Good morning, is anyone here using the Garmin Varia rear light and radar?

What has been your experience? Useful tool? Useless gadget?

Do you have the newest version?

Thank you.

I see that there has already been a couple of threads on the Varia.

I just wanted to get a bigger cross section of user comments, also more recent experiences.

Sorry for the apparent duplication.

Thank you.

Right now I am strongly leaning towards getting one to compliment my Cycliq Fly6 rearview camera.

Thanks for the links. You did the reseach that pparently I was too lazy to do.

Alright, based upon everyone’s glowing reviews and a near miss, (or should that be almost-hit) on Highway 192 near Montecito, I decided to order the Varia RTL510.

BTW, the guy in the white pick up diesel truck did not have a front license plate so my Cycliq Fly6 was not able to get the necessary details.

Apparently the in-bred behind the wheel thinks it is funny to scare cyclists and then cover the cyclist in a cloud of diesel soot.

Thanks, I do look up his newsletter and blog. You are right the reviews are great.

i ended up buying the Varia. I received it last night and will try it out this weekend.

Reviews coming up.

I haven’t used a saddle bag in quite sometime.

SILCA makes a nice bag that can carry all your essentials and can then go in your jersey pockte.

This leaves room under the saddle for the Varia RTL510 and the Cycliq Fly6.

This solution may not work for you (and it is not what you asked about) but it is worth a shot. I never liked saddle bags.

You are right. In heavy traffic there is too much info. It works best in open country and rural riding. It is a nice tool to have, but you still need to check your mirror.

This is my set up, which works pretty good (at least for now ).

Thanks.

The mount is the official GoPro saddle rail mount. It is $20.00 at Amazon.

I think that both lights are equally strong/visible

Depending on your settings, the Fly6 CE battery can last over 6.5 hours with the camera only. I have never used the Fly 6 with the light on. Before getting the Varia I used a Cygolite tail light.

I have been using the Varia radar and light (new version) for several weeks now.

Like many of you I didn’t think that I really needed one that is, until I started using mine. Now I cannot imagine riding without one.

I have used it on busy roads (PCH in Ventura and L.A. counties) and on empty country roads. The Varia works well to alert me to approaching traffic. I can then do a quick looksie on my eyeglass mirror to make sure that everything is OK.

The other day I rode on wet and muddy roads. During a brief stop I checked the Varia and it was coated with mud. Nevertheless, it continued to work well, alerting me to traffic.

I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants an extra safety edge.

Cheers!

the beepers Garmin uses are something that can charitably described as “trash.”

I’d like to see computer manufactures just take them out of the bike altogether and support Bluetooth for external audio. There any number of cheap speakers that are small and can be clipped to your jersey or earbuds that can be used.