Garmin Edge 205 GPS-Enabled Cycling Computer

by Garmin

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 1.8 x 0.9 x 3.7 inches ; 3 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000BKP7ZW
• Item model number: 010-00447-10
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description Whether you're prepping for your next ride or just want a more accurate way to measure your performance on the trails, the Garmin Edge 205 GPS-enabled Personal Trainer and Cycle Computer can help. The Edge 205 is easy to use, requires no calibration, and features customizable screens and data fields to meet your needs. Measuring speed, distance, time, calories burned, altitude, climb, descent, and more, the Edge 205 will help you to always know where you are and how far you've gone.

Main menu. View larger.

Bike computer display. View larger.

Course with elevation profile. View larger.

The Edge 205 GPS-enabled personal trainer and cycle computer is the ultimate fitness partner. View larger.

The Edge 205 is easy to use. Simply take it out of the box, snap it into the included bike mount, and hit the road. The high-sensitivity GPS receiver knows your position even in tree cover and canyons, making the Edge 205 an extremely reliable navigation device. And with the customizable cycle computer, you can select from up to eight different data fields for continuous feedback. Garmin goes well beyond typical cycle computers by integrating GPS technology for basic navigation. In addition, the Edge 205 gives you the ability to overlay your ride data onto a course map and even "race" a virtual partner. This is a great way to make your training fun and push you toward your goals.

The included PC-based Training Center software gives you the tools to create workouts, manage and download courses, and create a detailed post-ride analysis that charts your performance and measures your speed, distance, climb, descent, and heart-rate data against varying terrain, elevation, and other conditions. And with the Edge 205's built-in USB interface, uploading and downloading information is simple and fast.

The virtual partner screen depicts a digital cyclist (representing your desired speed) in relation to your real-time speed. From this set of data the icons will show how far ahead or behind you are from your digital competitor. The Courses feature allows you to race against a recorded course to try and match previously set speeds at every point along the way. By combining the Virtual Partner and Courses features, you can race an opponent who varies speeds while climbing hills and navigating turns.

Training in urban areas can be tricky, and traffic congestion can skew training data. To help remedy this problem, Garmin has included an auto-pause function that pauses the training timer when you slow down below a specified speed and resumes when you speed up again so you can focus on your ride, not on data collection. And with the auto lap function, this smart little device automatically triggers a lap every time you pass a specified location or travel a preset distance.

With its sleek, waterproof design (the Edge 205 meets IEC 60529 IPX7 standards, which means that its components can be submerged in one meter of water for 30 minutes), the Edge 205 is the perfect companion for any bike, and it can attach to either the stem or handlebars. This lightweight device (88 grams) is powered by an 800mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery and delivers an average of 12 hours of use per charge. The rugged case frames an easy-to-read, large, backlit display that makes it a breeze to view the data fields. So whether you're racing against your virtual partner, fighting to shave precious seconds off your old record, or training for the next big race, the Edge 205 is there to help monitor your progress and make you a better cyclist.

What's in the Box
Edge 205, bike mount, Training Center CD, A/C charger, USB PC interface, quick reference guide, and owner's manual.

Product Description

Take your ride to the next level with the Edge 205 Garmins GPS-enabled personal trainer and cycle computer. Perfect for touring and the trails, the lightweight Edge is the ultimate fitness partner. With the easy-to-use Edge 205 on your bike, you always know where you are going and how far you have gone. The Edge 205 measures speed, distance, time, calories burned, altitude, climb and descent, plus much more. 205 features include: Easy-to-install - no calibration required. Just snap it in the included bike mount and go High-sensitivity GPS receiver knows your position even in tree cover and canyons, making it extremely reliable for navigation Customizable cycle computer shows up to eight different data fields for continuous feedback Virtual Partner lets you race a virtual competitor, making training fun Courses lets you race against a recorded course to try to match previously set speeds at every point along the way Auto Pause pauses the training timer when you slow down below a specified speed and resumes when you speed up again so you can focus on your ride Auto Lap automatically triggers a lap every time you pass a specified location or travel a preset distance Training Center software gives you the ability to create workouts, manage and download courses, and create a detailed post-ride analysis that charts your performance With its waterproof, sleek design, the Edge is the perfect companion on any bike, and attaches to either the stem or handlebars. Its rugged case frames an easy-to-read, large, backlit display that can show up to eight different data fields along with altitude and a map view. Included Training Center software gives you the ability to overlay your ride data onto a course map. It offers interactive analysis tools that measure your speed, distance, climb, and descent against varying terrain, elevation and more. Create and schedule custom workouts or use workout templates and download to the Edge. Cyclists: get your Edge from Garmin

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

105 of 117 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A GPS that cannot tell you where you are!, February 17, 2006

By 

Michel4388 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Garmin Edge 205 GPS-Enabled Cycling Computer (Electronics)

Starting with some positive comments, the unit itself (hardware) is nice, it's slightly larger (thicker) than a standard mobile phone and feels sturdy. The screen is clear (but small) and buttons feel nice and are well placed. The unit has the new SirfStarIII technology for increased sensitivity, e.g. under tree cover, and my limited experience until now is that the reception is indeed good.

So not a bad unit, but it should be understood that this unit is set up as a trip computer, and not as a navigation unit (although it does have some navigation options). It has some nice options like racing a virtual partner, which are well documented on the Garmin web-page. What the web-page does not make very clear though is:
- It cannot give you the current position!!!
- It does not have WAAS/EGNOS for better location precision
- It does not have the "Upcoming turn feature" that the Geko has
As a trip computer it has the following limitations:
- The speed it gives fluctuates significantly more than with a normal (simple) cycle computer with a wheel sensor.
- The height fluctuates so much that the grade it gives is completely useless (note that the Edge 305 should be better as it has a barometric sensor as well). Also, the total ascent and descent will systematically be too high. In a test I left the Edge for two hours in the same place, and had it record every second. Minimum height was 51m, maximum height 84m, total ascent 215m, total descent 218m, and maximum speed 3.5km/h.

The included Garmin training center software works okay, but is very limited:
- You cannot combine tracks (to upload to the Edge e.g.).
- You cannot compare more than two tracks.
- It only exports data in Garmins own (and uncommon) .hst file format
Also note that if you want to overlay your track onto a map, you will need other software. The user manual (printed out) isokay but also very limited.

The Edge comes with a rechargeable battery that is not user exchangeable (tip: instead of using the car-charger, it may be possible to use a universal USB car charger and the supplied cable at a fraction of the cost. Note however that I have not yet tested this).

I mainly bought this unit to map mountainbiking tracks in order to be able to combine the best trails into some nice routes, and then use the Edge to find the routes. Using some third party software, this is possible, but it should have been much easier. I assumed I would be able to use it together with a map while hiking, and was very (and unpleasantly) suprised to learn that I bought a GPS that cannot tell me where I am.

I am still hoping that Garmin can do an update of the firmware (I am using version 2.30 now) such that the unit gives the current location (ideally with an option for different grids). Without this option, two stars is all it gets from me.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Addressing accuracy concerns..., June 10, 2007

By 

D. Morrison (New Mexico, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Garmin Edge 205 GPS-Enabled Cycling Computer (Electronics)

I got my 205 this weekend, and after reading reviews here, I was concerned about the accuracy, especially when elevation is involved. To this end, I left my Cat Eye Mity 8 on the bike for the first ride so that I could compare the two. Before I actually used the Edge on the bike, I updated the software from the Garmin website. There are two updates you need to install - the GPS firmware, and the device firmware. The ride I went on was a 33 mile road loop, 5000ft to 6150ft, with a 6 mile, 3% average grade hill.

Speed: I was worried that the speed of the GPS would lag, but it updated as fast as the Cat Eye, and was more precise, since the Cat Eye only shows speed in increments of 0.5 mph above 20 mph.

Distance: The GPS recorded a distance of 33.32 miles, and the Cat Eye recorded 33.66 miles. I think that matching each other within 1/100 of a mile per mile is pretty amazing. On the open road (in NM roads can get pretty open), GPS accuracy was reported as 8ft to 10 ft - that's less than two bike lengths.

Elevation: The elevation seemed more or less accurate, and the curve drawn in the software is very smooth. The percent grade seemed very accurate, and matched percent grade that I calculated using TOPO! elevation profiles.

Calories burned: Without a heart rate monitor, I think this estimate is bunk. It's unclear if it uses percent grade in the estimate, and I have a hard time imagining that I burned 2000 calories on that 33 mile ride. On the other hand, it's a great excuse for a post ride burrito.

Software: The software (on my Mac) is easy to use, and displays information in a useful manner. It is a one step operation to make a route into a course, and one more step to put the course on the GPS. When you "Do the Course" (Garmin's term), it shows you a map, a compass, your virtual riding partner, or an elevation profile. Note that there is no elevation profile when you are not "Doing a Course", but that seems OK to me - after all, you can look behind you to see what you just climbed up. You really want a profile to show you how close you are to a summit or flat, and that is only possible when the entire route is known ahead of time (i.e. a "course").

Issues: There are some issues. Just like my old ETrex, the map never centers itself well on the screen. The Lap and Start/Stop buttons are sensative, so you need to be careful not to hit them if you do something like stretch over the stem while riding. The USB port cover is indeed a pain to get fitted correctly. The screen is harder to see, especially in dim light, than my Cat Eye is.

Other Notes: The Edge 205 comes with two bike mounts, so don't order two extras for three bikes, like I did. Also, the water bottle that comes with the 205 is twist open to drink, so it's not a bike bottle. Sort of dumb, but then who buys this thing for the bottle?

Bottom Line: I have no regrets about buying the Edge, and no regrets about getting the 205 rather than the 305. I'll be taking my Mity 8 off the bike tonight.

40 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very cool, very useful, and very informative, March 25, 2006

By 

Andrew Kent (Westborough, MA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Garmin Edge 205 GPS-Enabled Cycling Computer (Electronics)

I was a bit dubious about swapping out my regular cyclocomputer, especially for the extra dollars. Could something like the Edge 205 really give me that much more than the distance, speed, and time information I usually acquired with my $30 computer? Well, after a few rides with the 205, I can say that I'm a fan. The thing went on in a jiffy, works like a charm, and gives me all sorts of information I didn't have before. Wonder why that hill is so tough? Well, dummy, it's 13% grade. Didn't know that before. Wonder how much of that ride was spent ascending? Oh, about 1/3. Didn't know that before. How much climbing did I do on that ride? Oh, about 2,500 feet. Didn't know that before. And all this from a ride I've done at least a dozen times, and one I consider to be a "throwaway" training ride. A very cool, useful, and informative device. Well done, Garmin.