As soon as derailleurs and shifters went from communicating via cables, ratchets and springs to wireless protocols and servos, head units suddenly had the potential to play a key part in the functioning of a groupset.
Hammerhead is the first to fully exploit that promise, as its new Karoo computer is the first to be co-developed with a groupset.
Hammerhead was acquired by Sram in 2021, which meant the latest Karoo computer and Sram’s new Red AXS groupset could be developed in-house simultaneously.
‘The latest Karoo builds on the Karoo 2 by functioning on another level with Red, but remains an incredible computer in its own right,’ says Jason Fowler, Sram’s road drivetrain product manager.
It retains the same dimensions and 3.2-inch colour touchscreen as the previous generation Karoo, but there’s a wholesale upgrade to its internals, with a faster 2.0GHz processor, 64GB memory in place of 32GB and multi-band GNSS support for faster and more comprehensive mapping fixes.
Crucially, Hammerhead has at the same time increased battery life from eight hours to what’s now claimed to be more than 15 hours.
The latest Karoo comes as standard with most Red AXS-equipped bikes, although it also looks to have the feature set to make it a worthy standalone purchase regardless of which groupset you’re running.
Au Pricing $749.99
Website au.hammerhead.io
