100% elevation accuracy fix. HW is the cause.

Last year I received a K2 from a third party vendor. I knew something was wrong when I would get elevation recording 400% more than normal. At this point I used a garmin edge 500 and it was always consistent. Not only was the elevation completely wrong but the grade % was all over the place. It was bouncing up and down even during a steady ride up a hill. So I contacted HH and quickly got a new unit. Unfortunately, the second unit wasn’t any better. Elevation results were 50% more and grade slope again bouncing all over the place. HH response is that they had no idea if it was software or hardware related. And that exchanging it for another unit may not solve the problem. Winter came, and I felt that I would just have to correct elevation with Strava forever. Was annoying but no big deal. The positives outweighed the negatives of the unit so I accepted it and moved on. Then when the K3 came out, one line changed my mood from acceptance to frustration. During a media event, HH identified the problem with the K2 elevation as “ specifically related to a manufacturer error in a specific component, for a specific set of units.” Surely this means that the serial number or date ranges of affected units have been identified. So I contacted HH support and asked. I was expecting a different response. Instead I received the truth. They told me that a bad component caused the issues in the units and a new replacement unit will solve the issue. So I received my third unit. It looked to have been manufactured earlier. It had the original USB-C port plug. However, HH included the updated USB-C port that replaced the original bottom bracket of the unit. Today I went for a ride. Finally. Finally it works as expected. Got the correct elevation and the grade was accurate. Was smooth. Didn’t bounce around. Was perfect. Hope it stays that way. My piece of advice to everyone affected by this, please contact HH. Even if it’s out of warranty. It was a defective component. They identified the issue and will replace it with a working one. Don’t take no for an answer. HH customer service was very nice to deal with for all returns. It took 1 week from returning old unit to receiving new one. Canadian customers, be careful as they ship with UPS. Got dinged with $140 customs/broker fees but they will reimburse me through PayPal. I told them they should ship with USPS next time to Canada and include warranty repair return in commercial invoice as to not pay taxes. Good luck. Fingers crossed that this is a permanent solution.

Udo Marx

June 01, 2024 19:29
Edited

I had a similar experience: bought a Karoo 2 last September, from a German vendor. Got the same elevation issues as described above. After I contacted the Hammerhead support, I finally got a replacement unit. The replacement unit was obviously from an older production batch, with the old USB plug, the new USB cover separately attached. The replacement unit works fine, elevation is recorded correct (so far).

So I did not need a third unit, but beside this I can confirm what Marco wrote.

As a side note: I've seen the elevation issues with the first unit especially during rides in a cold environment (less than 0 degree Celsius)

Hien Hy Thien

July 14, 2024 17:01

Same experience for me: i've purchased a faulty unit with elevation all over the way, especially on flat courses. it has been replaced from assistance with a unit with the old usb plug and now elevation is within normal error margin.

the problem is that now the climber pannel triggers only when an ascent is on a route i'm following (with navigation or only as breacrumb). any ascents out of the route won't trigger the climber panel. the unit is updated with the last firmware and the function is setted to trigger on every ascent.
someone else did face the same issue?

Belton Hogue

February 03, 2026 17:22

Are you able to use the ki2 features with the older unit with the fixed calabiration?

February 03, 2026 22:17

Yes, I have an Ultegra 12v and works flawlessly with ki2

100% elevation accuracy fix. HW is the cause.

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