Garmin Edge 705 GPS Cyclo-Computer Review
My previous career taught me that there really is no substitute for data logging when it comes down to improving performance. The human mind is very good at self-delusion, and more than once cold hard data has disproved something that I would have insisted was true, based on my subjective observations.
Plus, in the fitness sense (where you are making modifications to the human body that take time to develop - its not like you can just bolt on a new turbo) the key to identifying trends over the long term is to be religious about tracking performance. That means that you have to record the details about every single time you engage in a training activity.
Being human, I am naturally lazy. Every attempt I've made at keeping a paper-based "training notebook" has lasted about a week or so. But yet, the benefits of actually keeping these records and performing the analysis on them are just too powerful to be ignored. I needed some technological help.
Thus, the Garmin Edge 705 GPS Cyclo-Computer.
The Edge 705 marries a Garmin GPS unit to a cycle computer. You get all the standard GPS features (position, accurate timekeeping, speed calculation, mapping and routing) plus the more fitness-specific functions of a cycle computer (heart rate, barometric pressure based altitude, cadence) in a single unit. The unit uses a current-generation GPS receiver that cold-boots very quickly and regularly produces +/- 3 metre position fixes. It is also very good at keeping a fix under cover (like in a leafy forest or in an urban area with lots of high-rise buildings). Most importantly though, the unit records all the data fields with resolution up to 1 sample/second as long as the timer is running.
Once the ride is over, the data can be easily imported into your fitness software of choice for subsequent analysis.
One particularly nice feature is that the communication protocol between the headunit and any outboard sensors is ANT+, an open wireless standard (that Garmin developed) so third-party sensors can be used with a Garmin unit. Perhaps the most important of these are any number of wireless power meters - training with power having revolutionized cycling - so when you decide to pick up a power meter (as I will some day) it works with your unit.
The primary difference between the 705 and 505/305 is that the 705 includes on-screen mapping. The 705 is compatible with all of Garmin's map data products and can display maps and calculate routes just like the hand-held "trail" GPS models. I have mine loaded with topographic maps for Canada and the US (contour lines can be your friends). The mapping functions aren't something I use every day, but they have come in very handy when riding in unfamiliar areas.
As a "fitness GPS" the 705 also includes some workout-related functions, including the ability to compare performances on a pre-defined course against past performances (Garmin calls this the "virtual partner" and gives you little icons showing the relative position of your current performance and the reference performance, like a "ghost car" in Grand Tourismo). I haven't found any of these functions to be particularly useful.
I find I spend most of my time in the "dashboard" mode. You get a couple of data screens and what data is displayed is user-configurable. The display is very easy to read and has a backlight for night use.
The unit is waterproof (at least to torrential rain exposure - I wouldn't want to immerse it though) and rugged enough to survive multiple mountain bike crashes. The included heart rate strap is comfortable and works well. The GSC-10 cadence and wheel speed sensor is a little more temperamental; I have two (one for each bike) and one has recently given up the ghost.
Garmin has been around for a while, and is good about pushing out new features and bugfixes via firmware updates. Quality control on the firmware updates can be a little hit-or-miss though. Some releases of 705 firmware have been notoriously buggy (including the latest, 3.20) and with the Edge 800 now out, development efforts appear to have shifted to the new unit - and Garmin is uncommunicative about their development and release schedules so it is unclear when (or even if) a fixed firmware revision is coming. Every once and a while, (about 1 in 30 rides) my unit will garble a line in the data file and I'll have to manually fix the data with a text editor before it can be read. Happily, Garmin's data files are in XML and the unit reports itself as a USB mass storage device, so I have yet to actually lose any data.
The sample rate of one sample/second has proven fast enough for road use. On twisty singletrack, sometimes fast curves can be entered and exited before the device has an opportunity to take more than a single sample, so mountain bike track maps can sometimes look a little odd. I do wish it was possible to have a 10 Hz "mountain bike mode" and get a little more track fidelity, but overall, 1 Hz works well enough.
Overall, this unit has proven to be the cornerstone of my fitness efforts. The ability to effortlessly record a ride means tracking performance is not subject to my self-discipline, so I have data quite literally from every single ride I've ever made. This, married to a decent display makes for a great product, and the mapping functionality is the icing on the cake. I do wish Garmin would take more care with their firmware updates, and be more communicative about their release schedule, and I also wish the cadence sensor was more robust, but those are hardly showstoppers. Very highly recommended.
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