Hello everyone,
I recently started using Xert after following Basecamp’s winter camp and a 12 week training as I needed something a bit more flexible and I love it so far. What I noticed is the possibility to train with the Magic Buckets and I’m quite close to pulling the trigger and replacing my Wahoo Bolt v2 (that I also have a potential buyer for) and going for some of the Garmin Edge offerings (considering 840, 1040 and 1050).
Anyone else made the same transition and would you say it’s worth it? I have nothing to complain about the unit itself and I have been doing the standard training plans by now with no issue, however at the same time I’m intrigued by having an adaptive training during outdoor rides so I don’t feel bad when I miss sprint when I just go downhill or get my intervals cut short by the traffic lights
There are so many cool ConnectIQ data fields, Magic Buckets is just one of them. So many. So much of the stuff I use on a Garmin is not made by Garmin, but by a ConnectIQ developer. Going to a wahoo to me would be like putting my laptop away and using a grayscale kindle instead.
Now that the EBC app is working on Hammerhead Karoo, I’d consider looking at that as well. It’s a great computer that feels a lot more modern than the Garmins. The Garmin 1050 is the first one that has a modern interface and high quality screen but it’s a very big device.
Agree that the Karoo is a good alternative but my Karoo 2 had pretty awful battery life compared to any Garmin. Has that noticeably improved with the Karoo 3?
Yes, battery life was a key focus of the Karoo 3 upgrade. There are also multiple battery saver modes now that are very customizable. Still not nearly as long as the longest lasting Garmins but as long as you can charge your head unit once a night, you’d never run out while recording a ride. Maybe if you do a lot of 24 hour ultra races, I’d look elsewhere but I’ve never come close to having an issue with battery life on my Karoo.
Hammerhead Karoo 3: around 400 eur, saw lower prices but those are all out of stock
Any preference amongst these with the price taken into account? I kinda enjoy the small form of Bolt V2, but I might enjoy the bigger devices too. Not 100% sure though, if I could answer that question, I guess the choice would become much simpler
It’s the right balance of size for most activities. Go look at a Karoo screen and then look at a Garmin screen. The Garmin feels very dated by comparison.
I’ve been using the Edge 840 for some time now - convenient because I also use/wear a Garmin watch for steps, sleep tracking, cross training, etc.
I do (at times) wish I had a slightly larger screen (e.g. Edge 1040), but I do like the compact & lightweight form factor of the Edge 840. I’ve done a lot of testing on the K2 as well, and it’s nice. The display does look quite good with the colourful EBC app!
That being said, I prefer the old-school MIPS display compared to the newer OLED (?) screens on the Edge 1050/K2/K3, but maybe that’s just me. I just find the OLED screens can be difficulty to see in direct sun unless the brightness is rather high, which eats the battery. My Edge 840 made it on a ~12 hr, ~315km ride last summer and still finished with like ~50% battery or so. I’m not sure the K2 would have survived the entire ride. That being said, the K3 has addressed the battery life of the K2.
I feel like the display brightness visibility thing might be a thing of the past… I live in the Colorado mountains with extremely bright sun and this is the brightness level mine was at today (~60%) and had no problem seeing it. And a nice thing is that it looks like it’s a device from this decade which is cool when you’re paying hundreds of dollars for these things.
When it comes to battery life I guess that ending a long ride with 50% battery life left doesn’t really mean anything to me because it’s not like I’m gonna have an emergency need for my bike computer again before I can charge it…
If you ride in conditions like this a lot, direct bright sun, the 1040 is the way to go over the 1050. I’ve had both, the 1040 solar and the 1050. Because of the technology used in the screens, the 1040 is much much more usable in direct blaring sun.
I’ve never had the 1050 so maybe its screen isn’t as good as the Karoo 3’s. I’ve just had an Edge 540, Edge Explore 2 and a Karoo 3. As I said above, I disagree but maybe I have different eyes or sunglasses. We have super bright and high sun all day in the summer in the mountains of Colorado, so I have plenty of experience.
The other advantage of the Karoo screen (which also applies to the AMOLED version of the Garmin Fenix 8 watch I have) is that when you’re in mixed light, like a gravel or mountain bike ride that has shade, it’s much better visibility that a MIP screen.
I’m not biased; this is just my honest opinion. I own multiple Garmin devices and I get deals on all of the options and just pick the one that works best for me.
Thanks for all the inputs. After comparisons, watching reviews, weighing in the pros and cons, I decided to buy the new Karoo. It seems like the ideal balance for me between the functionalities I need, size of the device, overall package, and the price level (found it with a discount for 390 euros including shipping).
