Garmin Edge 705 Bicycle GPS Navigator Review

If you are a serious bicyclist, you may want to consider purchasing the Garmin Edge 705 Bicycle GPS Navigator. The device is quite expensive, even more costly than a GPS for your, at $545, but it does many things that you may find useful during your rides. The Edge allows you to ride wherever you please without worry about how to get back home.

I love having this GPS with me when I ride because I can get completely lost following whatever roads look interesting. It allows me to explore routes that I otherwise would never get to see because I know I will always be able to find my way back. However, if that was all I needed it to do I would buy a cheaper GPS unit that was designed for use in a car. This product has additional features that come in handy while out for a ride.

The display on the unit is in color and designed to be easy to read in sunlight so it is easy to view while you are riding. The device has a high sensitivity receiver meant to help it hold a signal well. I have only had an issue with losing a signal once and that seemed to be because a large storm was approaching.

A neat feature is that there is a micro SD card slot so that the GPS can store workouts and courses. You can save rides that you enjoy so that you can do them again later.

The device measures speed, distance, time, calories burned, altitude, climb, and descent so that you can track your workouts and your progress. It can give you a fairly accurate reading of your heart rate and keep track of your cadence. You can download all of this information to your computer and it will analyze the data from your rides.

You can download routes from Garmin's MapSource and it comes with Navigator maps already on it. You can choose from car, bike, or pedestrian routes. The bike option is helpful in keeping you off unsafe roads. However, it sometimes just serves to take you way out of the way so it is helpful if you know your way around.

The GPS uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. It lasts for about 12 hours but it can be hard to remember to take it off your bike to charge it.