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TECH NEWS
2021 Hammerhead Karoo 2 data fields.JPGShimano forces SRAM-owned Hammerhead to remove Di2 connected features
Shimano has received widespread criticism for its decision to force cycling computer brand Hammerhead to remove Di2 functionality from its Karoo cycling computers. The power struggle between Shimano and SRAM furthers the decline of open standards within sports tech, and it looks like this will simply have a negative impact on the consumer.
> Review: Hammerhead Karoo 2
Thursday 2nd June is going to be a bad day for Hammerhead Karoo users that also use a Shimano Di2 groupset. Shimano has requested that Hammerhead removes all connectivity for its electronic gear systems, meaning that Hammerhead users will no longer be able to see information such as battery status and gear indicators. Nor will they be able to change their computer screen via the Di2 hood buttons.
This removal of Di2 functionality might seem like a small feature to lose, and it certainly won’t affect every owner of a Karoo or Karoo 2 head unit, but it will leave many frustrated with Shimano as the move could be construed as a way of reducing competition from what is a SRAM-owned brand.
The announcement has not gone down well on social media, with many voicing their displeasure at Shimano's decision.
As a Hammerhead Karoo 2 user and also a Di2 user, I would like to say #shimano you suck thanks for ruining it for millions of shimano user. #sram #hammerhead #karro2 is time for you guy to run a trade in program to get rid of this #shimanodi2 scrap. #srametap
— Cycling Conquistador (@Rubirosa_Fx) May 26, 2022
@ShimanoROAD all you are doing is driving your customers away. Reverse this stupid hammerhead decision. I'll never buy shimano again.
— Kevin Klein (@kevindkleined) May 26, 2022
Shimano not wanting to play nice with the Hammerhead/SRAM, go figure... pic.twitter.com/TBx3oUu1In
— Neil Beltchenko 🚲 (@Neil_Beltchenko) May 26, 2022
In a statement, Hammerhead said: “Here at Hammerhead, we are committed to constantly improving in ways that benefit riders. With each update and integration, we chart an intentional path of continuous improvement.
"Unfortunately, we don't always have the ability to supply every product integration we want for our riders. At the request of Shimano, effective with next Thursday’s software update on June 2nd, riders who utilized Di2 integration will lose access to a small subset of features. The update will remove on-screen battery status and shifter mode data, front and rear derailleur indications, and Karoo screen control via the Di2 hood buttons from Shimano Di2 drivetrains.”
With the above statement, Hammerhead confirms that Shimano has requested this and it doesn’t take long to realise that the move follows closely on the heels of Hammerhead being brought under the SRAM umbrella.
The statement continues: “Important note: all other Karoo 2 functionality will continue to work for Shimano riders, it is this small subset of Di2 features that Shimano has withdrawn permissions for until we are able to forge a new agreement.
"We remain hopeful in pursuit of a new path to provide more software features to Shimano riders in the years ahead.”
With the final line, it seems that there is plenty of willing from Hammerhead’s side to work to find a solution that will benefit Di2 users. But whether there is also willing from Shimano’s end is yet to be seen, and it appears the ball is firmly in its court...
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52 comments
No real surprise. Shimano Flight Deck wouldn't work with Campagnolo ErgoBrain. Why would you expect SRAM Hammerhead to work with a competitor?
If Shimano was simply withdrawing support for new Hammerhead products, that would have some justification, even though it would still seem to be pretty petty from a company that doesn't make head units itself. However, this move also removes functionality for those who bought their head units before January 2022 when SRAM acquired Hammerhead, so Shimano customers are being penalised for something completely outside their control and which they couldn't reasonably foresee, which seems highly unfair.
I'm not arguing the aspect of it being petty or unfair. That's like arguing why Apple does what it does to its consumers. Consume or change the ecosystem.
That's not really a good analogy, it's always been clear to Apple customers that they're locked in to certain aspects of Apple's systems and they can make that choice or not. This is as if Apple suddenly changed the iOS so that no Apple user could use a Hewlett Packard printer any longer just because Microsoft bought HP.
Petty, counterproductive and a PR disaster.
Seems to me like Shimano have made this move before the Karoo ownership base becomes too big. The chance of someone selling their Karoo and buying a GPS unit that works with Di2 (if that functionality is actually anything more than a gimmick) is bigger than a Karoo owner selling their groupset for one that works with a Karoo. 1, 2 maybe 3 years from now, the way Karoo have been selling it might have been different.
It also makes me wonder if Shimano know something else or are maybe about to release their own GPS unit?
Either way it seems a bit peevish and childish to just stop compatibility like this.
changing screens without moving hands from the hoods is pretty convenient.
Also having an indication/remonder of your Di2 battery level is also handy.
Is it critical? No, but it is definitely nice to have.
I would guess that originally Shimano provided the required interface to Hammerhead under some agreement that is broken by the takeover - some clause that specifically disallows SRAM from using Shimano knowledge.
Hammerhead can reverse engineer an interface, but they will have to jump through hoops to prove they didn't use Shimano proprietary information.
I don't think we can tell from here who is doing what, and it would not surprise me at all that Shimano are responding to some other SRAM issue which Shimano aren't inclined to go public on.
What an absolute disgrace Shimano are, and penalising consumers to try to defend its market share is going to have exactly the opposite effect. As an owner of both Di2 and SRAM and a Hammerhead K2 this hits me hard. What they have removed is for example an important safety feature of being able to change screens without moving your hands to the screen.....well done Shimano! I was in the middle of replacing the Di2 bike and clearly Shimano's decision means mine is now simple....specify SRAM on the new bike, it's a no brainer, again well done Shimano and bye bye
Crazy decision
Pushes hammerhead users to choose stam
Pushes shimano di2 users to choose garmin
Did nothing for the sale of shimano
Shimano needs to learn to listen to the voice of the customer.
Across a number of issues their high handed and self serving approach will just result in consumers choosing sram.
Shimano's customers are bike manufacturers.
Will this make any difference at all to the number of Di2 groupsets Trek, Specialized and Giant buy from Shimano? Nope.
I doubt the numbers will be big enough to make a difference, but I can imagine a scenario where retailers are feeding back to the manufacturers that people are asking for non-Shimano bikes because they want something that works with their existing head units, and the manufacturers having a word with Shimano to sort it...but Hammerhead probably not popular enough for that to have an impact. If they pulled the same stunt with Garmin or Wahoo, however...
In a sese yes, but often the same bikes are sold with either SRAM or Shimano so bike buyers may choose against Shimano. I'm not sure loss of connectivity would be sufficient motivation for me, but it may be for some people.
Of course in a climate where bike availability does not meet demand, it will have no effect on sales whatsoever.
If SRAM/Karoo want to display gear info they could do an end-run around the whole issue by working it out in the head unit. You'd need a cadence sensor and a wheel rotation sensor, but once you have that data, working out the gear is a simple matter of arithmetic, and deriving the chainring/sprocket combination is just a matter of a look-up table and a small amount of 'intelligence' to help it differentate between 34/17 and 50/25.
For me, this is possibly the least useful of the features Shimano is taking away - I have a fair idea of the gear I'm in. Di2 battery level / shifting between screens with hood buttons, on the other hand, cannot be handled in this way.
That'd introduce a bit of lag though as it'd need to have the wheel spin a bit to register the new gearing (also wouldn't work if you weren't pedalling).
They're also removing the Di2 battery level indicator - that's trickier to measure remotely.
Good point (as is chocim's).
Upside of calculating gear in the head unit is that it'll work with every gear system there is.
I've got old school (2014) Di2 so I can check the battery level at the junction box, but I thought with the newfangled stuff you youngsters have you can check the system status through a mobile app? Is it something one really needs to monitor in-ride anyway, unless you're on a very long multi-day trip with no access to charging facilities? I just check my battery about once a fortnight or so and don't think about it the rest of the time.
If you've got bluetooth added to Di2, then I think you can do that (haven't used the bluetooth app in a while as I found it problematic). The advantage of having the battery level displayed all the time is that you don't have to remember to check it as you'll just see when it's dropped down to 1 or 2 bars and could do with being charged.
Fair enough, though I've only forgotten to charge once in eight years - the experience of grinding through the High Weald in Kent in one gear whilst being laughed at by Di2-sceptic mates means I hopefully won't ever do it again!
I've never gotten to the zero gears point, but I have twice been in a situation where is a limited to the small ring at the front.
Yes, it's a good warning, unfortunately on this occasion I'd done nothing but London commute (about 200kms/week) the week before on which the steepest climb is about 3%, so I hadn't come off the big ring at all, then got a train out to Kent, so the first I knew of it was approaching the second big climb when I found I was stuck on the big ring in front; I erroneously thought I'd remembered that meant one had about 50kms of rear derailleur left, in fact it failed about 10kms later - fortunately stuck in 50/30 but still not ideal on 10%+ climbs!
Hypothetically, how hard would it be for a Karoo owner to stop their firmware from updating until these companies work out an agreement? Surely that would stop any features from changing.
Usually that's quite feasible for devices. It's more problematic when the device needs an up-to-date firmware to access online services (e.g. games consoles) which happened when Sony pulled their Linux support from the PS3 (which I'm still annoyed at).
Possible, but one of the selling points of the Hammerhead devices is the very fast rate of product development and frequent iterations of software, sooner or later, a user holding back updates is going to see a feature or bug fix they need.
It's very easy, and plenty of users are planning to do just that, but as others have said, Hammerhead release regular updates and the firmware has improvement enormously over the year and a half that I've been using mine. Would be a shame to have to forego that.
Anyway, those numbers in the picture make no sense. The current speed is higher than the max speed. And that's a hell of a speed with a cadence on 51 and a heart rate of 119.
Well the distance is zero, so no speed metrics make sense at that point.
Yes, that too. And the fact it is just sitting on a table.
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