GarminEdge 1030 GPS Computer(Return to Product Page)

I really like the extended battery life and the larger screen. 4 to 6x the battery life than that of the Edge 810 which I used for 6 years. Linked up nicely to my heart rate monitor and cadence and speed sensors. A lot of flexibility and options, most of which I do not yet use. Using courses is a little more glitchy, which I'm still working out some issues.

I was on the fence between the 1030 and the 1030 Plus (newest model) and after reviewing the side by side comparisons, I decide that certain new features were not needed and instead opted to save a few dollars.

Most impressed with battery life and responsiveness of touch screen.

I did discover that iPhone Notifications need to be �Show Previews� in order the the message to appear on the device.

The Trendline rider-to-rider messaging is very useful, in fact indispensable! Especially if you get separated out on the road! And don't forget GPSGlonass, especially if out in middle of nowhere or unfamiliar territory! I heartily recommend this unit with Touch Screen to any cyclist casual or avid!!!!

After 8 months 14 turn tabs broke off.After complaining to Garmin they replaced it with a refurbished one not a new one.Five Month's later tab broke again. BAD MANUFACTURING.This has only happened to my 1030 twice. GARMIN YOU NEED TO FIX THIS.

So much better than the 820 it replaced for me. Finally, an easy-to-use and TRUSTWORTHY bike gps.

Seems very reliable and useful so far. Loaded Komoot maps onto it, which seemed better. Battery lasts a LONG time compare to old Edge's I had, after 5 hours, still has 75% charge. No biggie, but keeps dropping my sensors & have to re-add (non-Garmin, like Cateye ANT HR monitor and Power Pod cheap power meter). Liked it so much, bought one for husband also.

I love that this has so many useful options, large screen, good battery and can sync with my lights. Super helpful.

Easy to read screen size, great Garmin reliability, backward compatible features have you running out of the box.

Lap and startstop buttons are on the rim, not the top like the 1000 so there is not enough space to reach them on a 1000 mount so you need longer mounts for all your bikes AND I suspect no mount will be long enough to give room for winter gloves. Otherwise a great upgrade from the 1000

I have had a Garmin Edge 520 for three years. I liked it a lot and still use it on my gravel bike. However, on longer rides, particularly when I used navigation it was always a race to see which would end first, the battery in the 520 or the ride. That is no longer a problem. I redid a ride last weekend that had left my 520 gasping by the end with barely anything left as I rode into my driveway. The 1030 had more than 70% of the battery left at the end of this. Beyond the battery, though, the screen is wonderful. All of the data fields are easily read. When text messages come in I can actually read them on the screen. Like my 520, it paired with my various ANT devices and my ETap gear combo. I had some minor issues getting to to talk to my iMac, but that was resolved with a direct connection to the computer, rather than through a hub. I can say, sincerely, that I have not had a moment of regret. It really is a superb computer. The navigation screen is really nice, a big improvement, both literally and figuratively over the 520's. Having the option to add a extended battery, though it doesn't seem that I will ever need one, is a nice touch as well.

Edge 1030 has a great display, easy to use and setup.

OK, Garmins flagship unit lives up to the hype as long as you leave the WiFi off in my experience. (And the forums out there talk about issues with the the WiFi an dBT not playing well together) Sets up like a Garmin (I have owned a few and the menu sense is pretty logical. You can have a bunch of sensors for your different bikes, and the unit figures out which one you are using. Unless, you are using WiFi and maybe stages PM, but.. then the unit will lose connection and not update. Liveterack goes wonky... and wont disconnect - as long as the WiFi is on. Notices from my phone didnt work while WiFi was turned on. Turn wifi off and bingo, all seems well. On BT it uploads like a high speed router (well, cuz the files are small) compared to the LeZyne I had before. Garmin may come out with a firmware fix, but til then, I can live with the BT connection to my phone. The other features are very nice - and work as advertised. 3 stars because they have a useless hardware feature (at this point)

I grew tired and frustrated with my Edge 1000. Had two device replacements to fix connectivity issues, and problems with the device restarting unexpectedly, and corrupting routes persisted through device restores. Why did I buy an Edge 1030? Holding out for the promise of GroupTrack with a couple friends, and family.

Is it worth and upgrade? The 1030 was a great purchase and exceeded my expectations. Ill explain why it was to me.

Yes, the 1030 seems to have had issues with connectivity at launch. That seems to have been resolved given the drop in complaints in online forums. The walk through did not work for me, but did get it setup manually on the first attempt, and has worked well since.

As other reviews have mentioned, the screen is not as colorful as the Edge 1000 with the backlight on, but is easier to see with the backlight on, and the display under sunlight is outstanding. Crisp, colorful, and superior to the screen on the 1000. Great compromise, Garmin

I get 2-3 times the battery life out of the 1030. Id always worry doing a longer ride with the 1000, and took a 705 as a backup. The 1030 should be fine for most riders, including centuries. Could not do that with a 1000. And if you need more, they have a battery for that!

What other reviewers have not mentioned .

The personal fitness screen. What is that? It is a useful summary of personal fitness, FTP, VO2 Max, and stress. Seems to reflect my fitness well, and reminds me to take it easy the next time. Ive found this information helpful and well presented.

Reorganizing data fields is easier. You can select several data fields from one category, and selected fields show up on the category when selecting again. Best of all, you can can drag data fields to reorient on the screen.

The device also has templates to allow larger fields to be placed in the middle or bottom of the screen. Not completely customizable, but better.

The graphical representations of heart-rate, cadence, power, and elevation are very good. You can choose to view max, average, and current values, in to small data fields, along with a bar graph.

Map navigation and recalculations are much faster. Actually able to use them in real-world situations. Routing along heat map routes does work. Im in a challenging geographical area, and it seems to find the best options. Does not route along paved trails as much as expected, though.

The 1030 has a sensor refresh button. I typically forget to turn on the radar, flip my hear rate strap, or the power meter may time out. The refresh button is easy to get to, and does it for all sensors. No need to navigate into each sensor and fiddle with it to get it activated again.

Finally, the Strava live segments are something I want to use! Strava live segments on the 1000 seemed to crash my device. It was slow to refresh, and did not have much information. The new segment screen pops up as before, but automatically selects the most interesting information. KOM? Im not that fast, but it does bring up my PR, as well as my friends above and below me, that I know I can beat. Am I slowing down or speeding up relative to prior efforts? It changes the selection of friends to accommodate! The display shows the total distance on a bar graph, and the relative distance ahead of your friends.

Other Garmin units have these features, but have found them very useful on the 1030

The ability to use Shimano shifter buttons is wonderful. No longer do I need to do a screen tap, tap again, tap again, slide, or press nextprevious with various degrees of success in order to see different screens. The Garmin remote was fine, but was not very configurable. Now I do not need to take my hands off the hoods, and can tap six

There is no screen available for average mph as you ride. This is important to get avg. mph respectable before you get home.

maintain progress records, verify Average speed, cadence and time used to accomplish goals

It seems hard to just go for a ride trying to navigate multiple screens. I do appreciate the incident report aspect and the bright screen yet I would like the ability to password protect the device and make voice commands.