For 2017 Garmin and turned up their team sponsorship and now officially sponsors five world tour teams and four mountain biking teams. Which teams exactly? Here you go: Cannondale-Drapac Pro, Movistar, Astana Pro Team, FDJ Pro Team and Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka. On the mountain bike side they’ve got Trek Factory Racing, CLIF Pro Team, CUBE Action Team, and Scott-SRAM.
“Garmin started sponsoring professional cycling teams nearly a decade ago, and we are excited to continue our commitment to the sport,” said Jon Cassat, Garmin vice president of communications. “As a leader in cycling technology, we are proud to provide the teams with top- of-the-line products – from GPS bike computers to cycling awareness accessories and multisport GPS watches – for training, racing and adventure in between.”
Garmin will be outfitting the teams with Edge cycling computers, Varia radar-equipped tail lights, plus Forerunner and Fenix GPS smartwatches all around. Kind of makes us want to get on a world pro team, you know, for the smart watches. . . right?
For the official word from Garmin, please follow the jump.
Garmin’s top-of-the-line multi-sport watch the fēnix 3 just got a high fashion sibling that looks more a Breitling Chronliner and less like a bloated Forerunner. Sure, the new fēnix Chronos still does all the cycling things that the fenix does. It can pair with your ANT+ power meter, cadence/speed sensors, and heart rate monitor and upload it live to Strava (when paired with a smartphone). It also keeps track of routes,compassing, altimeter, and temperature changes, but this one comes in titanium, steel, and steel with a vintange leather band.
“High-end design meets top-tier performance with fēnix Chronos,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of worldwide sales. “With luxurious materials and trusted Garmin multisport technology, fēnix Chronos is a necessary timepiece for anyone who wants to remain stylish through all of life’s adventures – whether its hiking through mountains, training for a race, or heading to a formal event.”
As you might have guessed all this fancy comes at a price. The fēnix Chronos titanium with titanium band will cost $1,500 (more than twice the cost of the previous top of the line fēnix 3); fēnix Chronos steel with stainless steel band $1000; and fēnix Chronos steel with leather band will cost $900. The price does include a silicone sport band for when you want to get it sweaty.
We’ve called the fēnix 3 one of the best bike computers you can wear on your wrist, and Chronos looks even better. For the official word from Garmin, follow the jump.
Garmin just added a new “do pretty much everything” GPS watch to their fitness line up that comes in a smaller, lighter, sleeker package than their top of the line fenix 3 (the watch André Greipel wears while winning Giro sprints). The watch is an update of their Forerunner named the 735XT.
“The Forerunner 735XT is the ultimate GPS smartwatch for athletes who want dialed-in data for training and race day,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of worldwide sales. “It offers comprehensive data for all of their activities, keeps them connected with smart features including notifications and automatic uploads to Garmin Connect, and lets them customize their device to fit their needs with Connect IQ’s free apps, data fields and more.”
But the coolest feature of this watch is a live suffer score right there on your wrist.
The Forerunner 735XT is Connect IQ compatible and is the first device to come with the Strava Live Suffer Score app pre-installed. Suffer Score is based on users’ heart rate and tells them how hard they’ve been working. So whether a weekend warrior or a professional athlete, if their heart is working hard they can rack up a high score.
So there, knock yourself out and then show your friends. For the official word from Garmin, please follow the jump. [click to continue…]
One of our favorite smart watches, the Garmin Vivoactive, just got a huge upgrade with heart-rate and a completely redesigned case with the new Garmin Vivoactive HR.
The vívoactive HR helps keep track of active moments throughout the day, counting steps and floors climbed, intensity minutes, monitoring sleep and featuring built-in GPS-enabled sports apps for walking, running, biking, swimming, golfing, paddle boarding, rowing, skiing and snowboarding. The vívoactive HR uses 24/7 wrist-based heart rate data to calculate calories burned information as well as the intensity of fitness activities, providing proper credit for users’ array of workouts.
For the official word from Garmin, please follow the jump.
Garmin’s just announced Varia Vision takes all their cycling metrics and puts them right in your face on a heads up display.
We have a vision for a safer riding environment for every cyclist. A world where cyclists can keep their focus up while staying aware of their stats and surroundings. It’s one more way we’re helping you be better than you were the day before.
Still not sure we like having anything that distracting right in front of our eyes and blocking a third of one eye’s vision, but we’ve not ridden with it.
Not content to let Apple run away with all the “rose gold” glory, cycling computer maker Gamin announced today (October 1, 2015) that they are adding two new color ways to their high-end Fenix 3 Sapphire watches.
. . . the Fenix 3 Sapphire multipart watches now include a silver version with a leather band and a white version with rose gold accents. Featuring the same multipart toolset as the original Fenix 3 Sapphire, these two versions put a fashionable twist on the rugged smartwatch for fitness training and outdoor navigation.
Nice to see our favorite watch (that literally does everything, yes, even ANT+ power) looking so handsome, dashing, and stylish. For the official Fenix 3 details, please follow the jump. [click to continue…]
Lately, it seems like the high end of Garmin’s Edge cycling computers have grown larger and heavier with each release. That’s mostly why we’ve stuck with our trusty Edge 500 far longer than we probably should have. The only downside is that the 500 doesn’t have Bluetooth so we can’t share our rides live with family, and we can’t launch those immediate updates to Garmin Connect (and Strava) like our better equipped, KOM-stealing friends. All that has changed, however, with the release of Garmin’s new Edge 20 and 25 cycling computers. The diminutive new units are being touted as “the world’s smallest GPS cycling computers” and weigh in at only 25 grams.
Water-resistant and weighing only 25g, the Edge 20 and Edge 25’s extremely durable and small design is ideal for travel, training and everyday riding. Their interfaces make it easy to start, save and share activities and both are GPS and GLONASS-enabled, acquiring satellites quickly to track how far, fast and where a user is riding. Both devices feature up to eight hours of battery life.
These units have the basics. No color LCD screens, no power meter stats. And we kind of like it that way. The Edge 20 captures time, distance, speed, total ascent, and location, but doesn’t feature ANT+ nor Bluetooth. That means it cannot connect to any other ANT+ sensors like heart rate, cadence, or speed, nor can it connect to your smart phone. The Edge 25 is a lot like our old 500 except it has ANT+ and Bluetooth meaning it can connect to other sensors and smart phones. The only downside is that it cannot connect and display power meter metrics. Guess Garmin saved that feature for their larger, more expensive units.
The Edge 20 and 25 retail for $129.99 and $169.99. For the official word from Garmin, please follow the jump. [click to continue…]
We liked the old Garmin Virb cameras for a couple reasons: they were streamlined, they rolled in GPS data easily, and they worked. Unlike our GoPro 3+ (which requires that the battery be removed up to five times before it will even turn on) the Garmin Virb had a switch — flip in and it was recording. The only problem was that the lipstickish shape of the Virb meant it was impossible to mount the camera on a chest strap. There were some other mounting issues as well. Garmin has changed all that with their new Virb XE action cameras. They’ve placed the camera in a similar form factor to the GoPro (conventional camera shape), but with all the Garmin bells and whistles. Truth is, this may be a favorite new action camera. We’ll let you know when we get to try one out.
Before you buy your next bike computer you might want to check out the new Garmin fenix 2 watch (on sale in March 2014 for $3.99.95). Why? Because it does everything the Edge 500 does and nearly everything the Edge 810 does, yet it fits on your wrist (or can be strapped to your bars). Those who run and/or swim (not sure why anyone would want to do either of those things) will discover that the fenix 2 also does everything the Forerunner 620 does and everything the Garmin Swim does including (but not limited to) counting and naming your strokes, and recording the number of pool laps.
What’s more, by pairing an iPhone 4s or newer to the fenix 2 via Bluetooth Smart the watch will reflects iOS notifications straight to your wrist so you’ll know when you get a text, email, phone call, or have a calendar event coming up without pulling your phone out of your back pocket. This thing maybe the smartest smart watch ever. Seriously. Why buy anything else?
Garmin, the company that lets most of us know where we are and how fast we’re going, today (August 20, 2013) announced the launch of an action POV camera that is set to go head to head with the ubiquitious Go Pro. It’s called the VIRB and it features ANT+ connectivity that will allow for live sensor data recording right on the video. The VIRB is on sale today on the Garmin website for $299. Click the link for the official word.
For 2017 Garmin and turned up their team sponsorship and now officially sponsors five world tour teams and four mountain biking teams. Which teams exactly? Here you go: Cannondale-Drapac Pro, Movistar, Astana Pro Team, FDJ Pro Team and Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka. On the mountain bike side they’ve got Trek Factory Racing, CLIF Pro Team, CUBE Action Team, and Scott-SRAM.
