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| GARMIN 010-00447-30 Edge 305 GPS Bundle | 
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| Brand: Garmin
Category: CE
List Price: $319.99
Buy New: $249.99
You Save: $70.00 (22%)
New (75) Used (1) Refurbished (3)
Avg. Customer Rating:  117 reviews
Sales Rank: 728
Media: Electronics
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Native Resolution: 128x160
Display Size: 1.86
Includes MP3 Player: 1
Size: Garmin Part #010-00447-30
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.8
Dimensions (in): 6 x 6 x 6
Array:
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: 010-00447-30
Model: 010-00447-30
UPC: 753759053574
EAN: 0753759053574
ASIN: B000BS4PZW
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Edge Exceeds Expectationa June 26, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
After using a HAC4 for several years I made the jump to the Garmin Edge. It has exceeded all expectations. Works as advertised and measures things no human would ever need to know, but is interesting anyway. Can easily be switched from bike to bike without worrying about pickup magnets, wheel sizes, and other nonsense. The first time I used it was on a tour in New Hampshire and Maine, and it worked perfectly out of the box. Highly recommended.
Stats geeks rejoice! June 15, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is a beautiful thing. If your standard cycling computer isn't doing the trick, get one of these suckers. If you have several bikes, you can help justifying the price by getting several mounts and just trading it between bikes.
I love the overload of data it provides. HRM, cadence (on my non-recumbent bike), altitude, maps, etc. Two things you'll want immediately after getting this: Google Earth (upgrade to Google Earth Plus to interact directly with the GPS), and also get a login at mapmyride.com. That also talks directly to the Edge, meaning you can blog your ride minutes after getting home, if you're so inclined.
Great Product June 11, 2007
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
My cycling monitoring with the EDGE 305 has been easy and comprehensive, it is a great product.
Very hard to beat. Well worth it if you ride regularly. June 11, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I bought the Garmin unit because I was tired of riding the same exact route and getting pretty large differences in distance readings with other computers. (Power lines, etc interfere and mess up the readings.) With the Garmin unit on the same courses, the readings are consistently within a few hundredths of a mile over 25-35 miles. (The difference is probably just how I am taking the curves.)
Also, I really like being able to look at the heart rate and elevation trends on the computer after a ride. It makes me feel better about courses that I thought were flat but actually were not. Also, it's really good for seeing exactly how high/hard different hills are. Finally, for competition routes, it helps finding where the hitting-the-wall points are. i.e. I felt like I was riding consistently through the ride, but the heart-rate fell off by 5-10 bpm... That helps me in determining when to take a power gel pack or when to conserve/expend energy along the course.
I've read about the battery life issue, but personally, I am not doing 5-7 hour rides. 3-4 hours / 60-80 miles is the high-end for me. On longer century rides, I am more interested in time anyway so a simple stopwatch is more than enough.
I do however wish that the unit had an auto-off feature if no movement was detected in 10-15 minutes. (My girls have found it, pushed the button, and left it on before.... I only discover this when I go out the next day to ride.)
The altimeter is very accurate. I keep a "total ascent" field on my primary display to give me an idea of the climbs done. This is a cumulative count... i.e. If you climb 10 feet, fall 10 feet, climb 10 feet, and fall 10 more feet, the field reads 20 feet -- even though your actual altitude did not change. That's exactly what I wanted. I use this information on a route to let me know how much climbing effort is remaining. i.e. If I know a route has 2200' of climbs, I am riding fast/hard, feel fine, am past half-way but see on only 500' of climbs have been done, I know to back-off and pace myself to finish strong.
I have had some minor communications issues with the software. However, I just wiggle the cable and retry and 99% of the time the unit works fine. On that rare 1% exception, rebooting fixes the problem.
The heart rate monitor is very accurate. I've used high end Polar monitors -- and this one is every bit as accurate as those.
Installation is a snap. The ergonomics of how it fits on my stem (90 mm) is perfect. It looks like it was made for the bike.
As far as the issues others have had, I really don't know what to say. I did upgrade the firmware. Other than that, I've done nothing different. There's clearly issues since so many people have bad things to say. I simply did not experience those issues. I would suggest buying from some place like Amazon, using it a lot upon reciept, and sending it back for credit if you have problems.
All in all, I would highly recommend it even with the minor issues mentioned above.
 When it works, it is great.! June 9, 2007
You need a bit of techno-knowledge to really appreciate this device. Just takes awhile to learn it's possibilities. Out of the box it seemed to work flawlessly, however, as I began to use it, it started to show some quirks. Contacted Garmin via email and received a quick response to the problems. The solution was to download a newer chipset. The unit worked again for a few days and then failed. Still looking for a solution. Installing the various pieces on your bike will take some time. Not wanting to fool with the installation, I took it to my bike dealer and they installed the unit the correct way. Worth the extra bucks. Now I just want it to work. Still waiting for a new solution.
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