Garmin Edge 205 Handheld GPS Receiver

I have had the Garmin Edge 205 GPS for a few weeks now. I have do mostly mountain bike riding on dirt single tracks in the Twin Cities metro area in MN, I have also done some in Northern MN.

Signal strength
After the GPS is turned on the signal is acquired extremely fast. The longest I have had to wait is about 30 seconds. I do a lot of riding through heavily forested areas with many hills and I have yet to lose my signal.

Display
The display can have (3) different screen displays on it, one of these containing the map. The other two screens can display up to 8 settings that are user defined at once. I have not had to use the map setting at all but it seems small and hard to read, but it leaves a bread-crumb trail and has a compass setting if you get yourself lost!

The displays are easy to read when you are stopped. I have a 5 displays on one of my screens and 8 on the other. The first with 5 displays have speed being the biggest of the sizes so I can easily read it while moving. It takes about half the screen but when moving the other 4 can be really hard to read. The speed and the distance work pretty well for being a GPS signal.

All the signals update every second so jumps around a little but if riding at a semi-consistence speed it is relatively accurate. Of course it is going to jump around if you are constantly changing speeds... I only mention this because of other reviews say this is a poor feature.

Computer Plots
*GPS mapping
The maps are nice to see where you have gone. It takes a few seconds to put the information onto the computer after a trip. This is a nice feature. A dot is recorded every second. This allows seeing exactly where you turn.

*Elevation/Speed/Grade/Pace plots
When looking at the trip you can plot any or all of these at a time. It is nice to see the elevation vs speed. With the software the plots can be adjusted but sometimes hard to read. For mountain biking since there are so many hills and I am changing speeds so frequently that if gives me an idea of where some of the big hills are.

Overall
I am very pleased with buying this. I am much happier with this than if I would have bought a wireless bike computer that mounted on my bike.

I thought this unit would have maps of where I was and where I am going. Instead it only shows a strng of dots on a gray screen to mark my trip. Not even remotely helpful in any way. It also does not hold a charge and dies frequently. It doesn't even have an odometer. I find that very strange. For it's high price, I have a great stop watch. I should have saved my money to buy the appropriate unit. Buyer, do your homework.

I have really enjoyed the 205. With the included program and MotionBased, there is a ton of useable information available. I purchased extra mounts for all of my bikes and use it on every ride. You are able to keep very detailed riding diaries. Have not had any problems with reception even in deep woods. The only complaint I would have is the color. A grey or black would not stand out as much and blend in more with my riding gear. All in all a great cycling computer. And to top it off got it on ebay, new, for $85.

What I really like about this unit is it breaks your ride down into pieces where you can tell at which point you use more energy and can track your progress with every ride. I like how you can mount it on any bike and go without having to wire it to the bike. It think its smart of garmin to not have street maps on the display, a rider can get into an accident trying to read the display on the small screen, at least thats my opinion.

What I dont like is that there is alot of programming that I am still working out and am learning as I go. I would buy it again because the pro's outweigh the cons by miles.

Great tool for keeping track of your ride so you can review it later. Excellent for kicking your training to the next level.

I got lost on my first off road venture and spent 2 hours trying to find the road. For three years I only rode that trail for fear of having that experience again. I saw the Garmin Edge 205 on ebay in my budget range and I have never been happier. Now I ride all over the Withlacoochee State Forrest trails without a worry. I also download the routes to National Geographic Topos for a Scaled map for future use. Since the unit is waterproof, I have taken it along in my kayak. I now explore the nooks and crannies without fear of getting lost. I have also used it for hiking and marking waypoints of points of interest such as springs or waterfalls that I down load to maps. I have even used it while whitewater rafting just to map the route and mark points of interest (ie Deliverance Rock). This rugged unit can withstand the worst conditions and rarely ever loses a signal even while it is in my pocket 4 feet under water! Now I don't go on an outdoor adventure without it! barbara3232

Love the features; tons of data available to help in my training program especially the weekly summaries.

I wish it had a logging feature for each bike so that you could see at a glance the performance history for each individual bike.

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Well worth the money, an excellent acquisition. Dependable and reliable. Provides altitude, calories burned, direction, distance traveled, average speed, maximum speed. I am also able to download data into my training center and analyze my performance after every ride. All that a serious cyclist needs.

Great product, but wish it had a better map when connected to the pc. No details like streets or landmarks.

I really didn't need cadence or heartbeat or any of that physiological stuff ... just wanted to know how far I went, average speed, fastest speed, elevation gain, etc. This unit does a GREAT job. Easy to see in bright light, accurate, and comes with software that give you all the details of your trip. The more expensive units didn't offer features I needed ...

I did a lot of research before I decided on which Garmin Edge I was going to get. I already had a bike computer with cadence and I wasn’t interested in the features of a heart rate monitor or a barometric altimeter, so I quickly narrowed my choice down to the 205 and 605. The 605 had very attractive features, but I ended up getting the 205 because of the price. My primary reason for purchasing the unit is because I cycle to work daily and I wanted an easy way to compare my morning commute times.

The GPS unit is about the size of a cell phone. Each time it is turned on, it takes about 30 seconds to a minute to get a satellite lock. I have yet to lose a satellite signal once I’ve gotten the initial lock and I routinely ride through some very wooded areas. The screens and features are pretty easy to navigate through. All of the data screens are customizable and you can quickly switch between 2 different bike profiles. The size of the screen is sufficient enough to process the readings at a glance while you’re riding a bike. You can press and release the power button to activate the back light if you are using the unit in low/no light conditions.

Once you load the Training Center software on your computer, downloading your workout history is as simple as plugging in a usb cable. The actual Training Center Program could probably use a design makeover to make the data readout more user friendly, but the software is functional. I’ve found the MotionBased website to be very useful. It pretty much displays the same data as the Training Center software but the interface makes the readouts a lot easier to navigate through and comprehend. You can register for MotionBased free service and the web site will display your 10 most recent history files, or you can pay a subscription fee and have all of your history files available. The MotionBased service allows you to share your ride data with anyone via the internet. You can also download trips that other MotionBased users have made and transfer it to your GPS unit so that you can make the same trip and even compete against their time if you’d like.

Overall, I think this GPS unit is a great training tool for anyone serious about improving their ride times. Make sure you do your homework before purchasing because one of the other models in the Edge series may be more suitable for your needs. I would recommend the Garmin Edge line of GPS units to any cyclist who would like to become a better rider.

I bought the Edge a few weeks ago and have had good results with it so far. I ride 5-6 days a week and find the battery will last most of the week without recharging. It's a nice feature that it can be charged via the USB cable on your computer or with the AC adapter.
The GPS acquires a signal fairly fast and it seems to be quite accurate. My biggest complaint is that the display is somewhat difficult to read when riding. I have it set up so there are 5 items displayed on the main screen and 4 items plus the map on the map screen. I would prefer the speed on the main screen to be the largest readout with the timer being smaller, but that's just my personal preference. I've tried changing the background contract but that hasn't helped a lot....but other than this, I would recommend this unit. It is reasonably priced and provides a good value for the money.

It was recommended by a friend and it has delivered all that was advertised--the software package that is included with the Garmin Edge 205 is great in monitoring ones training and it allows one to compares previous performances. The GPS maps and play by play of the activity are great tools for improving and analyzing the performance of each ride. It also calculates calories spent during the cycling activity--spent calories are based on the rider profile, bike profile,physical effort, and the terrain covered during each ride. The only down side is that the maps can not be printed or the statistical data of the software be imported into Excel to create graphs or to further analyze the data. Overall I give it a four and a half rating.

Easy to use, many different functions to meet your individual needs, free computer download for better workout tracking, adds a little more fun to your workout, Garmin put alot of thought into making this a great system.

Found just what I was looking for and at a price that was within my budget. I would have been satisfied with a used item, but this one was new and in the original package.

IO HO COMPRATO IL GARMIN EDGE 205 3 SETTIMANE FA . MI E' ARRIVATO DOPO 2 SETTIMANE .VENDITORE SERIO E PROFESSIONALE.SONO PROPRIO SODDISFATTO.

What I like about it, is when it connects to the computer, it is detected automatically and your ride is instatly updated to the Garmin software. It's able to keep track of your rides and you can use it for an exercise program. I purchased the Garmin 205 because I own another Garmin product and am very pleased with it.

Garmin has a great reputation for good dependable, user friendly products.
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