Garmin Edge

adamroberts

I feel compelled to tell you about the problems I've had with my Garmin Edge 705. I bought one as soon as it came out and it was fine for 2 months and then the braket came loose and started rattling. So i used my spare bracket then that came loose after a month. 3 brackets later i'm riding at 30mph and the garmin fly's off the stem and narrowly misses my riding partner and ends up being flattened by a car wheel doing 70mph. It was quite a dangerous moment and i nearly crashed as did my training partner. On closer inspection the bracket snapped (not the cable ties) which I was amazed at. Being 1 week out of warranty I was extremely annoyed but then realised all the new brackets I had bought recently meant that surely I had a case for not 'fit for purpose'. I spoke to guy at Garmin who actually was quite rude and basically said I had probably mounted it incorrectly because otherwise they would have had more complaints so they can't do anything for me. So 325 quid down the drain plus another 30 for spare brackets. While Garmin have obviously spent alot of time and money to crack the cylcing market (sucessfully) with what are excellent devices i find it surprising that a) they cannot provide a better bracket and b) they don't provide better after sales support. So I hope if you are thinking of buying a garmin maybe wait until they realise there is a fundamental flaw in the bracket and develop a new one- otherwise it could be an expensive exercise and you'll still end up getting lost!

fishyweb

I have to say that I've always been very impressed with Garmin support. I use their Forerunner and Edge products. Touch wood, I've not had reason to need support for my Edge (305) yet. I've had a few problems with the Forerunner 305, as there were a couple of fairly obvious design flaws. When these have affected me, they have always been happy to replace with a refurb unit, even when about a year out of warranty.

Just thought I should post this, in the name of balanced debate.

Adam - I'm sorry that your experience with their products and service has been less than impressive.

akkers

its quite interesting you mention this....I noticed only last night that the bracket on mine is starting to come a bit loose....the rubber bit doesnt sit inside its housing properly and the unit isnt as tightly fitted as it used to be.....will watch out for it, but your concerns are valid.

dodgy

The brackets are a weak point, I've had several die on me. The trick is not to do them up too tight. Garmin will not acknowledge there is a problem but there seems to be plenty of anecdotal evidence that a problem exists. There was a post on the motionbased forum yesterday from one person saying that the bracket has been redesigned and he has one on order - don't know if the bracket has changed or not.

adamroberts

yes - i keep hearing about refurb units being offered for £100 but I don't see why you should have to give Garmin more money when I think the bracket is at fault. I noticed the pro's who use gamins double strap over their units display which I wish I had done now.

owenlars

I've gone througfh loads of brackets, in every case the plastic tang in the middle has broken. I now keep my 305 attached to the bracket using blue tack. Workd a treat and is unbreakable. I agree the whole method of fastening a good bit of kit to the bike is shoddy. (Oh and I'm on my 3rd 305 all replaced free of charge)

schlepcycling

owenlars wrote:

I've gone througfh loads of brackets, in every case the plastic tang in the middle has broken. I now keep my 305 attached to the bracket using blue tack. Workd a treat and is unbreakable. I agree the whole method of fastening a good bit of kit to the bike is shoddy. (Oh and I'm on my 3rd 305 all replaced free of charge)

Same for me, I've have several brackets and it's always the little plastic strip in the middle that goes.....thanks for the blue tack tip I'll have to try that.

HonestAl

and another here, I've one break on me, my son had the same

James_London

The mounts aren't great and Garmin have just introduced a new one... Old on the left, new (onepiece) on the right.



Otherwise the 705, 305 and Garmin service have all been good IME.

Cunobelin

It is a new prolbem?

My 305 brackets were fine until I bought a new one last month, it has now been replaced three times!

djb1971

Another secure mount feature I've bodged on mine is in my link below. It may help someone to save theirs

hase

I'm also sorry to hear about that. I've been using mine for almost two years now with the old style brackets and haven't had a single problem. I have one unit but brackets on the road bike, the mountain bike, and a motorcycle, each with the ties cinched down as tight as I could get it.

a_n_t

my bracket broke last week on the spud riley. Plastic tab snapped inside.

I'll order one of the new ones soon, seem alot more robust.

graeme_s-2

This isn't the first time I've heard about this problem with the bracket for the 705, although I've had no problems (touch wood). If I were the original poster, I'd take it up with Garmin again, maybe contact Trading Standards, the CAB or write to a consumer advice bod in a magazine/newspaper. I certainly think Garmin should put things right considering it's their bracket that has failed and destroyed your unit.