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I've just got a Garmin Epix and Edge 840 Solar as mentioned elsewhere
I've done most of the basic set up. Linked them to my HRM and Strava. Didn't realise they see the ebike as well (old tech gen 1 Kenevo)
The question being, when using the Edge to record a ride and also wearing the watch, do they interact and know they are doing the same activity?
Do I start an activity in the watch too or just leave it? If I leave it will it auto record a separate activity?
I've got a Forerunner 945 watch and Edge 530 (so both a few years old than your kit) but each are treated independently. If I record on both devices at the same time, I get two activities in Garmin Connect and Strava, so unless you specifically want redundancy, I don't see a reason to record on both.
I can't remember which may round it works, but there is some functionality to replicate some field display from one device to the other but I've never used, and I can't think of any reason why it would be needed anyway.
Of course, your devices are newer, so gawd knows what new features Garmin have introduced since I got mine...
I have an Edge and Fenix and found that they both recorded the same activity, logged them both in the Connect app with slightly different stats.
I use a a HR monitor, and now if cycling just start the Edge.
Admittedly only recently acquired/started using the Edge (Also use an Etrex for nav.) and not looked into using both at the same time. Interested to see if they do link though.
As above, I believe you'll get duplicate activities.
Why do you need to record on both? They both link to connect so activities will be available on both after but you only need to record on one. All I do I broadcast my HR from my watch when I can't be bothered with the chest strap HRM, this is picked up by my 830 but all other data comes from that. If using a separate HRM that's linked then you don't even need to do that
Can you not just broadcast your HR from the watch to the Edge unit and record everything on the Edge?
No point recording the same activity twice.
What @singlespeedstu said.
Other option is to use the Edge in extended display mode to show the ride being recorded on the watch?
I have a Fenix and various Edges. I record on both in case one has a hiccup. Yes you get two records, I just delete one.
The implied question is, if you record on both, do they sum the recovery stats even if you delete the duplicate activity? Ie if you edit an activity in Connect (say duration or distance) this is not reflected in the device so it's reasonable to assume the recovery stats are also not up (down?) dated.
I'm also not sure to the extent recovery data is accurately reflected across devices. Say you run on Fenix and ride on Edge recording separately. You'd expect the units to reflect the other activities. I'm not sure they always do accurately.
I have a Fenix 7 and an Edge 840.
Bike rides are only recorded on the Edge (I sometimes broadcast HR from the Fenix).
The Fenix is set as my Primary Wearable device.
Once I've finished a ride, I save it on the Edge. That gets it to Connect.
When I sync the Fenix, that then becomes "aware" of the ride and takes the effort into account when calculating Training Status etc.
If I subsequently sync the Edge again, that picks up Training Status etc from Connect
This is all accomplished through Physio Trueup in Garmin. Not all devices have Physio Trueup, so this might not work for everyone.
https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=g4zagaDmtJ0luYPPvEuwz9
I’ve got a Garmin 245 watch and edge 2.
I paired the watch to the edge so the watch is used as HRM. Weirdly sometimes unless I start the activity on the watch, the edge doesn’t always pick up the HRM.
All I do at the end of a ride if recording on both devices is when I stop the watch I discard it rather than saving
I have same devices as OP, I don’t use the watch to record rides and wear a heart rate chest strap. Activities record on the 840, load to Strava and are visible on the watch, Garmin Connect and Strava (and my Apple Watch !)once all synced.
I just checked this and one or two records for the same activity don’t affect the training load or the intensity minutes for me.
For a while I’ve used the 645 forerunner to broadcast heart rate to my edge (don’t set the forerunner to record the activity). All works ok - but I find wrist bases heart rate quite unreliable. It’s alright on steady effort but it seems to lag on short sharp intense efforts - where a chest strap picks those up much quicker.
I don’t like wearing a chest strap on the mtb - I’ve found a hrm strap that goes on your upper arm is more reliable than wrist based - I think it stays flatter on my arm and gets jiggled about a lot less. It’s just a cheap ish CooSpo branded thing from Amazon. Been impressed with it so far.
First ride out with Garmin devices this morning. Ended up recording on both devices for a couple of reasons, but will do either or moving forward. Happy enough with the results. The Edge seemed to struggle to keep my HR (chest monitor - Frontier X2) on screen for the first part of the ride, but settled down for the rest of it with only the odd drop out.
One thing I can't make happen is the extended display - try and activate it via the Edge and it says 'hold watch close'. Nothing happens, just says 'waiting'. Bluetooth is on and both devices have up to date software. The internet isn't giving me answers
I tend to just take my edge for rides, the Sunday ride is the time of week I leave my watch on charge, and especially for mountain biking why risk two bits of expensive tech on a crash.
I just checked this and one or two records for the same activity don’t affect the training load or the intensity minutes for me.
Which suggests though the activity stats are duplicated the device(s) are clever enough to recognise the duplication when calculating recovery metrics. Either that, or they are so made up, the duplication makes no difference 🙃
Or you haven't got Physio Trueup activated on both devices.
Record bike stuff on the Edge don't bother with watch recording. Wrist-based HR is rubbish compared to chest HR, but it is better than nothing.
The edge shows as Green activities on the heart rate screens and the watch shows as blue activites
Can you not just broadcast your HR from the watch to the Edge unit and record everything on the Edge?
No point recording the same activity twice.
+1 it needs HR to generate any training benefit / recovery data so the watch in broadcast mode does that.
Wrist-based HR is rubbish compared to chest HR, but it is better than nothing.
+1, my Epix (Gen2) is accurate 98% of the time, and more accurate than older watches like my instinct. But every so often it drifts off. My hypothesis is the flashing LEDs are in sync with your pulse to save battery, so rapid changes throw it off untill it syncs up again, either that or it just moves over a boney bit of wrist.
The graph afterwards looks pretty good though so I'm sure the averages are fine. I'm happy with it for recording group rides or Zwift where I've got power to ride to. I'd maybe use a strap on the velodrome to judge what speeds to hold during intervals if riding solo.
The one thing that irritates me that Garmin haven't implemented is the epix knows when I've cycled to work via MoveIQ, it logs that as intensity minutes. But doesn't give any debit/credit towards the training or recovery. I CBA logging commutes as that then means editing the resulting Strava upload twice a day. But those 8-10miles each day probably makes up about a quarter to a third of my weekly distance so must have some effect. Or maybe they're too individually too short to be meaningful even when totaled.
- TrueUp occurs once per day after waking up.
- Data may vary slightly on different devices throughout the day
Just found this, Might explain the variations if comparing part way through the day?
I've never understood why the watch can't auto-start the broadcast HR thing when a computer activity is started. Both are hooked up to your phone (in most instances) so it wouldn't take much for the garmin app on your phone to become aware that you started the activity on your computer, and intern tell the watch to start broadcasting heartrate.
frustratingly my watch doesn't include heartrate on its daily trace when its also being broadcast, so doesn't (afaik) calculate calorie burn
But if it's being broadcast to another Garmin device that subsequently syncs to Connect, then it'll add the calorie burn then.
that then means editing the resulting Strava upload twice a day
Why do you need to edit the uploads?
I've got a 540 and a V1 Instinct solar, the watch is too old for extended display to work, so I just put it in HR broadcast mode, pair it to the Edge as a sensor and record on that. I did still record on both when I first got the edge and then discard the watch recording, but that just seemed a bit stupid (cos it was).
If I go for a shorter ride or commute without the Edge then I'll just use the instinct to record the ride.
Pretty sure an EPIX should sync via connect to display other activities recorded on other devices (I may be wrong), unfortunately my Instinct is a bit too old/basic for that and doesn't seem to want to sync activities from other devices, however the edge does seems to pick up activities recorded on the watch... Meh, none of it really matters as it all ultimately goes on Connect/Strava/Velo Viewer.
But yeah I often just use my watch as a glorified HR strap for the edge, saves the battery a bit if nothing else...
My Fenix 6 shows activities recorded on my Edge, so the Epix must do too.