Garmin Edge (via Connect) map indicators, plus Strava community surface reporting
I hadn’t noticed the details of either of these until today.
If you are recording a ride with a Garmin Edge 540 then the hills that pop up on your device with Garmin ClimbPro in FreeRide also get separately highlighted on your post-ride stats in Garmin Connect. You won’t see this when following a route or using another recording device like a Forerunner 965.
There are 7 hill icons on the map and each of these hills are summarised and described on a linked ‘Climbs’ page. You can then click any of those climbs for more details and your performance on it. I assume that the hills that are shown reflect your ClimbPro Climb Detection setting.
Thoughts: Although some detailed performance stats like VAM, NP and Avg Power are shown, it would be nice to have a Strava-like feature here where I can see how this particular performance ranks compared to my best effort and the ability to click through to it. That said, this is a nice feature. Garmin keeps giving us more and more reasons to spend more and more time in Garmin Connect — it’s really a much-improved app compared to 5 years ago.
Strava Segment – Ride Conditions
I’d not noticed this one either. Maybe it’s new? I had mused to myself about this kind of feature quite some time ago. Wouldn’t it be great to have a community-built feature that lets us know if a road is in good condition or not? I for one would favour good quality surfaces when planning a route for a training ride, especially if I am on a TT bike where bumpy roads make riding unpleasant.
Well, it seems that Strava is already gathering that kind of information including the speed limit. In the UK my understanding is that speed limits usually only apply to motorised vehicles but I would imagine speed information is being gathered so that cyclists can better assess the speed of vehicles sharing the same road.
Thoughts: Yeah, I like this too. The example above is for Box Hill in the UK which is very heavily cycled by Strava users yet only 46 (+me) have bothered to submit a surface-type report. To be useful this feature needs wider and more frequent feedback. Perhaps Strava could get speed information from existing overlays.
Last Updated on 28 May 2026 by the5krunner
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tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors. ID
Very interesting I must admit this was new to me as well. I do like the idea of reporting bad surfaces via Strava. I mentioned bad road surfaces, which are dangerous to cyclists in Dorset, but no one seems that interested, least of all the council. Still, I will keep reporting them; maybe it will catch on and become vogue.
Wow! I didn´t know that. But I can see my climbs on my Edge but not later on Connect. I have an Edge 1040. Strange that this is only showing on 540.
Anyone with a Edge 1040 see that info on Connect??
i’m on a 540 beta but I deliberately showed the map from the isle of wight as that was from several weeks ago. it could have been beta as well i suppose but it would have been a notably older firmware.
What beta firmware are you currently running? Just curious, I have been waiting a firmare updates for weeks now, but officially I cannot find anything more recent than 9.29 (production, the one I am currently running)
i’m on 9.29
i dont have any special access to garmin stuff.
Shows up in Connect from my Edge 1040
Would be much better to pick up vibrations from device accelerometers to automatically detect road quality. Then add Vehicle speed data (and pass distance if possible) from Varia Devices and pick up speed limits from OSM.
great idea on the accelerometer. a watch would definitely have the right kind of accelerometer. I suppose an Edge also has them to be able to do the crash detection and the grit and flow metrics. maybe even the grit and flow metrics already gather sufficient info for what you suggest?