Over the last few weeks I have been playing with the Garmin Edge 305 on my mountain bike. This thing is incredible. It measures and monitors everything: pace, speed, elevation, heart rate, % of max heart rate, cadence, grade and maps everything via GPS. All of this downloads to your (Windows) computer. There are also a few additional mapping and training programs that interact with the desktop software Garmin provides. My favorite feature is the ability to race against yourself. You choose a course you have completed and set it as your training course. As you head out and ride, the Garmin Edge 305 shows you how far ahead of or behind you are of your last ride. It is a great way to give you the incentive to push yourself each time. It also can make solo rides a bit more interesting. If you are a mountain biker and and a tech geek – check it out.
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[…] I just picked up a Garmin 60CSx at the REI sale this week. I’ve posted before about my use of GPS when mountain biking but as a recent member of the Orange County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team I needed to get a full featured unit. So far I like it. A lot of the team members were singing its praises at last weekend’s training session. Anyone have any tricks or tips or better yet, experience with the Mapsource Topo software? […]
Michael,
Be sure to upload your rides to http://www.motionbased.com. It will give you an even greater experience with your new Edge.
Thanks Clark. I uploaded a ride – looks interesting.
It’s guys like you that are making my Garmin stock do very well over the last year. Buy a couple more of those for XMas this year!! Great for the whole family.
Is it waterproof? I’ve love to take that thing windsurfing!
Good question, I assumed it was water resistant but sure enough I checked the manual and it says: “The Edge is waterproof to IEC Standard 60529 IPX7. It can withstand immersion in 1 meter of water for 30 minutes. Prolonged submersion can cause damage to the unit. After submersion, be certaib to wipe dry and air dry the unit before using or charging.”
Yes, it’s incredible. A friend was showing me his yesterday and ranting on how amazing it is!
I’m thinking about one . . .
does it have a cumulative odometer?
Jeff,
It has both a cumulative odometer on the device and built into the software. You can also see total distance by day, week and month as well as average and max pace, calories, average and max speed, cadence, calories, ascent and descent. I am sure I have forgotten something.
I’m thrilled with my new edge but the calorie estimates are not anything like what my friend’s heart rate monitor says we are doing. On a ride that we did together his will say he burned 1500 and mine will say 475. I just finished a fast 14.6 km ride and it says I burned 387 calories. That’s insulting!
What do you think?
BDG,
I have not really paid much attention to the calorie estimates. I focus more on heart rate, pace, speed etc. I am working on improving the time it takes to complete the course. In particular, the rate at which I can comfortably do the climbs. I did take a look at the reports and my average 10.1 mile circuit says I burn somewhere around 550 calories on average. To me that sounds about right – I never thought aerobic activity burns all that many calories. I seem to remember that 200 calories would take about 20 minutes on a stationary bike. I am sure their are some online resources that speak to this with some authority. As an example: Calories Burned During Excercise.
I am taking a cross-country trip by bike and am thinking of using the Garmin 305. Does it include a map of the entire US? I will not have a computer with me to download. What do you think?
I agree with BDG — the calorie count is way off. However, mine is wrong in a different way. For example, I rode 16.1 miles yesterday, averaging 15 mph on relatively flat ground. My heartbeat average was 130. It showed me burning 1100 calories. I would have guessed 550 or so.
Last summer I rode on the Blue Ridge Parkway. On my ascents, the Edge barely registered calories. On the descents, when I was barely pedaling, it was showing 15 to 20 calories per minute.
My guess is that the GPS does not count calories according to heartbeat and effort. It’s based on mileage covered.
I’ve been using the EDGE 305 for about a month, and using both my Polar 625X and Powertap Power meter at the same time to figure out which is best for my MTB training. The Edge is always very close to the Polar, and the Pwertap. It seems to use your weight, speed, heart rate, and the grade to estimate calories burned.
Troubling that the announced OS X release is so far behind. While I love the 305 on my rides, it’s VERY frustrating that I can’t download, review files, use with other apps.
Does anyone a) have insight into when the OS X patch will deliver and b) know of any performance hacks (to tune calories burned, add an add’l custom screen)?
Keep the rubber side down.
Does anyone know if the data frome the Edge 305 can be converted to watts or if Garmin might be looking at taking the data generated and come up with a fairly accurate power meter? It seems that with the data the unit accumulates, it should be able to produce a fairly good estimate of power.
I think that the wind factor might be very significant in power. The EDGE also can’t tell whether you have skinny high-pressure tires (low rolling resistance) or fat mtb tires.
One of the biggest failings with the Edge 305 is that it DOES NOT have a cumulative odometer!!!
Sure it will total any rides stored in the edge that you bothered to start the timer for but once you delete the ride or if you run out of storeage memory then you loose that rides value.
Also if you just use the Egde as a speedo and don’t start the ride timer (say commuting to work) then it does not add that value.
Thats not a cumulative odo.
I too had problems with the calories burnt with the unit recording 33 calories for a 300 metre climb over 2 km but a very slow speed. I contacted Garmin and they advised that a free software upgrade was available for the uniton the Garmin website. The upgrade now takes into account the gradiant of the climb. The same climb after installing the upgrade the unit reported 390 calories which is close to what my wife,s polar reported and about what I expected.
I’ve been using the Garmin Edge 305 for 5 months and overall am very unhappy with it. Unfortunately, it’s the only thing out there that has all the options, so I live with everything I hate about it. Garmin is making a killing off these devices, and the cost for what you get really bugs. So, the good? You get just about everything you’d possibly want to track on one device. The device is small and easy to use. Now the downside:
1) there’s no way to swap out a battery for long rides. I’m an endurance rider, if I do a ride over 7 hours, I only get 7 hours of stats, then the computer dies. What does one do about that?!?
2) calories are way off. Riding road calculates far higher than riding mountain. I guess I don’t care much, but it would be nice if Garmin would publish the equation that goes into the calorie calculations. My guess is that speed has something to do with it.
3) durability is horrible. My husband has already returned 3 Garmins. Mine is starting to act up (doesn’t calculate calories all the time or distance, heart rate goes bezerk and you have to recalibrate)
I love my Garmin Edge 305… my biggest complaint is the calories are NOT even CLOSE to being accurate. Taking into consideration the gradient of a climb does not good. I live in South Florida where the only hills are the few highway overpasses I come to. I average about 200 miles a week, and I need to wear two chest straps. One from my Polar tha tthe Edge was supposed to REPLACE, and one for the Edge. On a 50 mile FLAT COURCE ride, the Edge says I burn 1000 calories MORE than the Polar (2800 verses about 1800). I contacted Garmin and they said the calories burned were set to the speed. They said NOTHING about heart rate age, weight ect. One time I put on my chest strap grabbed the Edge in my hand, jumped into my car and DROVE 1 and a half mile to the local bike shop. When I got out of the car (I had done about 60mph at points) the calorie counter said that I burned 720 calories sitting in my car for about 4 minutes.
Garmin needs to fix this, it needs to calculate on Age, weigh, heart rate, time. That would be the most accurate.
Here’s an update to yesterday’s post:
After I postedthe above, I loaded the most recent update for the Edge 305. This morning I rode 34 miles at an average of 20mph, no hills (aka over-passes). Once again, I wore my Polar HRM as well as My Edge 305. At the end of the ride, my Polar indicated that I burned 1301 calories. I checked the Edge and it says 2998 calories burned.
It is a shame that such a nice piece of equipment can have such a flaw.
Three things (in order of importance to me) I would like addressed in a software update:
– Calories burned
– Ability to store individule rides. (If I do not upload today’s ride before my next ride, it will look like I did one ride over 2 days with different laps).
– Cumlitive miles
That would make this unit perfect.
Steve,
hold the reset button down till it counts down to zero and the rides will be seperated.
The garmin software nicely accumulates odometer for you,
Yea, the calorie thing is a mystery, I wish that was nailed down.
Thanks Gerry… I’ll try that !
Has anyone had a problem with the distance. I rode with some friends the other day and in 40 miles it was 6 miles different than his bike computer. Is it more accurate or less?
Joseph, do you have the optional unit to track your miles and cadence like a regular (no GPS) unit? If you were not picking up a signal that could happen. I have all the options and if I do not get a GPS signal it switch to record from my tire.
Hi
Um? Great device but somewhat compromised by indifferent programming.
1. The automatic software update in the training software fails with a Winzip failure.
2. The training software gave me a top speed of around 300 mph. The hill was step but not that step!
3. The second cadence unit arrived with a totally dead battery.
Garmin sadly have compromised what is a great product with poor quality control which sounds very typical of a company that does not plan to be around for the long ride.
Cheers Brett
anyone heard further news on the OS X software for the edge 305…? thanks
I got a copy back in January and I think I have downloaded an update or two in the meantime. You need to dig a bit on the site to find it, but I think you can get it from Garmin.
Hi
Does anyone know if the Garmin Edge 305 keeps the time stamps when uploading the track to PC? I want to buy one for a long trip, and I want to use the time stamps from the track to see where (on a map) I have taken my photos. That is possible with some other Garmin GPS’es… So, is the time information in the xml log file?
Also, what seams to be the average distance that the device can store before it wraps the memory. I.e. How often will I need to upload the track to a computer ?
//Glen
The OSX software is available from Garmin but there’s a much better solution from Montebello Software. It’s called Ascent and it’s way better than anything else available on either Mac or PC for the Garmin Edge.
http://www.montebellosoftware.com/index.html
Training > Workouts > Advanced
1- Can the alerts be turned off in this mode?
2- The Auto Pause does not seem to work. The timer keeps going when you stop the bike in this mode
3- Can the display be changed?
Unless I’m mistaken, it seems that the Advanced mode does not allow these three things.
No response from Garmin after several support requested emails.
I’ve had my Edge 305 for about 7 months, and have been very disappointed with the battery life / charging process. Twice it after leaving it connected to the charger for over 8 hours, the unit has been completely dead. Right now I can’t even get it to turn on, and I think it’s going to have to go back to Garmin. At a price of $400, I expect a little more quality and usability, i.e., you can’t change the battery or installa spare battery when doing a long ride. I’m also disappointed that you can’t set it to auto start / stop, and you can’t export the data to a spreadsheet program.
John,
Just has the same problem with my unit. I was going on an out of town trip and I plugged it overnight only to find out that it was dead. I tried charging it in the location but it would not accept a charge or even turn on. When I got back from the trip I tried charging it again and it just charged. It’s wierd. What firmware are you using? I have the old 2.90.
I already have an RMA for a broken cadence and will be shipping it back soon. I hope they also fix this charging problem.
I haven’t had my Edge 305 too long but the calories burned estimates seem to be consistent with other sources that I trust. Note that the calories burned number is just an estimate, it’s not exact, and reality may be quite different. Bicycling Magazine published a chart by Dr. James Hagberg which gives estimates close to that provided by the Edge 305.
got my edge a week or so back,gotta say i love it- but i’ve noticed 2 things so far. 1, altimeter has varied from exactly the same start point by some 100 feet. 2.Using the courses mode,and riding exactly the same course route,riding it quicker,with a higher heart rate and max speed the unit is showing i’ve burnt less calories? How can this be?
Because the calorie counter is WAY OFF… never has been close.
Well what can I say..This product sucks big style and here’s why
1. I purchased the Edge 305 yesterday and the HRM has never been able to sync. I replaced the battery and still no dice.. I then started tapping the front of the HRM and it worked then stopped then worked.. man how much money for an item that has the quality standards of a mcdonalds toy.. I would stay clear mines going back.
I wonder if they’ve fixed the calories in the upcoming 705. If not, I won’t buy. It’s very irritating in the 305.
You know what guys and gals. My 305 works great! Calorie counter is very close to the calorie calculator mentioned by Dana above. Here is a calorie calculator link:
http://www.bicycling.com/bic2006_bike_finder/1,6626,s1-4-0-0-0,00.html
It is very close to what my 305 measures consistantly on many rides I have completed. Whether doing hill work, TT interval training, base miles, or muscle tension workouts.
It’s a good little puter, keep it if you like it!!
My Garmin 305 with Cadence Sensor is not communicating with each other. I’ve tried all the possible fixes that Garmin offers on their support site, but problem still persist. Does anybody can offer other solutions? Thanks.
?any way to change out the battery. My Garmin 305 is about a year old now and only holds a charge for about one hour into a ride.
Always good to read about Windsurfing, my ex was of olympic standards..
Can I ask though – how did you get this picked up and into google news?
Very impressive, is it something that is just up to Google or you actively created?
Obviously this is a popular blog with great data so well done on your seo success..
We use our Edge 305 on three different tandem bikes. This past weekend, the mode button stop working, now we can’t change the bike profile, therefore, it won’t track our cadence… Anyone has any idea about how to fix this? our Edge is out of the warrenty and Garmin wants $79 to diagnose/fix it.