Rating: 4 out of 5 bicycles
I have been riding with the Garmin Edge 305 for about 1 year now and I must say I love it. If you are looking for a device to motivate you to work a little harder on each and every ride this is it. The Garmin Edge 305 has helped me build a monster and I am not talking about my hyper-competitive nature, I built that monster long ago. This monster rides with me. He always seems to be slightly ahead of me especially on hills. He is beatable but to do it I have to work hard, really hard. The monster that the Edge 305 has helped me create is the virtual training partner that I programmed to appear on the screen. I can program him to run at my personal best or I can program to run at a target pace. The Garmin software allows me to torture myself as I race this virtual partner (I hate him). The Edge shows how far ahead or behind I am, and it even has two icons zooming along, illustrating who is in the lead. My Virtual Training Partner seems to inch ahead of me as we climb the hills spurring me to ride harder. The Edge 305 turns my daily commute into the Tour de France.
The Edge 305 also allows you to track 32 data points, including speed, distance, pedaling cadence, and heart rate. I can take all the data and download it via USB cable to my desktop computer. I can then chart my times to see how I have improved. The Edge 305 comes with desktop software that is easy to use and allows you organize and analyze your riding.
The Edge 305 comes with a strap that goes around the chest and sends heart rate information wirelessly to the receiver. Its highly visible LCD screen, nearly 2 inches diagonally, mounts on handlebars and allows you to customize up to eight different fields for on-display viewing.
The Edge 305 benefits from Garmin’s expertise in making global positioning satellite devices. With GPS data, it’s easier to navigate routes and track performance over the same course so you can measure improvement. It can even tell you the approximate time of sunrise or sunset based on your location.
The Edge 305 comes in three configurations:
- Edge 305 with Heart Rate Monitor
- Edge 305 with Cadence Sensor
- Edge 305 with both Heart Rate and Cadence Sensor
- Package Includes:
- Edge™ 305 with heart rate and/or cadence sensor
- Bike mount
- Training Center™ CD
- A/C charger
- USB PC interface cable
- Quick reference guide
- Owner’s manual