Zumo User Forums

Even if I was tempted, I will definitley not be buying an XT3. The reason I am able to say with some determinition 'get thou behind me Garmin' is that I quite like my remote handlebar controller - and as yet the XT3 does not work with it - [edit] but as we discover below, it does. Uk site now shows it.

I have a few simple tests that require nothing more than 4 routes (from single gpx file attached), and XT3 and European / UK maps installed.

With Tread not linked (or with your phone's BT deactivated)

Transfer the GPX file to your XT3, and then import the 4 routes.
Also import the Waypoint file and place the entires in the waypoint file in their own collection. There are 8 labelled 01 Mark, 02 Mark, 03 Mark etc
Make the collection into which the 8 waypoints have been added visible and everything else not visible. Ignore the other waypoints, they are already included in the routes.

Load Route 1.
Look at the map and zoom in around Points 4 and 5. Does the route follow the A6 or the Motorway.
Look at the Route List. All of the route point names should start with 01, 02, 03 ....., 07, 08. If they don't the Zumo has renamed them.
Zoom in on a couple of points - eg 04 or 06. Are the points in the same place as the Waypoint ?

Do the same for Routes 2 to 4.

Then delete the routes from the XT3 and re-import them.

Then activate BT on your phone - or set Tread to Synch and repeat the exercise. Its important that you do this after the previous tests - otherwise Tread will have already altered the routes !

All I really want to know is whether the behaviour of the XT3 is different from that of my XT2

My test results with screen shots are here: app.php/XT2-P350 - starting at page 5.03

are you sure the handlebar control is not supported ? ( or am I not understanding what you wrote, my English is not so good ...)
here is a picture from Italian Garmin website

No I'm not sure - it just wasn't listed on the English site - but it uses the same cable Y adaptor - so I reckoned that they would probably update the software at a later date. Actually - I looked at the XT3 site for accessories. I didn't look at the controller site for compatable Zumos.....
No its not listed on the UK site yet.

Damn. I though I had a good reason not to be tempted....

check this video at 3:44

The remote control is supported, all accessories from the XT2 are supported.
What annoys me is that, like with the XT2, you have to buy a different power cable for the remote control and other accessories
The Tread 2 has this cable in the box, the XT3 doesn't.

Francis wrote: Sat Feb 21, 2026 8:29 pm The remote control is supported, all accessories from the XT2 are supported.
What annoys me is that, like with the XT2, you have to buy a different power cable for the remote control and other accessories
The Tread 2 has this cable in the box, the XT3 doesn't.

Thanks @Francis , I thought the XT3 would already have that cable like the Tread 2. It doesn't make much sense that they didn't include it, to be honest.

The adapter cable comes with a new mount with 5 of the 6 pin locations populated.
2 are +12v, 1 is earth, 2 are for data signals.

The cable allows additional cables to be connected to allow devices to be piggy backed, say if you wanted the handlebar controller and the group ride
Tracker. Other devices for other accessories are also available for the Tread satnav - I believe. Eg the XT3 has facility for a reversing camera

So the basic cable has to be capable of providing the power for all of these devices - the standard cable would not. I believe that it is possible to buy the XT2 with the high power cable - so you don’t have to buy a separate one.

jfheath wrote: Sun Feb 22, 2026 7:22 am The adapter cable comes with a new mount with 5 of the 6 pin locations populated.
2 are +12v, 1 is earth, 2 are for data signals. ...

I disagree. In the first review of the XT3, a three-pin cable is visible at 9:18.

Francis wrote: Sun Feb 22, 2026 9:01 am

jfheath wrote: Sun Feb 22, 2026 7:22 am The adapter cable comes with a new mount with 5 of the 6 pin locations populated.
2 are +12v, 1 is earth, 2 are for data signals. ...

I disagree. In the first review of the XT3, a three-pin cable is visible at 9:18.

That's OK - you can disagree - but my statement is correct. What you are showing seems to be the cable that is provided with the XT3 - it looks to be the same as the one that is supplied with the XT2.

If you want the handlebar controller, or the group ride radio (or both), you need a different cable that replaces that one. It is called the "Handlebar Controller and Group Ride Tracker Y-Adapter Kit" https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/p/1933581/pn/010-13985-00/ . I referred to is as ‘the adaptor cable’ and it is a complete replacement for the original cable - and is provided complete with the cradle that has those extra pins.

Garmin got this badly wrong when the handlebar controller came out. But you were around when we were trying to work out how the controller worked with the cables that Garmin said were needed. They were wrong and shortly after they introduced this new cable. Nov 2024.
You might remember that Garmin were suggesting that two new cables were required - a new power cable and a new adapter cable.

I made sure that this was all documented in the discussion thread that we had at the time.
viewtopic.php?t=3089&hilit=handlebar+controller

I think that you were going to modify the cables that you had. I thrashed it out with Garmin and made sure that they knew that the information that they were providing was wrong. I sent my cables back and ordered the new one. I thought I'd get two, 'cos I was expecting another bike - which didn't happen. It's here untouched in my desk drawers - waiting for a pin to go south on the fitted one.

Yes, you need to buy a different cable for the XT3, with a branch for accessories. This cable has 5 pins.
However, the cable supplied in the box with the XT3 has only 3 pins and you cannot connect a remote control to it. This is the same mistake from Garmin as with the XT2, it makes the purchase of a remote control more expensive.
The 5-pin cable in the kit has the Tread 2 and does not require additional costs to expand with a remote control.

Why does Garmin supply it with the Tread 2 but not with the XT3?