As part of an upgrade to its Garmin Edge 1040 cycling computer series, the company is now supporting e-bikes fully, including the addition of new metrics.
You can view specific data that is only available to e-bikes if your bike can connect to the Edge 1040 wirelessly using ANT or ANT+, as many of the top electric bikes can. If you upload a course into Garmin Connect to view on the Edge, for instance, the cycling computer will not only show you your intended route of travel, as it would on a conventional bicycle, but the Edge will also let you know if your connected e-bike has enough battery life to keep you going for the duration of the course.
Knowing how much battery life your bike has left allows you to make plans to arrive at a charging station in advance, whether that means shortening the route before you leave or turning around and returning home midway through an overly ambitious weekend ride. It's a very practical tool and a great beginning for Garmin's e-bike integration.
Additionally, rather than manually adjusting assistance settings on your bike, you may do so utilising the Edge 1040 computer.
Other features of the update that aren't specific to e-bikes include updated Training Status, which will import your heart rate variability status and recent exercise history from your best Garmin watch and show your training status on the Edge, as well as music controls (finally!) on the Edge 1040 series and a visible Intensity Minutes metric.
For current Edge 1040 users, the update is totally free, and just like the most recent watch update, you can get it by turning on automatic updates from your device or through Garmin Express.
