John_V 

I have mine paired to my Bolt as well. I got to where I no longer ride on any public roads without it.

eagletree

Just add to this. I use it with the Wahoo Roam. I'm going to upgrade to a Garmin 1030 for a variety of deficiencies of the Wahoo computers, but one really handy thing on the Garmin computer is that it allows control of the lighting profile. The Varia and my Bontrager lights would be so much handier if I don't have to click through modes at the start of every ride, always hard with a winter gloved hand. The only good thing I can say about the Roam and Varia combo, is that if someone were hearing challenged, the LED mode Wahoo implemented is probably very useful as it's more noticeable than the in-screen alerts. But I go totally by the sound, then look at the LEDs.

I consider the Varia a must have. The mirror plays tricks on me while the Varia never fails. It is analogous to my backup cameras on the car, I have missed things looking around which the camera sees and it's saved me from doing something stupid more than once. I won't ride without a Varia now, I have mounts on all my bikes and transfer it. Once an electronic device is proven, it's more reliable than our senses. It has warned me even of approaching cyclists. I've had no false positives or negatives in three months of use. Once a car surprised me and that was because of it being on continuously in town, I count every car it senses, and monitor when they pass me, but I must have screwed up. At that time, I was preoccupied with potential opening doors in the bike lane and would give the Varia the benefit of the doubt, assuming my bad.

August West

This is great feature IMHO. I use an Ion 200 up front as a blinky light and the Varia 510 out back. They both automatically turn on when I press the start button on my Edge 830 before the ride and automatically turn off after finishing and saving the ride. Very convenient.

JohnJ80

I have used Varia since it first came out. There is *one* instance that the Varia can be a problem and it’s inherent to the technology and it requires that you check behind and for this reason does not replace a mirror but is an adjunct to one.

When you are being followed by a car that is going at the same speed you are, that “target” will drop off the display. The Varia Radar measures differences in speed to determine if something is behind you and approaching. It cannot know about something that is the same speed as you are. If you haven’t seen this already, eventually you will. But obviously, if you were to presume it is accurate all the time, then if you saw the Radar telling you that there is nothing behind you and you were to make a left turn right in front of a trailing care - well, would be ugly and potentially fatal. If you presume that the Varia Radar replaces your mirror, you are asking for it - bad to make that presumption.

That said, once you know this and “trust but verify”, then it is indispensable.

Yes, this all sounds nice if theory but when I’ve tried to do this with a variety of lights, it all depends on you hopefully leaving them in the right mode which often a simple switch bump can defeat. I have yet to get this to work reliably over time to the point where I’d trust it to work (especially with tail lights).

But it is useful to turn it off if, say, you have another rider behind you and you do it while you’re riding.

John_V 

Exactly! I can't remember having a vehicle traveling behind me at the same speed as I'm going but I always use a mirror to check behind me if I need to change lanes, come out of a bike lane or anytime I see/hear the computer giving me the fast approaching vehicle warning. If you rely strictly on the radar, you're asking for problems.

Seattle Forrest

I had an approaching car vanish into the ether when it was going too fast on a narrow residential street, then slowed down until there was room to pass.

The Varia is truly excellent, but you do need to check behind you with your eyes too.

greatscott

That Garmin radar think is so lame it's not even funny. First off if a car is going 60 mph coming up behind you and it has a 140 meter range, how fast is that vehicle going to cover that distance? 5 seconds! Not a lot of time to react, plus it doesn't tell you if the vehicle is on a collision course with you. The other issue I have with it is that it only hits 65 lumens in the daytime and at night it goes down to a measly 29 lumens?

I know from experience that a 65 lumen light in the daytime will get washed out in direct sunlight, I also know that 29 lumens at night is...well you might as well just use a reflector! My tail light puts out 300 lumens, that's really the least amount of light you should have in broad daylight, at night I leave it at 300.

So why pay $130 when a $15 mirror will work just as good if not better, and a $50 300 lumen light will protect you far better with it's huge visibility factor.

That's just my opinion.

Cyclist0108

I take it you haven't tried it.

Nothing says it has to be your only tail-light. I use it along with a Cyglo-light.

I find the radar completely indispensable, especially when going down-hill and in other places where a car can sneak up by surprise. No, it won't tell you that someone is out to get you, but it helps remove the element of surprise.

I have the version 1. The version 2 has a better light. I use both it and my Cyglo-light in flash mode for daytime riding. My one gripe is that it has to be mounted on the seatpost. I have short legs, so not much exposed seatpost, and it is a tight squeeze to get its mount and my saddle bag on. (There would not be enough room for version 2). When I have a rear rack on, I can mount it on that (I bolted an extra 1/4-turn mount to the rack where most people have a reflector.)

The only time it doesn't work is when a car is following me at about the same speed I am going.

I used to ride with it and a mirror, but I have found the mirror to be superfluous; a head check is much more expedient and dependable (I break helmet mirrors frequently.)

In heavy traffic areas, I find it annoying, but on country roads, it has really improved my quality of life.

JohnJ80

Correct me if I'm wrong - I'm betting you've never used one. Lumens on a light are not the sole factor in it's visibility. With the right optic and those lumens aimed appropriately, it can be very bright. I've ridden behind my wife with the Varia 510 on her bike and it is very distinctive and eye catching from up to even a mile away in bright sunlight. You'd have to be blind to not see it. And 5 seconds is a long time to evade. Been there, done that and it's saved me more than once. The only riding I do is on roads with speed limits of 45mph or faster and most are county highways where traffic is going at 60mph or so. Wouldn't ride there without the Varia.

Ray Maker says it best - there are two types of riders when it comes to the Varia radar; Those that love it and those that haven't tried it yet.

J.

John_V 

For some of us who seldom if ever ride at night or in low light, having the driver see me isn't as important as me knowing where the vehicle(s) are behind me. A 300 lumen light might make you a little more visible, if the vehicle driver is paying attention, but it's not going to let you know that there is a vehicle(s) behind you or at what relative speed or distance. Nor will your light tell you if the vehicle is on a collision course with you. I've had mine for five months with just over 3,000 miles of riding and have yet to have a vehicle sneak up on me. The radar may be lame to you but I'll take over a bright light any day of the week.

JohnJ80

Agree. But that is not the choice because the Varia v20 (RTL510) is a highly visible and bright light for DAYTIME riding.

I have so many of the “best” taillights for daytime riding and the RTL510 is right up at the top for being seen by a car approaching from behind. I don’t think it’s a compromise at all for a daytime running light.

John_V 

I don’t see any problem with the 510’s light. My riding buddy also has one and I can see his from quite a distance away. The point I was trying to make was given the choice between a bright lite and the radar, even if it didn’t have a light, I would opt for the radar. Before getting the 510, I never rode with a taillight, only a mirror. The 510 has really changed the way I ride on public roads.

JohnJ80

completely agree about the radar and in addition the light is in the top tier of daylight lights. It’s a great product - very well done.

Seattle Forrest

When you read these forums, I seem to be the only person that finds the radar useful in an urban setting. It doesn't just yell "car!" it tells you how many and how they're spaced. So if you need to merge or turn left, you have a pretty good idea when to move, and you don't need to take your eyes off the road ahead (because a kid can pop out of nowhere).

I don't have a head unit and don't plan to change that. Don't want to spend the $$$ and bikes look better without them. I have a Garmin watch that can vibrate noticably when the Varia detects a car, and it can act as a display too, but obviously that's not optimal.

Any thoughts?

I could use a brighter tail light anyway. Does the v2 flash at approaching cars like the v1?

Cyclist0108

I do find mine useful in an urban setting, which is why I don't turn it off. But I find the constant beep-beep-beep nagging is almost like having one's spouse along for the ride. My head unit is a minimalistic Garmin Edge 130 (which replaces my Edge 25, whose battery was too minimalistic, so it gives a very simple visual indication as well as the beep (which normally I find quite helpful and more useful than the visual indicator)).

I think the V2 does everything the V1 does, but is brighter (and the battery charge therefore doesn't last quite as long).

JohnJ80

I see you point about urban riding. I live in the sticks so “urban” for me also means “small town.” It’s useful there but I refer to it less.

The v2 taillight behaves the same as the v1 in terms of flashing but it is far far brighter and more visible. I’d say it’s a bit brIghter than the top end Bontraeger Flare taillights in visibility but operates the same as the v1 with respect to increased flash rate when a car approaches. It’s also a better form factor being vertically oriented.

I have v1 too and the upgrade to v2 was worth it.

J.

Seattle Forrest

Do you think it would be worth having if I won't use a head unit, just my watch?

I don't mount the watch on the bars. Even if I wanted to they wouldn't really be amenable to it, and that would give up the buzz which is very noticeable on the wrist.

JohnJ80

I would. I use it with a Hammerhead Karoo that has a small BT speaker paired with it. HH's implementation of the Varia Radar interface includes a top of class set of audio warnings. I actually rely on those much more than I do the visual indicators on the computer display. I can see where a vibration would take the place of my audio alerts and both are better the visual warning. The audio alerts both from the Garmin Varia head end or the Garmin computers are next to worthless given the crappy piezo electric buzzers they use.

I also ride with a tiny mirror on my sunglasses and I use the audio alert as a cue to check my six.

J.

August West

I have the Bontrager Flare RT & the Varia 510. In my informal observations the Flare RT appears somewhat brighter to my eyes in normal flash mode. I set up both about 100 yards away and on a bright day the Flare RT was definitely more visible than the Varia. But, when the Varia detects the approach of a vehicle and increases its flash frequency and intensity they look pretty close to each other. Close enough that I don't think I can tell a difference by eye. Plus the Varia has much better battery life even with the radar. Of course it is quite bit larger and a 48g heavier.

JohnJ80

Yeah, it's arguable and largely due to the difference in optics IMO. The Garmin optic is a little wider angle and the Flare optic is more directional. Either way, its close and both are good daytime taillights. Garmin did a good job on the newest version and learned the lessons they needed to learn over v1.0.

aplcr0331

I use Ray’s quote all the time. But it looks like there’s a third “type”. Simpletons who fixate on edge cases, and have to repeatedly tell you their “awe-shucks” opinion. Over and over and over. Like a child throwing a tantrum, why doesn’t anybody listen?

John_V 

IMHO, anything that's connected to the radar and gives you notification of approaching vehicles, whether audio, visual or vibrating, is worth having. As long as you know there are vehicles approaching and you have a way of telling how many and their relative distance, I don't see anything wrong with using your watch with the radar.

Also, IMHO, if you're considering upgrading to v2, I would. One of my friends has a v1 and while there isn't much difference in the radar end of unit, the taillight is definitely much brighter and more noticeable. I have mine mounted via my saddlebag loop and that makes it more visible to drivers and less obstructed from view if/when using saddle mounted accessories.

BTW, Garmin recently released a firmware update to the radar that is suppose to have enhancements to the radar and the light. They didn't specify what the enhancements were but let's hope this firmware doesn't have the problems their computer updates have. I've installed it and so far so good..

Seattle Forrest

Thanks everybody for sharing your thoughts on this. Very helpful.

Not that it matters that much, I used to have the v1 radar, but during a trip somebody smashed my car window and stole the bike, Varia and all. Lost my Edge that moment too.

Koyote

Well, thank goodness you are here to set all of those satisfied Varia users straight.

RGMN

I've got to figure out how to get that working with my Edge 130. I don't know how many times I've finished a ride, shut off the Edge, and find the Varia blinking a blue light a few hours later.