Wishes for 2026
A new, smaller Karoo that brings back some of the robustness and charm of the Karoo 2. I would gladly trade about two hours of battery life for a slightly smaller form factor.
Please let us customize the lap button. Not everyone rides to record laps, and I suspect that many of us never use this button except by accident.
Please let us adjust the size and position of data fields on the map page. Hammerhead changed the layout of the data fields a few years ago (with caused some noise if you remember) and promised big things to come. They never arrived. Ok, there was a major update this spring to customize the data fields, but I don't want to have to use a sideloaded app to get smaller data fields on the map side. This should be provided by Hammerhead itself.
The same applies to a map field on the data page. Garmin does it and Sigma offers it even longer. So it is possible.
Climber is great, but Wahoo and Bryton show, how this feature could be even better, as they display the profile of the next mile/kilometer even when no climb is detected. This is one of my favourite features, and it's long overdue on the Karoos (and also on the Garmins).
Please add more map layers that can be turned on and off. And move the layer controls from the map screen to the control center. The ability to turn bike paths, bike routes, POIs, heat maps, topo lines or MTB-trails on and off would improve the map experience. And it would be great if the collaboration with Suunto would make it possible to offer their surface layer introduced last year.
And as every year: Please get rid of the dotted lines for all roads/paths outside of cities and outside of main roads. I think that's the wish most of us would like to see fulfilled with every new software update. It's just not appropriate that a device like the Karoo in 2026 offers such limited map functionality outside of main roads. The OSM data is available, you just have to use it in the same fine way as you use it on the Karoos for bicycle infrastructure.
Please introduce true offline routing. I just don't get it: you can drop a pin on the map and the Karoo automatically calculates the route to that point (which is ultimately a kind of address) without requiring a data connection (only GPS is needed). But the Karoo can't navigate to a specific address on its own without having some kind of data or mobile connection. Hä? The Karoo 3 has a huge amount of storage space, and I've always wondered what it's for if not for the database to allow the device to calculate routes on its own.
And with that: introduction of real offline route transfer to the device via Bluetooth.
And finally: I don't need a speaker or a bicycle bell on a possible new Karoo, but I would love it if, like the new Bolt 3, there were three volume levels for the signal tones on a new Karoo.
And I wouldn't mind some bezels on a possible new Karoo if solar cells were built in to extend the battery life.
Anything else?
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1. yes a noise when you hit pause is badly needed. I can easily hit pause on the karoo while trying to change the screen (top buttons) and not get an audible alert. stop / start should always make a sound IMO.
2. Button Mapping to actions (customisation) would be great too. Id map lap to the power button personally for a short press and power for a long press for example/ Thanks. New user love the device especially the global lap function!
3. Battery data tiles for the sram AXS wireless dropper post and AXS wireless shifters would be great also.
I second the suggestion above for temp indication on the top bar near the clock.
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- search function to new POI, without a use of any other device
- more accurate calculations of "Time to Destination" data field (I know there would be lots of math, but anyway now the calculations are not considering any elevation changes up infront on the route, so they could be waay off)
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I'd immediately support:
- climber grade colors (and grade intervals)
- look-head elevation profile (Wahoo has it :-)
- improved arrow position on the map (considering whether you are routing or not and whether you are north-up or not)
and would also like:
- auto zoom
- loudness control (on new hardware, most likely)
- better map layers
probably more, but these are the ones I can think of, not having used the Karoo in two months due to snow down here. :-(
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One feature that I keep missing from my Wahoo is the “perfect view zoom” feature, allowing you to zoom in and out of data fields. It allowed me to add less accessed data fields (such as tire pressures) without taking up unnecessary screen space or making a new data page. I can zoom out when I need/want to see it and zoom back in when I don’t need to.
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I miss the Green Red and Yellow dots in the data fields that told you if you were above or below your average number. I was told a long time ago that they would put them back in in a future update, but i still haven`t seen them back in my Karoo, and I miss them badly, and now when they have stopped supporting the older Karoo I suppose that they will never return.
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