What software version is on your Edge. I think this was an issue that 2.3 fixed but 3 am not positive. Regardless the fix is to delete the files from your computer.

sorry I wasn't clear, but in any case I updated to 2.3 a few days ago, but that was subsequent to deleting the history that raised the question, where as noted the unit now says no history saved but when the 705 is connected to the computer and I go into the garmin file structure the garmin history folder still contains all the daily history files. My suspicion is that what gets del'd is table of contents file not the files.

but you said files must be del from the computer, did you mean del files from the garmin history folder via the computer?

you said files must be del from the computer, did you mean del files from the garmin history folder via the computer?

Sorry, you are right. Manualy delete them from the history folder while plugged into your computer.

I've been using the 705 since April and have updated to 2.3. I also traded in my SD card for the DVD. We just did a week long tour and there were, happily, no glitches. I do have some questions though.

1) how does it estimate time to next point when navigating? It appears to take more then current speed into account. Is it average speed over a certain period of time? This came up both on the bike and when using it in the car to navigate.

2) I put each night's motel in as waypoints. I followed the day's cuesheet but when we got close I did a find places to the motel waypoint and it did not provide turn by turn directions. I was surprised because that works when I put it in as an address. It did show how far I was away and estimated time to waypoint. Did I miss something to get the turn by turns?

I guess that's all for now.
Thanks,
Sheila

1) how does it estimate time to next point when navigating? It appears to take more then current speed into account. Is it average speed over a certain period of time? This came up both on the bike and when using it in the car to navigate.


In car mode I am pretty sure that it uses the road class to determine what a "normal" speed would be. As for when riding I have watched this and it appears that the unit uses about 12.5mph even when my average for the lap is about 20mph and about 18mph for the entire ride.


2) I put each night's motel in as way points. I followed the day's cue sheet but when we got close I did a find places to the motel way point and it did not provide turn by turn directions. I was surprised because that works when I put it in as an address. It did show how far I was away and estimated time to way point. Did I miss something to get the turn by turns?


Do you have the routing set to Off Road by chance? The are 3 choices for bicycle routing in the setup menu:
1) Prompted - Will ask you when routing if you want to use #2 or #3 below when you tell it to go to some place
2) Follow Road - Calculates the route using turn by turn directions
3) Off Road - Does not calculate turn by turn, gives distance in direct line only

Hope that helps.

using ver 2.3 here and took my bike up to the mountains for a ride - turned on the unit up there and elevation seemed about correct and all functions worked fine on the ride. turned theunit off and drove home and now elevation is about 3,200 feet off. anyone have any ideas why? can i just reset the elevation function? am i being punished for not riding all the way up there?

This was a common problem with the pre 2.3 software. Have you tried a soft reset (lap + mode)?

Have you let the unit sit in for a period of time outside with a good satelite fix?

When you go to save the current location does the unit display the correct elevation?

This was a common problem with the pre 2.3 software. Have you tried a soft reset (lap + mode)?

Have you let the unit sit in for a period of time outside with a good satelite fix?

When you go to save the current location does the unit display the correct elevation?


did a soft reset and i let it sit overnight with good sat fix - no dice. also save current location shows the wrong elevation.

Just got my 705 and set up is... shall we say... non-intuitive. I hope I'm doing things right. This thread is really handy though, and I'd like to thank everyone for their contributions. A summary at some point would be really really handy.

Does anybody know what those blue flags are that appear on the map screen?

They all seem to be labelled "undefined." For instance, I loaded a map (GPX via Saved Rides) that I created on mapmyrides.com. A bunch of blue flags appeared near the starting point. Each one has that label.

Does anybody know what those blue flags are that appear on the map screen?

They all seem to be labelled "undefined." For instance, I loaded a map (GPX via Saved Rides) that I created on mapmyrides.com. A bunch of blue flags appeared near the starting point. Each one has that label.

I am guessing that since the MapMyRide file you downloaded is a route those may be some of the waypoints that are in the GPX file. If you were to open the GPX file in Map Source you would be able to do a little more digging about them.

I am guessing that since the MapMyRide file you downloaded is a route those may be some of the waypoints that are in the GPX file. If you were to open the GPX file in Map Source you would be able to do a little more digging about them.

I'll have to open it in mapsource then when I get at chance. I guess I must have done something in the mapmyride interface that created them. Does anyone have a good suggestion on an alternative website for mapping that creates simple gpx files that run smoothly via the Saved Rides menu? Also preferably also with a less cluttered interface that the one at mapmyride.

I use MapMyRide to create Saved Routes and have never had any flags appear on the map. The interface seems relatively easy to me: create the route, plug in the Garmin, export to GPX and you're done. I am still occasionally having issues using the Saved Routes, but blue flags and difficulty exporting are not among them. I tried using Veloroutes once but something I did caused it to create too many waypoints for the Garmin to handle so I went back to MapMyRide.

I want to purchase the 705 without dvd and sd card.What dvd should I purchase,and where?With the 500 gig internal memory,I've read it will load all of the United States,but Alaska,is this true.Should I purchase a one or two GB SD card?Can I use the 705 strictly as a trainer, heart rate, cadence,etc without using GPS will it extend battery life? thanks for any input.

I want to purchase the 705 without dvd and sd card.What dvd should I purchase,and where?With the 500 gig internal memory,I've read it will load all of the United States,but Alaska,is this true.Should I purchase a one or two GB SD card?Can I use the 705 strictly as a trainer, heart rate, cadence,etc without using GPS will it extend battery life? thanks for any input.

As for what DVD that depends on if you want topo or detailed street maps. If you want topo maps look at Topo 2008. Keep in mind that topo maps do not route and are not searchable. In addition the data on them is not current for streets. As for street maps get the City Navigator 2009. I have heard that Amazon is very competative.

The Edge's internal memory will not hold the entire USA. The City Nav SD card version takes up about 1GB of a the 2GB card it comes on. If you try and put the entire USA from a DVD version on the a 2GB version it will fit but takes up slightly more space.

You can turn off the GPS receiver and I am sure it will extend the battery but I cannot tell you by how much. Most of us are experiencing 14+ hours on a fully charged battery.

As for what DVD that depends on if you want topo or detailed street maps. If you want topo maps look at Topo 2008. Keep in mind that topo maps do not route and are not searchable. In addition the data on them is not current for streets. As for street maps get the City Navigator 2009. I have heard that Amazon is very competative.

The Edge's internal memory will not hold the entire USA. The City Nav SD card version takes up about 1GB of a the 2GB card it comes on. If you try and put the entire USA from a DVD version on the a 2GB version it will fit but takes up slightly more space.

You can turn off the GPS receiver and I am sure it will extend the battery but I cannot tell you by how much. Most of us are experiencing 14+ hours on a fully charged battery.

luv2climb,thanks for the response:)I've been reading page upon page is this post,I don't need topo maps, just street maps.I thought it was better to purchase dvd vs getting map on sd card?I thought the purpose of having the sd card was to save routes?One more quick question,when winter arrives will speed and cadence sensor work on indoor trainer?Thank you for your time.

Yes, the sole reason I bought the speed and cadence sensor for my 305 was this, and it works fine indoors. My 705 has been working great (still have my non working elevation issue, but the place I bought the unit is getting me a replacement, so I'll be fine till then).

As to the SD card, I have city nt 2009, and the entire us fits on about a gig, slightly less, so it's def worth it to get an sd card. Additionally the gps has about 500 megs free on it, I curretnly have about 300 miles loaded in from saved rides and I'm using 4 megs of space in the \Garmin\History folder, so I would think that would translate roughly into 40 megs per 3000 miles (give or take) so you're looking at a lot of space to store history on the device. I really like this feature, as one of my biggest concerns is losing my ride data due to a hard drive crash (Might be why my tcx history backups are all over my assorted drives). :)

Love the Garmin Edge series, I've got over 8000 miles logged using the 205 at first, then upgraded to the 305, and now the 705. Doesn't get any better, and if you start shopping the high end bike computers, Garmins prices are right in line iwith them, with a LOT more features.

Joe

I've owned Garmins such as the GPS-V in my motorcycling days and still use a Forerunner 305 every time I run. So yesterday I got a 705 as a gift. One question I have is on using the PC to define Mapsource routes. The model I got came with City Navigator on the uSD card, so I can't get at those maps with Mapsource (I would have preferred a 705 w/o the card and City Nav on DVD).

However, I do have some other old Garmin routable map products such as Metroguide and City Select. If I define and calculate a route using one of these maps, then download the map to the Edge, will it work? Any other alternatives?

It's also unfortunate that I do a good bit of riding on our excellent local rail-trail network (paved & unpaved), but City Navigator doesn't know much about these. In fact, they still show up on the map with railroad track graphics. Too bad it's not like Delorme products where you can define your own routable roads & trails.

Some other first (for me) Edge 705 comments:

- I couldn't believe how fast it acquired the satellites, especially on the first power-up out of the box. Way faster than my Forerunner 305!

- I have two bikes and actually now have two cadence units. I bought one a while back to use with my Forerunner, but never really used it much on the bike. I assume the 705 will sync up to two different units, maybe keeping track of them by Bike 1 and Bike 2?

- Anyone have trouble keeping that cadense sensor pod in place? I took it off my other bike because it would get bumped just moving the bike around, and then it'd be pinging against the spoke magnet or whatever. Wish there were something more secure than tie-wraps.

- Having used a Forerunner 201 and now 305, I of course understood all the training options and settings right away. But the manual is really light on talking about the routing capabilities and options, just saying that it can do it. Any sites or ad-hoc user guides that details some of these operations?

Anyway, my road bike is all set up for my first big ride with the Edge tomorrow. Looking forward to it!

Why is city nav better on dvd than sd disk?Is there a program to transfer info from dvd to sd card(I have never done that)?

I thought it was better to purchase dvd vs getting map on sd card?I thought the purpose of having the sd card was to save routes?

It is best to buy the maps on DVD. This way you will have the maps on your computer and you can then transfer them to an SD card. If you buy the maps pre-loaded on an SD card you NOT have access to them on your computer if you want to plan your rides and download them unless you use one of the online tools. You can save routes on the SD card or the internal memory, makes no difference.

One more quick question,when winter arrives will speed and cadence sensor work on indoor trainer?

Yes, you simply turn off the GPS in the settings screen. This is when I use the pre-planned workouts the most to walk me through a workout session.

EDIT: For the unit to work on a trainer you NEED the speed/cadence sensor.

However, I do have some other old Garmin routable map products such as Metroguide and City Select. If I define and calculate a route using one of these maps, then download the map to the Edge, will it work? Any other alternatives?


Yes they will work. I have the SD card in my Edge and I have City Nav v8 on my PC. Initially there were some issues when you downloaded routes from different map versions however I believe that this issue has been corrected in one of the updates.

The alternatives would be some of the online sources like MapMyRide.com and BikeRouteToaster.com.

I have two bikes and actually now have two cadence units. I bought one a while back to use with my Forerunner, but never really used it much on the bike. I assume the 705 will sync up to two different units, maybe keeping track of them by Bike 1 and Bike 2?

Yes it will pair with each sensor via the Bike 1, 2 or 3 profiles.


Anyone have trouble keeping that cadense sensor pod in place? I took it off my other bike because it would get bumped just moving the bike around, and then it'd be pinging against the spoke magnet or whatever. Wish there were something more secure than tie-wraps.

Most folks seem to have success. Have you placed any rubber or double stick tape under the unit? This helps to give it some bite and then just make sure that the zip ties are very tight.


Having used a Forerunner 201 and now 305, I of course understood all the training options and settings right away. But the manual is really light on talking about the routing capabilities and options, just saying that it can do it. Any sites or ad-hoc user guides that details some of these operations?

A good soure for some more detailed help would be:

http://forums.motionbased.com/smf/index.php?board=86.0

Why is city nav better on dvd than sd disk?Is there a program to transfer info from dvd to sd card(I have never done that)?

If you purchase City Nav on DVD it will come with MapSource. This is Garmins program for managing their map products. You can actually download it for free from their website. MapSource functionality includes the options to transfer the maps you choose to either the Edge or the SD card.

Something to note is that the Edge can only handle up to a 2gb SD card so dont waiste you money buying anything bigger.

If you purchase City Nav on DVD it will come with MapSource. This is Garmins program for managing their map products. You can actually download it for free from their website. MapSource functionality includes the options to transfer the maps you choose to either the Edge or the SD card.

Something to note is that the Edge can only handle up to a 2gb SD card so dont waiste you money buying anything bigger.

A big thank you luv2climb for explaining this to me.Why would they preload an sd card when it seems you have more options with the dvd?

I'm finding the user manual to be little more than a quick guide. I can't really find out much of what the 705 is capable of without resorting to trial and error. Is there a more "techie" version of the manual out there? For example, I can't figure out how much memory the unit has without a card in it. Do I even need a card for most applications? How many rides can be stored? The FAQ on Garmin's site is helpful, but really hard to nagivate.

I did "go for a ride" and record the results on the Training Center. I guess that's the basics. I did make a few errors trying to figure out how to stop the ride, but was able to also figure out how to delete the extra data.

I haven't figured out how to have multiple bikes/car mode yet, but probably will.

I'm finding the user manual to be little more than a quick guide. I can't really find out much of what the 705 is capable of without resorting to trial and error. Is there a more "techie" version of the manual out there? For example, I can't figure out how much memory the unit has without a card in it. Do I even need a card for most applications? How many rides can be stored? The FAQ on Garmin's site is helpful, but really hard to nagivate.

I did "go for a ride" and record the results on the Training Center. I guess that's the basics. I did make a few errors trying to figure out how to stop the ride, but was able to also figure out how to delete the extra data.

I haven't figured out how to have multiple bikes/car mode yet, but probably will.

A great source of more detailed discussion can be found over here:
http://forums.motionbased.com/smf/index.php?board=86.0

But some specific answers:
- A card is not needed to access any of the features of the Edge. It only allows for expanded memory of up to 2gb.
- The number of stored rides is dependent on the size of the files. The size of the file is controlled by many variables: length of ride, accessories in use (heart rate, power meter, speed/cadence senor, etc)
- Multiple bikes are set up by going menu/Settings/Profile & Zones/Bike Profile.
- Car/Bike mode refers to how it routes if you have routable maps loaded. To set this go to menu/Settings/Routing.

As you have more questions feel free to post.

Hi all,

For those watching this thread Garmin has realsed update 2.4. Here is list of changes:

Changes made from version 2.30 to 2.40:

Fixed problem where stopping and restarting the timer could cause invalid track points.
Fixed problem where an invalid power value could be logged when stopping and restarting the timer.
Improve battery checking to remove inadvertent shutdowns.
Fixed problem where speed sensor data was not used when GPS signal was lost.
Fixed problem where low or 0 speed could be recorded prior to a turn.

For the newbies you will need the Garmin WebUpdater to install this. You can get it here:

http://www8.garmin.com/support/collection.jsp?product=999-99999-27

Just so I don't get surprised, what happens the first time I try to upload from my 705 into Training Center if I've been using TC with my Forerunner 305? Will I have to set up a new user, or can I use both devices under my current user account?

Just so I don't get surprised, what happens the first time I try to upload from my 705 into Training Center if I've been using TC with my Forerunner 305? Will I have to set up a new user, or can I use both devices under my current user account?

When I added my 705 it simply added it as a new device under the same user.

Fixed problem where speed sensor data was not used when GPS signal was lost.


I loaded it just before my ride tonight, then came home and dumped the data into Training Center.
For the first time, Training Center didn't report some ludicrous burst of speed where I pass through that pedestrian tunnel a mile from home. It often claims I briefly hit ~200mph at that point.

Thanks for the help luv2climb, and thanks for the heads up on 2.4. I figured out that I needed to use the joystick to access some of the features I was missing.

For the first time, Training Center didn't report some ludicrous burst of speed where I pass through that pedestrian tunnel a mile from home. It often claims I briefly hit ~200mph at that point.

Running the Detroit Marathon with my Forerunner is always fun when we go through the Detroit-Windsor tunnel, which is over a mile long running under the Detroit River. Fortunately, it has always picked me up when I emerge from the tunnel and just straight-lines my route in between, which is actually not that inaccurate. But it does throw off the course mileage by a bit.

Is there anything stated about functioning at low temperatures? We used the 705 for a week-long tour and it worked flawlessly. Except...on the one morning where we didn't stay in a motel, I left the device on the bike OUTSIDE. It got pretty cold, maybe below 40. It took the device at least 30 minutes to warm up enough to fully function correctly. It was mostly the heart rate that was wonky. We climbed a hill my heart rate read 35! I thought maybe it was reading temperature instead of HR! I'm assuming the issue was leaving it out in the cold overnight. Won't do that again!

Is there anything stated about functioning at low temperatures? We used the 705 for a week-long tour and it worked flawlessly. Except...on the one morning where we didn't stay in a motel, I left the device on the bike OUTSIDE. It got pretty cold, maybe below 40. It took the device at least 30 minutes to warm up enough to fully function correctly. It was mostly the heart rate that was wonky. We climbed a hill my heart rate read 35! I thought maybe it was reading temperature instead of HR! I'm assuming the issue was leaving it out in the cold overnight. Won't do that again!

No experience with my 705 as it hasn't snowed yet. But I'd assume it is the same as with my 305, which I had the same problem when I rode in 20 degree weather all the time.

Try wetting the contact points on the HR monitor strap. Spray some water on it from your water bottle, lick your fingers and smear it on, or, ideally, dip it in warm water.

My guess is that the issue is more with the HR strap than the Edge. Just like JPradun mentions you may have to pay more attention to ensuring that the HR strap has good contact in the cold. In addition the CR2032 battery in the HR strap may not have liked the cold either so keeping it warm may be neccesary.

Does the 705 use the same cadence sensor as the 305 - can I reuse the sensors I already have? What about bar mounts?

Does the 705 use the same cadence sensor as the 305 - can I reuse the sensors I already have? What about bar mounts?

Yes it does, I am using the sensor I bought for my 305 without issue, well for the most part, the battery died in my cadence sensor last night, and after replacing it, my speed and distance were off this morning, so I have to clear my device profile, replace the battery in the sensor again, and see if that fixes it.

Joe

Does the 705 use the same cadence sensor as the 305 - can I reuse the sensors I already have? What about bar mounts?

Yes you can reuse the cadence sensor. However, the bar mounts are different. The 705 has a larger, more sturdy clip.

Is there a bike powered USB charger available that would work on the Garmin 705 for long trips away from batteries/AC etc.?

Is there a bike powered USB charger available that would work on the Garmin 705 for long trips away from batteries/AC etc.?

I recently came accros a thread talking about hubs that will power a USB jack. I think it was in the Electronics, Lighting and Gadget forum but I do not recall what it had in it.

I do have one of these that will power my Edge:

http://www.solio.com/charger/explore-solio/solio-magnesium.html

Cool thing about this is that it will power my phone, ipod, or Garmin. Very flexible device BUT does require that you keep it pointed at the sun. This may be hard while riding but not when you are stopped.

So from what I understand, if I just want to follow a cue sheet, the best way would be to create a course from the cue sheet with turns rather than a route. With a route, if you go off it, the 705 will change the route so you go directly to the finish. Is this correct?

So from what I understand, if I just want to follow a cue sheet, the best way would be to create a course from the cue sheet with turns rather than a route. With a route, if you go off it, the 705 will change the route so you go directly to the finish. Is this correct?

With the route I have heard mixed results:
- It reroutes you to the end
- It reroutes you to the next waypoint
- It reroutes you back to the original route just fine

I prefer the course option myself as it removes all possibility of error. You will get a warning that you are off the course. You can then navigate yourself back to the course where you want to.

Thanks for the info! My 305 is starting to crap out on me after 2.5 years, randomly dying. The battery is down to about half its original life too. While I can get it refurbed for $99, I get this gut sense I'd be throwing good money after bad. Especially since I can reuse the cadence sensor(s). Time for a 705!

Thanks for the info! My 305 is starting to crap out on me after 2.5 years, randomly dying. The battery is down to about half its original life too. While I can get it refurbed for $99, I get this gut sense I'd be throwing good money after bad. Especially since I can reuse the cadence sensor(s). Time for a 705!

Have you asked them how much they will give you a 705 for instead of the 305?

I enjoy using my Edge 705 but I am disappointed to learn from the folks here that the altimeter uses barometric pressure. I notice that each morning when i turn on my Edge I get a different altitude for my house, ranging from -20 feet to +300 feet. I have a Suunto watch altimeter and that allows you to reset the altitude whenever you are at a point with known altitude. Why didn't Garmin build that in? Or even better, use the GPS technology to determine altitude. Then they could have done away with the barometer altogether--seems like that would be much better engineering. Anybody have any insight into what they are thinking? Or if there is a tricky way to reset the altimeter or get it to be more accurate?

I agree that there should be some way to set the altimiter. In general the barometric altimeter is more accurate than the GPS based especially if the US military turns on selective adjustment.

Myself and many others have asked for the ability to set current elevation get built into a future update. If you want to request this take a stroll over to Garmins website and submit the request via their tech support.

It's my understanding that barometer reading is the only way to get "slope" right. When you use GPS to determine altitude, you get a different random error at each sample point, which makes "slope" almost impossible to compute. With barometric reading, you get a larger base error, but it's consistant between data points. Thus, slope is more accurate at the expense of accuracy in the value of altitude.

As a training tool, it's much more important that the device gets the slope right rather than the altitude. Also... I've found that the altitude reading really improves over time. Give the 705 a few minutes warm up and it will give you a more accurate altitude.

As someone who had a unit with a broken altimiter, i can attest that it does indeed use gps to determine some of the altitude, as I could get climb and descent numbers (Though both seemed off on some rides) but could never get an altitude fix on the altitude screen, or a grade reading, or total climb or descent during a ride. The unit would give those numbers after a ride, but never during.

I'm waiting on my replacement unit which should correct my missing altitude issues.

Joe

I was just about to go out and purchase a 705,but... my wife tells me to wait for Santa:).My question is since it will be cold and snowy here in IL,will I be able to use the auto wheel size adjustment when my bike is on an indoor trainer?I will have the speed and cadence sensor.

I was just about to go out and purchase a 705,but... my wife tells me to wait for Santa:).My question is since it will be cold and snowy here in IL,will I be able to use the auto wheel size adjustment when my bike is on an indoor trainer?I will have the speed and cadence sensor.

No you will not however you can use the manual setting for your specific wheel and tire combo.