Give a give a give a Garmin...

lost_in_thought

Like my mother did at Xmas! Or get a get a get a garmin instead. Mine is the 705. It's the orange version. When the Viner eventually arrives they will match. Tart.

To my detriment, I've only just attached it to a bike (the Tifosi) and taken it out for a trial.

It's very impressive, that it is, the data it generates is excellent and the training/workouts look impressive! I've also successfully downloaded ITB's london bridges route from bikehike.

I know a few others have the 705, and being a massive technophile, I want to know what cool things you've done with it and how you did them!

Also, anyone have any good routes 'round London that they'd like to share? Is there a way with the Garmin Connect thingy that you can share routes/workouts/etc?

Exciting!!

biondino

Also, if anyone has a 705 and doesn't like it/can't figure out how it works/needs to sell it to buy the missus a pony or something, let me know, I'll offer you a decent (ish) price...

Jamey

I've got the 305 and I'm very happy with it. I've used it to get me to places I hadn't been to before... Like Evans in Waterloo Cut when I wanted to try on Assos stuff in a proper shop to gauge my size (massive).

Haven't done any of the workouts but have used the courses thing and raced against a virtual partner (which was actually a recorded version of myself - my personal best time to work).

jonginge

So, following on from the other thread, I swap my 705 between 3 bikes. I've got plenty of RP laps and SCR embankment battles stored as history. I've also got a few alpine climbs* I can probably work out how to share those tcx files if needed...

I downloaded the HOTA course from their website and then ignored the 705's frantic instructions to turn around on ride day

I've used the mapping to navigate to and from a mate's house deep in the surrey hills (again I ignored instructions on the way back so I could nip up box hill but it recalculated the route no problem)

Tomorrow I'm going to pair it up with my PowerTap. Brave new world :shock:

* but not all the ones I did in sept due to general charging numptiness

benborp

My top tip - particularly useful for sportives:

Save a route as TCX and then as a GPX in the saved rides folder on the device and then run the two simultaneously. You get all the training capabilities such as ride profile, virtual partner etc. plus turn by turn directions with detail maps at junctions. Plus you don't have to manually put in course warnings.

prj45

About three quarters of the way home once I spotted my 705's cadence reading had stopped. I checked and my cadence magnet had fallen off my pedal arm; I was a bit pi55ed off as they're £15 to replace.

However, about an hour after I got in I clicked I could load my route up and see where the cadence recording stopped.

It had stopped on the Mall just after I came through Admirality Arch, from the trace it looked like I was in the middle of the road at the time.

Went back past in the morning, and there was my cadence magnet on the ground in the middle of the road.

Well, I thought that was pretty cool.

DiggingDeeper

JonGinge wrote:

so I could nip up box hill

Jon - how do you just nip up Box HIll, it near enough killed me!!!!

John Stevenson

BikeRadar editor Jeff showed me a good one on our ride this morning.

If you have a hill that you use as a fitness test, then hitting 'lap' at the bottom of it and again at the top will record your time and other data for that segment of the ride. ('Lap' is therefore a stupid term for this function, but meh).

You get info like this:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/2395747

and specifically this:

http://connect.garmin.com/splits/2395747

So now, every time I go up that hill I have a benchmark of pain.

lost_in_thought

John Stevenson wrote:

BikeRadar editor Jeff showed me a good one on our ride this morning.

If you have a hill that you use as a fitness test, then hitting 'lap' at the bottom of it and again at the top will record your time and other data for that segment of the ride. ('Lap' is therefore a stupid term for this function, but meh).

You get info like this:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/2395747

and specifically this:

http://connect.garmin.com/splits/2395747

So now, every time I go up that hill I have a benchmark of pain.

Ooooooh good tip! I have been wondering about that lap function...

I'm about to head out and have a hill in mind. It's not very long, or that steep, but I used to have to stop halfway up it when I first got the rubbish roadie... :oops:

Jamey

You can also set it to auto-lap if you're doing loops, so that it automatically starts a new lap when you return (or pass through) the same geographical spot as before.

Kieran_Burns

Thank you LIT you got me thinking, and my thoughts came up with this:

http://www.gpsforless.co.uk/product_det ... p?id=15354

Woohoo! I can use my phone as a Sat Nav on the bike!

lost_in_thought

Jamey wrote:

You can also set it to auto-lap if you're doing loops, so that it automatically starts a new lap when you return (or pass through) the same geographical spot as before.

How do you do that then?

jonginge

lost_in_thought wrote:

Jamey wrote:

You can also set it to auto-lap if you're doing loops, so that it automatically starts a new lap when you return (or pass through) the same geographical spot as before.

How do you do that then?

Page 15 of this:
http://www8.garmin.com/manuals/2297_OwnersManual.pdf


Got my PowerTap paired with my 705. Spun the wheel, rescanned for power and It just worked
It also seems to provide cadence info from my uneven pedalling :shock:

lost_in_thought

JonGinge wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Jamey wrote:

You can also set it to auto-lap if you're doing loops, so that it automatically starts a new lap when you return (or pass through) the same geographical spot as before.

How do you do that then?

Page 15 of this:
http://www8.garmin.com/manuals/2297_OwnersManual.pdf


Got my PowerTap paired with my 705. Spun the wheel, rescanned for power and It just worked
It also seems to provide cadence info from my uneven pedalling :shock:

Oooh thanks, you've just saved me finding the CD! I need to know how to do various things...

Also, very cool with the powertap!! I am slightly jealous!

Rich158

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Thank you LIT you got me thinking, and my thoughts came up with this:

http://www.gpsforless.co.uk/product_det ... p?id=15354

Woohoo! I can use my phone as a Sat Nav on the bike!

Don't do it. I've tried it and wasn't impressed. The battery on my phone lasts just over an hour with the satnav on, and if I use the larger battery it won't fit in the holder. Also there was a delay on the satnav that was truly annoying and caused several wrong turns.

My set up is an HTC Touch Diamond with GPS Tuner installed. It's fine if I'm a bit lost and just need to check a turning in an emergency, but as an alternative to the Garmin it's been a disaster.

prj45

One thing a lot of people miss on the Garmin is that to tell it you've finished a ride you've got to hold down the lap button whilst it counts down to 0; if you don't do that all your "rides" merge into one (which may well be your intention).

I've got mine set up to auto timer pause too, whereby if you come to a halt the timer stops, so your total time is the time you were moving (although it will also show you the time your ride started and finished in Garmin connect). Useful for telling how much time you actually spent moving, or, er, stopped.

There have been some reported problems with this feature, but it seems to work for me no probs.

jonginge

prj45 wrote:

One thing a lot of people miss on the Garmin is that to tell it you've finished a ride you've got to hold down the lap button whilst it counts down to 0; if you don't do that all your "rides" merge into one (which may well be your intention).

+1 big stylee. Got a few merged rides. Very annoying coz I don't think they play nicely with garmin connect.

Another thing is to download the webupdater tool and check for firmware updates. They fix software problems quite often
http://www8.garmin.com/products/webupdater/

ratherbeintobago

prj45 wrote:

One thing a lot of people miss on the Garmin is that to tell it you've finished a ride you've got to hold down the lap button whilst it counts down to 0; if you don't do that all your "rides" merge into one (which may well be your intention).

:-o So that's how it works. This had been driving me bonkers. Though not currently as bike is poorly sick.

I've got mine set up to auto timer pause too, whereby if you come to a halt the timer stops, so your total time is the time you were moving (although it will also show you the time your ride started and finished in Garmin connect). Useful for telling how much time you actually spent moving, or, er, stopped.

There have been some reported problems with this feature, but it seems to work for me no probs.

Yes - I've seen mine cycle continuously from paused to running... while cycling up Norden Rd at 15mph.

RBIT

lost_in_thought

prj45 wrote:

One thing a lot of people miss on the Garmin is that to tell it you've finished a ride you've got to hold down the lap button whilst it counts down to 0; if you don't do that all your "rides" merge into one (which may well be your intention).

I've got mine set up to auto timer pause too, whereby if you come to a halt the timer stops, so your total time is the time you were moving (although it will also show you the time your ride started and finished in Garmin connect). Useful for telling how much time you actually spent moving, or, er, stopped.

There have been some reported problems with this feature, but it seems to work for me no probs.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh OK so THAT's how it works! So like today, when I did a short lap then went off for a longer (aborted) ride, I could have pushed 'lap' to sort of break the ride up into 2 separate 'activities'?

Is that what you mean?

If not, how DO I do that?? :?

prj45

lost_in_thought wrote:

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh OK so THAT's how it works! So like today, when I did a short lap then went off for a longer (aborted) ride, I could have pushed 'lap' to sort of break the ride up into 2 separate 'activities'?

Absolutely.

To finish off a ride always press start/stop to make sure the timer's stopped, then hold down lap until it counts down to zero and the timer will reset, then to start you next ride press start/stop again; repeat.

Note that the lap button has the word reset just above it, that's the secondary function of the button.

One of the most important functions on the unit, not really mentioned in the manual. Really the start/stop button is badly labelled, while the unit's recording it really means pause/unpause,and holding down the lap button means "stop".

jimmcdonnell

I love my 705 but I constantly annoy myself by getting myself and the bike ready, turning it on and waiting patiently for all the appropriate beeps and boops as it finds satellites, cadence/heart sensor etc - and then I pedal off without actually starting the timer. Aaaarrrgh.

Anybody got any suggestions for a really, really good aide memoire? I've tried post-its on the handlebars (I forget to put them on the night before), writing on the back of my hand (SUCH a stupid idea since I wear gloves riding), messages written to self next to the kettle/toaster/cycle clothes drawer (I notice them and then instantly forget them as soon as I get on the bike).

alfablue

Tie a hankie (or something) around the Garmin screen, remove only when you set timer going 8)

page23

hi all,

i'm considering buying the 705. i've read quite a bit about them including reviews on forums. the one thing that has stood out is that some people think they're a little 'fiddly' to use and the base map is poor. is this true? regarding the map, i don't know if they sell regional type ones, but has anyone bought different maps? any other tips for purchasing? do they come with a cadence measurement or is this an addition/higher spec? any tips for places to purchase, i.e. good deals?

thanks in advance!

Roastie

Yep, the standard base map is worse than rubbish, but once you get the maps it comes alive. I don't think it is too fiddly - my main gripe is that the Training Centre software is a bit noddy.

On that topic, I'm looking for some decent software to use with Ubuntu (Intrepid). At the moment I need to use the Windoze portion of my dual boot which annoys me because practically everything else I need is in Linux and I'd love to rid myself of Windoze for good if I could (especially after my Windoze frustration driven accident of last week).

ps. Anyhone tried Sporttracks? It looks much better than TC, but also Windoze only.

lost_in_thought

Thanks prj45!

Why on earth they don't mention that in the manual, I don't know... :roll:

prj45

Page23 wrote:

and the base map is poor. is this true?

Is the base map poor? Yes thirded from me, in fact do not buy this unit unless you can buy it with a packaged map other than the base map, at least City Navigator.

I was an early adpoter so paid through the nose and got no map either, a couple of months later people were paying less than me with maps bundled too.

Fiddly? For operations with the little joystick it's a bit of a pain, especially whilst your riding, but then I guess you shouldn't be trying to change settings whilst on the move, especially with a fiddly joystick.

Some people have fitted a little rubber gromit around the joystick so it needs more force to click it to position which helps apparently.

prj45

lost_in_thought wrote:

Thanks prj45!

Why on earth they don't mention that in the manual, I don't know... :roll:

It sort of does, but not very explicity, it says "press and hold lap/reset to save your ride data and reset the timer" but doesn't really mention how important this is, or about the countdown.

jonginge

prj45 wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Thanks prj45!

Why on earth they don't mention that in the manual, I don't know... :roll:

It sort of does, but not very explicity, it says "press and hold lap/reset to save your ride data and reset the timer" but doesn't really mention how important this is, or about the countdown.

The manual is pretty poor in that regard. Uploading to Garmin Training Centre (and possibly Garmin connect but i haven't tried it yet) also resets the activity. In fact, coz I was religiously uploading each ride I didn't notice the reset issue until I was away on holiday. Just the time when you have manuals ready to hand The first time I saw the reset countdown it freaked me a little. Wasn't quite sure what it was going to reset... and I'd just ridden up the Joux Plane and Avoriaz

Throlkim

Roastiecp wrote:

Yep, the standard base map is worse than rubbish, but once you get the maps it comes alive. I don't think it is too fiddly - my main gripe is that the Training Centre software is a bit noddy.

On that topic, I'm looking for some decent software to use with Ubuntu (Intrepid). At the moment I need to use the Windoze portion of my dual boot which annoys me because practically everything else I need is in Linux and I'd love to rid myself of Windoze for good if I could (especially after my Windoze frustration driven accident of last week).

ps. Anyhone tried Sporttracks? It looks much better than TC, but also Windoze only.

Tried running it under Wine?

itboffin

I can't afford a garmin 705 so I'm going to print a colour cut out and stick my aldi cycle computer underneath

Petromyzon

Page 23, handtec has frequently been the cheapest website when I have looked. YMMV.