Garmin 010-00447-00 Edge 305 CAD Bicycle Monitor and GPS with Cadence Sensor
By: Garmin Average Rating: 4.0 Total Reviews: 8
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 On: 2008-06-12
Product arrived on-time. Excellent price on Amazon (through Warehouse Deals versus current market price). Fairly easy to install. Have used on aggressive mountain bike trails (mounting method is solid) and on the road. Have also used it to navigate with - this is not going to give you Car GPS functionality. Any route you want to follow you will need to pre-load and use BikeRouteToaster or other application to make a .crs file - some fiddling required - the result is a black line you will need to follow (no map / other roads shown). I used it for Bike to Work week and followed a route through the center of Baltimore on quiet back streets - no problem - 1st time I used the unit out of the box. Happy so far.
On: 2007-10-23
I returned to cycling after a 20-year hiatus last year. Being a dyed-in-the-wool sucker for gadgets, I had to get the Garmin 305 as my bike computer. Cyclist friends of mine made fun of its size, made fun of my desire to map my rides afterward, and generally mocked the device. I ignored them, and Im glad I did.
The 305 has been a great training partner. Thanks to its data recording ability, I can really easily correlate perceived effort on a days ride with my actual performance in terms of speed, heart rate, and cadence.
Setting up all of the sensors on the bike was relatively straighforward (though the combined wheelspeed and cadence sensor setup was somewhat novel), and the directions were clear. You charge the 305 through its USB port. It comes with a separate power supply so that you can either charge it from a wall outlet, or from the USB cable connected to your computer.
On the bike, the display is large and clear. Ive found it readable in any of the lighting conditions in which Id be willing to ride the bike. The interface is relatively easy to navigate, though a bit puzzling to set up. Garmins origins in navigation show in a couple of funny places. One of them is the default data fields displayed on the device: your heading is shown by default in the five data field configuration that I prefer, but your heart rate isnt. I was able to reconfigure it to display the fields that I watned to see, but I found the choice surprising in a product that is ostensibly aimed at athletes.
In use, I found that the GPS reception was generally good even in tree-shaded areas, but the startup process can sometimes be irritatingly slow. Data reception for the heart rate and cadence sensors has been glitch free.
In terms of durability, Ive banged the 305 around quite a bit and ridden it in conditions that left other electronics begging for mercy (dont ride in the driving rain without putting your mobile phone in a plastic bag). The 305 still performs like a champ thousands of miles later.
As a Mac user, I found the Mac support lame at first, but it has been steadily improving with Garmins release of their Training Center software for the Mac, a Mac version of their Web Updater tool, and improvements theyve made to Mac support [...]. Its still not perfect, but its very useful.
The ultimate endorsement of the 305 is that Ill be replacing it soon. Garmin has announced their upcoming new generation of Edge cycling units, and the 705 looks too good to pass up. Im hooked on the capabilities and insight that the 305 has given me, and Im looking forward to even more with Garmins next generation.
On: 2007-10-22
I returned to cycling after a 20-year hiatus last year. Being a dyed-in-the-wool sucker for gadgets, I had to get the Garmin 305 as my bike computer. Cyclist friends of mine made fun of its size, made fun of my desire to map my rides afterward, and generally mocked the device. I ignored them, and Im glad I did.
The 305 has been a great training partner. Thanks to its data recording ability, I can really easily correlate perceived effort on a days ride with my actual performance in terms of speed, heart rate, and cadence.
Setting up all of the sensors on the bike was relatively straighforward (though the combined wheelspeed and cadence sensor setup was somewhat novel), and the directions were clear. You charge the 305 through its USB port. It comes with a separate power supply so that you can either charge it from a wall outlet, or from the USB cable connected to your computer.
On the bike, the display is large and clear. Ive found it readable in any of the lighting conditions in which Id be willing to ride the bike. The interface is relatively easy to navigate, though a bit puzzling to set up. Garmins origins in navigation show in a couple of funny places. One of them is the default data fields displayed on the device: your heading is shown by default in the five data field configuration that I prefer, but your heart rate isnt. I was able to reconfigure it to display the fields that I watned to see, but I found the choice surprising in a product that is ostensibly aimed at athletes.
In use, I found that the GPS reception was generally good even in tree-shaded areas, but the startup process can sometimes be irritatingly slow. Data reception for the heart rate and cadence sensors has been glitch free.
In terms of durability, Ive banged the 305 around quite a bit and ridden it in conditions that left other electronics begging for mercy (dont ride in the driving rain without putting your mobile phone in a plastic bag). The 305 still performs like a champ thousands of miles later.
As a Mac user, I found the Mac support lame at first, but it has been steadily improving with Garmins release of their Training Center software for the Mac, a Mac version of their Web Updater tool, and improvements theyve made to Mac support [...]. Its still not perfect, but its very useful.
The ultimate endorsement of the 305 is that Ill be replacing it soon. Garmin has announced their upcoming new generation of Edge cycling units, and the 705 looks too good to pass up. Im hooked on the capabilities and insight that the 305 has given me, and Im looking forward to even more with Garmins next generation.
 On: 2007-08-10
I recently purchased the Garmin Edge 305, w/cadence, plus I added the heart monitor a couple weeks later. I commute daily on my bike and I do 350 - 450 miles per week, with weekend centuries. This is a great tool for anyone who wants to have a better understanding of their effort and cadence. I have found very quickly that by focusing on my cadence and heart rate, I have improved my overall times and have become even more efficient on my bike. The ability to, customize the display, set up interval trainings, upload rides to the computer, analyze the ride as a whole or part and compare to other days is outstanding. I would recommend the Garmin to anyone who wants to become serious about cycling, get the most out of their time on the bike, and improve their performance. A little expensive but worth every cent. It has even helped me find my way home when I have gotten out in an area I am not as familiar with. Must have for anyone who really wants to track results, understand effort, maintain data and improve performance. One negative is the battery life is truly only about 6 -6.5 hours, so for the longer rides I have left my Cateye on my bike so I have some reference for speed, mileage etc... another is the unit will go to "sleep" if left for more than a couple of days, but by holding both the Mode and Reset button for 30 seconds it will "wake" the unit back up. Still awesome!!! Ride Strong!!!
On: 2007-05-22
Overall:
This is a clever and easy to use little device, but it comes with very poor mounting hardware. This is my first GPS.
Pros:
The GPS has helped me find me way when Ive gotten off course. Since it doesnt have street maps, it works by tracking your course then guiding you back to the course. Theres also a homing feature to guide you back to a home location.
The altimeter is very accurate, relying on GPS and barometric pressure to measure elevation gain/loss.
Its nice to be able to download the data onto a desktop computer for viewing and archiving.
Lots of third parties offer software to help you view the data online and/or share it with friends (i.e., motionbased and trimble-outdoors).
The unit is highly customizable, and the screens can be set up with any number of bits of information (up to 8 pieces of information a time per screen). There are several "views" including ones that shows just a course map. The software is relatively easy to use.
Its fun to find or make a route worth exploring using a route toaster, then going to the new place with the help of the Garmin 305s course map as a turn-by-turn guide.
Cons:
My only real complaint is the mounting hardware. For a $300 bike computer - the mounting hardware is the worst. The unit comes with two mounts (one for the handlebar, another for mounting on the stem). Both of my mounts started to crack after two weeks, and were broken within 60 days. I emailed Garmin and they emailed me back saying the mounts are not in stock, check amazon for prices. Ive been carrying the unit in my pocket and looking at data after my ride.
 On: 2007-01-17
Computer Brain sent the wrong product right before Xmas so the present that I intended had to be shipped back and it is Jan. 16 and I am still awaiting the right one. So I dont even know what the product is actually like yet.
On: 2007-01-16
Computer Brain sent the wrong product right before Xmas so the present that I intended had to be shipped back and it is Jan. 16 and I am still awaiting the right one. So I dont even know what the product is actually like yet.
 On: 2006-11-03
Short battery life.
Hard to read display.
Display not well organized.
Good, but room for improvement.
On: 2006-06-02
Garmin, with the Edge 305 heart rate/cadence, has set the standard and literally eliminated the competition. The only thing the others can do at this point is to copy in attempt to duplicate. We have (2) with HR and CAD. Both have been used on the flats of Los Angeles County to the hills of Orange/San Diego County. The GPS has never failed to work. Actually nothing on the Edge 305 has failed to work with about 1000 miles on each. You can program the screen to display multiple items and with a glance see all of your desired information. I monitor Speed, Distance, Elapsed ride time, Time of day, HR, CAD and Calories. Heck, The Edge 305 is better than the bike! The training software is also outstanding.
The only negatives have nothing to do with actual computer performance and in my opinion include:
*Price-This toy aint cheap.
*Size-Relatively big for a bike computer, but very light.
*Battery-Our units both are safe from four (4) to six (6)
hours.
On: 2006-02-28
Ive tried all different types of bike computers, and this, to me, was going to be the holy grail. Although the price is very high, it has a lot of functionality that I wanted. One really cool thing is that it gets coverage everywhere. I went to one place where my older eTrex never got coverage, and this worked flawlessly.
One downside is the heart rate monitor. Despite the fact that this device supports HRMs, it doesnt support the HRM standard, which means you need to buy the special Garmin-made HRM strap, which costs over double the price of other ones. You may ask Why, like I did, and the response is that this is a one of a kind device. Bad answer. The obvious one is "We want to make more money by marking the price up by 3000%!". Oh well, it is a neat device.
On: 2006-02-27
Ive tried all different types of bike computers, and this, to me, was going to be the holy grail. Although the price is very high, it has a lot of functionality that I wanted. One really cool thing is that it gets coverage everywhere. I went to one place where my older eTrex never got coverage, and this worked flawlessly.
One downside is the heart rate monitor. Despite the fact that this device supports HRMs, it doesnt support the HRM standard, which means you need to buy the special Garmin-made HRM strap, which costs over double the price of other ones. You may ask Why, like I did, and the response is that this is a one of a kind device. Bad answer. The obvious one is "We want to make more money by marking the price up by 3000%!". Oh well, it is a neat device.
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