Seattle Forrest

https://cyclingtips.com/2022/07/bryt...nd-tail-light/

Bryton had a large stand at Eurobike showing off all things from its extensive list of head units to a new indoor trainer (more on that later). But perhaps the most interesting thing on the stand was the new Gardia R300 rearview radar and tail light device.

WhyFi

DCR is saying that it'll be less than Garmin's 510/515 and that the battery life blows away the 510/515 and should outlast virtually any head unit on the market. Interesting.

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2022/07/...dar-units.html

Bah Humbug

Interesting yes, but it's easy to blow away the competition when you're not on the market yet. Does it have the same range and sensitivity? Other quality?

chaadster

I’ve criticized the Varia 500-series styling and mount placement before, so I’m happy to see Bryton had the same thoughts and centered their mount and gave the unit a more modern look.

That said, it’s perhaps kind of surprising they stumbled upon virtually identical dimensions, unless there’s some kind of sharing of the basic hardware. The round lens, single LED, and top mounted light suggest this, too.

Anyway, I hope Bryton’s unit at least shuts up the beeping when the bike is stopped. That’d be a big quality of life improvement for me, as I find the Varia’s incessant beeping really annoying.

Seattle Forrest

It's wide enough that you can use it as a snow plow, too.

Koyote

I bought a Garmin 515 recently and found the rubber band mount less-than-satisfying. It's secure, but it's too easy to move the unit off-center just by handling the bike. So, for another bike, I bought the hard mount -- and it must've been designed by a C- student. Just awful. It's wide enough that my left thigh occasionally brushes against it while pedaling, and it puts the unit about 30 degrees off of perpendicularity relative to the pavement on a bike with a pretty standard seat tube angle. If they took returns, I would send it back.

WhyFi

I can understand the thigh rub - I don't use saddle bags with a velcro strap around the post, for this reason - but how are you managing that 30° angle? Did you mount it upside down?

Koyote

It’s mounted correctly. 30° might be an exaggeration, but it is noticeably not perpendicular to the road surface.

Honestly, I can’t understand how they built such a poor mount. Cygolite tail lights come with an infinitely better mount – does not rub your thighs, and the angle is adjustable.

WhyFi

What kind of STA does your bike have? If mine isn't perfectly perpendicular, I'd need a plumb bob to tell. I also have it mounted lower, maybe 13-15cm below the top of the saddle, and thigh rub isn't a problem.

Sy Reene

I skipped the garmin offering and got one of these. adjustable angle, as well as a bit more clearance from seatpost clamp area.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08N154BBY

tomato coupe

I have hard mounts on 4 bike, and they're all within a few degrees of perpendicular. Is there something unusual about your bike?

Koyote

Okay, you both got me wondering...So I went out to measure the angle with my phone. (Yep, there's an app for that), and got a reading of -28 degrees. Looks like I had pushed it down so low (to get it out of the way of my massive guads ) that the back of the quarter-turn portion of the mount was butted up against my seat post collar, and hence it was angled upwards excessively. I moved it up a centimeter or so, and now it's at -7 degrees -- which is close enough. But hopefully I won't be getting the thigh rub again.

How do you like it? Is it sturdy? Looks like a better design than the Garmin offering, but I am leery of trusting my expensive tail light to a no-name mount.

PS: thanks, all!

Troul 

I have that mount & attached my action cam to it. Holding up well after a few thousand miles. was 15.00 when I bought it.

njkayaker

The offset mount of the Varia means less clearance is needed on one side (you can mount it "upside down").

With a centered mount, are stuck if it doesn't fit (unless you mount it sideways).

chaadster

Yes, good point. I, however, am not “seatpost extension challenged” and dislike the dangling pawpaw look of Varia RTL515, so the Bryton unit appears to be an improvement to my eye.

It could have been really cool had Bryton come up with their own, novel architecture for the radar unit, rather than merely slightly modifying the Varia template, but I’m sure there were practical limitations to doing so.

Another potential downside is that the Bryton mount appears to be unique, reducing mount options currently available on the aftermarket compared to the ubiquitous Garmin-style mount options.

njkayaker

You can't please everybody. The Varias, as they are, seem pretty popular.

I'm not sure what "novel architecture" would be better. You need area for the light and area for the radar transmitter/receiver. Seems like function might require some sort of rectangle.

I think this has to do with licensing (in non-Asian countries).

Then, again, Bryton does some things in a non-standard way for no apparent reason:

Bryton 420 route files format