Garmin has acquired Alphamantis Technologies, a company that designs and develops aerodynamics testing equipment for the cycling industry.
“Alphamantis is on the leading edge of aerodynamics analysis in the cycling world, and that makes the company a perfect fit for our robust suite of bike products,” said Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and CEO, via press release. “Aerodynamics is another way for cyclists to measure and improve their performance – something our customers crave.”
We interpret that to mean they’re working on equipment and data sets that’ll use your speed, power and other on-bike metrics to determine your drag. And then figure out an easy to understand number that shows just how aero you are. Could be similar to what Velocomp’s PowerPod does, could be different, but will no doubt be interesting.
At the Specialized Turbo Vado commuter e-bike launch, they hinted that Garmin would soon have new data fields available on their GPS cycling computers. Now they’re here, letting you control the e-bike’s settings directly from the Garmin device. It should work for both the Vado and existing and upcoming Levo eMTB bikes. From the press release:
“Specialized launched the Turbo Levo data field for Edge cycling computers in March of 2016, and it has been downloaded by thousands of users since then,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of worldwide sales. “Our cycling customers have consistently requested to have the same data fields they can get on their Edge available from their wearable as well, so we took that valuable feedback and are happy to announce these latest updates.”
With the updated data field, cyclists can view their power output setting on their eBike directly from the Garmin wearable on their wrist. Users can also view their battery level from their wrist, with the number turning red when the remaining capacity is below 30 percent. The assist level – turbo, trail and eco modes – will be saved in the activity file, making it easily viewable on Garmin Connect.
