Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Xfusion

Xfusion G.E.T. 30 Gravel Bike Suspension Fork:

A new choice in front suspension for a gravel bike is now offered by Xfusion, a company known maybe more for its value oriented MTB suspension fork offerings. The new fork, dubbed the G.E.T. 30, (Grand Epic Trail) is based on a 30mm diameter stanchion platform and is available in the aforementioned 30mm of travel but can be converted to have 40mm or 50mm of travel. 

The fork also features external rebound adjustment and a lock-out function. There is a "Qflip" lever, designed for drop bars, which can lock out the fork or be used as a dropper post lever which is available separately. 

The damper unit is based on an air spring design for lightweight. It also is adjustable. The damper is Xfusion's Finecut RL2 sealed cartridge design damper which offeres improved oil flow for better small bump sensitivity, according to Xfusion. 

Offsets are available in 45mm or 51mm. The fork with an uncut steer tube weighs a claimed 2.9lbs. Designed for 700c wheels and gravel tires in Matte Black or Gloss Sand.. The G.E.T. 30 starts at $659.00 USD.  

Comments: You all probably know I am not a fan of telescopic, short-travel forks for gravel riding. That aside, this seems like a good alternative to Fox and SRAM/Rock Shox if someone is convinced this is a good idea. (Having a gravel suspension fork.)  

Image courtesy of Stoll Bikes

The 32" Watch: Big Wheels Win, Are Faster:

In the new world in which we live now where 32"er bikes roll on this planet, we now can say one of these monster wheeled bikes has won something. 

The Cape Epic, a multi-stage MTB XC event saw rider Felix Stehli win Stage three with his partner rider. Stehli was riding a production Stoll Bikes 32"er FS bike. 

In other 32"er news, Trans Iowa veteran (v8) rider John Karrasch has an article up on "The Escape Collective" in which he shows his recent testing on the Maxxis Aspen 32"er versus the same model in 29".  

John does a lot of rolling resistance testing on MTB and gravel tires,. He also has a bike fitting business so check out his work  

English Cycles prototype 32'er. Image courtesy of English Cycles

English Cycles, a custom bike builder from Eugene , Oregon, has a new prototype 32"er built as a bike packing rig. 

When I interviewed Sam Alison for the Guitar Ted Podcast recently he mentioned bike packing as being one of the ways 32"ers would likely be used. 

Seems Rob English would agree. His proto is for his testing purposes. In a blog post on the English Cycles site, Rob said he tried to maintain the fit and proportions of his 29"er as much as possible. He goes into great detail about certain aspects of building around this wheel size which is interesting.  

Check out this bike in further detail on the English Cycles' site HERE. 

Heard From Mid-South: Teravail has two 32" tires coming out. They will be based on the Cannonball and Camrock models. 

Rumors: Salsa Cycles Fargo 32"er? Seems to be a rampant rumor and was heard on the Shiftless podcast a week ago. Also: Mavic is rumored to be looking into 32"ers. Stay tuned.... 

 Finally another small builder, BTCHN Bikes, has an Alpina 32"er hardtail available now which looks interesting. Available in Med, L, XL sizes only. Check out the details on their sire HERE.  

The USA Trail Coast to Coast News:

The Spinistry folks are letting their TUBA Trail supporters know that the recon of the route, mostly gravel and dirt, across the USA has been completed. 

We interviewed Kevin Lee of the Spinistry who is the main developer of this trail on our Guitar Ted Podcast earlier this year. (Listen to the episode HERE) Kevin was still in the final stages of the trail's development then, but you get a great idea from the talk we had as to what this trail will be like. 

The trail changed names from TUBA Trail, (Transcontinental Unpaved Bicycle Adventure) to the USA Trail Coast To Coast . The name change reflects this trails status as being the first coast to coast, mainly unpaved trail for bicycle travel/touring. Kevin Lee is quoted in a recent email to TUBA Trail founders which I was able to see as follows: "While there is plenty of room for unpaved riding, we need a name that eliminates confusion and immediately tells the world what we’ve built."

The next stage in this trail's development is a Fall 2026 "dress rehearsal" riding of the route to work out any bugs and then the trail will be formerly opened, barring any issues, afterward.  

For more details see the TUBA Trail Founders page HERE.  

Image courtesy of SRAM

Hammerhead Karoo Share: 

Now Hammerhead Karoo users can share ride routes between devices. SRAM announced the update to the Karoo yesterday in a press release. 

SRAM claims routes and profiles can now be shared "immediately" between Karoo devices. Last minute adds at start lines are now totally possible with Karoo. 

You can learn more about this update and Karoo devices at Hammerhead's site HERE. 

Comments: I tried a Hammerhead Karoo 2 several years ago now and was really disappointed in it. Hopefully SRAM's purchase of Hammerhead has upped the experience quality for users. If you have a Hammerhead, how has it been for you? Let me know in the comments. 

Iowa Wind and Rock Announces Virtual Challenge Opportunity: 

The annual Iowa Wind and Rock event had to be cancelled due to health concerns for the event director. (Fortunately we are expecting a full recovery) 

Instead of the actual event, IWAR is putting out the #NotIWAR challenge. where riders are asked to do a long ride on the weekend of April 17th -  19th. From their Facebook post:

"Although we had to cancel this year's event, there's no reason for your training and fitness to go unused. We'd like to see you, and some friends, challenge yourself with a long ride sometime during the weekend of April 17 - 19. Ideally 100 miles or more, but if the conditions are right, a shorter distance will do. Gravel, bikepacking, singletrack, or mixed surface - it's all good. Just get out and push your limits for a few, or many, hours.

While we're not able to get our community together this year, we think it would be great to have everyone share photos and be able to read stories about their rides! Email works, or better post to IG or FB and use the hashtag #NotIWAR. No promises, but we might try and send something for each one that's submitted as well as gather the submissions and post them on the website as a bit of race history."

So, if you are reading this and think it is a great excuse for a bicycle ride, please consider supporting this idea. Ride a long ride, submit some images and words with the #NotIWAR hashtag, and show some support for this longstanding ultra-gravel ride, and more so for the RD who is recovering from medical procedures which prevented this year's event from happening. 
 

That's a wrap on this week. Happy Spring! get out and ride those bicycles!

A Comparison & Contrast: Sigma GPS Update

Does the Sigma ROX 4.0 hold up under scrutiny?

 It has been a while since I last wrote about the Sigma ROX 4.0 GPS computer. If you've been reading the blog this Fall and early Winter you'll understand why that is. But I knew I needed to get this looked at so I have done what I needed to do to wrap this up recently. Only, it isn't wrapped up. You'll see why soon....

You can see my previous look at this, which is a comparison between this ROX 4.0 with a couple of other GPS units, here. This post on the ROX 4.0 will be a take on how this unit does with its GPS and Bluetooth features. 

I was a bit let down, first off, to learn that the ROX 4.0 is just like my old Lezyne Super GPS which needed to be tethered to a smart phone to give you turn by turn navigation. Secondly, the difference between the Lezyne Super and this Sigma ROX 4.0's data programs is night and day. Lezyne has what they call "GPS Root" and you create an account which then allows you to upload your ride data. This data is then shown in really finely detailed charts. The Sigma Ride App does similar data breakdowns, but it isn't as fine grained as GPS Root is. Sigma Ride isn't bad, it's just that GPS Root looks more impressive and, in my opinion, is a bit more engaging to use. 

Apologies for the out-of-focus shot! 

On the connectivity side, I had many experiences which led me to believe that the Bluetooth function of this GPS computer is suspect. While I was able to pair up sensors for cadence and speed easily, and my smart phone would pair seamlessly with the head unit, I found that the head unit would drop the connection consistently and randomly whenever I used the ROX 4.0.  Also, in one bizarre incident, I actually was getting a cadence read out briefly with no sensor on the bike! How that happened I don't have a clue. 

This Bluetooth dropping problem also extended to the turn by turn navigation. Essentially, that rendered the turn by turn feature useless, as you may not even realize you have dropped the signal from your smart phone and ride past a corner you were to turn at. That said, the head unit does warn you with a message that stays up for several seconds that connectivity has been lost. 

So,  I reached out to my contact for this review to let him know that there were issues, and unless there was some sort of explanation, or unless I was to try another head unit, this wasn't going to turn out as a favorable review. The answer I received was that this seemed to be a case of a suspect head unit. The contact I have told me that in his experience, Sigma GPS was pretty stout. 

So, I am going to be receiving a new ROX 4.0 to see if that doesn't solve the problems I am experiencing.  The one I have now is a great unit if you don't need nav or sensors, but it is supposed to handle that, so we'll see. 

I liked quite a few things about this computer up until the sensor and Bluetooth issues arose. The user interface is pretty simple, and I liked the compass up in the corner, along with altitude tracking. I will also add that this Sigma will mount to Garmin mounts, so if you are invested in those, this will work with a Garmin mount quite nicely.

So, stay tuned..... This ain't over with just yet!

Note: The Sigma ROX 4.0 was provided to me at no charge for test and review. I was not bribed, nor paid, for this review and I always strive to give my honest thoughts and opinions throughout.

A Comparison & Contrast: Sigma GPS Update

Does the Sigma ROX 4.0 hold up under scrutiny?

 It has been a while since I last wrote about the Sigma ROX 4.0 GPS computer. If you've been reading the blog this Fall and early Winter you'll understand why that is. But I knew I needed to get this looked at so I have done what I needed to do to wrap this up recently. Only, it isn't wrapped up. You'll see why soon....

You can see my previous look at this, which is a comparison between this ROX 4.0 with a couple of other GPS units, here. This post on the ROX 4.0 will be a take on how this unit does with its GPS and Bluetooth features. 

I was a bit let down, first off, to learn that the ROX 4.0 is just like my old Lezyne Super GPS which needed to be tethered to a smart phone to give you turn by turn navigation. Secondly, the difference between the Lezyne Super and this Sigma ROX 4.0's data programs is night and day. Lezyne has what they call "GPS Root" and you create an account which then allows you to upload your ride data. This data is then shown in really finely detailed charts. The Sigma Ride App does similar data breakdowns, but it isn't as fine grained as GPS Root is. Sigma Ride isn't bad, it's just that GPS Root looks more impressive and, in my opinion, is a bit more engaging to use. 

Apologies for the out-of-focus shot! 

On the connectivity side, I had many experiences which led me to believe that the Bluetooth function of this GPS computer is suspect. While I was able to pair up sensors for cadence and speed easily, and my smart phone would pair seamlessly with the head unit, I found that the head unit would drop the connection consistently and randomly whenever I used the ROX 4.0.  Also, in one bizarre incident, I actually was getting a cadence read out briefly with no sensor on the bike! How that happened I don't have a clue. 

This Bluetooth dropping problem also extended to the turn by turn navigation. Essentially, that rendered the turn by turn feature useless, as you may not even realize you have dropped the signal from your smart phone and ride past a corner you were to turn at. That said, the head unit does warn you with a message that stays up for several seconds that connectivity has been lost. 

So,  I reached out to my contact for this review to let him know that there were issues, and unless there was some sort of explanation, or unless I was to try another head unit, this wasn't going to turn out as a favorable review. The answer I received was that this seemed to be a case of a suspect head unit. The contact I have told me that in his experience, Sigma GPS was pretty stout. 

So, I am going to be receiving a new ROX 4.0 to see if that doesn't solve the problems I am experiencing.  The one I have now is a great unit if you don't need nav or sensors, but it is supposed to handle that, so we'll see. 

I liked quite a few things about this computer up until the sensor and Bluetooth issues arose. The user interface is pretty simple, and I liked the compass up in the corner, along with altitude tracking. I will also add that this Sigma will mount to Garmin mounts, so if you are invested in those, this will work with a Garmin mount quite nicely.

So, stay tuned..... This ain't over with just yet!

Note: The Sigma ROX 4.0 was provided to me at no charge for test and review. I was not bribed, nor paid, for this review and I always strive to give my honest thoughts and opinions throughout.

A Comparison & Contrast: GPS Computer Experiences

The SIGMA ROX 4.0

 As mentioned yesterday in my weekly "FN&V" post, I received a SIGMA ROX 4.0 GPS cycling computer to test for RidingGravel.com. (Intro review here) In this post I wanted to compare and contrast my experiences with three GPS devices focusing on user interface and how that affected my experiences. 

You'll get marketing from all directions telling you that a device is "intuitive" and "easy to use" all the time. And maybe for some folks, that's the case. But, as I have found, we are all vastly different and a lot the same all wrapped up in one human family. In other words- we are complicated.

So using blanket statements like those mentioned, and others, isn't anywhere near the truth for big chunks of the population. That applies to what I am writing here today.

Keep that in mind as you read on....

My very first GPS unit was a Garmin 600 back around 2006 or so. It was waaaay complicated to get anywhere with that thing. I could see the promise of GPS navigation, it's just that it was so hard to make it work that - to my mind - the hassle was far too great. I gave the unit away to a friend at the time, who understood it far better than I did. 

The next unit was my Lezyne Super GPS. That was a pretty easy to use unit, and I had features at my disposal that were kind of fun, (altitude) and data to look at after a ride, (somewhat enlightening), so I was satisfied with how it worked at first. However; it did not support turn-by-turn navigation native to its unit only. You had to tether a smart phone while you were riding to access the route navigation. That was a big problem since for many of the events I was doing, the phone battery wasn't going to last, and that brought in another hassle with external power, and ....no. I could write cues and just use the Super GPS for a basic computer and the data for later use. 

But as far as user interface and set up? That Lezyne was awesome that way. It had its quirks, but at the time it was a far cheaper solution for my needs and since I don't do anything with a power meter, I did not need a "Garmin" or a Wahoo. That perception started to change over time though, so the next GPS came around....

The Karo 2 was awesome- the few times that it worked, that is.

I started reading up on Hammerhead Karoo 2 GPS computers and I liked what I read. So, Mrs. Guitar Ted bought me one as a holiday/birthday gift last December. 

Initially it was a bit of a frustrating thing to figure out. The user interface was not all it was cracked up to be, in my opinion. But, once I got it working I found a few things I really liked about it. It was fun, until it wasn't. 

Long story short- Two units later and I was so frustrated with how the unit did not work, that I am at the point that I was really angry. Anything that causes me THAT much frustration has to be eliminated, so no more Karoo 2 for me, ever again! 

The thing was that for that kind of money, it should work flawlessly. It didn't even come close to being "intuitive" and digging for help was a fruitless endeavor. In fact, I got better tips from some of you readers here than I ever did from Hammerhead. 

So, I seriously was considering a return to Lezyne. I had experienced really good things in terms of user interface with their product. I was hopeful that some of the nits I had (slow start up, tethered turn-by-turn nav) had been solved, but I held off because I am still waiting for Lezyne to have true turn-by-turn features, which at this point, I haven't seen that from them. 

Meanwhile I get this SIGMA ROX 4.0. It is very similar to what Lezyne offers in that you aren't going to see a lot of features outside the box of typical cycling computers with the exception of navigation. So, no power data, no connectivity to lights, radar, or that sort of stuff. Frankly, those are features I'd probably never use anyway. Give me a computer with speed data, time data, and turn-by-turn navigation. Add in altitude data for fun. I'm good.

That's pretty much what the ROX 4.0 is about. Lezyne has some interesting computers as well. This Sigma is probably closest to this Lezyne GPS unit. I know the Lezyne interface is a good one, what about this SIGMA unit's interface? 

Well, it's really good. I was able to set things up and ride very quickly. The unit actually works, which seems weird to have to say, but I know that some do not work well. 

So, the interface and the SIGMA Ride App seem pretty good so far. On par with Lezyne's, and that's a good thing - for me anyway. Your mileage may vary.

Now to see if turn-by-turn works without a tethered phone. SIGMA claims this thing wil do that once you've downloaded a route to the app, and then you must sync that with the ROX, which then - they claim - allows you to run turn-by-turn. I'm not 100% sure of that, because the thing always prompts me to turn on the app. So, there is that.... 

But at any rate, even if it doesn't do navigation independently of a phone being on, I think this GPS experience has been a good one. Far better than the last experience, that's for sure! Thinking about that...

The SIGMA ROX 4.0 costs $100.00 or even less if you just get the head unit. ($200.00 with every sensor and the fancier mount)  A Hammerhead Karoo 2 runs $400.00. Sure, the Karoo has far better graphics, but it doesn't actually work. (Two units failed to operate for me. You can take your chances if you want..) I cannot figure out how a company can continue to exist when it puts out products that are very expensive and have poor user experiences when you can buy something for far less money and have a far better experience. (Lezyne, SIGMA). But once again, this has been my personal GPS story. Yours may vary quite a bit. I get that.

I'm not telling you what to buy or not to buy. You be the judge. Maybe I'm GPS-ignorant, maybe I'm just not good with devices, (entirely possible), and maybe I am an example to learn from. Again- you be the judge. 

This is my story, and I'm sticking to it. 

Stay tuned for more.....

A Comparison & Contrast: GPS Computer Experiences

The SIGMA ROX 4.0

 As mentioned yesterday in my weekly "FN&V" post, I received a SIGMA ROX 4.0 GPS cycling computer to test for RidingGravel.com. (Intro review here) In this post I wanted to compare and contrast my experiences with three GPS devices focusing on user interface and how that affected my experiences. 

You'll get marketing from all directions telling you that a device is "intuitive" and "easy to use" all the time. And maybe for some folks, that's the case. But, as I have found, we are all vastly different and a lot the same all wrapped up in one human family. In other words- we are complicated.

So using blanket statements like those mentioned, and others, isn't anywhere near the truth for big chunks of the population. That applies to what I am writing here today.

Keep that in mind as you read on....

My very first GPS unit was a Garmin 600 back around 2006 or so. It was waaaay complicated to get anywhere with that thing. I could see the promise of GPS navigation, it's just that it was so hard to make it work that - to my mind - the hassle was far too great. I gave the unit away to a friend at the time, who understood it far better than I did. 

The next unit was my Lezyne Super GPS. That was a pretty easy to use unit, and I had features at my disposal that were kind of fun, (altitude) and data to look at after a ride, (somewhat enlightening), so I was satisfied with how it worked at first. However; it did not support turn-by-turn navigation native to its unit only. You had to tether a smart phone while you were riding to access the route navigation. That was a big problem since for many of the events I was doing, the phone battery wasn't going to last, and that brought in another hassle with external power, and ....no. I could write cues and just use the Super GPS for a basic computer and the data for later use. 

But as far as user interface and set up? That Lezyne was awesome that way. It had its quirks, but at the time it was a far cheaper solution for my needs and since I don't do anything with a power meter, I did not need a "Garmin" or a Wahoo. That perception started to change over time though, so the next GPS came around....

The Karo 2 was awesome- the few times that it worked, that is.

I started reading up on Hammerhead Karoo 2 GPS computers and I liked what I read. So, Mrs. Guitar Ted bought me one as a holiday/birthday gift last December. 

Initially it was a bit of a frustrating thing to figure out. The user interface was not all it was cracked up to be, in my opinion. But, once I got it working I found a few things I really liked about it. It was fun, until it wasn't. 

Long story short- Two units later and I was so frustrated with how the unit did not work, that I am at the point that I was really angry. Anything that causes me THAT much frustration has to be eliminated, so no more Karoo 2 for me, ever again! 

The thing was that for that kind of money, it should work flawlessly. It didn't even come close to being "intuitive" and digging for help was a fruitless endeavor. In fact, I got better tips from some of you readers here than I ever did from Hammerhead. 

So, I seriously was considering a return to Lezyne. I had experienced really good things in terms of user interface with their product. I was hopeful that some of the nits I had (slow start up, tethered turn-by-turn nav) had been solved, but I held off because I am still waiting for Lezyne to have true turn-by-turn features, which at this point, I haven't seen that from them. 

Meanwhile I get this SIGMA ROX 4.0. It is very similar to what Lezyne offers in that you aren't going to see a lot of features outside the box of typical cycling computers with the exception of navigation. So, no power data, no connectivity to lights, radar, or that sort of stuff. Frankly, those are features I'd probably never use anyway. Give me a computer with speed data, time data, and turn-by-turn navigation. Add in altitude data for fun. I'm good.

That's pretty much what the ROX 4.0 is about. Lezyne has some interesting computers as well. This Sigma is probably closest to this Lezyne GPS unit. I know the Lezyne interface is a good one, what about this SIGMA unit's interface? 

Well, it's really good. I was able to set things up and ride very quickly. The unit actually works, which seems weird to have to say, but I know that some do not work well. 

So, the interface and the SIGMA Ride App seem pretty good so far. On par with Lezyne's, and that's a good thing - for me anyway. Your mileage may vary.

Now to see if turn-by-turn works without a tethered phone. SIGMA claims this thing wil do that once you've downloaded a route to the app, and then you must sync that with the ROX, which then - they claim - allows you to run turn-by-turn. I'm not 100% sure of that, because the thing always prompts me to turn on the app. So, there is that.... 

But at any rate, even if it doesn't do navigation independently of a phone being on, I think this GPS experience has been a good one. Far better than the last experience, that's for sure! Thinking about that...

The SIGMA ROX 4.0 costs $100.00 or even less if you just get the head unit. ($200.00 with every sensor and the fancier mount)  A Hammerhead Karoo 2 runs $400.00. Sure, the Karoo has far better graphics, but it doesn't actually work. (Two units failed to operate for me. You can take your chances if you want..) I cannot figure out how a company can continue to exist when it puts out products that are very expensive and have poor user experiences when you can buy something for far less money and have a far better experience. (Lezyne, SIGMA). But once again, this has been my personal GPS story. Yours may vary quite a bit. I get that.

I'm not telling you what to buy or not to buy. You be the judge. Maybe I'm GPS-ignorant, maybe I'm just not good with devices, (entirely possible), and maybe I am an example to learn from. Again- you be the judge. 

This is my story, and I'm sticking to it. 

Stay tuned for more.....

Karoo 2 Take 2: Part 3

 Welcome to my third, and I think final, take on the Hammerhead Karoo 2 GPS cycling computer. If you missed any of the other two "Take Two" posts, you can find #1 here and #2 here. 

To recap: The interface regarding the GPS feature seemed to be smooth, but set-up initialy was a bit of a pain and I never did get the Bluetooth connection for my iPhone up and running. To be fair, after the first failed attempt, I abandoned the idea of doing that for the remainder of my testing. 

In Part Two, I field tested the GPS turn-by-turn navigation feature and found it to be satisfactory. However; it was difficult to read the screen in rough gravel. Plus- the battery life was not impressive.

Now, I wanted to discover what other features the Karoo 2 might have that I might find interesting. I needed to understand how the screens worked and what pages were going to be of use to me. By way of reminder, I first want to post an image from my first Karoo 2 unit which shows a specific feature I was keen on. Here is that image.....

I really enjoyed the historical climbing data page with elevation gain data.

Okay, keep that page there in that image in mind as I take you now through an image dump from my latest test I conducted last Monday. These images are in chronological order. The captions will explain what is happening. 

This is what my "Basic" page looks like in recording mode. I was impressed that the map showed where the gravel started, (thicker border on road)

But the fun stopped when I kept getting this screen. It was happening on both the Basic and "Got Hills?" pages. I could ride maybe 500 feet and the unit would default to this screen.

With "recording" not engaged, this is what the basic page looked like. It was the only way I could get the computer to stay "on".

I decided to try the "Got Hills" page without recording the ride. NOTE: I turned off the head completely, fired back up, and started fresh.

I didn't even get my camera put away, (note background here and above are the same) and the screen defaulted to the home page. Weird!

Re-selected Got Hills, ride loads, ride 50 feet, and then this.... AGAIN!

Start again- and this is the page I got.

This is what it looked like if I swiped that page above to a new page in "Got Hills". I kept getting missing data on the map in random splotches.

Swipe again and this is the only page in "Got Hills" that actually worked and that not well. (Big blank area? Why?)

Okay, several disappointments here:

• Recording a ride mode was an absolute fail. I could not get it to work for more than several hundred feet. NOTE- This test was conducted under clear blue skies with NO tree cover and out in a rural area which is well documented on mapping software. Oddly enough, it worked perfectly using turn-by-turn from a saved ride.
  
• Basic page is pretty weird. The landing page has no current speed. Why not?
• "Got Hills" was a major disappointment. Missing data, pages not working 100%, and where is that cool historical climbing data graph from the first head unit I had? (NOTE- I did not have to dig up special editing choices back then, but also- THAT page disappeared on the original unit as well.)
• Battery went down 25% on a sub-two hour ride? Wow! Not very impressive at all.
• A comment on charging from the second part of this review had me research the charging protocol for this device, There are no directions given for charging upon set up, and with no user manual, there is NO direction given. Only a charging cord is provided and it is up to you to figure it out.  
• Upon researching the Hammerhead site under "Charging Karoo2" I found that there is no charging device, and "quick charging" is not advisable, since it could damage the unit, so my slow charging experience is pretty much the only way to recharge the device. This means that recharging a Karo 2 takes many hours. (I had mine on the USB port of my computer for six hours to recharge it to 100% from near zero)
  
• Charging port on the device is covered with a rubber plug that sort of snaps into the port. It is not tethered to the device and can easily be lost. Fortunately Hammerhead provides one extra in the box, but this also is pretty lame for such an expensive device.
  

Final Take: While I still think this unit is 1000% better than the first one, the Karoo 2 is a major letdown. Besides the turn-by-turn feature, this unit does absolutely nothing better than an old wireless Cat Eye computer which costs significantly less money than a Karoo 2 does. Editing? Possibly. Maybe I could get into some deeper editing to make the unit perform in a way I found fun and interesting. However; my beef with Hammerhead all along has been that it doesn't work "intuitively" or like a smart phone, as they claim that it does. 

And finding what you want to know is a dive into their home site to wade through endless pages of different users tips and whatnot. The FAQ is pretty useless, and I did not find a page telling me about that cool historical climbing data function that- if this unit had it and it worked- would have softened my take a bit. Maybe it is possible to find that and install it, or dig deeper into the unit, but my take is it shouldn't be this difficult to get what you want. 

Again- I'm not impressed and only slightly less frustrated than before. Maybe I am not fit for a GPS unit. Could be, but even my wife, who is well versed in how to get programs to work, (Epic Medical Record keeping, for instance) finds this device to be frustrating as well. While it is entirely possible I am the problem, after two Karoo 2 units and the way they have acted, nope.....I don't think so. 

This will go back in the box and maybe I'll use it if I have an event that offers GPS files for routes as its only option, but I don't think I will ever use it again otherwise. I'd not recommend the device to anyone. 

Comparing To My Lezyne Experience:

I had a GPS that I did not have issues with at all, and which had features I enjoyed, plus it generated data I was interested in, and it had a user website which was VERY easy and useful to use. It was Lezyne's ROOT and Ally app for their GPS devices. 

Lezyne has done a major overhaul of their ROOT and Ally app since I had my Super GPS crushed in an accident at the 2021 Gravel Worlds event. I checked it out here recently. 

While Lezyne still tethers your smart phone to get turn-by-turn directions to work, they do offer offline maps within the device now, which I might find useful on outings where I am riding in unfamiliar territory. Plus, even without actually having an account with Lezyne, anyone can download a user manual. So, they have a resource for you to actually have information in your hand to learn about their devices whenever you want. 

Furthermore, Lezyne has kits which have the sensors you want, or kits without anything, available at purchase. So, I can get a Lezyne GPS with a heart rate strap, or cadence sensor, or with lights which are operable from the GPS head. Neat!

GPS Ally app is also really easy to use, plus the historical data gets uploaded to the ROOT page under your account automatically if you save a ride. Data include elevation profile, temperature range throughout the ride, speed, stopped time, and more.

This is just by way of example to contrast my experiences with another competitor's GPS range. Lezyne certainly has its negatives, (Difficulty starting that old Super GPS at the beginning of a race, for one, which was mostly user error), but the user interface/experience is NOT one of them, and my device NEVER let me down once. Plus- 48 hour battery life. Right? So, there is maybe a reason to go back to a Lezyne GPS unit. OR take a chance with a Wahoo or Garmin, (both of which I've heard complaints about as well). 

For now, I'm not going to do anything. But I certainly am not happy with Hammerhead and their Karoo 2.

Karoo 2 Take 2: Part 3

 Welcome to my third, and I think final, take on the Hammerhead Karoo 2 GPS cycling computer. If you missed any of the other two "Take Two" posts, you can find #1 here and #2 here. 

To recap: The interface regarding the GPS feature seemed to be smooth, but set-up initialy was a bit of a pain and I never did get the Bluetooth connection for my iPhone up and running. To be fair, after the first failed attempt, I abandoned the idea of doing that for the remainder of my testing. 

In Part Two, I field tested the GPS turn-by-turn navigation feature and found it to be satisfactory. However; it was difficult to read the screen in rough gravel. Plus- the battery life was not impressive.

Now, I wanted to discover what other features the Karoo 2 might have that I might find interesting. I needed to understand how the screens worked and what pages were going to be of use to me. By way of reminder, I first want to post an image from my first Karoo 2 unit which shows a specific feature I was keen on. Here is that image.....

I really enjoyed the historical climbing data page with elevation gain data.

Okay, keep that page there in that image in mind as I take you now through an image dump from my latest test I conducted last Monday. These images are in chronological order. The captions will explain what is happening. 

This is what my "Basic" page looks like in recording mode. I was impressed that the map showed where the gravel started, (thicker border on road)

But the fun stopped when I kept getting this screen. It was happening on both the Basic and "Got Hills?" pages. I could ride maybe 500 feet and the unit would default to this screen.

With "recording" not engaged, this is what the basic page looked like. It was the only way I could get the computer to stay "on".

I decided to try the "Got Hills" page without recording the ride. NOTE: I turned off the head completely, fired back up, and started fresh.

I didn't even get my camera put away, (note background here and above are the same) and the screen defaulted to the home page. Weird!

Re-selected Got Hills, ride loads, ride 50 feet, and then this.... AGAIN!

Start again- and this is the page I got.

This is what it looked like if I swiped that page above to a new page in "Got Hills". I kept getting missing data on the map in random splotches.

Swipe again and this is the only page in "Got Hills" that actually worked and that not well. (Big blank area? Why?)

Okay, several disappointments here:

• Recording a ride mode was an absolute fail. I could not get it to work for more than several hundred feet. NOTE- This test was conducted under clear blue skies with NO tree cover and out in a rural area which is well documented on mapping software. Oddly enough, it worked perfectly using turn-by-turn from a saved ride.
  
• Basic page is pretty weird. The landing page has no current speed. Why not?
• "Got Hills" was a major disappointment. Missing data, pages not working 100%, and where is that cool historical climbing data graph from the first head unit I had? (NOTE- I did not have to dig up special editing choices back then, but also- THAT page disappeared on the original unit as well.)
• Battery went down 25% on a sub-two hour ride? Wow! Not very impressive at all.
• A comment on charging from the second part of this review had me research the charging protocol for this device, There are no directions given for charging upon set up, and with no user manual, there is NO direction given. Only a charging cord is provided and it is up to you to figure it out.  
• Upon researching the Hammerhead site under "Charging Karoo2" I found that there is no charging device, and "quick charging" is not advisable, since it could damage the unit, so my slow charging experience is pretty much the only way to recharge the device. This means that recharging a Karo 2 takes many hours. (I had mine on the USB port of my computer for six hours to recharge it to 100% from near zero)
  
• Charging port on the device is covered with a rubber plug that sort of snaps into the port. It is not tethered to the device and can easily be lost. Fortunately Hammerhead provides one extra in the box, but this also is pretty lame for such an expensive device.
  

Final Take: While I still think this unit is 1000% better than the first one, the Karoo 2 is a major letdown. Besides the turn-by-turn feature, this unit does absolutely nothing better than an old wireless Cat Eye computer which costs significantly less money than a Karoo 2 does. Editing? Possibly. Maybe I could get into some deeper editing to make the unit perform in a way I found fun and interesting. However; my beef with Hammerhead all along has been that it doesn't work "intuitively" or like a smart phone, as they claim that it does. 

And finding what you want to know is a dive into their home site to wade through endless pages of different users tips and whatnot. The FAQ is pretty useless, and I did not find a page telling me about that cool historical climbing data function that- if this unit had it and it worked- would have softened my take a bit. Maybe it is possible to find that and install it, or dig deeper into the unit, but my take is it shouldn't be this difficult to get what you want. 

Again- I'm not impressed and only slightly less frustrated than before. Maybe I am not fit for a GPS unit. Could be, but even my wife, who is well versed in how to get programs to work, (Epic Medical Record keeping, for instance) finds this device to be frustrating as well. While it is entirely possible I am the problem, after two Karoo 2 units and the way they have acted, nope.....I don't think so. 

This will go back in the box and maybe I'll use it if I have an event that offers GPS files for routes as its only option, but I don't think I will ever use it again otherwise. I'd not recommend the device to anyone. 

Comparing To My Lezyne Experience:

I had a GPS that I did not have issues with at all, and which had features I enjoyed, plus it generated data I was interested in, and it had a user website which was VERY easy and useful to use. It was Lezyne's ROOT and Ally app for their GPS devices. 

Lezyne has done a major overhaul of their ROOT and Ally app since I had my Super GPS crushed in an accident at the 2021 Gravel Worlds event. I checked it out here recently. 

While Lezyne still tethers your smart phone to get turn-by-turn directions to work, they do offer offline maps within the device now, which I might find useful on outings where I am riding in unfamiliar territory. Plus, even without actually having an account with Lezyne, anyone can download a user manual. So, they have a resource for you to actually have information in your hand to learn about their devices whenever you want. 

Furthermore, Lezyne has kits which have the sensors you want, or kits without anything, available at purchase. So, I can get a Lezyne GPS with a heart rate strap, or cadence sensor, or with lights which are operable from the GPS head. Neat!

GPS Ally app is also really easy to use, plus the historical data gets uploaded to the ROOT page under your account automatically if you save a ride. Data include elevation profile, temperature range throughout the ride, speed, stopped time, and more.

This is just by way of example to contrast my experiences with another competitor's GPS range. Lezyne certainly has its negatives, (Difficulty starting that old Super GPS at the beginning of a race, for one, which was mostly user error), but the user interface/experience is NOT one of them, and my device NEVER let me down once. Plus- 48 hour battery life. Right? So, there is maybe a reason to go back to a Lezyne GPS unit. OR take a chance with a Wahoo or Garmin, (both of which I've heard complaints about as well). 

For now, I'm not going to do anything. But I certainly am not happy with Hammerhead and their Karoo 2.

Karoo 2 Take 2: Part 2

Last Saturday I introduced my new Karoo 2 GPS computer. I detailed the set-up process experience. The next thing I was interested in was if this new unit would do the turn-by-turn navigation I was desiring to have so I can utilize other routes in GPS form. 

So, I had saved a route through Southern Black Hawk County which I talked about yesterday in my "Country Views" post. As I stated, that route starts right at my house and ends there. 

I got on the ride, fired up the computer, found my route, and with one touch the Karoo 2 started the route. Once I moved it let me know that the route wasn't being recorded, and did I want that? One tap and it was on. 

So, audible prompts, a map, and arrows guided me along the entire route. There was another page with more "normal" cycling information, like overall mileage, average speed, maximum speed, and time of day. However; it was largely useless due to the severity of the gravel this time which made reading anything impossible. The unit was just vibrating far too much to safely see it. 

That's not the fault of the Karoo 2, but it does bring up the need to be able to increase font size and eliminate all but the two or three things you really need to see. Maybe that's in a deeper editing feature, I don't know at this point. 

And that brings up another fault I find with Hammerhead. There is no place to go to look things up at a glance, and I'd like that to be an actual manual you could take out in the field with you. I'm not going to try to see a webpage in bright Sunlight on my iPhone to figure this deal out, especially so since getting into the dashboard has been a frustrating experience so far due to the password having to be entered more than once every time I've had to login up to this point. Just give me a paper manual and make it easy already.

Taken on a bike path, because the gravel was too rough!

The display was easy to see, at least when it wasn't being rattled violently! But I had no issues with the route, the prompts, or any of that. Road names were called out correctly, and I was able to follow the route the entire distance with zero hiccups or fails. 

Battery life is not very impressive.

Okay, the very basics have been accomplished and this experience was 1000 times better than with the first unit. Now I will have to create a new route and see how much easier, or not, it is to do with the new unit. 

Since I got what I wanted- so far- I am willing to invest in the time it will take to tweak out the unit to my liking. I will explore the other options for cycling, and I may start doing a deeper dive with this if all that goes smoothly. 

I was not impressed with the battery life. I started out the ride on the half-charge the unit came with. At the time I started, it was at 43%. That was after all the rig-a-ma-roll with the set-up procedure which sucked some of the battery down. 

You can see in the image above that I had 24% battery life left, but about four blocks from the house, which was shortly after the image was taken, the unit alerted me to a "low battery status". I'm not sure when that comes on. At 20% maybe? Dunno..... Again- it'd be great if I had an owner's manual to check on that at a glance. 

I plugged in the Karoo 2  into my home computer to recharge it, and four hours later, it was at 81%. Sheesh! How long can it take? I guess longer than four hours, eh? But anyway, this thing eats through its battery pretty fast, seemingly, and it takes forever to charge it back up. I'll have to test this out on an all-day ride sometime to see if it will even make it that far. I imagine not using the turn-by-turn feature uses less battery life. We'll see... 

So far, okay. No Bluetooth to my iPhone. Set-up was a bit frustrating. Battery life is so-so. GPS works. I'll see about other features later on. I may become more fond of it later on once I become more acquainted with how this thing works. One thing I do know- there had to be something amiss with the first one. It was defective for sure. This unit has- so far- been much better to interface with. 

More soon.

Karoo 2 Take 2: Part 2

Last Saturday I introduced my new Karoo 2 GPS computer. I detailed the set-up process experience. The next thing I was interested in was if this new unit would do the turn-by-turn navigation I was desiring to have so I can utilize other routes in GPS form. 

So, I had saved a route through Southern Black Hawk County which I talked about yesterday in my "Country Views" post. As I stated, that route starts right at my house and ends there. 

I got on the ride, fired up the computer, found my route, and with one touch the Karoo 2 started the route. Once I moved it let me know that the route wasn't being recorded, and did I want that? One tap and it was on. 

So, audible prompts, a map, and arrows guided me along the entire route. There was another page with more "normal" cycling information, like overall mileage, average speed, maximum speed, and time of day. However; it was largely useless due to the severity of the gravel this time which made reading anything impossible. The unit was just vibrating far too much to safely see it. 

That's not the fault of the Karoo 2, but it does bring up the need to be able to increase font size and eliminate all but the two or three things you really need to see. Maybe that's in a deeper editing feature, I don't know at this point. 

And that brings up another fault I find with Hammerhead. There is no place to go to look things up at a glance, and I'd like that to be an actual manual you could take out in the field with you. I'm not going to try to see a webpage in bright Sunlight on my iPhone to figure this deal out, especially so since getting into the dashboard has been a frustrating experience so far due to the password having to be entered more than once every time I've had to login up to this point. Just give me a paper manual and make it easy already.

Taken on a bike path, because the gravel was too rough!

The display was easy to see, at least when it wasn't being rattled violently! But I had no issues with the route, the prompts, or any of that. Road names were called out correctly, and I was able to follow the route the entire distance with zero hiccups or fails. 

Battery life is not very impressive.

Okay, the very basics have been accomplished and this experience was 1000 times better than with the first unit. Now I will have to create a new route and see how much easier, or not, it is to do with the new unit. 

Since I got what I wanted- so far- I am willing to invest in the time it will take to tweak out the unit to my liking. I will explore the other options for cycling, and I may start doing a deeper dive with this if all that goes smoothly. 

I was not impressed with the battery life. I started out the ride on the half-charge the unit came with. At the time I started, it was at 43%. That was after all the rig-a-ma-roll with the set-up procedure which sucked some of the battery down. 

You can see in the image above that I had 24% battery life left, but about four blocks from the house, which was shortly after the image was taken, the unit alerted me to a "low battery status". I'm not sure when that comes on. At 20% maybe? Dunno..... Again- it'd be great if I had an owner's manual to check on that at a glance. 

I plugged in the Karoo 2  into my home computer to recharge it, and four hours later, it was at 81%. Sheesh! How long can it take? I guess longer than four hours, eh? But anyway, this thing eats through its battery pretty fast, seemingly, and it takes forever to charge it back up. I'll have to test this out on an all-day ride sometime to see if it will even make it that far. I imagine not using the turn-by-turn feature uses less battery life. We'll see... 

So far, okay. No Bluetooth to my iPhone. Set-up was a bit frustrating. Battery life is so-so. GPS works. I'll see about other features later on. I may become more fond of it later on once I become more acquainted with how this thing works. One thing I do know- there had to be something amiss with the first one. It was defective for sure. This unit has- so far- been much better to interface with. 

More soon.