I have had a lot of hits on my blog from people looking for information on the Garmin Edge, so I thought that I would give you an update on mine. First of all, not having really trained with a heart rate monitor (HRM) before, I can tell you it really does make a difference. Specifically, I found that I was training in Zone 3 and 4 almost all of the time. I never really rode below zone 3 and therefore never really gave my body a chance to recover. I am now taking time to do true recovery rides, and the difference is noticeable. The Garmin does a great job in the HRM function, and I couldn’t be happier.
The dust cover that I struggled with so much before is now much easier to put back in its place. I have almost mastered the technique for replacing it, but I couldn’t even begin to explain it. It is one of the great mysteries.
The big issue people seem to have is with the battery. And as I explained before, Garmin’s email customer service is very little help. However, if you are having issues with the battery not holding its charge overnight, I may have the fix for you. After you are done with the unit, (downloaded data etc.) turn it off. Then turn the unit on. Then turn the unit off again. Cycling through on and off a couple of times seems to fully power down the unit. Otherwise it maintains contact with the satellites and never powers down. You think that you have turned it off, but it is just in a state of suspension or something.
I have seen some negative things about the Garmin Edge 305, but I am very happy to date with mine. I just wish the free software was better. It is pretty good, just not great. And Motion Based is in my opinion pretty expensive (95.40/year and more if you pay monthly). The free version only lets you view your last 10 rides, and then the rides become unavailable. I would love to hear if anyone has any suggestions, other than paying 100/year.
I also installed the “Garage Gorilla” recently. It is pretty cool, and works well. I’ll include some pics and more info later.
As to MB, they will be changing over to GarminConnect in August/Sept, at which time all your old data, including those now inaccessible rides, will be migrated over and will become accessible.