Garmin 705 Trip
Sunday, March 21st, 2010 at
1:54 am
A short field test of my Garmin 705. The more interesting stuff didn’t record because I forgot to charge my camera 
Stuff like the Garmin sending me into a corn field!
Filed under: Garmin Video Reviews
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Yes like other have said, thanks much for taking the time to make this vid, very useful to see it used in real life
That ability to discover on a bike is exactly what I love about cycling. I just ordered the 705 and hope it completely opens up the possibilities. I am very excited about what this will do for me.
@jpait
same shit happend to me today on my ride
To answer your question about the re-routing. Yes, the unit works like the GPS in your car. If you keep ignoring the u-turn, it will keep trying to find you an alternate route.
I still use my 705 and since this video have added a power meter with ANT+ technology to my bike. That allows me to collect power data on my 705. I am definitely a satisfied customer.
When researching the 705, I found your video and have to say this is one of the most useful videos I’ve seen. I really appreciate the time you took to show a real-world example of the unit works.
Was wondering, if you didn’t manually try to re-route, would the unit eventually recalculate an alternate route had you ignored the u-turn prompts?
Finally, I was wondering how you like the 705 since posting this video? Do you still have it? Any nagging issues that you’ve come across since?
Thanks!
What bar tape is that? Looks stickier and better than my glossy white vinyl bar tape.
sorry to hear that
I used a VHoldR helmet cam. Unfortunately, I believe my camera was stolen when someone broke into my car. It might be a bit before I can make more videos.
what did you use to record this?
The technology is awesome, you can use the training center to chart results and even see your actual ride on Google Earth, but if accurate info is important, this unit has critical flaws.
Garmin actually sent me a new unit, but it had a rattle so I sent it back. As I mentioned, they plan to have new firmware, so let’s hope they get the bugs out…until then, do NOT buy this thing!
Absolutely….I changed the recording of data to “every second” hoping that would make things more accurate…things got worse!
The technician at Garmin told me not to use ‘every second’…he said there was still too many problems and suggested I just turn-off the GPS, which forces the unit to use the wheel sensor. That made my distance/speed more accurate!!! But the grade% disappeared and my calorie-count got whacked. Normally my 2.5 hour ride takes 2,000 calories, now it says 631 calories!
Have you tried speeding up the capture rate (i.e. to once a second), its nestled under settings.
For the record I have only used the 305 not the 705
Garmin is about to release new firmware to correct many of these problems. My unit was fairly accurate until they had me update to a newer software version, then it got worse! My total ride is 22.83 miles as measured by turning-wheel…using GPS it varies from 18.4 to 22.7
GPS is only accurate to 30-feet, so it constantly has to average-out distance & speed. I’m riding in open area. Garmin makes great stuff, but the 705 is an exception; very disappointing!
Curious. How much does the total distance vary by?
I just checked a recent race, 60 laps criterium and the lap distances varied from 0.980 km to 1.0 km. Seems pretty accurate to me. I would not expect each lap to be exactly the same due to different lines being taken and some measurement inaccuracies. Worst case scenario, we are talking 2% error if we assume my race lines were exactly the same (which is not the case).
Really? I have a 305 and found it to be quite good. I have gone on 8 hr rides and it still has juice. I use it about 5 times a week and charge it every other day. I have been out in torrential cold rain storms (West Coast Canada) and everything worked. I didn’t however have the cadence/speed sensor on my winter bike so I can’t vouch for the rain durability of that add-on.
I’ve had no problems with the battery life. I regularly do 60 and 120 minute rides. When i do 4 to 6 hour rides, it still goes the distance. The altitude for me is perfectly accurate as compared to google earth and other references. I don’t use the cadence/speed thing so can’t comment. yeah, the customer service is dense. lol.
I noticed he expressed distances in statute units instead of the metric that I have long favored.
cool
The 305 was an inaccurate piece of junk so why bother with the 705? Battery has to be trained. So if you ride 2 hour rides every day then riding 6 means it will die on you. And you can’t set the altitude so that it’s accurate. The sending unit for cadence and wheel speed dies everytime I ride on a cold damp night (O ring working). To many bugs. To inaccurate. Never again. (Customer service is dense.)
And yes, I’ve tried turning-off the Auto-Pause feature and I’ve also turned-off the GPS to let the wheel-sensor do the recording. Same problems: inconsistent data, weird max.speeds, all sorts of problems. Garmin kept delaying the release of the unit and for good reason: they couldn’t make it right and evidently they never did. Lemon, lemon, lemon!!!
Do NOT buy the Edge 705, while it has many features the unit is critically flawed with bugs galore! I have one, I ride the same route yet each ride the distance varies substantially due to GPS inaccuracy. The unit goes into auto-pause, records false max-speeds, inconsistent total ascent, etc. They never got the bugs out; DO NOT BUY THIS THING. Instead buy a separate odo/speed with integrated calories and then a separate GPS. Even with the latest software version the 705 is a costly piece of junk
Do NOT buy the Edge 705, while it has many features the unit is critically flawed with bugs galore! I have one, I ride the same route yet each ride the distance varies substantially due to GPS inaccuracy. The unit goes into auto-pause, records false max-speeds, inconsistent total ascent, etc. They never got the bugs out; DO NOT BUY THIS THING. Instead buy a separate odo/speed with integrated calories and then a separate GPS. Even with the latest software version the 705 is a costly piece of junk
Big? This is so far the smallest GPS
with color maps aviable. Don’t forget this isn’t just a replacement for your bike computer. It’s a fully featured GPS.
Sorry, for not responding to some of the comments. Yes. You do need the micro SD card with the maps. Yes. You can get directions very much like you would with a car GPS unit.
Did you need a special chip for the maps?