rlmalisz

Did my first actual road ride with it yesterday, 12 miles of which was on the wide shoulder of a state highway running out to our nearby reservoir (100F day, so lots of recreational traffic and boat-towing going by). The Varia greatly reduced how much I was eyeing behind me with the helmet mirror. I do a lot of traffic detection based on sound, and on a busy highway with traffic going by at 55+ both directions, disambiguation is tough. Not for this thing. The only time I didn't get a clear depiction of what was approaching behind was when it was a ragged formation of 30+ motorcyclists riding 2-3 abreast. It let me know something was back there, but I think its little brain couldn't figure out quite what, based on radar reflections.

Highly recommended. Mine was paired with an Elemnt Bolt.

--Richard

John_V 

Many of us have the RTL 510 and RTL 515 and 1st Generation units. Same as the 315 except with a light. I love my 510. I don't ride on public roads anymore unless it's on. Still use my mirror but only half as much as I used to.

Marylander

Very nice, I'm almost certainly going to buy one in august. I'd like to keep the light separate too.

speedlever

I would like one of those if I can find an rtl510 for the right price. Will it fit an aero seat tube?

John_V 

Yes it will. There is a mount adapter for round and aero seat posts that comes with the unit. Looking at your setup, you may have to mount the unit upside down to clear the seat post clamp and still have good positioning for the radar. You can also refer to the thread on this forum on DIY saddlebag mounts.

speedlever

Never thought about mounting it upside down. That could be the ideal solution for me. So I won't need the universal quarter turn seat post adapter? What I need comes included with the RTL515 (on order as we speak).

Edit: I did not need to mount it upside down. I had to remove the old blinkie and mount, and the RTL515 mounted normally to the seat tube using the included rubber 0-ring. I backed that up with a couple small 8 inch zipties.

Seattle Forrest

There's a Connect IQ data field that will record the location and passing speed of every car that goes by.

speedlever

I haven't used Connect IQ before. Is that something cell phone related or something specific to the 830?

Seattle Forrest

@speedlever it's in any Garmin unit, so only useable if you have one. I'll try to find the link.

speedlever

Thanks. I think I figured it out. I downloaded the mybikeradar IQ app via my PC when connected to my 830. I now have a field for # cars I can use on the 830. Naturally my RTL515 that was due to be delivered today is delayed.

I don't think I've linked my cell phone to my 830. Is that important to do? Sometimes I get a little confused how these things work... if the app goes on the device or on a cellphone... and where the settings are twiddled with. At least for the mybikeradar IC app, that seems to be all done on the device itself.

Barry2 

Can you show us what it looks like on a Bolt please?

Barry

rlmalisz

Not trivially. But the review here shows the Wahoo device family display with Varia sidebar...it's a ways down, but you'll see it:

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2020/05/...ar-review.html

speedlever

First ride with the RTL515 today. In 40 miles, the vehicle count was 169 cars. Hmm.

I have the RTL515 set on auto lights and activation when I push the start button on the 830 to begin the ride.

What do you guys do when you may have a day or 3 between rides? Do you leave the RTL515 on (flashing blue)? Or do you physically shut it off? I wonder how much power is being used when it's on standby (blue light flashing). Or I guess blue flashing light indicates smart mode... which I assume is standby too.

John_V 

I turn mine OFF. I accidentally left mine on Standby once and it did not retain the advertised battery life. I keep my radar turned OFF until I'm getting ready to ride on the roadway.

speedlever

Hmm. I tried turning it off initially, but then it seemed to take a while to form the light network... so I thought maybe I'm just supposed to leave it in standby. Still fumbling my way around the 830 and the RTL515 and the IQ apps.

When I crank up the 830 and go to the page where I have several Varia IQ app fields, I see VR bat and light battery fields. The VR bat has a diagonal red line through it. The Light battery shows full. Are they not one and the same? And as I type this, the VR bat field turned green and now shows full battery. I'm thinking I have duplication here, but not sure which app controls which field.

John_V 

Can't help you there. My radar is connected to a Wahoo Bolt. I have to power it On/Off manually as well as change the modes. Mounted on my saddle bag, it's easy for me to reach without having to stop the bike. The Bolt doesn't show the current battery level but does give me a notification when the radar battery is low. I usually get another 10-12 miles on the radar time after the notification pops up.

speedlever

To update: I left the RTL515 in standby mode for 3 days (between rides). The blue light was constantly flashing. When I checked the battery (from the Varia app field on the 830), it showed as full 3 days later. I took it on a 65 mile ride and had no issues. I think it was down 1 or 2 bars by the time I finished the ride about 4 hours and 222 overtaking cars later!

And the mybiketraffic.com site is great too. Upload the ride and you can see the overtaking cars happen as your follow the ride. (geekiness abounds!) I see a bit of a discrepancy between Garmin Connect and mybiketraffic as regards the car count. GC shows 222 cars, mbt shows 216 cars on yesterday's ride. And the moving avg speed differs too, probably because the moving time differs.