Garmin Edge 705 Bicycle GPS Review
Garmin Edge 705 GPS
MSRP: $545 (Base Package)
Avg. Rating: Not Rated
Description:
GARMIN Edge 705 HRM Outdoor Fitness GPS w/ Heart Rate Monitor allows you to bring your best wherever your travels takes you. The Garmin Edge 705 navigating trainer pushes you to do your best and keeps you on track no matter how far off the path you get. This GPS enabled cycling computer offers you heart rate, cadence, turn by turn directions, even power data using optional ANT plus Sport enabled third party power meters. It's the entire package and you could even share your data with your training buddies or a coach who is halfway across the country. All wireless and it even has a color display, definitely not your average cycling computer.
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Garmin Edge Review
Garmin Edge 705 Review
The Edge 705 cycling GPS from Garmin makes a lot of promises and if you read the spec list, it sounds pretty impressive. Detailed, full color in both road and topographic maps; data collection, navigation including turn by turn, ride elevation profiles and much more are just the main features offered by Garmin but can it actually deliver on the hype? We are definitely gadget junkies so we decided to put the Garmin Edge 705 through it's paces and see what it was made of, so to the mountain bike trail we go.
Edge 705 Design
Taking the Garmin Edge 705 out of it's package, you can immediately see that the compact size and design of the Edge 705 will mount on your handlebars nicely. The package comes with a cool quick mount setup that allows you to quickly and easily clip or unclip your GPS head unit but will still firmly hold the unit in place on even the roughest of trails. One of the complaints we've always heard about bicycle GPS units is not being able to read them in direct sunlight but that's not an issue with the Garmin Edge 705 as it sports a sweet 2.2" (diagonal) screen that shows up very well, even in the light of day. For all you trail junkies who might not know how to come in out of the dark, it even offers a nicely backlit display option for great visibility once the light starts to fade.
Detailed Base Maps
Before you can hit the trail you will need to upload a map of your specific riding area. We were a bit concerned that this might be a giant pain in the butt, but it was pretty simple. A couple of things to be aware of though are:
1. The Edge is not preloaded out of the box, meaning it does not have detailed maps included with the Edge 705. You should also know that to get turn by turn directions and navigation you will need to pop for either the Garmin MapSource City Navigator software (about $100) or Garmin MapSource Topo (also about $100) if you are more of a trail junkie. The Topographic maps won't create point-to-point directions on your GPS like you can with the City Navigator. Sound confusing? Unfortunately it can be and we wish that Garmin would build the Edge with detailed MAPS already included. Maybe not the entire country but maybe regions, like Northeast, Southeast etc.
2. Don't even try it because you can't fit the entire US Map into your Garmin Edge at one time. It would be nice to be able to simply load the entire country and be done but it's not possible. This isn't as big of a deal as you might think as once you have your area loaded you are pretty much set. After all, how many times do you actually ride well outside of your home region? Not often, but if you do, plan ahead and load the right maps.
Loading trails aka tracks
While it may sound confusing, it isn't as bad as it sounds. The Garmin Edge 705 makes it very easy to load trails into your GPS from your computer. If you can load an MP3 into your IPOD then this is a piece of cake. If you're using MapSource or the Garmin Training Center software, simply connect the GPS to your computer and select the trail that you want and click "Send to Device." If you are getting your trails from another source, then you still just connect to the computer via the USB port and drag and drop the trail files to the GPX folder. Again, nothing more difficult than loading an IPOD.
Another really cool feature of the Garmin Edge 705 is that you can exchange trail data wirelessly between your Edge 705 and other Edge 705 users via the built-in ANT+ wireless technology. How cool is that? If you want to share your favorite trail with a fellow rider, a couple of clicks and your trail is loaded into his GPS.
How Well Does it Follow Trails
The Garmin Edge 705 does a remarkable job at following the trails you've loaded either via computer or wirelessly. The Garmin makes it as easy as possible to allow you to keep your eyes on the trail and can be configured to beep when you are approaching a key turn or intersection in the path. Of course it also displays on screen as well as the beeping but we prefer to keep our eyes up if possible so we liked this feature. There are certain types of trails that are extremely twisty or have a lot of junctions where the beeping can get a bit annoying but the pros outweigh the cons.
Extra features
In our opinion, it was easy to see that Roadies clearly were the primary target that Garmin had in mind as many of the accessories included are definitely road bike oriented. The heart rate monitor was nice and quickly connects up with the GPS but other accessories like the cadence meter or the power meters are for the most part, useless to a mountain biker. The good news is that the base Edge 705 package does not include these items so you don't have to pay for them if you don't want them. If you DO then pay attention to the fine print of the GPS that you select to make sure they are included.
In closing, we'd say the Garmin Edge 705 is a great little GPS unit that packs a ton of technology and capability in a small package. The map loading and setup might sound confusing but really once you have the maps loaded the first time, you can pretty much set it and forget it and we'd say it is a great choice for someone wanting a combination of navigation and a first class cycling computer all in one package.
Video Reviews
Enjoy these video reviews of the Garmin Edge 705. Video allows you to take a first hand look at the Garmin Edge 705 computer in a way that words can't describe. Check out the Garmin Edge 705 Video Reviews.
