Hidden in the fog of Sea Otter product launches was the key integration of the Hammerhead Karoo cycling computer and RockShox’s Flight Attendant automated suspension control system. In retrospect, it feels like this is a feature that I would have assumed was probably already there. But trying it out for the first time last week, it legitimately changed how much I appreciated Flight Attendant, literally opening my eyes to what was really happening as I rode.
Hammerhead Karoo + RockShox Flight Attendant integration
Since we first rode it, the Hammerhead Karoo has delivered great usability, a nice screen, and solid integration. Its latest third generation, after it was bought by SRAM several years back, stepped it up with great AXS connectivity too – like button customization and live battery status. Now connected to RockShox Flight Attendant suspension controls, the integration is next-level. All you need to do is an over-the-air firmware update to connect your mountain bike’s suspension.
But this is more than just showing suspension positions on your cycling computer, the new integration makes it easier than ever to change Flight Attendant settings, and to dial-in automated suspension performance to how you want your bike to ride!
“Take full control of your RockShox Flight Attendant suspension system and experience a level of integration unlike anything else – only Karoo can do this!
Riders can seamlessly control, visualize, and customize all their essential Flight Attendant data directly on Karoo. They can add Flight Attendant data fields to any profile, adjust compression settings through the Control Center, switch the suspension’s LEDs to dark mode, review detailed suspension performance on the Hammerhead Dashboard after each ride, and much more.”
New Flight Attendant data fields:
- Fork Position (Numeric/Visual Data fields)
- Rear Shock Position (Numeric/Visual Data fields)
- Fork and Rear Shock Position Count
- Flight Attendant Mode
- Flight Attendant Battery (Visual/Numeric Data Field options)
- Flight Attendant Effort Zone (Numeric/Color Data field options)
- Flight Attendant Bias
- Fork Low Speed Compression (LSC)
- Rear Shock Low Speed Compression (LSC)
Flight Attendant controls, accessible directly on the Hammerhead Karoo:
- new Dark Mode: switch off Flight Attendant LEDs to dark mode with the tap of a button
- new Bias: change the Bias of your Flight Attendant system to lock out earlier or later
- new Fork and Rear Shock LSC: change the Low-Speed Compression of your fork and/or rear shock
- Auto Mode: change which modes each fork and shock will cycle through
- Adaptive Ride Dynamics: adjust how the Flight Attendant system reacts to your power input
- Override Mode: configure a manual lockout override setting
Review: Why Flight Attendant is better when connected to Hammehead!
First off, anyone who has hopped onto a bike with Flight Attendant can attest, those LEDs on top of the right fork leg like to go crazy. They flash to show you everything is working, but also to show when something is awry. But you need a pretty complex chart to decipher what all the different flashes and colors actually mean. Sure, once you study it a bit, there is logic to it all. And you’ll probably remember what they mean.
But frankly, a lot of the time I have ridden bikes with Flight Attendant, those LEDs are hidden behind the bar as I ride. Having to crane my neck to see what the automated suspension was doing seemed odd. And also, the occasional flashes as my line of sight changed, meant the flashes out of the corner of my eye were a little distracting – which can now be turned off in a new dark mode!
Now with Hammerhead integration, all the Flight Attendant information that I want to see is readily visible.
Plus, it is all customizable. This is my first setting – just 1.8km into the ride, and I’ve already changed the view to swap FA mode & heartrate for easier visibility while training.
Live updated as I rode, this integration showed me what I only really heard before as a series of electronic actuators popping on and off. Yes, Flight Attendant was really doing something no thumb-actuated remote could ever do – keeping both front & rear suspension on my bike always in the optimal mode – actually hundreds of times per hour. And after the fact, I could see exactly what it was doing. (You can display live position counts too, but I prefered to keep it simple on the bike.)
After you upload your ride, the Hammerhead app lets you nerd out on the data collected.
These two screengrabs show two similar rides (<25km, 90-100min, 700-725m of climbing) with two different setups, including some of the same sections of trails. On the left was a more XC-leaning stiffer setup with both fork and rear shock free to move through all 3 modes for maximum efficiency. On the right, a softer more Trail-like setup let Flight Attendant determine the 3 rear shock modes, but I limited fork control to just Open or Pedal for a more cushy ride. (I quickly changed Flight Attendant modes on the Karoo in under a minute.)
Both setups saw Flight Attendant change suspension modes automatically more than 3x per minute for the shock, and 1.5-3.7x per minute for the fork, depending on the control I gave it. And both help illustrate how often Flight Attendant would have the fork & shock in different modes depending on how I was riding, something virtually impossible to achieve with any mechanical remotes.
Ultimately, what Karoo + Flight Attendant integration did for me was to show me how well automated suspension controls could actually function. But also, it gave me a sense of control over a system that I frankly wasn’t very interested in a couple of weeks ago.
By putting control of RockShox’s Flight Attendant suspension automation at my fingertips, now I realize how easy it can be to tweak the way it rides. First, that was letting me tell it to exclude fork lockouts when I wanted a more plush trail riding feel. But I also used the Bias Adjustment so I can shift how Flight Attendant decides to open and close my suspension, to get a more active ride that delays a bit how quickly Flight Attendant thinks it should lock everything out.
Instead of everything happening inside a black box, with only some flashing LEDs to hint at what’s happening, now Hammerhead Karoo + RockShox Flight Attendant integration lets me visualize how automated suspension control can actually boost performance and efficiency. Unlike wireless electronic shifting and dropper remotes that don’t actually add any new operation, Flight Attendant delivers a new suspension function that simply couldn’t be done with mechanical remotes. As a retrogrouch at heart, it’s crazy that these two systems talking together is all it took to show me the virtues of automated system control.
SRAM.com/Flight-Attendant & Hammerhead.io
