The Garmin Edge 705 is a nice looking unit with an almost bewildering level of functions. Garmin are known primarily as GPS providers and the Garmin Edge 705 has a full colour screen and turn by turn instructions as you might expect, along with compass heading and other parameters on the screen.
Other mapping systems for, say, Europe, are available as a memory card. The other parameters needed in training are not forgotten. The Garmin Edge 705 comes with sensors for speed, Cadence and heart rate monitoring and all of the data collected can be downloaded easily.
Setting up your Garmin Edge 705 for the first time
The physical set up of the Garmin Edge 705 is easy, with the mount being simply attached to either the handlebars or the stem by zip ties. The back of the mount has rubber seating pads so that it can be attached really tightly and wont slip in rough conditions.
The sensors are easy to fit and the sensors on the bike and the heart rate belt monitor all connected smoothly with the computer. The set up is easy, either through an upload or by using the buttons on the unit and when the Garmin Edge 705 is being used as a trainer rather than a GPS unit eight parameters can all be displayed at once and be clearly seen an advantage of the large screen.
Using the Garmin Edge 705 GPS Enabled Cycle Computer with Cadence and HRM
This advice is appropriate for users of any cycle computer, but particularly for anyone using something as sophisticated as the Garmin Edge 705 GPS Enabled Cycle Computer with Cadence and HRM. It is absolutely essential to get to know your computer before you take it anywhere, otherwise you will never get the best out of it. The Garmin Edge 705 measures the Cadence very reliably I felt, but the heart rate monitor took a while to become accurate.
This is something I have found with other units and I think it is because you need to have a damp contact (sweat, to be blunt) before it works well. This can be avoided by using gel or saline at the start, but unless you are keeping very serious records of your training where every heart beat counts the slight delay in achieving accuracy found with the Garmin Edge 705 should not be a problem.
Something that I really like is the virtual partner feature in which you can race a virtual competitor over a specified speed and distance. In addition to this, the Garmin Edge 705 records your previous workouts and allows you to race against these recorded sessions. I love these features as they really push you and force you to take your training to a new level – no one can measure your progress quite like yourself. Did I mention that it comes with a barometric altimeter which measures your altitiude, all of which contribute to a more accurate calorie count?
Lastly, in an effort to be the ultimate do-it-all cycle computer, the Garmin Edge comes with a built in street maps MicroSD card option so you can load up with those extra maps. It has a 12-hour battery life which is enough for those day long sessions.
Great Mapping
The mapping was brilliant and the ability to save routes and look back at them later is obviously a major draw but an additional feature which I really enjoy using is being able to link routes and get instructions on how to get from any point on one to any point on another. The altimeter was a feature I had not been expecting to work so well most GPS enabled units use the map reference for altitude; the Garmin Edge 705 is barometric, for additional accuracy.
Is it value for money?
The Garmin Edge 705 is not cheap by any means, but its memory card means that it is adaptable to road changes and even will happily go with you if you move to another country. It provides every single parameter you could ever want the Garmin Edge 705 is at the top of the heap and if you can afford it, get it.
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