Apr 19 2008
Garmin Edge 305HR GPS Navigator and Bicycle Computer with Heart Rate Monitor and Cadence Sensor
Garmin Edge 305HR GPS Navigator and Bicycle Computer with Heart Rate Monitor and Cadence Sensor
built-in high-sensitivity SiRFstarIII GPS receiver continuously tracks and uses up to 12 satellites to compute and update your position * built-in patch GPS antenna * wireless heart rate monitor with chest strap * wireless speed and cadence sensor * built-in lithium ion rechargeable battery provides up to 12 hours of operation *
User Reviews
4 Stars Great gadget, but fairly limited training software
Must say that the unit works very well, really enjoying it, my only disappointment is the software, I have a polar heart rate monitor as well, and that software is far superior to the Garmin software. The analysis of your training information is not all that good, you cant look at the graph on longer rides as it is too small and you cannot zoom in and many others.
But all in all a great device!
1 Star Not for LWB Recumbents
I purchased the Garmin Edge 305 to go on my Burley Canto. Unfortunately, due to the requirements for aligning the GSC 10 Sensor with the pedal and spoke magnets, I can’t use it on my bike. According to the instructions, “Both magnets must be aligned with their respective indication line and be within 5mm of the GSC 10 for the Edge to receive data.” This just isn’t possible with a LWB recumbent. I understand there is a way to take the sensor apart and rewire it so it works with recumbents, but I’m not comfortable doing that. Garmin really missed on this one. Fortunatly, Amazon is great about accepting returns. Am I disappointed??? Yep.
3 Stars A mixed review ( the good, the bad and the ugly )
Positives:
1) Many features ( read product description )
2) Generally usable by people who have photosensitive epilepsy and who do NOT tolerate blinking or flashing or scrolling displays. HOWEVER!
a) Satellite icons on GPS page blink on and off and this page cannot be removed from page display sequence. ( as can be done with Garmin trail units )
b) Cadence and heart rate icons blink. ( you have to tape over the top margin of the LCD display )
c) Reset is very nice as it does a non-seizure producing countdown to reset display ( the Sigma units blink and blink and blink )
d) Garmin is three quarters the way to accessibility unlike Sigma computers which are horrible
3) Wireless cadence and speed sensor is relatively easy to set up. ( You push the reset button on the sensor and each time the crank arm or the spoke magnet passes the sensor and triggers it; a correspondingly colored LED blinks ONCE )
Negatives:
1) Installing the cadence magnet on the crank arm is a total pain in the neck. The magnet MUST be within 5mm or so of the sensor. I finally gave up on the Garmin hardware and used the much larger Sigma crank arm magnet ( which extends 3/4″ out from the crank arm ). This worked immediately. Garmin is cheap, cheap, cheap in this respect. If you want to save a lot of time and trouble, buy a Sigma unit with cadence just for the crank arm magnet.
2) Limited battery life. Batteries are NOT replacable and Garmin makes no provision for connected an external battery throw the USB port.( the battery life is about the norm for GPS units; this is a comment, not a criticism). If you do long day rides you are going to have a dead battery. You really have to have two bicycle computers. One is a more standard bicycle computer without GPS so you can get statistics for the entire day.
3) Too many features and too many data fields and not enough user configurable pages ( there are only two general purpose pages ) to display it all. There should be, say, ten user configurable pages ( you should be able to select how many you want ). You should be able to configure each of them as you desire (ie: display speed and distance and slope on one page; display heart rate and cadence and speed on another; etc. )and to name them as you wish (ie Cycling, Performance, Trip Totals, etc. ). You should be able to group them into named sets such as Cycling, Training, Summary, etc and you should be able to select which pages are associated with each set.
If it were not for the impossible to install cadence crank arm magnet; the inability to disable pages ( GPS information ); partial inaccessibility for people with photosensitive epilepsy; insufficient number of configurable pages; this unit would get an A- or so.
Comments:
1) Sigma wireless units are totally unusable for people with photosensitive epilepsy or who are bothered ( or worse ) by blinking displays; they just blink and blink and blink. ( I threw away my Sigma 1606L DTS - this is where I got the nice crank arm magnet. I placed one of these abominations on a friends bicycle. As soon as you turn it out it blinks and blinks and blinks ( because the bicycle is not yet moving. this is trash design )
2) The manual for the Garmin Edge 705 is now available on the Garmin website. Having read the manual, I would not purchase the unit.
a) If you need GPS roads, buy a real GPS unit such as a Garmin 60CSX with on-the-ride replaceable batteries, pages that can be enabled or disabled and a larger display.
b) It still only has two fully configurable pages. ( the Garmin 205/305 and 605/705 have a lot of useful data and there are probably 15 fields that you would want to display )
4 Stars Would be perfect but…..
I’ve used my Garmin Edge 305 nearly every day since purchasing in early Dec. It has everything I need in a gps/cycling computer, the heartrate monitor works well, the wireless speed/cadence feature works great and I love downloading each workout for review on [...]. I didn’t realize my addiction until oneday, about two weeks ago, when unplugging it from my computer that it suddenly just stopped working! I went into mini shock hoping it would miracoulously turn back on. Of course it did not. I called Garmin and they acted like they had never heard of one breaking before but they did give me an RA# for return. I sent it back and once they received it they gladly overnighted a new unit my way. I would easily give this product 5 stars had it not died in the first six weeks of its short life. I have heard of other unit failing but I thought I would take my chances. Still, I give this unit four stars because it is great for what it does and because Garmin sent me a replacement in timely fashion. Just be aware that you may encounter a few problems if you purchase this item.
2 Stars Too many bugs for the price.
The features and price make it seem to be a value on paper. But when you try to use it, the design flaws are readily evident. One of the major ones is with the heart rate monitor. I was getting ridiculous readings on a relatively flat ride. I was getting readings in high zone 4 and 5 all ride. It read my resting heart rate at almost 120. The garmin website says the static electricity from synthetic clothing can cause faulty readings. Since almost all cycling clothing is synthetic, this is a major design flaw. It doesn’t sound like they are planning on fixing the problem either. Their brilliant suggestion; buy cotton clothing. Cotton is not a good material for a base layer(for any sport). Instead of purchasing this unit, buy a decent heart rate monitor from another manufacturer, and a basic sigma or cat eye cycling computer. Garmin should stick to GPS.
