I had my riding buddy and friend Dan borrow a Garmin from me. He has written a review of it which follows.
Hands on Review: Garmin 305By Daniel Sprietzer, Editor Dailyspinnews.com
Recently I was fortunate enough to have been given a Garmin Edge 305 to review by the Crofton Bike Doctor, and I have to say that I was ecstatic over the opportunity to test it out. For the last few years, I have tested/ridden with everything from Polar’s to Powertap’s, but this was the first chance I had to test out a cycling GPS unit.
Set-Up The Garmin 305 system I received was the Edge 305 + cadence (also includes heart rate strap). Having gotten the 305 home, I immediately began to set it up on my bike, and it was probably one of the easiest bike computers that have ever been installed on my bike. Like many systems, the Garmin uses a magnet on the crank arm and on the rear wheel spoke. Unlike many systems, I did not have to fiddle with it for hours trying to get it to read the passing magnet. The cadence part of the system uses a very simple green light system that allows you to move the magnets past it and see how strong the connection via a little green light that glows brighter with a strong signal. A few passes and I was read to set up the computer. Having set up several bike computers in the past, I was ready for the daunting task of button mashing and swearing, but again the Garmin was very simple in its set up. All that was required was to follow the steps, filling out things like my weight, my bike’s weight, etc. One nice feature was the “auto” determination of my wheel size, which with some systems has been my bane in the past. I also modified what the screen was going to display for information, which did take a bit of electronica know how but again was pretty easy in comparison to some systems. Finally I installed the bracket to hold the computer on my handlebars and I was ready to roll. (Again all hardware installation is very easy, but if you have any difficulties be sure to talk to your LBS!)
On the Road
After an eternity of waiting for my 305 to connect with the satellites (ok eternity was less than a minute, but I was ready to GO!) I was rolling down the hill from my house (which I learned thanks to the 305 is a -3% grade hill). While I could go on and on about how many different little tools there are on the 305, I believe it will suffice to say that it is not lacking in providing you with information. I set mine up to reflect the following; Time, Speed, Grade, Elevation, Heart Rate, Cadence, and Distance. A few other things you could show are Lap time/distance/speed, Calories, Sunset/Sunrise, and the list goes on and on. Overall, it took a bit to get used to looking down at the system and learning where my speed vs. my cadence were etc, but again that’s not really the systems fault, just a fact of riding with a computer.
Ride Analysis
Having gone out on the first ride, I got home and loaded up the packaged software that the system comes with and downloaded the ride to my computer. Garmin has two systems in place, a local computer program called the Garmin Training Center and Motion Based which is an online workout/route analyzing system, both of which are free to use. Overall, the Garmin keeps a nice clean record of my rides and allows me to quickly tally up how many miles, calories, avg speed, avg cadence, etc that I have ridden over the course of a day, week, month or year. It also allows you to set up workouts that you upload to your Garmin and thus allow you to compete against a “ghost” rider…aka you compete against your last time on the given route. One really cool feature was when I was out riding and decided to do one of my workout rides about half way through the route, and the Garmin adapted and picked up where I was and placed me into workout, adjusting all the time goals etc to where I was. Very cool! While Motion Based also allows me to view the same data, its strength comes in a couple of different ways. First, it has a map player which is tied in with Google Maps that allows you to see your route and watch your ride progression. Second, it allows you search their databases for routes other riders have uploaded (and left public) and then download them to your Garmin as a ride workout route. This works out great if you’re a: bored with your current riding/training routes and need something new or b: if your away from your usual stomping grounds, just download a few routes and hit the road wherever you may be. If you’re in a new area where you don’t know the lay of the land so to speak, just use Google to get directions to get to your new starting point and then start your course on the Garmin and just follow the course arrows. Simple as that. The last highlight, although a minor feature but a lot of fun, allows you to compare rides with your buddies no matter where they are riding. I recently “raced” my good friend who lives in the Nashville, TN area over a 20 mile route with approx. 1100 ft of climbing. After both of us had our routes, we then compared them to each other and compared results (while he beat me in ascending speed, I beat him in pace, avg speed, avg heart rate (zone), and overall time). So what isn’t so great with the 305? Well, it doesn’t do anything with power. So if you want to have a power reading you will have to run a separate system, but beware you may be accused of having a dashboard on your bike or asked where the monitor goes or well you get the idea. Also the 305 doesn’t have any sort of mapping ability. While I stand by the view that as a cyclist, I can’t really get lost (since I can just turn around and go back the way I came…) it would be nice to have some sort of mapping system that shows me where I am, especially when I’m out exploring new roads or areas. [Ed. Fortunately the Garmin 605&705 systems will have a basemap system for just that!]
The Pros:
- Easy set up
- Workout system makes it fun to train
- Lots of ways to view your on deck display to suit your needs
- Calorie formulas take into account everything! (which tends to give very accurate Caloric counts)
- Makes riding solo fun and competitive
The Cons:
- No live “where the am I” mapping system
- No way to share routes via Google’s turn by turn with non-Garmin users (can be done with third party sites)
- No power training tools (coming with the 705, but still limited in which systems it will work with)
Overall: The Garmin 305 is a great system for any level of cyclist. Go out and buy one today! Thanks to the Crofton Bike Doctor for allowing me to test out this system!
