Zerge’s Opinion on the Garmin Edge MTB:
Black and White
Who is the Garmin Edge MTB for?
This device is made for a youthful and bold audience: riders in the Gravity segment – whether it’s Enduro, Trail, DH, or Fully eBike. You’ll truly appreciate it if you like training in segments while descending, or if you're curious which line or run was faster. The small unit can be mounted on the bike in multiple ways. If you're not interested in complex training planning features, the compact Edge MTB is definitely worth checking out.
However, if you follow a training plan, train by heart rate zones, keep track of race schedules, or want to use it for gravel riding too – this is not your device.
WHAT YOU’LL LOVE
- The 5 Hz sampling rate provides highly accurate data when descending – in Enduro or DH profiles.
- The Timing Gates feature is a great idea, especially if you often ride the same trail. Gate setup is a bit basic, but it works.
- The top tube mount is clever and fits smaller devices well (Edge 130/530/830).
- The rubberized buttons are worth their weight in gold on the trail – finally, no more cleaning dirt out every other day.
- The device is small, lightweight, and rugged – exactly what you need for this kind of riding.
WHAT I MISSED
- No external battery support – this basically rules it out for the gravel bike crowd.
- The navigation is the same as in the Edge 540 – there was definitely room for improvement here.
- No Wi-Fi, so you have to sync manually after each ride – not a deal-breaker, but still annoying.
- Missing advanced training features like Training Status, Load Focus, Power Guide, Race Calendar, and ClimbPro Explore.
IN DETAIL
The Garmin Edge MTB continues the legacy of the Edge 130 Plus: compact, lightweight, and rugged. While its predecessor already offered MTB dynamics, Garmin has now created a dedicated model specifically for this tight-knit, committed community – with a strong focus on downhill riding.
Speaking from experience – I spent years attending races with my son – in this world, bike computers rarely show up. Partly because everything tends to break, and partly because they just get in the way. Still, Garmin has now taken a shot at developing a small, purpose-built device that zeroes in on the gravity crowd. It's clear that bikes are evolving, becoming more specialized, with high-tech components and astronomical prices becoming the norm. In this mindset of "every little detail counts", Garmin has shifted focus from the bike to the rider, helping you see where you’re faster and where you can improve.
The unit is tough: Gorilla Glass display, rubberized buttons, and a replaceable rear mount connector. The box content is solid too – you get a stem mount that extends backwards (which I love), plus a new top tube mount that works great with smaller units (Edge 130/530/830), but may break easily on bigger devices like the 540, 840, or 1050. This is the first Edge model where the classic quarter-turn mount is no longer included.
The 5 Hz sampling rate is a smart idea and works great on descents – but only in Enduro and DH profiles. The downside is that it’s unavailable in other profiles. I get that it drains the battery, but that’s acceptable if the data is precise and it finally captures fast transitions in corners or after jumps. You can work around this by adding a speed sensor – while it won’t help with position accuracy, it will give you more precise speed data, which is still a step up.
A new feature is the automatic timing gate measurement, where you can place up to 10 gates at locations of your choice. You can even switch to "Walk" mode to place these manually. What I really missed here was Garmin Explore app integration – it would be awesome to set the gates in advance from your phone. I think the concept is great, but if a segment is longer than 30 seconds, you're better off using STRAVA segments, which the DH scene already favors heavily.
The display isn’t AMOLED, it’s transflective, which I think is a smart choice: it's bright and perfectly readable even in direct sunlight. Naturally, it comes with LiveTrack and automatic crash detection. One cool new feature is hazard reporting – similar to Waze – where you can mark unexpected dangers like cars on trails or icy patches, and see hazards reported by others.
If you use an electronic drivetrain, like SRAM AXS, the Edge MTB displays your gear position, battery level, and current gear – so you never have to guess where you are or worry about running out of battery.
Now the weak point: navigation. It works fine in familiar areas, but if you’re exploring new territory, it’s not great. There’s no touchscreen, no Explore app, so route planning is clunky both before and during your ride – your only real option is the Garmin Connect app, which is limited. I really like Komoot, and fortunately the Edge MTB is compatible with it – just like most other brands (Wahoo, Bryton, etc.). Garmin probably assumed that everything is well-marked in bike parks. Problem is, we don’t really have bike parks in Hungary, so a proper search function should be standard. If you use an iPhone, you can share a location from Apple Maps to the device, and it’ll navigate there.
ForkSight is a fun feature, but again, very bike park-dependent. Here in Hungary, it’s barely usable due to the lack of an organized MTB trail network. If you go abroad, though, you’ll see trail length, difficulty, and grade right at the trailhead.
The Trendline™ Popularity Routing map view is perfect for when you don’t feel like planning. You just want to ride, and it shows where others go – the darker the line, the more frequently it's used. This helps avoid dead ends and keeps you on trails that other riders in your sport profile actually use. If you like this idea, you can also request a Round-Trip route – just set the desired distance, and Garmin will build a loop using the most popular routes. It’s super useful when riding somewhere new and you don’t want to bother with maps.
Of course, for downhill, you have to climb first – and that’s where ClimbPro helps. It automatically detects the start of the climb and shows length, gradient, elevation gain, and remaining distance. You can set it to trigger automatically, or only on planned routes.
No external battery support, though, which means longer gravel-style tours are off the table – and that’s a shame, because even gravel riders could benefit from such a compact, rugged device.
All in all, the Edge MTB is a tough, well-built little unit that hits the mark for certain riders – especially Trail, Enduro, or DH coaches and enthusiasts. But if you're looking for advanced training metrics, long-distance touring, or full navigation features, this device might fall short.
We expect the Edge MTB to arrive in our shop around early July 2025.
– Zerge
THE BIKE COMPUTER MADE FOR MOUNTAIN BIKERS
Edge MTB is made tough with a rugged, compact design that’s ready for long days on the trails. And new enduro and downhill ride profiles with 5 Hz GPS recording during descents mean you can see greater detail about the lines you take.
RUGGED DESIGN WITH SCRATCH-RESISTANT CORNING® GORILLA® GLASS
UP TO 14 HOURS OF BATTERY LIFE IN DEMANDING USE CASES
ENDURO AND DOWNHILL RIDE PROFILES
5 HZ GPS RECORDING WHILE DESCENDING IN ENDURO OR DOWNHILL RIDE PROFILES
PRELOADED WITH TRAILFORKS MAPS AND FORKSIGHT MODE
AUTOMATICALLY TRACK SPLIT TIMES WHILE RIDING
| WHAT YOU'LL LOVE |
BUILT TO SHRED
Featuring a compact, rugged 7-button design with scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass, the Edge MTB bike computer can stand up to the most extreme rides.
ENDURO AND DOWNHILL RIDE PROFILES
The enduro ride profile tracks total ascent and descent from each run and for the ride overall. The downhill profile laps each time you finish a descent, so your return to the top via shuttle or ski lift doesn’t affect your ride stats.
5 HZ GPS RECORDING
See greater detail about the lines you take down the trail with multi-band GPS with 5 Hz GPS recording while using the enduro or downhill ride profiles.
UNLOCK NEW TRAIL DATA
With preloaded Trailforks maps, you can dig into trail details before you ride. And get guidance along the way with Forksight mode to see the names of trails up ahead, distance elevation and more.
SET TIMING GATES
Set timing gates throughout a course to track split times and better understand your ride or race performance in real time.
RIP ALL DAY LONG
Edge MTB is built with long riding days in mind, with up to 14 hours of battery life in demanding use cases or up to 26 hours in battery saver mode.
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RUGGED ON THE OUTSIDE. |
PREPARE
MAPS FOR EVERY RIDE
Ride with preloaded maps for paved and unpaved pathways, streets and more. Plus, get worldwide MTB trail data from Trailforks.
RIDE-SPECIFIC ROUTING
Get routing suited to your ride, whether you’re on mountain, gravel or road.
TRENDLINE™ POPULARITY ROUTING
Your Edge bike computer finds the best route — choosing from roads (and trails) most travelled by other Garmin cyclists.
VO2 MAX
See your current fitness level, and track changes over time to set goals, evaluate progress and more when used with a compatible power meter and heart rate.
RECOVERY TIME
Know how long you need to recover before your next high-effort workout based on your latest training when used with a compatible heart rate monitor.
GARMIN COACH
Train for an event, achieve a milestone, or improve your fitness with Garmin Coach training plans for all types of cyclists. You can even add strength workouts to your plan.
GROUPRIDE
Stay connected on group rides1 with in-ride messaging, live locations and incident detection alerts2; plus, add fun and competition with in-ride leaderboards for climbs and post-ride awards.
DAILY SUGGESTED WORKOUTS
For training guidance that takes you and your fitness level into account, get daily ride suggestions based on your current training load and VO2 max when used with a compatible power meter and heart rate.
TRAIN AND PERFORM
CLIMBPRO FEATURE
See remaining ascent and grade during your current climb so you can gauge your effort.
CYCLING DYNAMICS
Advanced cycling metrics give insight on performance from variable conditions3.
MTB DYNAMICS
Track mountain biking metrics such as jump count, jump distance and hang time.
GRIT® AND FLOW™ METRICS
Grit rates the difficulty of a trail. Flow measures how smoothly you ride it.
TURN-BY-TURN DIRECTIONS
Stay on track with turn-by-turn directions and alerts.
BACK TO START
Get back on track — or back to start — if you’re lost or want to go home early.
NUTRITION AND HYDRATION ALERTS
Stay fuelled on a ride with notifications when it’s time to hydrate or eat.
SAFETY AND AWARENESS
ROAD HAZARD ALERTS
Get alerts for road hazards reported by fellow cyclists, and contribute your own edits1.
COMPATIBILITY WITH VARIA™ DEVICES
Pair your Edge device with your Varia rearview radar and smart lights to see and be seen.
INCIDENT DETECTION
This feature sends a message with your location2 to emergency contacts after an on- or off-road incident. And the GroupRide feature now alerts you to incidents of other riders in the group.
LIVETRACK™ FEATURE
Loved ones can follow your location in real time and see data such as speed and course plans1.
BIKE ALARM
A PIN-protected alarm notifies you via your compatible smartphone if your bike is moved.
INREACH® DEVICE COMPATIBILITY
Stay in touch wherever you ride by pairing with your inReach satellite communicator4.
CONNECTIVITY
SMART NOTIFICATIONS
Receive texts and alerts on your Edge bike computer when paired with your smartphone.
SMART TRAINER COMPATIBILITY
This Edge bike computer can pair with your indoor bike trainer to track your home rides.
EBIKE COMPATIBILITY
Connect to your eBike that’s compatible with ANT+® technology.
CONNECT IQ™ STORE
Download custom data fields, and get apps and widgets from our Connect IQ Store smartphone app.
ELECTRONIC SHIFTING CONNECTIVITY
Configure select shifting systems to control your Edge bike computer and view battery life, swipe through data pages and more.
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1When used with your compatible smartphone and the Garmin Connect app. Engineering enhancements are ongoing and may not be reflected in the pictures, videos and specifications. |
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