Quick! Question about Garmin 305

[Mr. Bloom]

I still love it and I'm having no problems with it.

I have heard of others have a problem with it quitting in the middle of a ride...and I think there was a thread about that relating to batteries being shaken loose from contant bumps...warranty?

I have had a problem with the cadence counter and finally just removed it...

[sundial]

The reason I ask.....I have a Polar that is becoming problematic. I have been toying with getting a Garmin 705 but I'm not the techiest kid on the block.

[OakLeaf]

Apparently there are known issues with the cadence sensor. Mine quit working for a couple of weeks this winter. It wasn't the receiver, because it was picking up another guy's cadence sensor just fine. I tried four different batteries and it still didn't work. Sometimes the setup light would flash when the crank went by; sometimes not; one time it flashed for no apparent reason when the crank wasn't even moving. So I called Garmin and they sent me a new sender, no questions asked.

Then before I could install it my old one started working again - although it has quit briefly twice more, I'm still using it.


ETA: The cadence sensor is the same across all the models, but the known issues with the 705 are different from the ones with the 305. On the 705, there was a firmware issue with random shutdowns that's been resolved. On the 305, it was a hardware issue.

I haven't actually used the 705 on a long enough ride yet for the unit battery to become an issue - is that what you mean? The longest I've had it turned on was about 8-1/2 hours. On my old 301, the predicted battery life of about 13 hours was pretty accurate. Both of them will charge overnight with a USB battery pack on multi-day rides.

I just started tracking sender battery life (I love SportTracks), so it'll be a while before I know how many hours they're good for. But so far, I've burned up two cadence sensor batteries by forgetting to park with the crank turned away from the sensor. For the HRM on the 301, I would guess I've been getting pretty close to Garmin's predicted 180 hours, maybe a bit less; but the 305/705 have a different HR strap, so that may be different.

I find the 705 very easy to set up and use.

[Mr. Bloom]

Well that's still a good deal...the cadence counter costs $60...and now you have 2!

The reason I ask.....I have a Polar that is becoming problematic. I have been toying with getting a Garmin 705 but I'm not the techiest kid on the block.

Garmin 705? I'm jealous!

[sundial]

So I called Garmin and they sent me a new sender, no questions asked.

On the 705, there was a firmware issue with random shutdowns that's been resolved.

I haven't actually used the 705 on a long enough ride yet for the unit battery to become an issue - is that what you mean?

Oakleaf, thanks for the info. Polar service is rather ridiculous--you have to pay a min. of $25 just to change out a $2.00 battery and pay shipping both ways. As for the random shutdowns on the Garmin, that's what I was wondering and I guess it's been resolved. And I was wondering what the battery life was on a long ride. When you find out, let us know.

[Mr. Bloom]

Last year, my battery lasted for the 8 hour long RaIN ride...with some time left.

[OakLeaf]

Garmin service is some of the best in the business. DH has lots of time with tech support on the auto/mc units and always speaks very highly of them. This is my first experience with them.

While I had them on the phone, I asked about a new USB port cover for the 301, which is over three years old. It's just a rubber cover and it had broken off. From my experience with other companies, I was expecting that most likely a replacement cover wouldn't be available and if it was, I'd have to pay for it since it was a discontinued unit, two years out of warranty. Garmin sent me two of those for free, too.

[sundial]

I want the Garmin Chipotle team color.