Garmin Edge 305 - Looks Nice - What Does it Actually Do?

[Snoop Doug]

I'm so easily led. I see these nice shiny baubles and....kapow....I buys 'em. No idea what they do just think, oooo that looks nice.

So I've got this Garmin thingummybob and I've told it how fat I am and all that. Do I just stick it on the bike and go? Will it just know where I am and record all manner of wondrous information about my rides? Do I need to tell it anything, apart from, gadget, I love you?

Any simple advice (excluding read the manual - tried that don't understand a word....) much appreciated.

Cheers - Shiny Snoop

[higg]

For a start, just ignore the GPS part, as for me, this is just a gimmick, promising more than it is capable of delivering.

What it does do is provide a downloadable record of heart rate, speed, distance and elevation at a price cheaper than the equivalent Polar unit.

Software provided is just about useful enough to see what you've done on individual rides but isn't put together well enough to provide a clear and usable summary of your training over a couple of weeks.

One big advantage is you can just put it in your pocket and it records all the data without any kit actually connected to the bike. This is useful if you regularly use different bikes.

The disadvantage of this is you have to remember to bring it with you because unlike your average bike computer it isn't taped to your bike.

And remember to to reset and turn it off when you get in. It doesn't have a time out off feature so if you leave it on the battery will be dry in a couple of hours.


It is possible to sketch out a route on

http://cc2.bradculberson.com/course_creator/cc2

and then upload it to the unit. You can then follow the "breadcrumb trail" on the screen. This takes a bit of time but might be useful on something like a London-Brighton if you were trying out a new route.

There are some other training type "workouts" but it's all a bit convuluted for me.

If anybody knows some xml, apparently Garmin give out the code which downloads the raw data from the unit. This means if you're not happy with their training software you can write your own.

Good luck and if you find out anything else let me know. I'm sure there's people out there who have written all sorts of useful software for it.

[huw williams]

Also use the garmin training centre website as a starting point

http://www8.garmin.com/products/trainingcenter/

There's several different applications on there - Motion based is particularly popular - looks complicated on the demo but its a lot easier when you actually use it

[Amy]

Snoop, you're a marketing man's dream

If you have a three-year old to hand, perhaps you should ask them

[Snoop Doug]

Thanks - I'll turn it on and stick it in me back pocket on the club run come Saturday and see what it tells me then.

Amy - they get me ev'ry time

Cheers - Snoop

[MJ_1993]

Personally, I dont know how to more than about two functions.

And the youth are with gadgets and gizmos pah!

Maybe I should read the manual though.