Customer Reviews

Garmin Edge 305 Waterproof Cycling GPS With Speed/Cadence

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Garmin, with the Edge 305 heart rate/cadence, has set the standard and literally eliminated the competition. The only thing the others can do at this point is to copy in attempt to duplicate. We have (2) with HR and CAD. Both have been used on the flats of Los Angeles County to the hills of Orange/San Diego County. The GPS has never failed to work. Actually nothing on the Edge 305 has failed to work with about 1000 miles on each. You can program the screen to display multiple items and with a glance see all of your desired information. I monitor Speed, Distance, Elapsed ride time, Time of day, HR, CAD and Calories. Heck, The Edge 305 is better than the bike! The training software is also outstanding.
The only negatives have nothing to do with actual computer performance and in my opinion include:
*Price-This toy aint cheap.
*Size-Relatively big for a bike computer, but very light.
*Battery-Our units both are safe from four (4) to six (6)
hours.

I've tried all different types of bike computers, and this, to me, was going to be the holy grail. Although the price is very high, it has a lot of functionality that I wanted. One really cool thing is that it gets coverage everywhere. I went to one place where my older eTrex never got coverage, and this worked flawlessly.

One downside is the heart rate monitor. Despite the fact that this device supports HRMs, it doesn't support the HRM standard, which means you need to buy the special Garmin-made HRM strap, which costs over double the price of other ones. You may ask Why, like I did, and the response is that this is a one of a kind device. Bad answer. The obvious one is "We want to make more money by marking the price up by 3000%!". Oh well, it is a neat device.

I returned to cycling after a 20-year hiatus last year. Being a dyed-in-the-wool sucker for gadgets, I had to get the Garmin 305 as my bike computer. Cyclist friends of mine made fun of its size, made fun of my desire to map my rides afterward, and generally mocked the device. I ignored them, and I'm glad I did.

The 305 has been a great training partner. Thanks to its data recording ability, I can really easily correlate perceived effort on a day's ride with my actual performance in terms of speed, heart rate, and cadence.

Setting up all of the sensors on the bike was relatively straighforward (though the combined wheelspeed and cadence sensor setup was somewhat novel), and the directions were clear. You charge the 305 through its USB port. It comes with a separate power supply so that you can either charge it from a wall outlet, or from the USB cable connected to your computer.

On the bike, the display is large and clear. I've found it readable in any of the lighting conditions in which I'd be willing to ride the bike. The interface is relatively easy to navigate, though a bit puzzling to set up. Garmin's origins in navigation show in a couple of funny places. One of them is the default data fields displayed on the device: your heading is shown by default in the five data field configuration that I prefer, but your heart rate isn't. I was able to reconfigure it to display the fields that I watned to see, but I found the choice surprising in a product that is ostensibly aimed at athletes.

In use, I found that the GPS reception was generally good even in tree-shaded areas, but the startup process can sometimes be irritatingly slow. Data reception for the heart rate and cadence sensors has been glitch free.

In terms of durability, I've banged the 305 around quite a bit and ridden it in conditions that left other electronics begging for mercy (don't ride in the driving rain without putting your mobile phone in a plastic bag). The 305 still performs like a champ thousands of miles later.

As a Mac user, I found the Mac support lame at first, but it has been steadily improving with Garmin's release of their Training Center software for the Mac, a Mac version of their Web Updater tool, and improvements they've made to Mac support [...]. It's still not perfect, but it's very useful.

The ultimate endorsement of the 305 is that I'll be replacing it soon. Garmin has announced their upcoming new generation of Edge cycling units, and the 705 looks too good to pass up. I'm hooked on the capabilities and insight that the 305 has given me, and I'm looking forward to even more with Garmin's next generation.

Overall:
This is a clever and easy to use little device, but it comes with very poor mounting hardware. This is my first GPS.

Pros:
The GPS has helped me find me way when I've gotten off course. Since it doesn't have street maps, it works by tracking your course then guiding you back to the course. There's also a homing feature to guide you back to a home location.

The altimeter is very accurate, relying on GPS and barometric pressure to measure elevation gain/loss.

It's nice to be able to download the data onto a desktop computer for viewing and archiving.

Lots of third parties offer software to help you view the data online and/or share it with friends (i.e., motionbased and trimble-outdoors).

The unit is highly customizable, and the screens can be set up with any number of bits of information (up to 8 pieces of information a time per screen). There are several "views" including ones that shows just a course map. The software is relatively easy to use.

It's fun to find or make a route worth exploring using a route toaster, then going to the new place with the help of the Garmin 305's course map as a turn-by-turn guide.

Cons:
My only real complaint is the mounting hardware. For a $300 bike computer - the mounting hardware is the worst. The unit comes with two mounts (one for the handlebar, another for mounting on the stem). Both of my mounts started to crack after two weeks, and were broken within 60 days. I emailed Garmin and they emailed me back saying the mounts are not in stock, check amazon for prices. I've been carrying the unit in my pocket and looking at data after my ride.

I recently purchased the Garmin Edge 305, w/cadence, plus I added the heart monitor a couple weeks later. I commute daily on my bike and I do 350 - 450 miles per week, with weekend centuries. This is a great tool for anyone who wants to have a better understanding of their effort and cadence. I have found very quickly that by focusing on my cadence and heart rate, I have improved my overall times and have become even more efficient on my bike. The ability to, customize the display, set up interval trainings, upload rides to the computer, analyze the ride as a whole or part and compare to other days is outstanding. I would recommend the Garmin to anyone who wants to become serious about cycling, get the most out of their time on the bike, and improve their performance. A little expensive but worth every cent. It has even helped me find my way home when I have gotten out in an area I am not as familiar with. Must have for anyone who really wants to track results, understand effort, maintain data and improve performance. One negative is the battery life is truly only about 6 -6.5 hours, so for the longer rides I have left my Cateye on my bike so I have some reference for speed, mileage etc... another is the unit will go to "sleep" if left for more than a couple of days, but by holding both the Mode and Reset button for 30 seconds it will "wake" the unit back up. Still awesome!!! Ride Strong!!!

A good product, but there are some problems with this device that are not advertised. Though the manual states that it will store 2 years or 1000 laps worth of data, this is NOT entirely true. It only stores the total distance ridden; no heart rate, cadence, altitude or speed and map data is saved. If you are going on a multi day ride, make sure you upload your data daily, if you want to track yourself on a map or follow your fitness in detail, or count your vertical meters..

Also even though there is a magnet on the spokes and a sensor or the chainstay, the unit records data ONLY from the GPS. If you are in alpine style valleys, tunnels, or anywhere with limited access to the sky, the data recording will switch on and off, giving a false track. If you are riding steep hills where your speed is low, the accuracy of the data recording (+/- 20 feet or so) will sometimes cause the computer to think you have stopped or surged ahead, also giving a false track.

Occasionally the unit will appear to be broken. It is important to know (and not mentioned in the manual) that you need to hold down the mode and reset buttons together for 5 seconds and then the computer will reset itself. This can happen while riding or when trying to turn the unit on.

The unit itself is quite good at what it does. However, the mounting bracket is utterly useless. It is a small and flimsy piece of plastic and it will break. Make sure you use rubber bands or something as a safety so that when the mount DOES break, your unit won't fly off onto the road.

The software included with the package is not the best. You cannot compare sections of rides with each other (favorite hills etc) you can only compare entire rides with other entire rides. To compare short sections of rides you need to export the data, filter it manually, and then do something with that data, such as make a graph on a spread sheet. There are no filters within the software, so it can happen that your speed might sometimes exceed 999 miles an hour, your heart rate drops to 20 bpm (or 300 bpm), and often you start and end a ride at the same place, but the software thinks that you are considerably higher or lower when you return. Often your altitude is recorded as a negative number if you are close to sea level. Often times your individually marked laps overlap each other, so that comparisons cannot be made between them. These are not major problems, but they do show a lack of craftmanship in and otherwise good package.

Device works great but wish there was a way to have a route map with speed and hr on it as well. The bracket either needs to be rethought or you have to remember to place your fingers on the opposite to the button you're pressing you can NOT just push the buttons on the left otherwise it pops off the bracket and bounces down the road nicely.

I had my Edge 305 for less than a year before it started having problems. The unit just simply powers itself off during high speed descents and rough road patches. I thought this might be due to excessive vibration...so I tried to come up with some different mounts to remedy the problem. The next spring the power issue became overwhelming and I contacted service for repair. To their credit, even though I was about 3 months past warranty, they agreed to cover the repair. I FedEx'd my unit and was told there would be a 10-day turnaround. After 3 weeks I called to find out the status of my RMA...at which point I found out Garmin had LOST my unit. They sent me a refurbished unit. The refurbished unit arrived on a monday. It worked that first day. On Tuesday, the GPS would not acquire any satellites and was worthless. I called Garmin the very next morning and they have agreed to send me a new "in the box" unit. However there will be another 10 day lead time.

For most of us, all we really want are interesting numbers and the Edge 305 delivers in spades! The screen is adjustable to make it easy to read, backlit for night use and it collects more data than can be displayed during the ride. The Training Center software works well and collecting that data can be useful in certain situations. The company however has terrible customer service. After 2-3 years, the 305 tends to develop a problem and it turns itself off every time you hit a bump. Working in a bike shop, I have the opportunity to talk with a lot of people about products and confirmed I am not the only person to experience this problem. For $80 or so and if you jump through a few hoops, Garmin will send you a refurbished model. Maybe it will work, maybe it won't. I bought a new mount for the unit (The first two had broken already) with the refurbed model. When the refurb wouldn't work, Garmin said they need the original receipt from the original purchase (It was a gift, no receipt was included) and without that, Garmin would do nothing, except ping my debit card for the defective refurb. I returned the defective unit, along with printouts of E-Mails and dates of phone conversations including the name of the customer service representative I spoke with. Garmin never responded. Good product, Bad company.

Works well but has several shortcomings. It is difficult to read due to small font and also difficult to see whether the HR and cadence monitors are connected and functioning. Battery doesnt last very long and almost ran out on a century ride ( 6 hrs). logistics of getting to ride information is inferior as there is no separate button like the 705 has.
Good value for the money however.