DiggyGun
Active Member
- Location
- Buckinghamshire
I have just fitted one of these to my eBike. Although I have a bar end mirror, I have found that the radar picks up the vehicles much earlier than I can see or hear them.
Garmin Varia 2 Bike Light & Radar
- Thread starter Heltor Chasca
- Start date
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Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
Just came across this. Not so much noise difference when they get up to speed.Except in town…several times I’ve had to gently toot people who are completely unaware of us, even though our Kona has a sci-fi or below 19mphI sometimes lower the window and shout “sorry, it’s electric” to explain why they were unaware of us….
I notice the Varia can often alert me to cars before I might here them….& I don’t think that is all down to my bad hearing
https://www.researchgate.net/figure...-various-speeds-Sandberg-et-al_fig7_288270778
You’ve got me banged to rights….my experiences must have been figments of my imagination…..
HLaB
Marie Attoinette Fan
I think its the 510 which is the one which is for sale in Germany. To comply with their lighting regulations you can't have a light capable of flashing so its solid only
cougie uk
Guru
You're agreeing with each other.
Low speed low noise from the EV.
At normal road speed - it's mainly tyre noise so an EV is the same as an ICE.
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
Not at all. You said that "in town" people don't hear you. I take "in town" to be the low speed range where there is a big difference. So I'm supporting what you said.
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DiggyGun
Active Member
- Location
- Buckinghamshire
This is from the Garmin website;I think its the 510 which is the one which is for sale in Germany. To comply with their lighting regulations you can't have a light capable of flashing so its solid only
PELOTON MODE
Varia™ RTL515 features multiple modes, including peloton mode, which provides a low-intensity flash that is kind to other cyclists’ eyes when riding in a group.I've been interested in this recently - got some money for my birthday and just pulled the trigger on an RTL515.
Decathlon was the cheapest place I could find £149.99 compared with £169.99 most other places. I've never ordered stuff from them before, though I've picked stuff up in store. They charged me a fiver for delivery unfortunately - could have had free delivery to the store, but the nearest one is nearly 50 miles away.
Decathlon was the cheapest place I could find £149.99 compared with £169.99 most other places. I've never ordered stuff from them before, though I've picked stuff up in store. They charged me a fiver for delivery unfortunately - could have had free delivery to the store, but the nearest one is nearly 50 miles away.
Definitely had mine once again going green on the display as if no car was behind when in fact a car had simply slowed down. Also it it is still giving an error at the same location which plainly was not being swamped by crossing vehicles at the crossroads the other night so there must be something at one of the properties causing it.
andrew_s
Legendary Member
- Location
- Gloucester
They don't detect what's there; they detect what's approaching.
They don't detect parked cars, and neither do they detect cars that have slowed down to your speed and aren't getting closer any more.
If nothing's approaching they go green.
You can get a better idea of what the minimum approach speed is by seeing how much faster an overtaking cyclist has to be to get detected.
They don't detect parked cars, and neither do they detect cars that have slowed down to your speed and aren't getting closer any more.
If nothing's approaching they go green.
You can get a better idea of what the minimum approach speed is by seeing how much faster an overtaking cyclist has to be to get detected.
Two-Wheels
Well-Known Member
I bought the RTL515 a year or so ago. Got it in the sale around £110-£120 IIRC.
For me it's the single best thing I've bought related to the bike. I'm not the most confident of cyclists. I'm fine when I don't need to deviate anywhere but say I need to cut across 2 lane traffic to turn right or I'm approaching a roundabout so need to pull across traffic then I'm not so confident there. Many a time I've just pulled up on the pavement & crossed or whatever.
But this thing has given me a ton of confidence & reassurance. I've completed a fair few journeys & miles with it and all in all I think it has only ever failed to detect ONE car. Not quite sure what happened that time but for all the cars (& cyclists!) that have come up behind me, it's detected the lot of them (just not that one lol).
I see they've released one with a camera now but on the back of DC Rainmakers review, I wont be bothering.
For me it's the single best thing I've bought related to the bike. I'm not the most confident of cyclists. I'm fine when I don't need to deviate anywhere but say I need to cut across 2 lane traffic to turn right or I'm approaching a roundabout so need to pull across traffic then I'm not so confident there. Many a time I've just pulled up on the pavement & crossed or whatever.
But this thing has given me a ton of confidence & reassurance. I've completed a fair few journeys & miles with it and all in all I think it has only ever failed to detect ONE car. Not quite sure what happened that time but for all the cars (& cyclists!) that have come up behind me, it's detected the lot of them (just not that one lol).
I see they've released one with a camera now but on the back of DC Rainmakers review, I wont be bothering.
Probably the car had dropped speed so it was no longer approaching at a faster speed than you were traveling at. It's caught me a couple of times, seeing the display clear of approaching vehicles only to look back straight at a vehicle.
Two-Wheels
Well-Known Member
Possibly. If I remember right, I thought the guy must've pulled out of a junction that I'd passed as I'd not noticed anyone behind me at all & then all of a sudden someone was there.
Matching the cyclicts speed which is another thing I personally find offputting.
I'm not talking about when we're on windy country roads & it's a dangerous overtake for the car. I'm talking about when there's plenty of space for the move, the visibility is good & I myself would go for the overtake if I was in a car but some times you just get those drivers who feel they need a road about 10 mile wide & 100 mile long with nothing oncoming the whole way for them to overtake.
Many a time I've just totally slowed up my speed to force them to overtake.
That's when the Varia is constantly beeping, not beeping, back to beeping, not beeping again.
cougie uk
Guru
I'm really happy with my radar now. After a crappy start last weekend when it wasn't connected and I didn't realize that was the issue - last ride it was perfect. On from the start and didn't miss a beat. Very useful on quiet lanes where I don't hear traffic behind and great for when I'm turning right off a busy road. Now I can just check the radar for a gap and then check over my shoulder rather than having to look behind in traffic.
Amazing technology. What will they think of next.
Amazing technology. What will they think of next.
