Garmin Edge 305 users...

[Possegal]

oh, i remember reading that, but i think i also remember not really quite understanding (admitting to still learning a lot of the terminology).

[BabyBlueNTulsa]

Okay, I admit... since originally posting this (weeks ago?), I've gone back-n-forth trying to decide whether this was a worthwhile investment... It DOES sound/look cool as heck, but after reading/re-reading reviews from buyers on sites like Amazon.com and others, I have lingering concerns.

Do any of you think your speed is inconsistently measured? (the ones w/o the cadence/speed thingee) I've never had a wireless device -other than a hr strap- so it seems a little disconcerting to hear reviewers say its wrong a lot. I'm planning to just get the HR version - I don't really care about cadence anymore after having the PowerTap for so long. (its off the bike now)

Do you find the altitude measurement to be inconsistent? That's a lot of the reason why I'm considering this one over others. I wanna track climbing and know the gradient of the hill I'm on.

Mostly, I just want reassurance that you guys have been happy with the product (other than it just being cool, I mean). You don't feel like you need a cheapo Cateye on the bike to make sure the Garmin is right?

Sorry to be so questioning..those darn reviewers made me second guess my choice. But...I need to make up my mind quickly now b/c at the moment, my bike is nekkid - NO computer! Its like riding blind! It was nice for the first hr of my Wed night ride, but after that, I felt like I was really missing something.

[OakLeaf]

Before I got my 705, I did have a cheapo Cateye on my bike as well as the Forerunner 301, because the old Forerunners didn't have a cadence sensor.

There's a slight delay in any consumer-grade GPS realtime data - that's just a matter of how often it looks at your position and how long it takes the processor to interpret what it gets from the satellites. By "slight" I mean 3-4 seconds. Any time I was at a constant speed, the GPS speed reading was spot-on identical to what the Cateye read, and at the end of the ride, the overall distance was within a half a percent. The newer GPS units will be more accurate than that, both because of the more sensitive receivers and the more frequent recording.

Elevation isn't ever going to be perfect with a consumer-grade unit. Once you download it to where the computer can compare it against known map points, the accuracy is greater, but still neither perfect nor perfectly consistent.

If I were racing in the TdF, I'd probably have my team manager go out and drive the route with a $20,000 military/commercial grade GPS loaded in the car and then I'd know the elevation data was very accurate. For my own use (data geek mainly, and hopelessly directionally challenged), I'm absolutely delighted with my Garmin 705.

[kelownagirl]

Okay, I admit... since originally posting this (weeks ago?), I've gone back-n-forth trying to decide whether this was a worthwhile investment... It DOES sound/look cool as heck, but after reading/re-reading reviews from buyers on sites like Amazon.com and others, I have lingering concerns.

Do any of you think your speed is inconsistently measured? (the ones w/o the cadence/speed thingee) I've never had a wireless device -other than a hr strap- so it seems a little disconcerting to hear reviewers say its wrong a lot. I'm planning to just get the HR version - I don't really care about cadence anymore after having the PowerTap for so long. (its off the bike now)

Do you find the altitude measurement to be inconsistent? That's a lot of the reason why I'm considering this one over others. I wanna track climbing and know the gradient of the hill I'm on.

Mostly, I just want reassurance that you guys have been happy with the product (other than it just being cool, I mean). You don't feel like you need a cheapo Cateye on the bike to make sure the Garmin is right?

Sorry to be so questioning..those darn reviewers made me second guess my choice. But...I need to make up my mind quickly now b/c at the moment, my bike is nekkid - NO computer! Its like riding blind! It was nice for the first hr of my Wed night ride, but after that, I felt like I was really missing something.

I rode with my cateye AND my Garmin for the first year and found the data very very close. My speed was always the same on both while I rode and my mileage was super close. I believe the elevation data is pretty accurate altho I imagine it's off sometimes. It always shows and the same elevation when I leave and any anomalies are supposed to be corrected when I upload to motionbased altho I admit I don't understand the process.

I love my Garmin.

[BabyBlueNTulsa]

Thank you thank you ladies!

Oak..the 705 looks DREAMY. Wish I could rationalize another $500 computer on my bike..but oh well, right? Since I don't often go long enough to get lost, I don't suppose I need it..though it would be cool! Perhaps I could make NEW routes easier with something like that though...

Your responses have been very helpful to my decision making here. Now I get to shop for the best price! Lowest I've seen so far on the 305 is $225. Not bad...

Thanks again!!

[Mr. Bloom]

For those unfamiliar with motionbased (uploads garmin data onto the internet and calibrates it...)

Check out the link I added to the July 19 rides thread.

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=25114

[SouthernBelle]

Mr. S, I looked at your ride and now know your first name.

do you not have a cadence sensor?

You are getting much faster, I'm jealous.

[BabyBlueNTulsa]

Okay, that REALLLLLY did it. Thanks Mr. S! How cool is THAT download!?! My PowerTap cost a lot more and didn't do nearly as much!
(granted, if i was a racer, I'd probably have a diff opinion about which data is really important...but ..I'm NOT a racer)

Thanks My TE Friends!!

P.S. I am envious of your climbing skills, Mr. S! SOMEDAY...maybe in a few more years, I may be that strong!

[Possegal]

So I went to motionbased, uploaded my piddly rides which are not worth viewing. But I also went and looked for anyone that has the info from the livestrong challenge 45 mile ride in philly from last year. I believe this year's route is the same and I was trying to find out what the total elevation was. Someone explain to me how there are 3 people who have that ride on there, and the total elevations are vastly different. All of them rode 45 miles (give or take) one had 3495, one had 4485, and one had 6620 ft in elevation. Now how is that possible, how can they vary so wildly. And please someone convince me that the lowest number is the most accurate.

[OakLeaf]

Yes, there's that much variation among total climb readings. Were all the uploads to that ride, from Garmin Edge GPS's? Also, MotionBased has two levels of correction. They advise not to use their correction with Garmin Edge units, because the unit data is more accurate (barometric altimeter corrected against known points). Garmin Forerunner units don't have the barometric altimeter, so MotionBased advises using correction with them. MotionBased also notes that their correction protocol will exaggerate total elevation gain on routes with a lot of steep climbs. That's true even (and I think especially) when the individual hills are not tall.

[Mr. Bloom]

Okay, that REALLLLLY did it. Thanks Mr. S! How cool is THAT download!?!

I'm not familiar with PowerTap, but to be fair, motionbased is a subscription service...I don't recall the cost, but I didn't think twice about it and wouldn't give it up for anything.

I just don't want you to be surprised when you go to sign up and have to pull out your credit card...

Mr. S, I looked at your ride and now know your first name.

do you not have a cadence sensor?

You are getting much faster, I'm jealous.

And before a quick modification on my account, everyone would have known my last name as well...and although many on here know it from rides...given the rarity of the name and info available on the www, I just wasn't ready to be that public

I've not been able to get the cadence counter working for several months...

[SouthernBelle]

You don't have to use the pay service. The free is quite adequate for most purposes.