Thanks for letting us know. I was gonna get a Karoo 2 so I could sideload TR through the head unit to use Ant+ then control zwift with bluetooth but that doesn’t look like a solution now.
Yeah. I just use TR on my smartphone. In fact, I would use it on one of my old smartphones (iPhone 6S) if I felt like setting up Spotify and Pocket Casts on that phone as well - would be easy to do. But using it on my current iPhone is fine. I don’t need a big display, just need something that also has audio apps to use…
Yeah my use case is weird. I want to have TR control my workout but then have zwift / RGT cycling log the workout I’m doing on that platform. I find that having a cyclist on screen while I work out is motivating. However, since you can only have 1 dedicated bluetooth connection, you need the zwift / rgt cycling computer to be ANT+
Ahh yeah. Maybe a cheap Garmin like the Edge 130 Plus to control the workout? You could run it on the ANT+ channel even…
Glare is awful - went back to my Roam and don’t miss the Karoo at all.
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Interesting. I haven’t had this problem at all on my Karoo 2, but I’ve had it in the past with Garmin Edges. The fix for the Garmin was to adjust the angle the head unit sits at.
Readability of the Karoo 2 screen is worse that garmin in direct sunlight. I had the Karoo 2 for a few weeks and ended up returning it and getting a garmin 830 due to the following:
- Screen hard to read in bright sunlight. Had to run brightness at 80% or higher all the time to get better viewing and it doesn’t have automatic brightness adjustment so you have to do it manually while riding if you want to save battery life
- Workout screen implementation is terrible compared to Garmin or Wahoo, can’t customize the workout screen. I do workouts 4-5 days a week with intervals so this absolutely has to function on a head unit. I just checked their forum and basically no improvements have been made at all in the past 6 months. I’m not going to pay $400 for a head unit and have to go back to putting painters tape on my top tube to read my workout intervals from.
- Battery life: Was good enough to do a 10 hour race, but it runs through it’s battery far more than a garmin. From the reports on the Karoo 1 they don’t offer a battery replacement option. So… if you’re running through more of the battery every week you’re going to need to replace the battery sooner. The karoo 1 folks have entire threads on them trying to find batteries on AliExpress out of China so their 2 year old, expensive head unit works for longer than an hour. I don’t want to end up in that situation with the karoo 2.
For me I’m still watching and waiting to see if they eventually update the workout function and maybe the Karoo 3 will have a screen that is a bit easier to see in bright sun. I think I could get over the screen brightness issue by running high backlight power but just would hate to run out of battery on a long ride.
You’ll find people saying they never had any problem with the screen but if that’s the case they aren’t riding in bright sun or they have brightness at 80% or more. Here is a screen grab from a video I did comparing it to the bolt screen. That is about the angle you would have it on your bike unless you’re tipping it up in the wind to face you directly, not many people would be okay with having it like that on their bike.
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Thanks! This is super helpful. Everything else aside, just having to pay minimal attention to the Roam to get my data or double-check my navigation is turning out to be one of my favorite things about it. Nothing as fun or exciting as some of the stuff the Karoo 2 offers, but it’s great for general quality of life.
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I have never had a glare problem with my Karoo2. I run about 35% brightness when I ride. However, the main difference to your photo is that my head is almost directly above the Karoo when I ride rather than way behind in like in the photo. So, when I look down I am looking almost straight on to the screen. I rode side-by-side with a Bolt2 and found the Karoo2 easier for me to read. However, I agree about the workout screen. Fortunately, I rarely ride workouts outside. I do any complicated workouts indoors and much more simple ones outside.
Thought I’d add my feedback about the Karoo 2 and see if anybody else had similar experiences. In short, I returned the Karoo after the 45 day trial period and sticking with my Garmin 530. It looked cool but just not what I need/want.
It was a good price at $400 and I was going to trade in my Garmin for another $130 off, which is a great price for a head unit like that.
Things I did like. The screen was big and bright. And had resolution close to some cell phones. The software was semi-intuitive. I did have to use their website to get some of the features but initial setup wasn’t bad. The map is great and the rerouting feature was stellar, hands down better than Garmin, which is crazy since Garmin has been making GPS devices for decades and still can’t figure out the rerouting.
Now some things I didn’t like. The battery life isn’t great. This is the downside of basically running a computer/cell phone as a head unit. The screen resolution and brightness come at a cost. And it doesn’t have an actual sleep mode, there’s screen off or fully off. This probably isn’t a big deal to most people but I liked that Garmin had a sleep mode. Just sleep it after a ride, and one button push and it’s back on. And I could go a week with riding before needing a charge. With the Karoo in screen off, I’d lose about 50% battery in 12 hours through the night. I started just powering it off but then it would take about a minute or so to boot up. It’s a minor gripe but annoying. I had to charge it every night.
The climbing page was cool, and maybe I didn’t get to use it as much as I should to judge it, but I didn’t see much difference from the Garmin climb page. They felt about the same for me.
No TrainerRoad outdoor workouts was a big one. Now I don’t doubt they be added soon and this isn’t a Karoo problem, but I use outdoor workouts a ton in the summer.
Live tracking, or lack of really. The Karoo can add a sim but that’s another subscription. Or the hassle of pulling out my cell phone sim and swapping every ride. I don’t want to have to add a sim to get live tracking. I always bring my cell phone so it’s easy to link to my phone for signal for that.
No auto lap by GPS location. Handy feature for crits, circuit races, and CX.
Then small things like weight and the touch screen. I thought I’d like the touch screen but for me it’s not easy to use while riding, especially the pinch to zoom.
Lastly, and this is just me being an old fart, I felt like it was too complex for my needs. It’s a computer. It can download apps and has a high resolution screen. But I don’t need that. It has a ton of features but I just want a few metrics and a map. When I ride, I just want to ride. I’ll collect the data and maybe look at it later. But really all I want is a few data points to look at now and then (time, distance, power). I don’t need a super fancy screen as long as I can read the map. I don’t need a sim slot or the ability to download a bunch of apps. I don’t need a touch screen, just a few buttons. I was actually considering the Garmin 1030+ before getting the Karoo, but even that seems like overkill now. I like the simplicity.
That’s my 2 cents. I know a lot of people love it but I’m fine with my simple Garmin 530.
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Or get an anti-glare screen protector. Sad that users have to go that route instead of an out-of-the-box solution, but once applied, it’s a game-changer.
The battery on my K2 lasts more than 10 hours. I use 35% backlight and that is plenty bright for me. The touch screen works equally well as any Garmin. They are all a pain to use while moving. However, the K2 also has buttons that I use for all the common stuff while riding.
I liked the Edge 530 (with buttons) but the screen was too small for me to read without glasses. The bigger K2 screen is easy for me to read without glasses. The weight doesn’t matter to me nor does the fact that is has a zillion features that I never use. The basics work for me.
Yea I get it. For me, the 530 is perfect. Maybe down the road (no pun intended) if my eyesight isn’t great I can upgrade but I don’t have a problem with the screen size or resolution. And it was partly the fact I already own the 530 and don’t need to spend another $300 on a new device. I can wait a few years and see what Garmin have to offer or if the SRAM acquisition will change anything with the Karoo.
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Anyone have any good Karoo 2 screens/pages they like?
I might be super simplistic, but my two favorites are:
- Three row screen, with power, power visual gauge, and HR visual gauge. TBH I don’t need the power number in there, but I like it right now. I think you have to choose the template that supports two charts.
- Navigation (map ) screen with power and HR.
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Where do you find the visual ranges?
Hammerhead have some great how-tos on their support site, this is from one of them…
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Thank you! I should of started there
Seriously have no issues reading mine, I have mine set to black screen, white numbers, legibility is perfect for me. (compared to my Roam)
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Add to the fact that you can side load Spotify and listen to music/pods through an ear bud is great, it also allows you to hear Varia radar alerts easier too.
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