Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd., today announced the Edge Touring and Edge Touring Plus GPS navigators designed for touring cyclists, commuters, mountain bikers and those seeking navigation on their handle bars. Edge Touring and Edge Touring Plus work like a GPS navigator for a car, yet with bike-specific features, preloaded maps and points of interest to help cyclists to find their way. They provide both on-road and off-road navigation and can provide round-trip ride options based on a set distance.
The Edge Touring and Edge Touring Plus will debut at the Eurobike exhibition August 28-31 in Friedrichshafen, Germany (Hall A5, booth 201) and at Interbike in Las Vegas, Nevada (booth 11058), September 18-20, where they will be prominently displayed.
“The new Edge Touring and Edge Touring Plus are perfect for those whose bikes mean adventure, freedom, exploration and a way of life,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of worldwide sales. “Easy to set up, easy to use and preloaded with bike-specific maps, they will let riders navigate safely and securely to their destinations.”
Edge Touring comes preloaded with bike-specific maps that make it easy for cyclists to stay on the route and find their way back again. Whether cyclists are riding from A to B, asking Edge Touring to provide a round trip route, or following a ride that they have planned or downloaded from Garmin Connector Garmin Adventures, Edge Touring will guide them on their ride with clear turn-by-turn visual instructions. Cyclists can choose between Cycling, Tour Cycling and Mountain Bike modes to calculate the most appropriate route. Edge Touring will then guide cyclists on suitable roads or bike-paths to their destination. With the new round trip routing feature, cyclists need only to input the distance they want to ride and Edge Touring will do the rest. It will calculate up to three routes to choose from, including their distance and elevation profiles. Cyclists can compare the routes, choose the one to follow and are one tap of the screen away from turn-by-turn directions the entire way.
This Garmin video shows Edge Touring and Touring Plus in action:
Edge Touring is robust and water resistant and has a 2.6’-inch touchscreen that works in the wet and with gloves. It weighs less than 100g and fits on the stem or on the bars. The rechargeable battery will last up to 17 hours, and it is also compatible with optional solar external battery pack, which will give an additional 20 hours of ride time. Edge Touring displays key ride data such as time, speed, average speed, max speed, distance and much more. Cyclists can view from 1 to 10 fields on a clear customizable screen. Edge Touring comes with a quarter-turn bike mount and can be easily transferred between bikes.
Edge Touring records how far, how fast and where cyclists ride so users can replay, relive and share each ride in detail once it has been uploaded to Garmin Connect. Cyclists can share their own rides or search for ones others have completed in Garmin Connect or look for Adventures in Garmin’s free Basecampsoftware. Cyclists can also create custom courses within Garmin Connect and send them directly to their Edge Touring.
Edge Touring Plus provides all bike-specific features of Edge Touring, in addition to compatibility with ANT+heart rate monitors to help cyclists know how hard they are working, and will even display key data such as range or remaining charge from ANT+ compatible eBikes. It also includes a barometric altimeter for accurate elevation, gradient, ascent and descent data.
Edge Touring and Touring Plus are expected to ship fall 2013 and have a suggested retail price of $249.99 and $299.99 respectively.