stapfam

I know it is not a mistake but the Garmin Edge 305 has finally come down to a sensible price here in the UK. Looked at the later versions and the cheaper older ones too- but the later ones are way out of my price range. The edge 305 seems to be the one for cycling so just ordered from Amazon. Cost about $300- which is better than the £325 they were a couple of months ago. ($2 to the £)

I might finally be able to tell how high Our slopes go up to in the area- Or at least once I get used to using it. So any tips on what software to use- Tips on setting up and what problems I might experience. Got the version with the cadence sensor by the way so that may complicate.

tsl

Just so you know, they'll get real affordable after the 605 and 705 ship. It has been alleged this will happen this month.

jppe

I've had my 305 now for over a year and still very much rely on it. The whole thing can be installed in less than 15 mins including the cadence sensor. I have cadence sensors on all 3 of my bikes and all 3 work very well. Batteries are the very common CR3025 I think......and mine usually last about a year. Be sure store the crank with the magnet away from the sensor otherwise you'll be changing the battery much more frequently.

Tip-if it doesn't come the way you need it, you can rotate the "holder" that the 305 fastens to 90 degrees-you want to rotate it before you install it on either the stem or the bars. I like mine on the stem and have all mine mounted that way.

You can set up to 3 different "bike profiles" on the 305. A bike profile includes the bike weight and some other stuff I believe. Then before you ride a different bike you just change the 305 to either Bike 1, 2 or 3. You can also change from Bike 1,2 or 3 while you're riding.......it will happen. You know it when the cadence isn't working on the display. Each cadence sensor is set up independently for each bike. In fact it will auto program the wheel circumference when you first ride with it if you put a magnet on the rear wheel. The only time mine has lost satellite while riding was in a tunnel and the magnet on the wheel kicked in.

There are 2 display screens-1 and 2. You can scroll from 1 to 2 and back with the up and down arrows on the right side. I think you can have up to 8 displays on each screen at one time. However the numbers get so small I don't like having more than 5 on a single screen. My typical setup is having 5 fields of data on each screen. With 5 on a screen-the value at the very top is in really big numbers. I put HR at the top on one field and slope at the top of display 2.

You don't have to put "feet climbed" in one of the displays. It shows up on one of the other screens as you scroll around hitting the mode button and you can see it while you are riding. This is handy when you're doing rides with 10,000 ft of climbing to know how much climbing is left!!!

There is a backlight on the screen for looking at it at night. Just press the top left button once.

If the battery in the unit ever gets very, very low, it will automatically lock up. I think this happens to everyone at least once. Don't panic. It's easy to unlock it-just go to Garmin's website and they have the instructions. It's just a matter of hitting the right buttons in the right sequence.

I've only used training center (not too good......) and Motion Based free service. Neither are worth very much but I hear Sport Tracks is pretty good. I think Beverly might be using that????

I hope this helps.

dendawg

I've had my 305 for 2 years now and love it. It's a great bike computer that uses GPS technology. It doesn't do mapping so I may upgrade to the 705 when it becomes available, so I don't have to carry along a mapping GPS along with the 305.

BengeBoy 

I got a Garmin 305 for Xmas and I have to say I'm not loving it. It's OK, but even at lower prices, I keep thinking it isn't that much more useful to me than my $25 wireless Cateye computer.

I got the Garmin because I wanted to keep track of my cadence. It turns out that my cadence is pretty much exactly what I thought it was, and it doesn't vary a lot. Occasionally I glance down and see the need to kick it up a bit...but not very much.

I also enjoy the elevation tracking...I like knowing the grade of an elevation, and tracking how many feet I've climbed on a ride.

But all in all I wish that I had waited until the 705 comes out, because I think the live mapping would occasionally be useful to me.

Normally I love gadgets...this one just hasn't done it for me.

Beverly

Yes, I use Sport Tracks. I also load my data into the Training Center software provided by Garmin. Between the two I can get most data in the format I can use. Sport Tracks is a little more flexible in storing data under different categories but it lacks reporting capabilities. I never used Motion Base so I'm not familiar with its report functions.

Garmin announced last year they would be releasing "Garmin Connect" for the 305's. They indicate it will be the Motion Based service with all the bells and whistles. They announced it would be available January 2008 but I haven't been able to find it.

I've been watching the 705's and hoping they come down in price soon

stapfam

OK

It arrived yesterday and easy enough to programme in the details etc. Haven't fitted the cadence sensor yet but took a ride last night. It works and surprising how steep a %age some of my slopes are. Took it to work and used it on the 30 mile trip in the car. Have to try and get the map sorted as apparantly I spent a lot of time Offroad in the car.

Hate instruction books but can't see a way of downloading a Graph of Elevation etc into a usable format so that I can post it on the forum- Any give any clues?

To be honest- At the price this has come down to- I will probably have a Heart monitor to pass onto my son-in-law shortly. and a Wireless computer or two. Everything in one unit and not a great size or weight attached to it. Just hope that I have the capabilities to use it properly.

stonecrd

One key thing, make sure when you store your bike that your crank and rear wheel magnets are not next to the cadence sensor. If you leave them next to it, it will continue to send signals and you can drain the cadence sensor battery in a day or two. I always make sure I rotate the wheel and crank so the magnets are not close to the sensor. If you do this the HR and Cad batteries last about six months.

As for software get SportTracks, https://www.zonefivesoftware.com/SportTracks/Downloads/, the software is donarware and you can do a whole lot more than with Training center.

The Smokester

Stapfam,
Just wanted to note some caution given to me by my local friendly LBS: I have two bikes on which a 305's cadence sensor is mounted. When I positioned them, I was advised to make sure that there was no way the the sensor, if hit accidently with something like the side of one's foot, can get knocked into the spokes. He recommended to position the sensor far enough forward on the chainstay that part of the sensor would hit the braking rim instead thus blocking it from the spokes. Obviously, we are talking about the main body of the sensor, not the little speed sensor arm attached to it.

Hopefully, this will reduce the possibility of an accidental wheel lockup at some inopportune time.

cccorlew

Do you have a Mac? Check out Ascent software. It's great!
The most fun is sending your ride to Google earth and watching your ride in 3-D on the terrain.