"MattB" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:
[email protected]...
> I've been thinking about a new GPS for a while, as well as a new bike
> computer (yes, I know some of you think they are stupid) and I see Garmin
> makes a couple of units designed to be bike computers. I like the idea,
> and it would make switching between bikes easier because I wouldn't have
> to remember to reset the wheel size.
> I'm thinking the Edge 205 would be plenty. The 305 also has a HRM and
> cadence sensor which I doubt I'd ever use.
> Any first-hand experiences out there?
>
> Thanks,
> Matt
I have been using an Edge 305 for 2 months now and I have been very pleased
with it.
The Edge is very good for recording gps data of your rides but is not so
good for navigation. (It is a training aid/cycle computer) There are no
maps, directions, ect. The only way to really navigate with the Edge are:
backtracking, the compass and following loaded courses. Courses can be
created from previous rides that you have done, this guys site/utility
http://www.bradculberson.com/cc/map.html (he works for motionbased.com which
is owned by Garmin) and soon you will be able to export other peoples rides
as courses from
www.motionbased.com . Motionbased has a very active Edge
forum and is a good place to get up to speed on what the Edge will/wont do
and known issues. (The Edge has user upgradeable firmware so as issues come
up Garmin can release fixes-- in the two months I have had mine Garmin has
two firmware upgrades.)
I bought the whole 305 package with heart rate monitor and speed/cadence
sensor. I really wanted the heart rate monitor-- I only got the cadence
sensor because the bundle with everything was just a few bucks more. I am
glad I did, I put the cadence sensor on my road bike where I have found it
useful. I ride alternating between maintaining heart rate,speed and cadence.
It is kinda fun on long rides, helps me mix things up a bit. On the mountain
bike it works just the same-- only difference is it uses gps for speed and
don't get a cadence reading.
The unit comes with two handle bar mounts, usb cord and ac charger. The unit
has a built in battery which is supposed to last 12 hours between
charges.(Seems to) It can be set up for three different bikes. The display
is highly user configurable and can display ride data (up to 16 fields on
two screens), courses, compass, elevation profile, virtual partner and some
other stuff I am forgetting.
One of the advantages of the 305 over the 205, beside ability to use the HR
and S/C sensors, is the 305 has a barometric altimeter. From what I have
read barometric is greatly superior over gps for these things.
The biggest issues I have had with the 305 are speed and distance spikes
exiting tunnels and the virtual partner function in it's current
configuration is useless. Garmin is aware of both-- the firmware release
2.40 was to have fixed the speed/distance spikes. It did not-- but it is
better. The vp issue has not been addressed yet. The vp runs based on data
contained in a courses created from previous rides. If I had to stop on the
previous ride the vp stops even though I may continuing on the current ride.
It makes it very difficult to race if we are both stopping at different
places and times. Supposed to be fixed in future releases.
You can see some of my ride here
www.bodenet.net/rides I had knee surgery
over the winter (too many moguls over the years) so I have been mostly a
roadie thus far this year. Below the maps should be links (if they are
working-- motionbased has been having server issues) to my data on
motionbased.com there you can see lap info, elevation, heart rate...... HTH
Steve