Latest opinions on Hammerhead Karoo?

Equipment
1

Can anyone provide recent feedback on the Hammerhead Karoo? I’m considering purchasing. It looks like they had some issues with their launch but that a lot of it has been fixed with software updates. Has the device gotten a lot better? I really love the idea of it and think it has a lot of potential.

Thanks!

2

Hello All, anyone had any experience with this?
Thanks

3

I just bought it and hoping to see how this compares to the Edge 800 I have been using since 2012. So far the set up was really easy. I will get back here and comment on my experience.
Only one thing i notice is that they dont have a direct upload to Trainerroad, so this will go via Garmin or Srava.

4

Nice! I’ll be looking out for some additional reviews as time goes by. I’ve only heard/red great things so far!

5

TLDNR: Best in class screen. Bluetooth & Ant+ support. Lots of features. Customizable views. Great navigation. Decent battery. Stable. No speaker. No native TR support (yet?)

Long version:
I picked up a Hammerhead Karoo last spring and put in about 2,500 miles of rides on it. For most of the year, I rode with just a cadence/speed sensor (BT or Ant+) and HR strap (BT only). Occasionally I had some dropouts, but most were short-lived situations that were remedied by new batteries or firmware updates. Recently I added an SRM power meter (Ant+) and it works like a charm w the Karoo.

I really like the screen and am very impressed with Hammerhead’s ongoing feature development. Since I’ve had my Hammerhead I’ve seen at least 6 firmware updates come down the pike that have improved stability and brought new features (Di2/eTap/EPS integration, Varia Radar support, live tracking, improved navigation to name a few).

There is no speaker, so if you want turn-by-turn audio cues, Varia beeps, or other notification beeps, you’ll need to get Bluetooth headphones. And currently, no phone notifications, so you’ll have to just ride your bike in blissful ignorance of the spam phone call you just missed. There are a fair number of posts on user forums pining for Strava Live Segments, and apparently these are in the works, though not a priority according to HH support. Battery life is much improved. I’m good for 10 hours with sensors galore and navigation. (When I need longer I have a super small usb power supply I tape beneath my stem.)

A big gap for TrainerRoad users is no native support for TR workouts. However, you can (and I have) sideload TR as an Android app. And, Hammerhead support has indicated in forums that support for training features is in the works. Hopefully, so too are talks with TR. The Hammerhead Karoo, with its gorgeous screen, would be an outstanding platform for TR.

2 Likes
6

2c review on the Karoo (Latest firmware).

Pros:

  • The screen. It’s brilliant. Bright. Colourful. Wonderful.
  • Touchscreen performance is magnificent. iPhone fast.
  • Routing/navigation is great due to the two points above.
  • Uses Garmin compatible mounts.
  • It’s an Android phone… so you can side-load Android apps. Unofficially.
  • Regular updates (every 2 weeks iirc at the moment).

Cons:

  • The unit is MASSIVE. HUGE.
  • It’s heavy. 190g iirc.
  • Bezelville. Lots of unused space.
  • No beeper. No alerts for the ANT+ Radar, or anything. A total show stopper for me.
  • It mashes all sensor IDs into one. This really screws how I use FIT files for analysis.
  • Di2 / eTap / etc integration is cosmetic. It doesn’t record that data to the FIT file.
  • No Bluetooth phone/data link. Wifi and cell service only… so no smart notifications, no easy ‘in the field’ activity uploads. No smart track either without these.

tlfr; Best screen in class. Quite a few things that aren’t up to standard with when comparing to Garmin Edge and even Wahoo Elemnt units. It needs a speaker/beeper. IT REALLY NEEDS A SPEAKER/BEEPER. And a diet. Does it work? Sure. Would I use it as a daily driver? Not at the moment.

3 Likes
7

I have a friend that rode with one the last third of this year. Besides having a few little glitches along the way and having to update the firm ware quite a few times, he liked the unit. None of the glitches are all that big but as with any glitch they can be a little annoying. The screen is really nice. However if you are looking for a small little unit this is not the unit for you. It is quite large and bulky on the handlebars.

1 Like
8

I jumped the gun on live tracking. It’s not out quite yet. Full ride data tracking is not currently available, but live location tracking is in the beta release that came out 4 days ago. Comments in the users forum from testers is positive. So likely live tracking will be pushed in a firmware release later this week or next.

1 Like
9

I’ve had a Karoo 2 on pre-order and it arrived last week. I had fully intended to use it for a few weeks and then return it for a refund and although that may still happen, I have to say the screen and navigation are excellent.

My navigation has always been on my phone (a Samsung S10) using iBike on a quadlock mount and for resolution you can’t beat the S10 screen. But the matt finish and usability in the rain of the Karoo is really impressive. I don’t worry about recording rides on it as all the metrics I want are captured by my Garmin watch. The ability to plan a route on my PC and not have to go through the rigmarole of downloading and transferring GPX files is also a nice bonus.

Not too bothered about TR on it for workouts as I have phone/tablet/PC which are all more than up to that job.