SRAM to buy Hammerhead

[kode54]

Interesting. This should accelerate the Garmin demise.

https://bikerumor.com/sram-purchase-ham ... to-follow/

[StiffWeenies]

Here's hoping they make a Varia competitor, I find it odd how Garmin is the only one in that space

[Mocs123]

This is probably a good thing as SRAM likely has more resources to help them become a real competitor to Garmin and Wahoo.

[JMeinholdt]

Here's hoping they make a Varia competitor, I find it odd how Garmin is the only one in that space

Don't bank on it. I'm fairly certain Garmin owns the patents that drive that technology when they bought the company that created it.

I've really been interested in trying the Hammerhead, but I'm pretty invested in the Garmin ecosystem. Though I wouldn't mind going back to an Apple watch if I find a good reason to move away from the Garmin head unit.

[Stendhal]

I think this is good, but hope it does not change Hammerhead's outstanding service. The Hammerhead Karoo 2 is by far the best bike computer I have owned, including due to the frequent software updates. I am a SRAM fan too, and thus am optimistic.

[RDY]

I think this is very good news. SRAM generally have their shit together as far as software goes, so hopefully the game-breaking / absent stuff at the moment gets fixed quickly. Hardware wise, I can't see SRAM releasing a new unit with batteries as shitty as Karoo 1 / 2, or the terrible custom mount.

Optimistic for Karoo 3.

I kind of doubt it given their corporate culture, but one would be tempted to think that this might finally focus minds at Shimano and get them to take software seriously. Maybe some regret that they appear to have buried Pioneer to prevent a competitor acquiring the assets (no new head unit for DA / UT)?

Wahoo & Garmin will be pressured to up their game.

[Cemicar]

Brake: Avid
Crank and BB: Truvativ
Fork: RockShox
Stem: Zipp
Wheel: Zipp
Pedal: Time
Powermeter: Quarq, Powertap
Computer: HammerHead

So what's the next?

My bet is shoes.

[StiffWeenies]

Brake: Avid
Crank and BB: Truvativ
Fork: RockShox
Stem: Zipp
Wheel: Zipp
Pedal: Time
Powermeter: Quarq, Powertap
Computer: HammerHead

So what's the next?

My bet is shoes.

I reckon they'll buy an indoor trainer brand and get into the esports space

[Yoln]

Agreed, next is Elite or Saaris I'd say

[TobinHatesYou]

Brake: Avid
Crank and BB: Truvativ
Fork: RockShox
Stem: Zipp
Wheel: Zipp
Pedal: Time
Powermeter: Quarq, Powertap
Computer: HammerHead

So what's the next?

My bet is shoes.

Time already made shoes, though I doubt SRAM is really interested in “soft goods” and a few other categories like nutrition.

They’ll probably start with expanding their library of sensors to go with TireWiz, ShockWiz, etc… CdA measurement, smart lights, you name it.

[ipenguinking]

It only makes sense that Sram entering the soft goods sector. Shimano already own Pearl Izumi and Lazer.

[1llum4]

But Shimano was already making softgood (shoes since 1990) before buying Pearl Izumi and Lazer.

I don't see Sram looking to enter the soft goods segment. I think their next aquisition would be another hardgood category like a hub manufacturer or tires.

Trainer also makes sense but they should already have enough tech knowledge from quarq and powertap to make their own.

[TobinHatesYou]

Thinking more about soft goods, I do think they’ll jump in if they can find the right acquisition target. Giro/Bell seem to be languishing under Vista Outdoor for example. Maybe a deal can be made.

SRAM is also conspicuously absent from the e-bike market while also having ended sales/development of internally geared hubs.

[BigBoyND]

Hopefully they'll do something with it, unlike Powertap hubs

[usr]

Don't bank on it. I'm fairly certain Garmin owns the patents that drive that technology when they bought the company that created it.

On top of possibly patents, that niche is something you'd have a hard time bootstrapping based on nothing more than a portfolio decision: Ikubu was likely not started just because someone thought that a rear radar for cyclists might be a good idea, but because someone happened to have the very specific skillset and/or contact network and thought that cycling might be a viable application. If you start out without that skillset/network, good luck competing with automotive or whatever field of Big Industry they are usually working in trying to hire engineers that are actually good at this intersection of radio, pattern recognition and doing it all on a battery power budget. Compared to this, doing something like the Karoo is a deeply trodden path. You just need some consumer electronics design (barely more than packaging job for off the shelf parts) and a bunch of Android coders, which is a qualification about as hard to find as hairdressers.

The South Africa parallel is an interesting observation though, both Varia and Karoo ahve a bit of a connection.