Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The 305 is a neat item, and very clean to install. Satellite reception is excellent, even in dense forrests and far superior to my Garmin GPSMAP 60CS. The stem mount is very clean with rubberized mountings, with a supplied wedge for proper viewing angles.
The cadence and speed pickups are neatly packaged in one sensor on the rear tire, and the cadence magnet is unobtrunsive. Installation documentation is very clear and accurate.
The software for downloading rides is very good, although it lacks some functionality that is available in Garmin's other products (waypoint and route management), and you cannot erase the unit from your PC. No big deal there. Seeing your actual ride or hike track on a map is pretty cool.
It has multiple (3) bike profiles, so more than one bike use is possible. If using this only on one bike, then bike 2 can be used as a secondary information screen for trip data, like average speed, average cadence, average heart rate, etc., things that you won't want on your primary biking screen.
The one item that is missing, and I was surprised about is that the 305 does not have a persistant odometer. It does have a ride trip meter, and there is no separate data field that keeps track of your total mileage. You can do this in the PC based software though. I prefer a built in odometer function for routine maintenance on my bike, when I hit 500, 1000, 2000, 3000 mile cycles per year. I'm working with Garmin tech-support and they admit they sort of, kind of, missed it. That's the primary reason why I gave this item four stars.
Battery life is another concern, especially when the unit is searching to pair up with the heart rate and cadence sensors. If you turn off those features, it consumes less power. For most one day rides, the unit is fine. It would be great if Garmin put a solar cell on the front of the unit where all the black is.
If you really like GPS and capturing as much data as possible about your ride, heart rate, cadence, timings, grades, maps ... this is the unit for you! Enjoy!
Update:
Battery life is a serious issue with the Edge 305! I am getting no more than five hours out of an overnight charge and that is with just the cadence sensor. I have asked Garmin Tech Support about this three times, and the answers are disappointing. If you ride long, I cannot recommend that you go with the Edge 305 until they correct the battery life issue. I'll update you with Garmin's responses!
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