The “drop a pin where you want to go” navigation experience on the device is decent, Karoo is an android device underneath and behaves pretty much like a scaled down smartphone.
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not in my review was how easy it was to sideload apps like trainerroad. that part rules
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all i want is my wahoo to upload to my garmin connect. i wear a garmin watch so that is my de facto landing page considering i rarely ride bikes enough to care whether the activity transferred. except for when i specifically want to use the wahoo because i am taking a bike ride
I’m looking at bike computers on sale. Any suggestion on the $259 Karoo vs the $199 Elemnt Roam V1? I’m using it 95% for navigating. Right now I’m using an old iphone on airplane mode but the battery doesn’t last very long and I have trouble hearing the turn notification sound. I’m tempted to get a cheap refurbished iphone which would be cheaper than either of those computers (even when they’re on sale).
Karoo2
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The Karoo 2 navigation display is best in class regardless of price point IMO. Get it!
Well I might’ve ordered a Karoo
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i’ll sell you an edge explore for less than either of those but you should probably get the karoo
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So I just upgraded my K2 with the newest software updated (they usually release these every ~2 weeks), and they made the in-ride UX a lot worse by drawing borders and background colors around all of the data fields. I revoke my wholehearted endorsement and hope they revert this change or provide a way to revert the graphics to the previous look:
Did a ride this morning with the new graphics, also dislike them. Hoping for a revert. Can live with them if not but meh.
I think this underscores and important point about the Karoo - they release new software every two weeks, so it can change underneath you. (Though you can turn off auto-updates.) In some ways this is good, because issues do get fixed regularly - but in other ways it’s bad, because issues get introduced in the updates too.
Example: A while back my Garmin Varia light just would not stay on, and I thought it had magically developed some strange bug. Turns out in a Karoo update a bug was introduced that would turn off the light no matter what you told it to do. The workaround was just to unpair the light portion of the Varia from the Karoo, which I did. (Now I’m realizing I never re-paired it, so maybe that hasn’t been fixed. 
)
Of course, new cool features get introduced in updates too. When I bought my Karoo, CLIMBER wasn’t a thing. Then one day it was, and it’s really cool!
It’s just a thing you have to accept when buying a Karoo - it’s much more like a smartphone in that way. If you want a computer that you buy and it works and you never update it, the Karoo isn’t that. (Not clear to me whether Garmin or Wahoo computers behave that way any more either.)
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Using epoxy to fuse a Garmin mount to the back of an android phone did make for a good bike gps back when I used those.
i still have that garmin edge explore that i would make nice price on. it’s probably still worse than the karoo with update tho
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bought the karoo continuing my streak of only buying things from deals thread. what mount do I want for this thing?
It comes with a mount that’s perfectly good. Also comes with an adapter to use it with any Garmin quarter-turn mount.
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wirecutter? nah i subscribe to forkjudder
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i got my last GPS from faxmachine on here so i don’t believe i’ve ever purchased a GPS from any source other than tarck
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The garmin quarter turn adapter was thing that put me over on buying one, won’t have to update my mounts either
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stealz for yer dealz wheelz
first impression: feel kinda cheap and plastic-y but the sidewalls are LIGHT
mounting: took an extra 5-10 psi to snap on
pavement: smooth and fast, very thunderburt
first dirt section: whoa really smooth, like dropping 5 psi
second ride: fuck it, let’s see if I can shred them. survived all the rocks
maybe just luck so far but these are damn good for $30
also: no weeping or other bullshit, air up and go
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soma is discounting frames and forks by 30%
use code: unbound23
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