Product Description

Take your ride to the next level with the Edge 305 - Garmin's GPS-enabled, personal trainer and cycle computer. From competitive road racing to mountain biking, the cyclist-friendly, lightweight Edge will help you achieve your personal best. With the easy-to-use Edge 305 on your bike, you'll always know where you're going and how far you've gone.For advanced cyclists, the Edge 305 comes packaged with either a heart rate monitor or wireless speed/pedaling cadence sensor to provide valuable feedback. Heart rate and speed cadence are also sold separately as accessories so you can incorporate both features into your training. In addition, the Edge 305 incorporates a barometric altimeter for extremely accurate elevation and vertical profile data. Recreational cyclists looking for the perfect touring companion and fitness partner will love the Edge 305.The Edge 305 with heart rate lets you see whether you are training too hard or not enough. The heart rate monitor uses a robust wireless technology that eliminates cross-talk and interference and sends heart rate data to the Edge via a soft, comfortable chest strap. This data is stored with each track point for post-workout analysis.With its waterproof, sleek design, the Edge is the perfect companion on any bike, and attaches to either the stem or handlebars. Its rugged case frames an easy-to-read, large, backlit display that can show up to eight different data fields along with altitude and a map view.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1931 in Consumer Electronics
• Size: Garmin Part #010-00447-20
• Brand: Garmin
• Model: 010-00447-20
• Dimensions: 3.70" h x .90" w x 1.75" l, 3.54 pounds
• Native resolution: 128 x 160
• Display size: 1.8

Features

• Includes Highly Sensitive GPS Receiver For Accurate Data
• Monitor Emphasizes Form Factor, Feature Set & GPS Sensitivity
• Sirf-Stariii Receiver For Great Reception In Challenging Conditions
• Lightweight & Waterproof
• Monitors Vertical Profiles, Climb & Descent, Altitude, Speed, Distance & Time

Amazon.com Product Description
Amazon.com Product Description Whether you're prepping for your next century ride or want a more accurate way to measure your performance on the trails, take your training to the edge with the Garmin Edge 305HR GPS-enabled Personal Trainer and Cycle Computer. The Edge 305HR is easy to use, requires no calibration, and features customizable screens and data fields to meet your needs. Measuring speed, distance, time, calories burned, altitude, climb, descent, and more, the Edge 305HR will help you to always know where you are and how far you've gone.

Main menu. View larger.

Bike computer display. View larger.

Course with elevation profile. View larger.

The Edge 305HR with heart rate monitor is the ultimate GPS-enabled fitness partner for cyclists. View larger.

With a built-in barometric altimeter and heart rate monitor, the Edge 305HR goes a step beyond its little brother--the Edge 205. The altimeter delivers extremely accurate elevation readings, and a chest strap monitor sends your heart rate data to the 305HR via a robust wireless transmission. In addition, the 305HR is compatible with the Garmin Speed/Cadence Sensor. This optional, self-calibrating wireless sensor attaches to your bike's rear chain stay and delivers speed and pace data while you train.

The Edge 305HR couldn't be easier to use. Simply take it out of the box, snap it into the included bike mount, and hit the road. The high-sensitivity GPS receiver knows your position in tree cover and canyons, making the Edge 305HR an extremely reliable navigation device. And with the customizable cycle computer, you can select from up to eight different data fields for continuous feedback. Garmin goes well beyond typical cycle computers by integrating GPS technology for basic navigation. In addition, the Edge 305HR gives you the ability to overlay your ride data onto a course map and even "race" a virtual partner, making your training fun while helping to push you toward your goals.

The included PC-based Training Center software gives you the tools to create workouts, manage and download courses, and create a detailed post-ride analysis that charts your performance and measures your speed, distance, climb, descent, and heart rate data against varying terrain, elevation, and more. And with the Edge 305HR 's built-in USB interface, it's quick and easy to upload and download information.

The virtual partner screen depicts a digital cyclist (representing your desired speed) in relation to your real-time speed. From this set of data the icons will show how far ahead or behind you are from your digital competitor. The Courses feature allows you to race against a recorded course to try and match previously set speeds at every point along the way.

Training in urban areas can be tricky, and undesirable traffic can skew training data. To help remedy this problem, Garmin has included an auto-pause function that pauses the training timer when you slow down below a specified speed and resumes when you speed up again so you can focus on your ride, not on your data collection. And with the auto lap function, this smart little device automatically triggers a lap every time you pass a specified location or travel a preset distance.

With its sleek, waterproof design (the Edge 305HR meets IEC 60529 IPX7 standards, which means that its components can be submerged in one meter of water for 30 minutes), the 305HR is the perfect companion on any bike, and it attaches to either the stem or handlebars. This lightweight device (88 grams) is powered by an 800mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery and delivers an average of 12 hours of use per charge. The rugged case frames an easy-to-read, large, backlit display that makes it a breeze to view the data fields. So whether you're racing against your virtual partner, fighting to shave precious seconds off your old record, or training for the next big race, the Edge 305HR will help to monitor your progress and make you a better cyclist.

What's in the Box
Edge 305 with heart rate monitor, bike mount, Training Center CD, A/C charger, USB PC interface cable, Quick reference guide, and owner's manual.

Customer Reviews

Nice unit, poor software [Roadie perspective]
Despite a large number of user and site reviews to the contrary I believe this item is let down by poor software design and quality. The Edge products are something of a 'hook' item in that they are sufficiently crippled out of the box to require subscription to online services or other products. Having used the unit for about 3000km now I think I can offer some addition perspective to what is already out there...

Don't get me wrong the concept of a GPS based cycle computer is great - I regularly and easily swap it between the bikes I frequently use without wires or calibration. The unit feature set is also pretty comprehensive, in fact one has to be quite judicious in display setup options so as not be overwhelmed by data. The GPS chip is plenty good for road, quick(ish) acquisition and tracking sufficient for speedo accuracy etc. With the good stuff out of the way...

But - and for me this is considerable but - the unit firmware is flakey (you will have to figure out how to do a soft reset as the unit will freeze up on you), and the Training Center software is even worse. Here come the hooks, for me (in NZ) the basemaps included for course planning are practically useless (though there is a way to create your basemaps own if you have the time and data), the cost of correcting this the Garmin way is horrendous [h1]. A great alternative, however exists in MapMyRide (though you don't get to insert course waypoints). But you still have to resolve the following...

Getting data in and out of the unit becomes more problematic over time, in fact I have installed Training Center on 3 separate PCs (all of the XP variety) and all of them stopped receiving data from the GPS with an error sooner or later. Sometimes they would receive sometimes they wouldn't - final resolution was a complete uninstall (AND manual user dir delete). The alternative is use of the MotionBased site, (2) though paid subscription is required [h2] for a full suite of services. An alternative exists again in the form of SportTracks, a great donorware piece of software (no affiliation).

Other minor gripes include the usual - HRM interference, at times poor barometric related elevation performance - especially in the wet [don't even think about it in heavy rain]. GPS related gripes - the Course following option is a little flakey if created via software as opposed to ride history. Lapped or complex courses (retracing sections) also problematic - a moving snake option highlighting the current, say 1km, section of the course would alleviate this somewhat though. Finally you'd think you would be able to 1. insert an autolap point on a course *before* you rode it (like a lapping waypoint), and 2. insert more than one autolap points. But no, you cannot achieve either of these with the 305 Edge.

In summary, yes the Edge 305 is full featured and bloody convenient for multiple bikes. After you get the unit turned on, the on bike features even work pretty well. The great letdown comes when you want to download, analyse and share all that data you collected out on the road, or heaven forbid do some planning before you hit the road to take advantage of a GPS platform. If you are prepared for multiple workarounds on the SW side of things the Edge 305 is still a great option, if not its power (and potential) is wasted and you'd be better off with a Polar or similar speedo.

Edge 305 Firmware 3.20
Training Center Version 3.2.3

Hope this helps.

Ron
ps. I wouldn't even think of dropping money on an Edge 605/705 until these SW issues are sorted. More bug testers and actual cyclists involved in the next edition please Garmin.

A decent GPS, so-so cyclometer, so-so training tool
I can appreciate Garmin's effort to get into the cycling/training market. BUT.....

These are issues that I've found:

(1) The GPS tracks in forest but the MPH becomes slower and therefore inaccurate. I compared with the Cateye cyclometer already on my mtn. bike and there is almost a 1.5-2 mph slower difference on average because of inaccurate GPS.

(2) Calories burned is also not accurate. I called tech support at Garmin, and they admit as much. I was going downhill for about 3 miles on my road bike and calories burned showed 345! When I went uphill for a 6 mile climb of 1900 feet the Edge showed 350 calories burned--definitely not right. They need to re-figure their algorithm, and they admit it.

(3) The cadence sensor can be a pain to use. It doesn't seem to work all of the time.

(4) Expensive--it may have the combo of GPS/cyclometer/HR but it's still pricey, and really doesn't any of them well. If you want GPS then take the $350.00 and invest in a pure GPS unit. A cyclometer/HR training monitor can be had for less than $350.00

Track every juicy detail of your next bicycle ride...
I upgraded to the Edge 305HR after owning the 205 for about 5 months and after deciding that I wanted heart rate information to accompany the wealth of information that was already being captured by the 205.

I've used the new Edge 305HR for about 60 miles of combined road and mountain biking. Like the 205 it captures a wide range of information about your ride - distance, elevation, calories burned, etc.

After following the directions (which involve wetting the sensors prior to putting on the heart rate monitor), I've found that the heart rate information is incredibly reliable. It is great to see, for example, that on a recent 32 mile ride in a hilly area of Northwest San Antonio that over an hour of the ride was at my target heart rate (80% of my maximum heart rate). I upload my info from the Edge and take advantage of the free Motionbased.com account in order to chart my progress.

I have experienced ZERO problems with erratic heart rate readings, etc. that have been indicated in previous reviews of this unit. I'd suggest owners of the 305HR that are having these problems should review the instructions carefully (making sure that the sensors are wet and the unit is snug on the body...just below the breastbone) or contact Garmin to order a replacement.

This unit is working exactly as advertised and will provide a great deal of quality information to help you achieve your training goals.