Anyone tried the Garmin Edge 305 ? What’s your feedback ? How about the Forerunner 305 ?
I’m a little hesitant because one of my buddies bought the TIMEX model and the GPS works horrible. It takes an eternity to find the satellite and in the woods it loses the sat as well.
Thanks if you can share any good or bad feedback,
pdg
… still married after all those tri’s
I have the edge 305 and love it. I use it for both my road bike and tri bike. I just recently picked up the speed and cadence sensors and they work well (as they should). I also have a polar s625x and find the edge 305 easier to use. Enough so that I am thinking about getting the forerunner 301. I have not had problems with losing the gps signal, but it does take a minute or so for my GPS to calibrate.
I’ve been using a forerunner 305 since the beginning of summer and I really like it. I’ve only had the GPS signal drop once and that was during a run through a parking garage as part of a half-mary. Overall it’s been extremely reliable, for example, I usually run out and backs, the back recorded distance is usually within 0.1 miles of the out recorded distance. It’s really a fun training gadget. Hope this helps.
Steve
thanks for the feedback. Do you know if the Polar HR sensor is compatible with the Garmin ?
pdg
The HRM sensor is not compatible.
I have issues with my my forerunner picking up my Hr when i am in the aero bars. I usually need to put the watch(computer) on my handlebars so it will pick up my heart rate. It should pick up the HR within 3 meters but I think i got a bad one and havent sent it back yet. Some of my training partners have them and have no problems what so ever.
I still use a my polar for races, cause your not suppose to swim with the garmin.
I have the Garmin Forerunner 305. I use it on the bike and while running. It usually does well picking up the satellites, even here in NYC. To acquire the satellites when first turned on, I found that putting it on the ledge outside of my north facing window for a few minutes while I get ready to go, works. Occasionally it has a bad day, I can’t figure out why, and when that happens, it’s best to take it off and set it down somewhere until it gets the signals it needs; if you move it around at all it can take forever.
Rarely has it lost a signal while I’ve been running or riding, but it does once in a while. (Maybe three times since July) In a race, the switching from bike to run can be annoying, as it takes a bit of menuing around. I haven’t gotten around to buying the cadence sensor, yet. My HRM has never had a problem, except when I forgot to put on the strap. 
I wish I could use it swimming. It should be waterproof, but isn’t.
If you’re on a MAC, there is no Garmin software available, yet, and the availability date seems to be slipping. There is an online option that works with Safari, albeit slowly, (and sometimes not at all) from MotionBased, which will give you neat graphic readouts of heart rate data, speed, google maps of where you went, etc. It’s fun and informative, but you need to be online for it to work.
I like mine a lot; I just wish it were more Mac friendly, …and waterproof!
I got my Edge 305 this week. I took it out last night and went through the prompts for set up. Next I downloaded the software. Then I started to charge it. As I was checking out the software program it gave me a prompt for software update so I downloaded it. The Edge said download complete. A few minutes later the thing was dead…nothing at all. Yes I did all the standard fixes…still dead.
A couple of things to note. I have a Forerunner 301. When I downloaded the Edge software it kinda overwrote the Forerunner software. I lost some of my Forerunner info(graphs). I did not have any problems with my Forerunner up to this point. So now I have a dead Edge and lost some of my old info. I hope to return the Edge to the place of purchase for an exchange. I will also call Garmin next week for some info. People I know have the Edge and have had no problems.
I use a Polar for racing(water proof).
I’ve been using an Edge 305 since last spring. Never had anything but good experiences with it. When I turn it on from a cold start, it takes less than a minute - usually about 30 seconds - to find the satellites and never loses them.
Question for all of you.
I have the 305.
How do I switch to tell it Im’ riding a bike as opposed to running. Do I have to switch to bike mode or multi sport mode?
Or do I just use the same running display and switch to Miles Per Hour, if I want to use it on the bike for bike speed mph.
I guess you didn’t read that little book that came with it. 
With the unit on, press and hold the mode button for a few seconds; the “Change Sport” menu will appear; use the arrow buttons to highlight “Running,” “Biking,” or “Other,” hit the “Enter” button to choose. That’s it.
You can go into the menus to set up which measurements you want to appear on each of three screens for each sport. You might want to dig up the instruction book to walk you through that.
I have had the polar HRM. I have had three of four generations of Timex GPS, GPS+HRM. I’ve even had the Timex Data Recorder.
Now I have the 305. It blows them all away.
Polar just sucks. No GPS. And when the battery dies in that HRM, you are SCREWED. My coach is now using my 4th generation timex because her Polar HRM bought it and damn, who has time to send that stuff back to be replaced.
The Timex has major GPS issues. Took forever because it had to re-triangulate every time. Plus the stupid arm-band. Plus it was hard to get the data back out of the system.
With the Garmin 305, it finds the GPS pretty quick. Not only does it tie in well with the HRM, it also ties in well with a cadance monitor. You can program the screens to see all that you want.
But what really makes the Garmin rock is you can tie it in with Motionbased - that is totally awesome. You can go to motionbased.com right now and look at all the workout records that people have made public.
The coolness of Garmin 305 + motionbased is too much for me to describe and must be experienced. Go for it dude!
I think you’re completely wrong about the Polar. I have the Polar RS800sd. Sure it doesn’t have GPS (although there is a rumor that an accessory will be available next year). But all the batteries are user serviceable.
The reason I chose the Polar over the Garmin is because the real time pacing information is more reliable. There are a few other reasons as well, such as longer battery life, smaller size, no dropouts and programming options. Plus I’ve found the footpod on the Garmin to be extremely accurate. My distances have been withing 2% of my GPS measurements so far without any calibration.
The Garmin 305 is nice and it’s certainly an improvement over past versions, however I think that Polar makes a pretty solid unit as well. Both are excellent units and each has its strengths and weaknesses.
2% is pretty significant. And I don’t think it’s that accurate.
How well does the Polar footpad work when you are cycling? does it also record cadence?
Many polar heart rate straps are not self-servicable - you can NOT change the batteries on your own and need to mail it in.
Whenyou throw motionbased in there and the ability to customize all the screens to your liking and od multisport, plus all the other cool benefits of the 305, the Polar is just…not…getting it done.
That’s your opinion not mine. I’ve used both, I’m not going off 2nd hand information. I think both are great units, just the Polar fit my requirements better. It’s not about cool factor for me, it’s about what information and features I need to improve my workouts and performance. Motion based and mapping just isn’t a big deal for me, it might be for others.
I don’t need to use it for cycling since I have a powertap. And yes, the Polar gives you cadence and stride length for running.
Thanks everybody for the feedback.
The saga starts. So after all the positive feedback, I went down and bought one. Charged it up and this morning went for a spin. Argghh. Defective unit. The thing shut down 4 or 5 times during the ride.
Good news, I brought it back this morning to the dealer and they replaced it immediately no questions asked.
I started charging up the new one and will give it a spin this afternoon.
I’m still counting on using my 625X for racing. I set up my tri-bike in the first bike position (this is key, you see later). I put it in bike mode at the start of the race and during the bike-run transition as I am leaving I just “3-4-1” meaning 3 pushes down, enter, 4 pushes down, enter, 1 push down enter and you are in running mode. I practice this at lot while I am training so I don’t lose time and I can pretty much do it automatically without thinking now.
Thanks again everyone
pdg
… still married after all these tri’s
I’m betting (well…hoping) that Garmin comes out with the first affordable reliable power system.
I am not sure you are switching multi-sport correctly. You can view different screens no matter what mode you are in. You have to hold down MODE and then go up and down to select the sport you are doing. This also breaks things into seperate workouts.
Remember this works best with motionbased.
One other thing - remember to clear out your ‘history’ from time to time.
It will take a little patience, and it’s not the cheapest on the market, especailly when combined with motionbased. But def the best.