride, the Edge 1040 Solar lets riders see how their body is holding up in different environments with heat and altitude acclimation and receive in-ride notifications when it’s time to refuel or rehydrate.”

“What’s more, ClimbPro lets riders see the remaining ascent and grade for each climb when following a course and review their performance on the climbs post-ride right from the Edge 1040 Solar or in Garmin Connect. Meanwhile, mountain bike metrics, including jump count, jump distance, hang time, grit and flow track the epic details of every ride.”

“Whether cycling indoors or outdoors, cyclists can sync workouts automatically from Garmin Connect or other training apps, including TrainingPeaks®, right to the Edge 1040 Solar.”

Maps & Routes

Whether riding through busy cities or exploring remote areas, the Edge 1040 Solar includes advanced navigational tools to help cyclists stay on track.

High-contrast, ride-type-specific maps use Trendline™ popularity routing to highlight popular roads and trails based on billions of miles of ride data that other users have uploaded to Garmin Connect.
Turn-by-turn navigation and alerts notify riders of sharp curves ahead.
Pause route guidance and off-course notifications to explore beyond the beaten path. Route guidance can be turned back on at any time to get back to the original route or starting point.
Download the recommended Trailforks app to view routes and trail details from more than 80 countries. When using the Trailforks app, Forksight mode automatically displays upcoming forks in the route and where a rider is within a trail network.

Safety & Connectivity

“While out for a ride, Garmin’s safety and smart features help cyclists stay connected. Built-in safety and tracking features include incident detection, assistance and LiveTrack to let loved ones follow a cyclists’ real-time location and view their entire preplanned course to see where they’re headed, while group messaging and tracking let cyclists stay in touch when they get separated from the pack.3 For added confidence while riding, the Edge 1040 Solar is compatible with the Varia™ line of cycling awareness devices, including the new Varia RCT715 rearview radar with camera and tail light, so cyclists can see, be seen and continuously capture video footage during their ride. The Edge 1040 Solar also works with inReach® devices so cyclists can view and reply to messages, share trip data and trigger interactive SOS alerts with an active inReach subscription.”

“In addition to receiving smart notifications and automatically uploading rides to Garmin Connect, the Edge 1040 Solar easily pairs with a Tacx® indoor trainer, so cyclists can ride whenever they want. When connected to sensors, cyclists can keep track of the battery status of their sensors with post-ride reporting directly on the Edge 1040 Solar and battery alert messages between rides through the Garmin Connect smart device app.”

“When connected to sensors, cyclists can keep track of the battery status of their sensors with post-ride reporting directly on the Edge 1040 Solar and battery alert messages between rides through the Garmin Connect smart device app.”