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Mounting Varia on vintage bike

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Mounting Varia on vintage bike

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Old 11-26-22, 11:10 AM
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smontanaro 
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Mounting Varia on vintage bike

I got a Varia RTL 515 for my b'day (yay!) and went to mount it to one of my vintage bikes a few minutes ago. I couldn't mount it on my seat tube, as the only place I could squeeze it in was too low. I think the rear brake will obstruct the sensor in this position. If I didn't use a full size pump I think it would fit right where the pump clip is and clear the rear brake.



It won't fit above the pump clip (semi-fastback stays, so too narrow for the unit). Using the aero mast adaptor I have it mounted on the right side seat stay at the moment.



but I worry it might be angled a bit high and not see cars very well (might detect low flying aircraft though). I also worry a bit about losing the unit, as the large o-ring doesn't seem super snug. One bad bump, and whoopsie daisy! (What's the small o-ring for? No way it will fit any potential connection point on my bikes.)

I see some possibilities on Thingiverse. Are there other adaptors I might find helpful?

I could find a smaller seat bag on this bike, but that won't help on my bikes with sew-ups, as that's where the spare tire goes.
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Old 11-26-22, 01:09 PM
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You need to get it up where it's not shadowed by your tire, stays or anything else. How much up or down tilt it can have I don't know. So whether you DIY something or buy something, you should get it more vertical or perpendicular to your direction of travel.

It has a wide beam laterally. So if you have it shadowed behind your tire, you may not get notifications of traffic behind you until it gets closer.

Some people with not enough space under their saddle get a mount that attaches to the saddle. There'll probably be someone along later to post a link to one.
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Old 11-26-22, 01:23 PM
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here is the seat mount.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B92B9M8M...dDbGljaz10cnVl
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Old 11-26-22, 02:40 PM
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Originally Posted by Iride01
You need to get it up where it's not shadowed by your tire, stays or anything else.
Thanks. Went on a shakedown ride with the seatstay mount. It worked just fine. I wrote a "review" on my Strava account.
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Old 11-26-22, 02:41 PM
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Originally Posted by fooferdoggie
Thanks. I'll see how it does on the seatstays of my various bikes. Might pick up one or two of those though.
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Old 11-26-22, 10:34 PM
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Ideally it mounts to your seatpost, but there is apparently a suitcase in the way.
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Old 11-27-22, 04:50 AM
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Works on my seatstay just fine.
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Old 11-27-22, 07:20 AM
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Originally Posted by Koyote
Ideally it mounts to your seatpost, but there is apparently a suitcase in the way.
I appreciate the humor in your comment (at least I hope it was humor), however the size of the suitcase doesn't really matter. There's no way I can squish the spare on bikes with tubulars.



In any case, it does appear the seatstay mount will work (and it seemed stable on my short ride), so I'm good for now.
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Old 11-27-22, 12:07 PM
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These guys had the foresight to leave that space for Varia and put their spare over their shoulder.....



This guy didn't live long enough to see Varia introduced.....


https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=...AAAAAdAAAAABAT

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