Garmin 705 Owners

symo

Hi all,

Wondering what to get. Wiggle have the road performance package which includes the speed/cadence sensor pack and the city navigator europe pack.

Is it worth buying???

Or would I be better sourcing the unit elsewhere with a different map pack?

owenlars

Really depends what you want to use it for. You have posted in the commuting forum so if you want it for that I would suggest you save a shed load and get something cheaper like a 305 or some of the others that are available. On the other hand if you are into sportives/training/long distance rides or touring then the road package is probably what you want.

symo

Yes it is for training. Just don't like asking questions in the roadie forum its all a bit sniffy.

:twisted:

il_principe

symo wrote:

Hi all,

Wondering what to get. Wiggle have the road performance package which includes the speed/cadence sensor pack and the city navigator europe pack.

Is it worth buying???

Or would I be better sourcing the unit elsewhere with a different map pack?

It's worth buying but can be found cheaper elsewhere:

705 with Cadence and HR - £295

City Navigator SD UK & Ireland - £28

City Navigator SD Europe - £73

Gazzaputt

I sourced all the parts separate and paid around £230 I think but that was last year.

il_principe

Gazzaputt wrote:

I sourced all the parts separate and paid around £230 I think but that was last year.

Yep, prices have defo gone up.

symo

Cheers y'all, going for Wiggle, then will have to start saving for the MAJOR purchase.

avoidingmyphd

symo wrote:

Yes it is for training. Just don't like asking questions in the roadie forum its all a bit sniffy.

:twisted:

of course it's not. there are loads of nice people in the roadie section, lots of whom would be happy to share their 705 experience with you!

you're looking at the right package for training purposes - the basemap is useless, so you need the city navigator, and if you're going for it you might as well get the cadence sensor.

you're right to bring up "the map issue" though - if you get the map on SD card you can't (officially) use it on the computer as well. it just sits on the edge and you're stuck with just the basemap on the pc.

this isn't actually a big issue UNLESS you want to program routes using garmin software on the pc. i use bikeroutetoaster and mapmyride on the pc and the navigator map on the edge and it works fine. There is a workaround involving file copying and renaming, but if that's unappealing and you really want to use the map on the pc, make sure you go for the dvd option.

i see wiggle had the orange team edition for the same price as the normal one....

and the instructions are rubbish. you'll be needing this link http://frank.kinlan.co.uk/?page_id=920

bomberesque

I have the 705+HRM and paid about 250 for it last Xmas

Dunno if the cadence is worth anything to you but the maps are pretty essential to use the functionality of the device. I got the whole Europe map (can't recall if it's called city navigator or not) and it's been bloody excellent, used it most ercently for touring in Sweden.

If accurate vertical change data isn't so important to you then you can save money with the 605, which lacks the barometric gauge
If you don't plan to use the mapping, the 205/305 seem quite good

Other options include the Satmap device, which gets lots of good reviews and has a *very* shiny screen but seems to be more for mapping than training plus iirc Satmap won't do turn-by-turn

I like my 705 though. Flawed as it is it seems to be the best solution about at the moment and worldwide map coverage gives it a definite edge on the Satmap

graeme_s-2

bomberesque wrote:

If accurate vertical change data isn't so important to you then you can save money with the 605, which lacks the barometric gauge

The gauge in the 705 is pretty poor. I've had it vary by considerable amounts (35 metres) on two consecutive laps of the same course!

_Brun_

Might be worth checking prices at Pentagon GPS if you haven't ordered yet.

bomberesque

Graeme_S wrote:

bomberesque wrote:

If accurate vertical change data isn't so important to you then you can save money with the 605, which lacks the barometric gauge

The gauge in the 705 is pretty poor. I've had it vary by considerable amounts (35 metres) on two consecutive laps of the same course!

tried the one on the 605?

the gauge on the 705 is barometric so it certainly will be fooled by changing weather conditions. The piont is that it's still better than relying purely on GPS readings.

avoidingmyphd

for pure altitude comedy I suggest a forerunner 305. Mine happily taunts me with claims I am going down steep hills as I struggle up long climbs in the granny ring. how important is altitude data when you're actually on the road though? I only pay any attention later, on the PC, where I can use software to tidy it up anyway.

If the OP is looking for a training aid, then surely altitude is neither here nor there - the 705 wins over the 605 every time because of its HR and cadence capabilities.

bomberesque

could be wrong about this but I'm reasonably sure that the cadence and HRM functionality is the same in the 605 and 705, although when I look I don't see the packages available for the 605, only listed as opt extras.

As for accuracy in height recordings, well I did say "if it's important to you" ... it is rather to me as I do a lot of mountainbiking and, in some cases, the length of the ride is better measured in vertical gain rather than distance covered. well ... "important " is perhaps overstating it.... :roll: more for classifying the ride for future outings and bragging rights in the pub of course.....

All I can say is there are several guys in my club who use edges of varying designations plus we ride a fair amout of repeated routes and our conclusion is that the 305/705 is considerably more accurate for vert position than the 205/605, which have a tendancy to dance up and down 15-20m between GPS readings and log it as height ganied, something which the barometric units don't do.

Oddjob62

Il Principe wrote:

City Navigator SD Europe - £73

Wouldn't the DVD be a better idea, it's only a couple of quid more, and from what I've read, you can't use SD maps on your computer, only on the device, whereas you can upload maps from the DVD onto an SD card.

I'd like to know what people think about this, i have just bought a 705, but am currently using the free openstreetmaps.

bomberesque

Oddjob, I bought the SD and it was probably a mistake. I can't use the maps on my PC (although admittedly I haven't tried *very* hard) So long as the DVD map can be transferred legally to an SD for use in the edge then I can't really see the arguement; get the DVD. the SD instructions also say some such tosh as "if you overwrite the data you've lost it. Your loss." although in fact you can back teh card up to a PC and with the "correct" software you can put it on another SD should you lose the first or corrupt the card in any way (the maps are tied to the hardware code ont eh card to stop copying .... let's just say it's not rock-solid protection.

I suppose it made more sense (to get the SD version) in times past when cards were more expensive but now....

_Brun_

The DVD maps are only worth having if you want to use Garmin's software for planning routes. There are several perfectly good (presumably better) options that rely on google maps, so not having the City Navigator stuff on the computer isn't a big deal.

symo

_Brun_ wrote:

Might be worth checking prices at Pentagon GPS if you haven't ordered yet.

I have I would be looking at 295 for the unit and speed/cadence pod plus another £65 for euro road map.

Ordering from Wiggle, it will keep my doscount level high and I have 12% platinum discount and a £5 voucher.

Ta y'all.

avoidingmyphd

should probably clear this one up.

Heart rate and cadence are only available in the 305 and 705.
The 205 and the 605 can't do them (even if you buy the accessories - magnet, strap etc)

this should be the 4-way comparison chart:

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/compare.do? ... oduct=6400

bomberesque

fair enough phd I stand corrected. Someone should tell Amazon to stop selling the cadence and HRM as accessories for them then :roll:

mrchrispy

prices have deffo gone up, I got my 705+cadence last year for £205 (got the maps elsewhere ;-)). ace bit of kit.

Sewinman

:evil: The garmin 705 is getting on my nerves. I downloaded the Dulwich Paragon route from the Slowcial thread and decided to follow it today. I got my self to the start of the rpute and navigated the route, it calculated away and then I set off. I had done about 45 mins into the route when it suddenly tells me to do a u-turn and wants to take me back to the start again :shock: . I faffed about with it for a bit but in the end I gave up and went home. This is the second time I have used it and both times it as randomly decided to not follow the route or has attempted to go to the start again.

Unimpressed so far. :shock: :evil: :?

Sewinman

:evil: The garmin 705 is getting on my nerves. I downloaded the Dulwich Paragon route from the Slowcial thread and decided to follow it today. I got my self to the start of the rpute and navigated the route, it calculated away and then I set off. I had done about 45 mins into the route when it suddenly tells me to do a u-turn and wants to take me back to the start again :shock: . I faffed about with it for a bit but in the end I gave up and went home. This is the second time I have used it and both times it as randomly decided to not follow the route or has attempted to go to the start again.

Unimpressed so far. :shock: :evil: :?

dodgy

Sewinan, try turning off the recalculate option in:

Settings ---> Routing ---> Recalculate

dodgy

Sewinman, try turning off the recalculate option in:

Settings ---> Routing ---> Recalculate

dodgy

Sewinman, try turning off the recalculate option in:

Settings ---> Routing ---> Recalculate

il_principe

Sewinman wrote:

:evil: The garmin 705 is getting on my nerves. I downloaded the Dulwich Paragon route from the Slowcial thread and decided to follow it today. I got my self to the start of the rpute and navigated the route, it calculated away and then I set off. I had done about 45 mins into the route when it suddenly tells me to do a u-turn and wants to take me back to the start again :shock: . I faffed about with it for a bit but in the end I gave up and went home. This is the second time I have used it and both times it as randomly decided to not follow the route or has attempted to go to the start again.

Unimpressed so far. :shock: :evil: :?

mmmm bad luck. I've never had issues with mine. I always create routes in bikehike "then send to device" as a .tcx. this creates a line I follow but does not give turn by turn. I'm trying turn by turn tonight (sent to device as a gpxx) so we'll see how that holds out. For the sowcial ride I'll have the route saved both as a tcx course and a gpxx turn by turn. Best to have a backup I guess.

Also making sure your Garmin has the latest software update installed via MyGarmin:


https://my.garmin.com

il_principe

Edited - BR is vexing me today.

_Brun_

Yeah, I always use courses rather than routes as well. Generally seem more reliable.

avoidingmyphd

this is why I suggested bike route toaster - its tcx will do (well simulate) turn by turn in courses.

Paul E

I was going to ask about a garmin computer gps/cadence/heart rate combo but this thread has answered most of my questions.