Trailforks Fail

- garmin was asking to connect to the phone. wouldnt connect

I sometimes have to reboot my phone to connect it to the Edge 1030, but the 530/830 seem fine in that regard.  Might be worth trying.

- we had no cell phone signal.  why would Garmin insist on having some sort of internet connection to talk with Trailforks?

You shouldn't need coverage for the basemaps, but if you're trying to load the connectIQ app you will need coverage.  That app is used to transfer routes from your TF account to the device. 

- the trails I downloaded on the garmin unit was all gone.  Why couldnt I access the trails I preloaded?

Are you talking about the Trailforks basemaps?  Once they're enabled they should always be there.  Or are these custom routes you transferred from Trailforks?  I've not messed with those but I'd think that if you already transferred them before you arrived at a 'no coverage' area, they should still be available in your device's Routes section.  You could possibly go there and set them to 'always visible'.

- couldnt use trailforks at all

The app itself will require connectivity, but your device should keep the files in your routes (I think).  The basemaps should just be there if they're already on.  It's a bit unclear which of these you're having issues with.   If you are using Trailforks Basemaps, it will 'hide' your streetmaps and OpenStreetMaps data (including OSM trails) unless you zoom way out - this only affects mountain bike profiles and is meant to clean things up, I think.

- no climb pro at all

I've not personally used this but I've been told you have to be using a 'Route' for Climb Pro to work.  Were you following a route? 

- then on top of that, Garmin 530 just stops recording midway.  so I lost a good chunk of the ride

That sucks.  I've had this happen on my 1030 when it would shut down mid-ride.  Is there any chance it somehow fell asleep or shut off?  Also, I'd make sure you're not using Galileo GPS unless you have the beta installed. 

Thanks for this :)  Just so I understand:

- where do I find and use the "baked-in" version of Trailforks?  Thru Connect IQ or just the standard navigation screen?  I was attempting to use the Trailforks app via Connect IQ and thats when I couldnt due to no cell signal.

- I figured since I didnt have a preloaded route in place Climbpro didnt activate

- I really want to give Garmin another try because I find high value in their Climbpro feature and the Varia radar feature.  But coming from Wahoo Bolt world which just basically works so I can concentrate on my rides, Ive resorted to mounting both computers on my bike for now.  

I hope they can some day make climbpro work on mountain bike trails without a preloaded route.  I just never use routes.  So I haven't even seen climb pro yet.  

If you log into the Trailforks app, I think there is an option there to 'unlock' the maps.  Unless you have the mountain bike bundle, it is already done.  After that, you never need to use the connectIQ app again, except to load routes.  

Once complete, you can go into your bike profile settings to the navigation area and look at your enabled maps.  Trailforks will be listed there and should be on by default in the mountain bike profile.  I have seen a few posts about people having trouble unlocking them, but it was instant for me.  

With Trailforks active on the Mountain Bike profile, I noticed areas that have Trailforks maps will clear out all the built in map data (openstreetmaps) so you might not see those elevation lines, streams, OSM trails, etc.  

If you zoom out a bit, it will all come back.  This only happens where trailforks is present, and I think it's to make them more readable.  If you enable trailforks in a roadbike profile, it might not do this but I have not tested yet. 

Thank for this. You say to log into the trailforks app.  Which Trailforks app are you referring to?  The one on my iPhone, computer or the one in the Garmin?

I'll try it out your tips on my next MTB ride

First, make sure you have Garmin Connect open on your phone and have the screen up.  Your Edge will need to be paired, and this is the only way I can get mine to initiate the connection.  

Then bring up the Trailsorks ConnectIQ app on your Garmin Edge and log in.  This will bring up a screen in Garmin Connect on your phone asking you ti authorize the Trailforks ConnectIQ app  (I think this was a step).  

Anyway, once logged into the ConnectIQ app on the Garmin, you should be able to 'Unlock' the Trailforks basemap on the Edge.  This is just a one-time thing and you won't have to do it again.  You also will not need phone connectivity to use trailforks basemaps once this is finished.  Hopefully that helps

With Trailforks active on the Mountain Bike profile, I noticed areas that have Trailforks maps will clear out all the built in map data (openstreetmaps) so you might not see those elevation lines, streams, OSM trails, etc.  

Is everyone experiencing this? I deactivated the trailforks map, which is the reason I've bought the device in the first place, weeks ago because of this. It's a joke to see only the trailforks maps without osm. And not usable. 

It should be a map setting rather than forced.  I used to run TF transparent maps over OSM on my Edge 1030 and it would get pretty crowded and hard to read when you have duplicate trails from TF and OSM.  But I do find myself missing things now, like where OSM maps exist that aren't in Trailforks - I just don't see them now.  Maybe another (new) thread on this topic might gain some traction.  I thought about testing a road / gravel profile with trailforks maps enabled - not sure if that would make a difference.  Then again, I'm not sure that you would get the other MTB metric features.  

Same problem with Garmin 830 version 3.50.  The Trailfork maps are opaque and 100% obscure the base map making the Trailfork maps useless for urban greenbelts.

I so wanted this feature to work flawlessly, this would be the one reason I'd purchase the unit!

I think Garmin needs to start again and release a Edge 530 mark 2 that just does everything as it should!

That's not realistic considering they copied over bugs to the 530 that we had been complaining about for ages with the 520.

I think we would all prefer they had fewer features, but features that actually work.