As the power meter training debate heats up i decided that i should get a Powertap hub and see what all the fuss is about. unfortunately my current Polar CS600 computer would not receive the data from the Powertap and i really did not want to run 2 computers on the bar. why 2 computers you ask? because the Powertap unit does not do altitude, so will not give you grades of climbs and that is data that i cant live without.

research all pointed at one unit, The Garmin 705. It would read the ANT+ power data from the Hub, and do all the other functions that i had become accustomed to on the CS600, couple that with a fully functioning GPS and you have the ultimate super computer.

the software that Garmin supplies with the unit (well you download it from the site) is called Training Center, it reads all the data (including power) from the unit and downloads it to the computer for easy viewing. The GPS data is mapped on the built in road maps that come with the device so you can see your path. however it does have its limitations and the maps are very basic. This said i went out in search for some better options and came across what in my opinion is the best Cycle Stat software available. Sports Tracks. it communicates perfectly with the 705, has all the same functions as the Training Center software, but uses Google Maps for the map sources. the software is very well designed and exceptionally user friendly. i even managed to import all my HRM files from my polar folder…. back to the 705

The standard packaged 705 comes with heart rate strap and the device, the slightly more expensive version of the comes with a speed and cadence unit. you can buy the cheaper one and then use your GPS data to calculate speed, this however will have its limitations when you want to use your bike on a trainer or set of rollers. so i recommend getting the more expensive one, cadence data is always good to have.

Using the 705

After you have setup the normal stuff like wheel size, bike name, rider age, weight, height etc you will be good to go. Mount it on the bike using the supplied mounts and if needs be they have even supplied a little wedge so that you can get a better viewing angle on the screen. As the screen is very large you do get some glare off it during the day, using the supplied wedge helps illuminate the glare. but if that still does not help you can set a back-light to stay on at a certain brightness, very handy at night time.

It comes with 2 screens to display stats, each screen can take up to 8 fields of data. so potentially you have 16 data fields and the touch of a button. It also has another 2 modes one displays your elevation data in graph form, so you get a nice cross section of the hills you have been climbing. The last view is a map view, if you have paid for or downloaded a map product you will be able to see your exact location and the direction you are heading. this can be handy if you think you are lost.

i have set both data screens up with 7 sources, this gives you one big one in the center at the top. being used to the way the polar unit looks i felt i needed a larger speed source so i can quickly look. There are so many sources available you will be left wanting another screen to fill up

it comes with all the other handy features such as laps, auto laps and preset training sessions, but one of the best seems to be the Ghost Trainer. Basically you ride a particular route, say a 20km time trial, you record this data and then set it up as course (using the Garmin software or on the device itself) and then next time you go out you can choose that course and train against your previous time. This is a lot of fun as you get real time data about whether you are behind or ahead of your previous run. The 705 also cleverly uses the GPS data to define the start  and end of the course, so you can ride around and warm up and then as soon as you pass the start point the ghost trainer starts.

There have been a few reports that the bike mount that is supplied is weak and breaks. Mine is still quite new so i have not suffered a break yet, but i will be keeping an eye on it. Out the box you get 2 bike mounts so you can put one on your race bike and the other on a training bike. The Garmin also has the ability to set up multiple bikes so swapping from one bike to another is really easy.

The battery life is claimed at 15 hours, more than enough for any serious cyclist. It is charged via USB either from the supplied wall unit or from a computer while docked

The ANT+ protocol allows you to “pair” the powertap hub to the device to display the power data. Other power meters such as SRM and Cinqo will also work.

I highly recommend the Garmin 705, and if you are considering one have a good shop around because they can be found quite cheaply