Garmin Fenix 6 for MTB?

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super_claret

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Hello all. Thinking of buying a smart watch and wondered if anyone uses the Garmin Fenix 6 for MTB navigation? I currently use my iPhone 7 and a quad lock mount and have OS maps loaded on my phone but the battery life is not great when using GPS and maps...probably should upgrade my phone but don't really want to.

Does the Fenix work with Strava and record heart rate from the Fenix?

Thanks for any advice.
 
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yes, I have a fenix 6 pro.

Does the Fenix work with Strava and record heart rate from the Fenix?
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Yep, it does both those things.

It works well enough for navigation, you can trace a route before hand (or download a gpx file) on your phone or PC, send it to the watch and the watch will guide you turn by turn around the route, showing it all on the map as you go and warning you if you go off course. Or you can just use the map without a preloaded route . The watch screen is small and its a bit clumsy compared to using a phone, but if you're happy with the compromise it works well enough. You can always fall back to getting your phone out of your pocket if you cant get your bearings using the watch.

You can configure the data screens that are displayed during a ride, I have something like , distance, current altitude,total feet climbed, time of day, time before sunset on one screen, plus other screens showing heart rate, max heart rate, speed, max speed, avg speed etc. Its all fully customisable.

I like it - its great because I use it for running, skiing etc etc as well as just biking - but its expensive. A cheaper option if all you want is cycling stuff would be to get a garmin bike computer which has a bigger screen and does the same bike related things as the fenix for less money, then you'd need a seperate ant+ heart rate strap to record your heart rate and pair it up to the garmin bike computer.
 
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A less expensive option is an Amazfit Stratos 3 or T-Rex. I've had the Stratos 3 for almost a year and apart from a couple of gps blips, it's been great. The T-Rex is a bit less featured, but crucially, has gps built in. Both can be linked with Strava etc to sync automatically.

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Hello - I have the Garmin Fenix 6 and yes it can navigate on a Garmin map screen, but it's very small, you can set it to cycle round different screens while it is recording. For Navigation I use a Garmin 1030 and a mate uses an 830. Those are good enough to zoom in / out and show named trails on the maps. They both (watch and unit) upload the data (HR, GPS Route) recorded to Strava, you just link the accounts. You could buy a dedicated cheap andoid phone with decent waterproof rating, but I have no experience of those though.
 
Mteam said:
yes, I have a fenix 6 pro.



Yep, it does both those things.

It works well enough for navigation, you can trace a route before hand (or download a gpx file) on your phone or PC, send it to the watch and the watch will guide you turn by turn around the route, showing it all on the map as you go and warning you if you go off course. Or you can just use the map without a preloaded route . The watch screen is small and its a bit clumsy compared to using a phone, but if you're happy with the compromise it works well enough. You can always fall back to getting your phone out of your pocket if you cant get your bearings using the watch.

You can configure the data screens that are displayed during a ride, I have something like , distance, current altitude,total feet climbed, time of day, time before sunset on one screen, plus other screens showing heart rate, max heart rate, speed, max speed, avg speed etc. Its all fully customisable.

I like it - its great because I use it for running, skiing etc etc as well as just biking - but its expensive. A cheaper option if all you want is cycling tstuff would be to get a garmin bike computer which has a bigger screen and does the same bike related things as the fenix for less money, then you'd need a seperate ant+ heart rate strap to record your heart rate and pair it up to the garmin bike computer.
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Great info, I agreed everything. I also have Garmin Fenix 6 Pro
 
I'm a serial flipper when i comes to watches and as i've moved onto smart watches from normal ones i've tried about 10 different Garmin's over the last 6 years of so, I'm currently on the Fenix 6 and came from the Fenix 5 which i had for a couple of years and love it for what it does and the ruggedness. I'm only into mountian biking and hiking but does what i need. Personally i'd say the Garmin are better than most as i've always got a decent chunk of money back when i've sold them on ebay, just something else to consider seeing as they are quite pricey to start with.
 
I also have one, and love it. But, I'd not use it for navigation when MTbiking. Simply because it's not convenient, you need to take your eyes off the road for too long to be able to squint at the tiny screen, which is at the same time not 100% in your line of sight. Not to mention long sleeves, gloves, etc getting in the way in winter. For bike navigation, get a dedicated GPS. I do use it for hiking navigation though, but there, changes in direction are typically far longer inbetween, and it there's no danger in bringing your wrist in front of your eyes.
 
jerry said:
I also have one, and love it. But, I'd not use it for navigation when MTbiking. Simply because it's not convenient, you need to take your eyes off the road for too long to be able to squint at the tiny screen, which is at the same time not 100% in your line of sight. Not to mention long sleeves, gloves, etc getting in the way in winter. For bike navigation, get a dedicated GPS. I do use it for hiking navigation though, but there, changes in direction are typically far longer inbetween, and it there's no danger in bringing your wrist in front of your eyes.
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You better try this. It's cheap and good Bicycle Mount Kit | Garmin
 
I have a Fenix 5 plus, and the display is simply too small for navigation. It's fine as an activity tracker, and is more durable and has better battery life than an apple watch. but it is NOT a navigation device, other than in a complete emergency. even then, it'd be painful.
 
RickBullotta said:
I have a Fenix 5 plus, and the display is simply too small for navigation. It's fine as an activity tracker, and is more durable and has better battery life than an apple watch. but it is NOT a navigation device, other than in a complete emergency. even then, it'd be painful.
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I dunno - I use mine for navigating out in the wilds, it is what it is, sure there are better devices if navigation is your primary use case, but as a small one device does all solution I think it works well enough.

Fenix 6 has a higher res screen than fenix 5 I think - so maybe this explains the difference
 
Mteam said:
I dunno - I use mine for navigating out in the wilds, it is what it is, sure there are better devices if navigation is your primary use case, but as a small one device does all solution I think it works well enough.

Fenix 6 has a higher res screen than fenix 5 I think - so maybe this explains the difference
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It's not the resolution - it's the size and readability, plus it's awkward to look at a watch in motion on the MTB trails I ride. I ended up buying a used/unlocked iPhone 8 on eBay + a case/mount and I use it (without a SIM) as my navigation and recording device for my MTB/eMTB/gravel rides and when dirt biking or doing dual sport rides. It works perfectly, at a fraction of the cost of my Garmin watch.

I'll give someone a sweet deal on a lightly used Fenix 5 Plus. ;-)
 
I use a garmin edge 810, it's getting on a bit but it's never let me down and I've used it to navigate all over.
 
Thanks for the Input everyone. I think I may look into the 830 or 1030. I notice I can buy an OS map card for the UK, which would be great
for exploring.
 
FYI, I did end up selling my Fenix 5 Plus. I wasn't joking. ;-)
 
i have a fenix 6x pro and i use it for mtb and trailrunning and i think it is great, the display is big
enough to navigate.

i sold my garmin edge 820 for the fenix.
 
fbonde said:
What other apps can you recommend on the Fenix for biking?
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if you want to compet on a strava segment, you can see when the segment starts and how you are doing when you drive, if you are ahead of your PR for example, and then you will see when the segment ends.

you will also see immediately when the segment is over whether you received PR or not


You can also see a lot of information such as weather, heart rate, cadence, how fast you ride and a lot moore but that is nothing I dont really care about: D
 
Finally got it today. Works great. The only thing I cant get to work on is the Trailfork app. It will not let me authentication with my login information. Or it never shows me the authentication screen. that is very frustrating. Any of you experience that as well?

I have of course tried to uninstall it and install it again, but I still only get to the standards stuff under setting, but no place I can log in. When I go on the watch itself the trailforks app ask to login via the app which I cant :censored: :(
 
I've got the Fenix 6 and the 830 edge. Honestly the Fenix is all I use. I've been on a big unknown ride recently and loaded it into the 830. After being directed up and down the same route and eventually picking the route back up only to find after 5 miles I'm on the route back home :(
Its better now they have added the arrows to show which way to go.

On that particular route I referred back to the Fenix 6 and used the compass arrow to get me back on track.
My eye sight isn't great but the Fenix is pretty clear with its defined black arrows to indicate course.

I think its time to sell the 830 as it just sits on the head tube.
I have a Garmin Marq for best but the Fenix 6 is more capable .
 
fbonde said:
Finally got it today. Works great. The only thing I cant get to work on is the Trailfork app. It will not let me authentication with my login information. Or it never shows me the authentication screen. that is very frustrating. Any of you experience that as well?

I have of course tried to uninstall it and install it again, but I still only get to the standards stuff under setting, but no place I can log in. When I go on the watch itself the trailforks app ask to login via the app which I cant :censored: :(
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I got it to work. DONT use the garmin express to install the app. use the ios app for it. Works fantastic now.

I don't no why I never used the fenix for mtb. The handlebar looks so clean :love::ROFLMAO:
 
I use my Fenix 6 Pro for a few activities. Navigation is a compromise, switching maps a fiddle for example. Clearly you lose the overall context of the map each time you go smaller on screen size.

One barrier to using maps on the watch is panning and zooming which is really caused by one fo the problems on the Fenix or the Instinct I had. That problem is that you accidentally press a button during activities so I have auto-lock enabled on activities. That means quickly switching screens is a pain and so is panning.

And when you glance at the screen it's often on the wrong display, you want trip data and you've got it on the map or the other way around.

I've been mixing and matching between my Fenix and a GPSmap 64. Using the Fenix then I can also glance at my phone for whatever maps are on there or a printed map excerpt. I certainly think the Fenix is good and it's possible to see it as a device that can do it all :)

But, I'd ignore all that. My use of nav tools isn't typical :cool:
 
I'm using Fenix 6 to show where to go and when to turn. It's excellent for that, even peeps before turn.
But when the situation is difficult, etc. crossing paths or need better map, I watch it from my phone.

But overall easy to navigate with Fenix 6.
 
Mcharza said:
I'm using Fenix 6 to show where to go and when to turn. It's excellent for that, even peeps before turn.
But when the situation is difficult, etc. crossing paths or need better map, I watch it from my phone.

But overall easy to navigate with Fenix 6.
Click to expand...

Man, I found the complete opposite - at least on MTB trails. It might be fine for turn-by-turn on roads. But in backcountry trail networks my Fenix(es) absolutely sucked for navigation. It's virtually impossible to see the trails on that tiny screen, and zoom and panning requires saint-like patience and tiny hands.
 
Mcharza said:
I'm using Fenix 6 to show where to go and when to turn. It's excellent for that, even peeps before turn.
But when the situation is difficult, etc. crossing paths or need better map, I watch it from my phone.

But overall easy to navigate with Fenix 6.
Click to expand...

I do pretty much the same. For days where I really need Navi on the trail, I pop on the 1030. most days, even when I used wahoo I had to check the phone anyway:sleep:o_O so now the handlebar looks so clean, I'm really surprised how good the Fenix is.

But hey, it's still new, and I can regret it soon ?
 
RickBullotta said:
Man, I found the complete opposite - at least on MTB trails. It might be fine for turn-by-turn on roads. But in backcountry trail networks my Fenix(es) absolutely sucked for navigation. It's virtually impossible to see the trails on that tiny screen, and zoom and panning requires saint-like patience and tiny hands.
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Haha, you're right. I never do zoom and panning. It's a mess.
But here normally trails do not cross often. When there's many trails crossing, you have to open your phone.

I'm using Fenix with loaded .gpx track and it tells when to turn. Nice feature.
And I like to have clean cockpit.

PS. I don't ride roads ?
 
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