It's a sure sign of spring when cyclists unmount their road bikes from their turbo trainers and head out to make the most of the weather. And clever riders will mount cycling computers on their handlebars to track and plan their journeys. Some of these people, those who own the excellent Hammerhead Karoo 2, will be able to utilise a new feature only available to this device.
The Predictive Path Technology provides riders with a detailed and analytical look at upcoming elevations to help see the road ahead in stunning detail. Better still, the Karoo 2 is the first and only cycling computer on the market right now that can anticipate and identify upcoming climbs without pre-loading the route. Sounds incredible, right? This means less time spent on the phone fiddling with routes and more on the saddle conquering hills.
Here is a sexy video to get you in the mood for discovering new bike trails:
Hammerhead Karoo 2 Predictive Path Technology: How does it work
Key features of the new update include a colour-coded view of elevation profile of each climb on every ride, segmented to 100 metres or yards and the ability to add 'Distance To Go', 'Elevation To Go', 'Distance From Base', and 'Elevation From Base' measurements to any data page on the Karoo 2 quickly and easily. Said segments are colour-coded to average gradient – the brighter the colour, the steeper the gradient.
The Karoo 2 continuously identifies the immediately upcoming 500 metres of the route – again, without the need to preload the route – for scale. The expanded view of the entire climb is below the graph, with their average gradient displayed to one decimal precision.
Distance and elevation to the top of the climb are displayed by default on-screen; this can be expanded to view the current gradient and VAM (a measure of vertical speed). The Karoo 2 will keep track of each climb you complete per ride.
You can find more info about the software update on Hammerhead's website.
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Matt Kollat is a journalist and content creator who works for T3.com and its magazine counterpart as an Active Editor. His areas of expertise include wearables, drones, fitness equipment, nutrition and outdoor gear. He joined T3 in 2019. His byline appears in several publications, including Techradar and Fit&Well, and more. Matt also collaborated with other content creators (e.g. Garage Gym Reviews) and judged many awards, such as the European Specialist Sports Nutrition Alliance's ESSNawards. When he isn't working out, running or cycling, you'll find him roaming the countryside and trying out new podcasting and content creation equipment.