Originally Posted by
Koyote
As the first radar tail light on the market and the dominant seller, Varia already has it all "over the rest now." It's going to be up to a new product to prove itself superior.
S'truth!
I'm 're-treaded' (my compromise with being 'retired' since I'm 75 & still work three days a week) so 'disposable' dollars are watched carefully month by month.
Garmin's Varia products range from
$99.99 (RVR315) through the same
$199.99 (RTL515) price point as the TREK @ $199.99 on up to significantly higher top end RCT715 @
$349.99.
So as this for me is a foray into a newish realm, I'm willing to go with a mid-range competitor, see whether it offers anything worthwhile to my admittedly recreational biking pursuits.
Roads where I ride I might be sharing with anything from a horse-drawn wagon up through 18-wheelers from time to time. What might widen my perception of what's coming up behind me (I've used a smallish handlebar-mounted mirror for maybe two decades) ought to be worth the expense.
Got an e-mail mid-morning that the TREK device I've ordered has shipped already. So — weather permitting — I might be able to provide a user review soon:
Wheelandsprocket.com, shipped USPS Priority for no extra charge over retail + sales tax.
Random thought: might these things show up as an active radar transmitter on radar detectors used by drivers?