Probably, I was answering the statement no “no pro teams use it”, probably all the Garmin teams use it becuase they are sponsered by Garmin, ride specialized because they are a streak holder in the team e.t.c e.t.c, I wouldn’t look at what a pro uses as a guide to what to buy (unless they are a steak holder in the company)
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I’m about to order a Karoo 2, the new climber function sounds very interesting.
Somehow I still have concerns about Vector 3 pedals, the implementation doesn’t seem to be clean according to what you read in the Hammerhead forum.
Anyone here using Vector 3 with Karoo 2?
Will i miss my Edge 830 when i sell him?
They’ll work with it fine. HH don’t currently support ANT+ Cycling Dynamics though, so you won’t get that additional info the Vector/Rally report.
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You’ll probably miss the all-day battery life.
all-day Battery life is not important for me!
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The climber function is great, really a nice implementation of that idea. The pull-up lap summary is also fun if you are working on sprints and want to see your top end speed between efforts or get a recap of your workout in progress.
A lot of little things are just easier for me to use, like the sensors menu being available from a pull down as opposed to being several layers deep on my Garmin. Not a big deal either way but kind of silly how many clicks it takes to do a zero offset on my Garmin.
The ability to quickly recalculate a route is also night and day different than my experience with Garmin. Almost instant re routing and continuous map display while doing it, compared to slow grind re load the entire route on my Garmin.
I’ve never used one of the top end Garmin models, just the 530, so maybe not a good direct comparison but very much enjoying the Karoo 2 so far. Some folks have spoken about maximum battery life and TR integration being important features for them available on Garmin but not HH and those are valid points. But the battery life isn’t as bad as some make it sound. I have yet to figure out how to arrange my life to ride more than 8 hours a day and don’t have an issue plugging it in between rides.
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I have the Rally pedals and they work great.
For me also 8-10% battery life with navigation is great. It was similar with my old Edge1000, however my Garmin drained the battery more when using the map screen. I typically charge after every ride, but it would totally handle 2-3 of my usual rides without charging.
I like the fact that you can switch the unit off mid ride and when you power it on again the ride can be continued. This way even if my unit dies not everything is lost (I‘m not sure if Garmin recovers the ride, I’d hope it does).
Varia integration is also great. There is still a bug in the Varia control page because I have the German version with only one mode but I‘ve reported it and it will most likely get fixed very soon.
The phone pairing with iOS however is not that great yet. Sometimes it connects sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it says it is connected but I receive no notifications. My Garmin used to be more reliable in this regard but other than that I sometimes miss my Garmin but I also like my Karoo2 too much. I‘m looking forward to the successor of 1030plus/830 and probably get me one when available and enjoy both worlds.
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I’ve just spent time diving down the Karoo 2 rabbit hole. I really want to like this device, but it’s very, very hard to commit to it at the price with the uncertainty of battery.
The one feature I’m really keen on is the built in SIM/live tracking without a phone. It seems like this is one of the worst drainage features.
Are there firmware type changes that can be made in the future to improve battery? Are they making ongoing improvements in this regard?
When is the Karoo 3 expected?
FWIW it supports a small number of cellular 2G/3G/4G bands and not sure if that matters in practice. The bigger issue for me is that a lot of my interesting rides are outside cellular coverage, and I carry my phone anyways for pictures. Some places are in-between - I can make a phone call but no data connection.
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Hmm, that makes sense. I don’t ride a lot outside of cell coverage these days, the problem is that my A-Race each year is a)patchy coverage throughout the forest, b)one of the only times I don’t want to carry a phone (any race), c)as long as the longest rides I do each year.
Maybe I’m best to just forget Hammerhead, but I keep coming back to it.
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They have been making these changes. When the K2 released the battery life was way worse. From following their every 2 week software releases, I’d bet they’ll find some more incremental improvements.
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I think you need to buy what is now, I love my HH2, and look forward to update Thursdays, you always seem to get something, I did 100 miles in 5.5 hours (with about a hour cafe stop) on Sunday, I arrived home with 60% battery (power meter, radar, following a rote (did have some re-routing), didn’t have battery saver on but low screen brightness (9%)), I rarely do more than that … so bl isn’t a issue for me, if that’s not good enough for you TODAY, then the HH2 isn’t the device for you
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I guess that’s it. I want it to be right, and it’s almost there. But it’s not good enough yet.
Just out of interest, how long are your long rides (ride time, excluding cafes)
My regular riding would be well and truly inside the timeframes you’re talking. I regularly ride 5-6hrs which doesn’t seem like it’d be an issue. I also am quite happy/would always take my phone on training rides.
The HH2 really, really appeals to me for the ability to use it on race day without the need to carry a phone. No navigation, but live tracking and PM connected. I want to have complete faith it would record my race, and that I’d be able to still have it running after (ideally would have enough juice to record riding to and from the race).
How is the screen usability with 9% screen brightness?
Like, can you comfortably read maps and all data etc with 9%?
Feels like the screen on the HH2 is 95% of what you’re paying for, and if you need to turn it down so low that you cannot see it properly, kind of defies the purpose…
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Fine, contrast and color different is great
Yeap, I wish the would make the route turn a little bigger, but thats more to do with my 52year old eyes and the size of the thing
95% of the reason I bought a HH2 was the navigationand re-routing (hated the 800,810, 820 experiance) , screen is great, and if I had it at a brightness that I couldn’t read or see the color differences when re-routing (which is not what I am doing) then the advanteges of the HH2 wouldn’t be there
Even though the screen is way ahead of the competitors, For myself I’d say its 70% software 30% screen.
I used to have an Edge 530 before I bought the Karoo 2. The rerouting feature alone is worth the price of admission for me. It has saved my ass from being lost multiple times when exploring new areas.
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Just a quick note on HH Karoo routing and navigation. A few hours into an endurance ride that became an adventure ride, I realized I needed to get back home quickly - within an hour. I didn’t know the local roads, and only had my Karoo with the SIM installed.
I just directed it to navigate to the start of the route, and it worked flawlessly - directions and turns were as solid as Google maps directions.
I hadn’t prepped it with anything other than downloading the state maps a while back. The experience was crisper, faster, and more colorful than my Garmin 830 (granted, most of that is processor and screen).
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