Switched to Karoo after years of using Edge 830 and then 840. Tired of struggling with all the extraneous 'features' of the Garmin OS. Oddly it feels like riding a new bike!
- More readable fonts, crisper screen, white characters on black background works well, Edge seems stodgy by comparison
- Smart sizing: Karoo is roughly same width as the 840, but taller, so more space for data windows, without being as bulky as an Edge 1040 or a smart phone
- Across the top it displays ride time, battery SOC, and time of day in small fonts, so don't need to use data windows for those
- Implementation of Varia radar is way better: alert sound louder and more distinctive, yellow/red/green bar colors far more saturated than Edge's washy overlays that are hard to distinguish, the car pictograms are far better than the dots used on Edge
- OS more straightforward to use and set options
- Loaded a free extension for eat and drink reminders
Very pleased with it so far. Adapting to not getting speeds of approaching traffic (MyBikeRadar not available for Karoo yet) or Shimano Di2 gear combinations is not too difficult.
More safety with motorists is a real good thing! I almost bought the Garmin version a while back since many of my riding buddies liked theirs, but when I heard Wahoo was coming out with this radar unit I decided to wait and match it to my new Wahoo head unit. Setup was very quick and easy. Battery life is excellent and the radar is very accurate. Of course I still use my sunglasses mirror for busy SoCal streets, but when you are flying downhill it's nice to know you can take the entire lane with no cars behind you. Yes, it's a bit pricey, but your safety is always worth it!
I've had this for about a month now and ridden with it at least 20 times. While I wasn't sure I really needed it when I bought it, it has become almost a necessity now that I have used it. I am a senior rider (78 years), and it is wonderful having the few seconds of extra notification of a car approaching from behind. It gives one sound when a car is approaching, a slightly different sound when a string of cars is approaching, and a different sound if the approaching car turns off at another street before passing you. It also has a graphic display on the Element Bike Computer which changes color from green to orange to red as the car approaches. We have a lot of younger (almost everyone is younger than me now days) riders who are very capable (fast) including a fair number of pros (Boulder, Colorado), and the Trackr also alerts me when someone on our many bike trail is approaching on a bike. While I always double check with a mirror, this is a necessity at my age and probably useful for younger riders. The only issue I've found is riding a bikeway that parallels a highway (such as the one along US 36 from Boulder to Denver). The unit kind of goes crazy (constant beeping) in that situation and I have had to turn it off.
I've been riding with Shimano dual power meters (two bikes) for almost ten years. Never really needed the dual, since my power was essentially the same. It was an expensive choice that didn't add much, if any, value. Third bike was a SRAM spider power meter mount, it was great, but I think the cost was around $400. This is just as good, but not nearly as much money. As long as it holds up, it will be the best value power meter I've purchased in ten years. 4 stars only because I've only had it two months.
