mcfly

For future reference, you can ride bikes in the Grand Canyon National Park. They actually rent them at the south rim visitors center and can be ridden on south rim road and part of the south rim trail. I'm still glad I didn't bring them, for the one or two rides we would have done it wouldn't have been worth the hassle of carrying and managing them.

This has probably been discussed and I missed it. I rode out to Slaughter Creek Preserve this weekend, and took the short cut through from going west along Slaughter to 1826. Someone keeps trying to block passage right at 1826. The last time I was out that way before this weekend, the barrier was about 6' high with barbed wire. This time, that barrier had been knocked down a bit, but it was easier to take the line that has developed around it. What's the story with that, is it private land?

Another vote for the Hammerhead Karoo. I'd pick that over any Garmin which I used for years before the Karoo. I can't speak to any other brands.

Thanks for all the input. My wife is trying to talk me out of bringing the bikes, because she doesn't think it will be worth the hassle of carrying and worrying about the security of the bikes for the two or three rides we might do. I'm still up in the air about it.

1 hour ago, Taco Man said:

unknown years but at least 10 rattlers, 1 copperhead and who knows how many garter snakes.

Ive had 2 rattlers get agressive, one chased me for 50' at least.

Hmm, didn't realize they would chase you. How fast can they go?

Doing a family road trip to the Grand Canyon over spring break. Trying to determine if I should bring bikes. Me and the 2 kids have trail bikes. My wife is the lowest common denominator with a hybrid bike that can handle smooth gravel or smooth dirt trails at its best. Is there anything out there that would work for us? Maybe one or two rides at 15-20 miles?

On my pre-dawn rides that can get down into the 20's and 30's on Barton Creek, I'll wear neoprene toe covers, and slip a chemical hand warmer pack in between the toe cover and the outside of my shoes on top over the toes, works great to keep them warm, and you don't get the discomfort of having a warmer inside the shoe.

I was looking forward to the bluetooth phone integration. But come to find out, you can't upload your ride via the phone bluetooth connection, that's still wifi only. Maybe that will be improved with a future software update. I'm still happy to get phone notifications on the Karoo 2.

Got mine too. I use it on multiple bikes so will be sticking with the Garmin mount adapter. My small complaint is the uncovered USB port. I know it's supposed to be waterproof but would prefer something to keep the mud out. I hope I have a chance to give it a go tomorrow.

sold

Asking $225, here's the craigslist ad:

https://austin.craigslist.org/bik/d/austin-275-diamondback-apex-trail-bike/7249815179.html

Same with mine. Ours must be on the same plane/truck.

On 12/7/2020 at 10:14 PM, TheX said:

I put my $99 down on a Karoo 2 pre-order. Finally got to do the order today. Going by other people's experiences, it should ship right away. I'm probably going to keep the Karoo 1 as a spare, unless I can get something useful in trade for it.

I ordered the Karoo 2 too. Let me know when you get yours. My understanding is that it won't ship for another 2 weeks after ordering. Probably will pass my Karoo 1 down to my kid.

I have not seen an official announcement, but as far as I can tell a pass is no longer required to enter Barton Creek Greenbelt. The kiosks are gone from the trailheads, and I went in at the VCT trailhead at Specs this past weekend with no one there for passes.

Agree with everyone that there are tons of SATN options.

Regarding Barton Creek Greenbelt, assuming you work on weekdays,  the pass thing should not affect you except on Fridays. 

On 8/8/2020 at 2:01 PM, TheX said:

I've decided to move on from the Hammerhead Karoo. Not happy with the latest updates, just a preference thing. Looking at the Wahoo Roam, and the Garmin 830. I have read about the positives of each, wondering if you peeps have any real world cons for either that you'd be willing to share?

Sorry to see you go. Your post a while back got me on the Karoo. I still love mine, and the lockup issue that I posted about was eventually resolved with a software update. I do agree that the latest update has me relearning how to do things on the device. Couldn't imagine going back to Garmin after getting used to the Karoos map display, and Hammerheads ease of putting routes on it with their dashboard.

They're also like the jump jets of flying insects. I see them hovering about 2 feet above the trail, just waiting for someone to pass by. I try to hit them with my front wheel but they easily avoid that.

I've altered my morning ride routes because of these little bastards. Doing any climbing on BCG, between sunrise and around 9am, is brutal. They don't bother me as much when going downhill or at speed on flat ground.

Hmm, this morning my Karoo had an issue locking onto satellites. Had the problem at the beginning of my ride, then in the middle of the ride (about an hour in).  Never had this problem before, it has always locked on immediately and been rock solid throughout my rides.

Still diggin my Karoo. I've had some buddies see it and be interested in getting one. But the Karoo hasn't been available for purchase since April, when Hammerhead announced that they are working on the Karoo 2. And it's looking like the Karoo 2 won't be available until late this year. Seems crazy to me that they would just stop selling any product for that amount of time. Even if it's public knowledge that they are working on the Karoo 2, I'd think they could still be selling v1 in the meantime. 

I carry the Lezyne micro floor pump. It's small enough to carry in a pack, but has a fold out foot peg and can be used like a floor pump. I also wrap a couple feet of duct tape around the shaft which has come in handy for emergency repairs.

https://ride.lezyne.com/collections/hand-pumps-high-volume-trail/products/1-mp-mfdr-v204hv

I'll take a shot at answering your questions:

Does the Karoo's 15 hour battery life change when paired with sensors or the phone?

I've always ran the Karoo paired with a heart rate monitor and wireless drivetrain. Longest ride I've done is 6 hours, and I had about 25% battery left when I finished. The Karoo does not pair with your phone, unless you're talking about turning on a wifi hotspot on your phone and leaving the wifi running on the Karoo. In that case I'm sure the battery life would be affected.

Simple menu navigation.  The 520+ is horrible compared to the older devices (Edge 500, or Edge 705).  Based on the zoom map features, the Karoo is already ahead here, but more feedback on other menu navigation would be welcome.

I'd say the menu navigation is better than my old Garmin 1030, but I still find myself poking around and having trouble finding certain settings.

Non cycling specific.  Can you use it for running?  i.e. does it have running type stats (e.g. min/mile pace) or only cycling?

You're probably already aware, but this thing is big and heavy. Would you carry it in a running pack? I'm not sure if it has running type stats. I'm not built for running.

Love my Karoo except for the issue with it locking up that I posted about last month. I've been working with their tech support for the past month on this. Sure seems like a hardware issue but they are giving me the run-around on it. 

Lately my Karoo has started locking up on me after about 2.5 hours into a ride. The screen and buttons become unresponsive, and the map stops updating. This freeze will last for a few minutes before the Karoo will respond again. Then after some amount of time it will happen again. Anyone else have this issue? I've tried doing a factory reset but that didn't resolve it. I've opened a support ticket with Hammerhead and am waiting to hear back.

I love mine. Everything about it is better than my old Garmin 1030, except that the Hammerhead is bulkier and heavier.

It does not support bluetooth pairing with a phone, it connects to your wifi network. So if you want to do uploads or downloads when you're away from home, you'd have to do a phone hotspot. So there is no getting phone call or text notifications on the Hammerhead while you're riding. I don't care much about that.