hhk25

I'm about to pull the trigger on a Hammerhead Karoo but realize the estimated 10-15 hours of run time are inadequate for some of the longer brevets. Are the Garmin units better? I know they all have battery ratings but I find that doesn't always match up to real world.

Tourist in MSN

I do not use cycling specific GPS units, instead use Garmin general recreation ones that work on AA batteries so I can use them for hiking, backpacking, and yes ... cycling.

If battery life is a big concern, consider one that uses AA batteries. I have best luck with rechargeable NiMH Ikea brand Ladda batteries, the Eneloop batteries come in at a close second. The cheaper Ikea batteries I would not rely on, the Ladda model of batteries I have excellent luck with.

pdlamb

I've learned to discount advertised battery life by a third.


Higher level Garmins work well with an external battery. When the GPS runs down, run a cable from the battery in a bar bag to the GPS and keep riding.

pesty

While I don't mean to discourage you on the HH, I ended up returning mine after about a month due to various issues and my lack of faith in the company (which I won't go into any further here, there's a HH thread on here where I made my feelings known). I never took it on an activity longer than about 3-5 hours, but based on that I found their quoted battery life to be a bit.... ambitious. My 3 year old Garmin 810, which I purchased used, was outperforming the Karoo on battery.

If you're really concerned about battery life beyond 8-10 hours, the Garmin 1030 does have an available extended battery that is designed to run with it. However, that's going to be a bit more expensive than the Karoo if they are still selling it for $300.

If you don't mind a refurb, and don't mind waiting and shopping around, I recently picked up a "used" Garmin 1000 for $300 shipped on ebay. I've seen them regularly going for $300-400. The one that I got was "used" in the sense that the previous owner had it replaced by Garmin under warranty and then switched to something else. So likely a referb that was never used.

While it doesn't have the external battery that the 1030 has, you can run it while charging and the charge cable comes straight down from the bottom of the unit, so you could run a cable to a separate battery in a pinch. You might be able to do the same with a Garmin 520 or 820, but the charging port is closer to the mount, so it might depend on what type of mount you have. If I remember correctly, the Karoo would power off when charging, but that may have been resolved with subsequent firmware/software updates.

hhk25

I'm not surprised to hear about the HH battery life. It is an Android phone essentially.

I think I will go tried and true and buy Garmin especially after skimming through the Karoo thread.

Spoonrobot 

So far my Garmin Edge 200 has exceeded the claimed battery life. Most likely because the original specification was put out in 2011 or earlier but my specific unit wasn't produced until 2016. Battery technology increased significantly in the years between inception and production. Claimed battery life is 14 hours but I have gotten closer to 16-18 even with the screen running at constant brightness.

Carbonfiberboy 

Simplest thing is to have a USB charged unit, put a small USB external battery in your top tube bag, and don't worry about it. Typical Garmin map units run 8-12 hours on their own batteries.

clasher

My wahoo bolt seems to be good for 15 hours with the navigation on, but it's still new. I would get about much out of my garmin 500 too. I just bring a small lipstick battery and/or a wall charger on longer brevets. On the longer rides with drop bags you can bring a wall charger and more battery packs too.

aloKen

I bought a Bryton 330 based solely on it's advertised battery life of 36 hours.


It has plenty of things I don't like but for me not worrying about keeping it charged overrides the other issues. I have ridden a 400k and 600k with it, the battery indicator was down 1/3 at the end of day 1 and I charged it overnight.

c.miller64

16 hours on my Wahoo Elemnt. Need to have backlight set to 5 seconds for that run time, though.

John_V 

I don’t normally let my Bolt go below 30% before recharging. It takes about 12-14 hours of usage to reach that point.

Steve B.

Best I’ve seen is 10hrs on a Garmin 1000 while navigating, brand new, now likely about 8. It helps to turn off things like WiFi, Live Track and Di2 connection.

It’ll run for a while with a battery stick, though I’ve never figured out maximum life.

DrIsotope

The Hammerhead Karoo runs just fine with an external pack. On it's internal battery, my recorded rides have been consistently at 10% battery use per hour of on-time-- and I leave everything on, including adaptive brightness. A 5000mAh pack will extend usable time to over 36 hours, and cost about $15.

Ignore ANY battery life promises made by Garmin.

Howard70

I get great battery life out of my Lezyne Super GPS Enhanced (crazy name, but great unit). So far the best is about 20 hours (with Bluetooh / ANT+ enabled) and it hadn't stopped yet. I like the configurable screens and the size is perfect. If you get one, be sure to update the firmware (easy) to get the latest features, fonts & best battery life. I've used several Garmin units, my phone, etc. Overall I prefer the Lezyne.

unterhausen

200k or longer ride and I use an external battery. They don't weigh much and I'd rather not worry about battery life. A 2600mAh external battery would last about 20 hours on my Garmin 800. Back when I ran it alone until it needed charging, I would get 8-11 hours depending on if I was displaying maps or not.

znomit

The garmin battery specs are pretty accurate, maybe conservative. When new I was getting 24 hours on my 520(listed as 15 hours), with all the battery hogging features turned off (backlight, glonass, bluetooth, sensors). Now I'm getting as little as 9 hours with all the goodies turned on.

The etrex 20 is probably the one to get if you're worried about battery life. 20+ hours on 2x AA batteries.

unterhausen

my external battery turns off if there is no draw, so charging a fully charged device is no good. That's not great. Anyway, my garmin 800 showing maps is horrible, I don't know if it makes it to 6 hours anymore. Probably not worth updating the battery though, much cheaper just to use external cells.

77Eric