Garmin Edge 305 Handheld GPS Receiver

This is a lovely unit although the screen would be clearer if it were in colour.

Negatives

The Cad and heart monitor is difficult to pair and even after pairing they don't always talk back to the main unit.

The battery doesn't last too long usually needs charging after a couple of hours use.

Positives

Once set up accurately the information on this unit is fantastic, great for training or simply monitoring your activity.

The Head unit slides on and off the bike with ease making it a very easy unit to remove and update on your computer.

Revolutionsed my training, gives the most accurate HR EVER! and calorie burn, distance, elevation. Good size screen and very good battery life up to 90 hrs!
Still getting to grips with certain things on the Edge 305 but in time im sure i will master it.

I bought the Garmin so I could record the best and worst aspects of my cycle rides and then perhaps learn where and how I can improve,in that respect and many others that has been achieved,its a fantastic bit of kit.The screen is visible in all lights and dark(backlight),the virtual trainer is a great function where as you can race against a previously achieved time.I am really pleased with it,only down side is it not really upgradeable so will be superseded quite quickly.

Fantastic toy for the infoholic. Very accurate and a fine training tool, training buddy function makes the same ride fly by and helps motivation. Very daunting initialy but once set up the nack is to only view the info you need at the time and use the download to worry about the rest. Is gradient more important than heart rate or distance. Unit let's you decide exactly which pieces of information you require. Battery life is fairly short but I ran it for 8 hours which should be good for most aplications. Whilst away on a weekend may prove difficult. Charging from the PC whilst downloading means no bulky adaptors if you are online. Car charger is also available so no reason to have a flat. Mounting is neatest on the bar stem and with the optional speed/cadence sensor it can be used indoors on a trainer. Other bar mounting options are available but the stem one disguises the size of the unit. Compared to traditional computers it is large (about the size of a mobile phone) but the functionaity is worth the extra size. If you are serious about training the information storage is amazing and it is well worth the £200 or so, a decent pulse monitor would be almost that.