I can't tell if you want bike or run info? Cadence is more useful on the bike, but it can be helpful for running, too. Just depends if you need it. The footpod is tolerable.

Only needed if you want to track your cadence, or use your bike in a wind trainer. Tie-wraps to the LH chainstay. Not overly big. Looks a bit like the cateye double wireless.

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Trust me I’m a doctor!
Well, I have a PhD :-)

The sensor itself is not very big at all. I would recommend it if you want to track your training when you are riding inside. I ride the trainer and rollers a lot in the winter and it is nice to log everything. I use it with the forerunner 305 and have had no problems.

In addition to cadence, and the already metnioned ability to track indoor workouts, the GCS10 also supplements the GPS signal and takes over in cases where your GPS might drop out or spike so it also improves your speed data. It's not absolutely necessary, but having one you should notice an improvement in your data, should get less "random" auto-pauses (if you use that feature).

Is the cadence feature on the garmin edge 305 very useful? Why use that if you already have GPS?

Because I'm interested in knowing my cadence, not my distance? I try to keep my cadence at 90RPM.
That has 0 impact on my speed. Unless the GPS satellites are watching me much closer that I suspect,
they can't measure the frequency with which I spin my cranks. :)

There are actually 2 magnets. One for cadence (on the crank arm) and one for speed/distance (on
the wheel if you're not using GPS).

Completely different functions.

-Jot

Cadence is a very useful feature on the bike, it's pretty valuable feedback for training IMO.

I have one mounted on my bike, but I don't have any pictures available to upload for you at the moment. I'm away from home on business but might be able to upload one for you in a day or two. It is a bit larger than most other computer systems i've used, but this is/was my first wireless computer so that may not be a fair assessment.

I've got cadence sensors for both my road bike and my tri bike. I don't use them on either. I now ride by feel more than anything. That being said, at one time I really paid attention to cadence. PM me if you would like to buy one of my sensors.

Just installed the speed and cadence sensor and had a question. When I put the bike on the trainer after installation I was getting a distance reading, indoors. With the unit installed does the 305 use the data from the unit to calculate distance instead of the gps signal all of the time? Seems like that would be less accurate.

If using it indoors, turn the GPS off. There some 'wandering' that it picks up and will give a distance reading.

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Trust me I’m a doctor!
Well, I have a PhD :-)

No kidding. My 405 died on me two weeks ago and the replacement unit I received seems to have a much shorter battery life. I decided to test it the other night by turning it on before I went to bed. I left it in the kitchen and the next morning it had a distance reading of .48 miles. Hmmm.

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If it's a YMCA pool, the lightning wanders around the locker room naked for an hour, then uses the blow dryer on its junk. -lunchbox

cadence was a huge thing for me when i first started riding; i used to do around 60-70 rpm, now i do around 90-95 rpm. you want higher cadences because your legs fatigue less quickly (because each muscle contraction is less maximal--it's like weight lifting heavy weights vs light weights) and you can put out more power supposedly...though i don't know anything about this really as i don't have a power meter...it's just stuff that i've read.

bottom line: i find it very useful when i ride to put my bike in the hardest gear that i can maintain 90-100 rpm in.

and the unit isn't huge, but it is noticeable on the bike.

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Hungry for tri!

I actually really pay attention to my cadence, and I find it helps.
It seems that when somebody gets into cycling they go through a natural progression of performance-measurements.
First you start off with how far you can go, then you want to know in what time you can go that far.
You start with a speedometer, then you work your way up to cadence, then you eventually factor in heart rate & power.

That said, even having paid attention to power meters & HR, I still find cadence to be an effective measurement for training.

With regards to the garmin, I prefer to use the manual cadence measure as an override.
Not only is it a nice feature for when you're indoors on the trainer, but it's also good for bad weather or lack of ability to pick up satellites.

In addition, if cadence is a measure of revolutions, how the hell is garmin able to pick that up by communication with a satellite?
I personally don't trust that coming from the gps, id much rather get the measurements off the actual sensor on my bike.

The cadence part coming from the sensor I get. It's the mileage coming from there also that throws me off.

WTF are you talking about???

If you don't have the Cadence Sensor (which also includes a rear wheel speed sensor - like most other cycling computers), you only get speed. And, you only get that if your Garmin is getting good satellites.

If you do have the Cadence Sensor, you get speed from GPS (satellites) if your Garmin is getting good satellites, by default. However, if your Garmin loses satellites (like when you're going through a long tunnel or in very heavy tree cover), it will switch (automatically) to getting speed from the rear wheel (magnet). If you prefer, you can also program your Garmin to only use the speed data from the rear wheel sensor. (This is what you would do if you were inside on a stationary trainer, or if you wanted to extend the battery life.)

Your Garmin ALWAYS gets cadence data from the sensor (crank arm magnet) - NEVER from GPS (satellites).

Steve

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Steve

"If you ain't first, you're last." Reese Bobby Talladega Nights

Here you go on a 56cm frame: