Garmin Waterproof Cycling Speed Cadence

Review ReviewJust when you thought Garmin had cornered the market on powerful, affordable, and effective wrist-mounted GPS devices, here comes the Forerunner 305. The release of this device is a major accomplishment from a design and engineering science perspective. This isn't just marketing-speak; the Forerunner 305 is the most accurate, most dependable wrist-mounted performance and GPS tracking tool we've ever tested. Yes, it's that good. While no device this compact may do everything (yet), the 305 pushes the boundaries of what is possible from something strapped around your wrist. The 305 model includes wireless heartrate monitoring and it may also be connected to Garmin's wireless bicycle speed and cadence sensor. If you don't need these features, consider the lower-priced Forerunner 205.

View Garmin's Forerunner visual representation video.

Choose from 12 data fields to display on the 305's screen. View larger.

The design cleverly integrates the GPS antenna and aims it towards the sky when you're running or walking. View larger.

The Virtual Partner function makes your workouts more competitive. View larger.

Choose from three workout modes that aid you target your training goals. View larger.

The 305 features rudimentary mapping and emplacement marking functions. View larger.

Design
The 305's design is a radical departure from Garmin's former generation of wrist mounted GPS devices, which reached a pinnacle with the Garmin Forerunner 301. While the 301 delivered precise heart rate monitoring, good performance tracking, and decent GPS reception, it didn't rather deliver in the design department. The form element was bulky and wearing it wasn't much dissimilar than duct taping a full-sized GPS device to your wrist.

Not so with the 305. Garmin's engineers evidently burned the midnight oil and have come up with a waterproof design that, while surely not as little as a sports watch, feels just as comfortable. The curved casing allows the unit's antenna to face the sky when you're running, while the widescreen display is perfectly positioned for observing when you need it. And the display surely deserves a few kudos. While it's littler than the display found on former Forerunners, it is solution is far higher, supplying unbelievable clarity and crispness.

Garmin has smartly given the 305 a simple button layout and the buttons have a nice tactile feel with good pressure response. The right side houses the menu selection and enter buttons, while the left houses a power/backlight button and a mode button. This simple and graceful solution is a huge betterment over the on occasion mixing up button functionality of former Forerunners. View button layout.

The undersurface of the 305 is gorgeous nondescript, except for a row of contacts that interface with the included charging and data cradle. The cradle is little and unobtrusive and it is single mini-USB port connects to either an included AC adapter, or a USB cable that connects to your PC. In addition to data transfer with the USB cable, you may likewise charge the 305's embedded lithium-ion battery thru a powered USB connection from your computer.

GPS Performance
The big news when it comes to the Forerunner 305 is that it features an integrated, high-sensitivity SiRFstar III GPS receiver. What does this mean? It means that the 305's capacity to both track, and maintain a lock on, your position is better than anything before it. After an intial battery charge, the tester had the 305 on his wrist and was tracking speed and distance with GPS satellites within 3 minutes. The next time we employed the 305, satellite acquisition was almost instantaneous. A run through dense trees didn't faze the unit either; tracking remained true and steady. Performance on a bike was evenly impressive. Whatever witchcraft has been cooked up by the designers of the SiRF technology, we like it!

The simple docking cradle makes charging and selective information connectivity a snap.

While the Forerunner 305 isn't billed as a GPS navigation device, it does have a heap of rudimentary mapping, waypoint marking, and routing capabilities. In addition to marking emplacements along your journey, you may zoom in or out of a simple map that displays your current direction and path. There's also a "go to location" feature that routes you back to your starting location, or to any emplacement you have defined. Once you have specified various locations, you may save this data as a route, permitting you to travel the same path in the future. As you'll see below, the 305's new "Courses" feature gives you new levels of control over how you define your favored runs and rides.

Training Functions
The 305 is firstborn and foremost a training tool, and it is capacity to coordinate a ton of info types into a user experience that is intuitive and simple is no little feat. Whiz-bang technology aside, if you can't use it and make it a natural share of your exercise routine, it's worthless. When it comes to these components -- and here's the take home message on the 305 -- this device is successful where a lot of other gimmicks fail.

The heart and soul of the 305 may be found on the data screens, which give you real-time info regarding all distinct features of your workout. In fact, the 305 may display a dizzying array of data, such as calories burned, distance, elevation, grade, and heading, as well as multiple lap and pace modes. The 305 adds the capacity to track heartrate, lap heartrate, intermediate heartrate, and heartrate zones thru the included coded heartrate chest strap. With the buy of a distinguished wireless cadence and speed meter, you may also track bike performance data.

Thankfully, the device makes it easy to define how much or how little data you want to view for the duration of a workout. You may arrange the info that's most important to you and then make that data appear front and center on the device. Indeed, within a few minutes of skimming the manual and fiddling with the device setup, you'll have your most indispensable info displaying just the way you like it. The capacity to display heartrate is a big plus, too, as it's a reasonably good indicator of excercise output, fatigue, and fitness level. The 305 has all the heartrate functions you'd suppose from a full-function monitor, including the capacity to set target zones and alerts to maximize the effectiveness of your workouts.

Garmin's Virtual Partner function was cool feature of former Forerunners and they've decisive to keep a good thing going with the 305. If you're the type that performs best when you've got a contender egging you on, you'll love this function, as it allows you to set up virtual running or biking companions that compete versus you.

If you're looking for an elaborated workout with a assortment of intervals and intensity levels, or just a quick three-mile jog versus your best time last week, the 305 has you covered. Navigating to the Workouts menu on the device yields three options: Quick Workouts, Interval, and Advanced Workout. A quick workout is just that; set the distance and time, distance and pace, or time and pace of your planned workout and off you go. Interval workouts are just the same, but they grant you to add repetitions and rest amid them. When you in truth want to get imagination with your exercise, you may step up to innovative workouts, which include goals for each workout step, as well as varied distances, times, and rest periods. You may use the Garmin Training Center software to set up these workouts and then upload them to the device.

Computer Connectivity and Software
Garmin has been outfitting their gadgets with USB connectivity for galore time now -- a welcome move for those who was struggling with serial port connections in the days of yore. Thanks to USB, the 305 integrates seamlessly with the Training Center software and we quickly had workout history uploaded and stored on the computer. Not only does Training Center--which is compatible with both PC and Mac--make it easy to track your performance, you may graph data such as heartrate alongside your speed and distance. Over time, this is a outstanding way to view your fitness levels increase, and it also helps you see what types of workouts are necessary to beef up your weaknesses. For instance, if you see your heartrate commence to spike after a sure distance, you know you need to increase your endurance workouts to train that area of fitness.

In a original for the Forerunner series, the Training Center software also lets you define courses on your computer that you may upload to the device. When course selective information is combined with uploaded workout information, the Forerunner becomes a finish guide, telling you where to go, when to make a turn, and what kind of workout to do when you're on the road or path. Back on the computer, the software's capacity to overlay workout data on maps of the course makes it easy to see where the course offers up the tough hills and the easy recovery spots. Plus, the capacity to track historical performance on a given course is a great way to measure your improvement.

The 305 is likewise completely compatible with Garmin's MotionBased service, which takes your training to another level by connecting your selective information with the Internet. While we weren't competent to use the service, the promise of sharing courses, maps, workouts, and performance data with other users is intriguing. And if you're a severe endurance athlete, you'll be glad to know that the 305 is also compatible with TrainingPeaks.com, an easy-to-use web based training scheme designed to support athletes train for any event.

Pros

• Radically new design is better in each way
• Amazing accuracy and fast satellite acquisition time
• So simple to set up and use, you will in truth use it

Cons

• Okay, it's more prominent than a sport's watch -- but so much more powerful

What's in the Box
Forerunner 305, Garmin Training Center CD-ROM, heart rate monitor, docking cradle, expander strap, A/C charger, USB cable, owner's manual, quick start out guide. The successor to the Garmin Forerunner 301 is here, and it's better than ever. Weighing in at just over 2.5 ounces, the Garmin Forerunner 305 breaks new ground in terms of comfort, style, and performance. Totally redesigned, the 305 gives outdoor athletes and runners real-time data in regards to speed, distance, pace, and heart rate on a device that's easy to use and amazingly compact.

The Forerunner 305 features the powerful new SiRF GPS navigation chip for supreme accuracy, even underneath tree cover and amid tall buildings. A coded chest strap heart-rate monitor prevents undesirable interference from other devices. View larger.

The unit's GPS receiver is designed to face towards the sky when you're running.

A more watch-like design makes it far posing no difficulty to use and wear.

Plus, the 305 is engineered to support folks train better and smarter. Training assistant tools, respective distance and time alerts, and bundled Training Center PC software combine to make the device an necessary percentage of any athlete's training program.

The 305's digitally coded heart-rate monitor--which is worn as a chest strap--sends heart-rate data to the device so you may see whether you're training too hard or not hard enough. Alerts for pace, distance, time, and heart rate are also available. Additionally, the unit tracks speed, distance, pace, and calories burned. Meanwhile, a course feature lets you race versus former runs in order to improve your time or just compare heart rate and pace info at each point of the way.

The 305's easy-to-read, 1.3-inch display has been integrated into a sleek and stylish form element that is unquestionably a step up from the more spectacular and more cumbersome Forerunner 301 model. Indeed, the 305 looks and wears like a stylish sports watch, and it's more cautiously designed to meet the needs of athletes. The design also positions the antenna with an optimal view of the sky. As an added feature, the case is water immune to IEC 60529 IPX7 standards (can be submerged in one meter of water for 30 minutes).

Accuracy is the name of the game with the 305. The vastly more precise GPS antenna and receiver, which uses an modern SiRF chip, offer much more quickly satellite acquisition times. Plus, the unit may hold a repair in places never before possible. Gone are the days of losing a fix under tree cover or when running amidst tall buildings. All of these features add up to far more accuracy in recording and tracking your exercise data. And because the 305 uses GPS to track how far and how fast you're going, you never have to calibrate it. The unit likewise doubles as a basic navigator. Mark your starting point as a specific location, see your current position on the plotter display, and follow an electronic breadcrumb trail back to your starting point.

The 305 features a USB data connection and docking cradle for downloading your speed, lap, exercise time, and heart-rate data into Garmin's Training Center PC software. The unit stores up to 1,000 lap histories, which you may download to your PC for a elaborated post-workout analysis. Plus, you may invent and schedule workouts using the included software and download them to the unit. A rechargeable internal lithium-ion battery offers up to ten hours of battery life.

For further and added post-workout analysis, the 305 is compatible with MotionBased software. MotionBased adds a new dimension to training and outdoor fitness that makes the analytical distinct features of a sport more compelling and a lot more fun. You may upload data to MotionBased, a Web-based application that has partnered with Garmin. MotionBased provides in-depth analysis of your workouts, as well as online mapping and route sharing that will take your training to the next level. MotionBased mechanically calculates time, distance, speed, elevation, and heart rate, and it displays this data through significant charts, illustrations, reports, and maps. With MotionBased, you may likewise race multiple instances of the same route to see how you are bettering or to race other members of MotionBased. You may "virtually race" somebody you don't even know.

If you like the features of the Forerunner 305 but don't need heart-rate monitoring, be sure to check out the Forerunner 205.

What's in the Box
Forerunner 305 unit, digital coded heart rate monitor, Training Center CD-ROM, A/C charger, PC/USB interface cable, owner's manual, and quick-start guide.