Hammerhead Karoo GPS

[JhnBssll]

I pre-ordered one of these back in November and it arrived today - pretty exciting! It got me wondering if anyone else on here has got one or is considering ordering one? As I understand it they've pretty much caught up with production and units are shipping within a week or two of placing the order. As such the price has gone up slightly but they're still discounted for the time being.

Anyway, the original sales pitch made a lot of bold statements and phrases like "Garmin killer" were thrown about a lot so I'm keen to find out if it lives up to the hype. There have already been a lot of software updates and what is being shipped now has come a long way from the buggy unfinished devices the first beta testers received. Reading the forums it's fair to say not everyone is happy yet and there are some ongoing issues but I'm impressed with the speed they seem to be working through them. There has been a software update almost every Friday since release and they're actively prioritising new features based on the feedback of their users.

So far my experience with it has been limited to setting it up and fitting it to the bike. It immediately wanted to download and install an update when it was first powered on which gave me time to charge it fully and remove the winter wheels and guards from the Roubaix before continuing. Pairing sensors was easy, as was creating my first route. These are created on their web based dashboard and once finished automatically sync to the karoo. They're available almost instantly which is pretty cool. A very quick pedal around on the driveway showed everything seems to be working so I'm now looking forward to it's maiden voyage, potentially on Wednesday evening

First impressions are good and I'm convinced there's more to come I'll update when I've had more of a play

 

[huwsparky]

How much are they?

 

[Ajax Bay]

How much are they?

Think there are quicker ways of finding that out than posting on here. Go on: give it a go!
DC Rainmaker pre-production review

 

[JhnBssll]

I think they work out at about £350 now including tax and shipping - they're currently advertised at $399 but retail price will supposedly be $499 once they're fully up and running with production and the software is reliable.

Their website is here: https://www.hammerhead.io/pages/karoo
There's also an official Hammerhead forum for feedback, bug reporting and feature requests here: https://support.hammerhead.io/hc/en-us/community/topics
And an unofficial karoo users forum here: https://www.karoousers.org/
Oh, and a facebook group called "Hammerhead Karoo Bicycle Computer Users" with lots of info and people moaning about late delivery and software bugs...

Just remember when you're reading reviews and forum posts that the software development is moving pretty rapidly now so you might be reading about problems that have already been fixed. Or, equally likely, working features that have since been broken

 

[JhnBssll]

I had my first ride out with the Karoo this evening, it really is a lovely looking screen. I had it on the dimmest setting to conserve power and it was easy to read even with the evening sun reflecting on it. Power wise it seems to be using about 10% for every hour of use although I forgot to disable WiFi and 3g which probably used a bit. They say it is designed to last 15 hours but they have a way to go with software improvements to achieve that figure from what I can see. As has already been reported by other users the elevation figures aren't yet accurate - I'm hoping they fix that in the next software release due out tomorrow. All of my sensors (Cateye heartrate, wahoo speed and wahoo cadence) all connected fine and recorded flawlessly throughout the short ride. I'll try and give it a longer test next week but I'm away on business Friday to Monday so no cycling for me this weekend

note - I haven't given away my address, it was a club ride and didn't start anywhere near home And to confuse matters the ride leader took a shortcut so whilst the route was 24 miles we only completed 19 of them The picture is of the planned route, I'll try and remember to take a photo when it's actually navigating next time I'm out

So far I'm impressed with my purchase, lets hope it stays that way

 

[Proto]

Mine arrived Wednesday. Not done anything with it except update software and set time and date. Bit disappointed with size and weight but looks to nicely made.
No really sure why I need it, and I’ve been fairly happy with my 520, so might see if I can sell it on eBay for what I paid for it.

 

[JhnBssll]

A few people have sold theirs succesfully in the Facebook group - Almost worth the risk of waiting until they go to full price when you could potentially make some money from it

I must admit I've never owned a Garmin or Wahoo so have nothing to directly compare it to I've made do with a Cateye Strada Smart paired to my phone up until now which worked perfectly well but I've got a penchant for gadgets and it's an ace toy - as to whether anyone really needs one, probably not

 

[JhnBssll]

I got a personal mention in the Hammerhead blog last week for helping with some mechanical failures of the mount component Proud as punch I hope they send me an improved mounting foot once they're available

https://blog.hammerhead.io/first-may-updates-6be778762f25