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I got one after having it recommended & watching a few online reviews: what a game changer!
Used throughout my LEJoG earlier this year (& on around 4,000km rides in total so far).
It let me know about cars often before I’d hear them.
If I felt it was unsafe to be overtaken (approaching corner or brow of hill, etc), I would wobble out a bit into the road (well before they were ‘on me’) without turning head. That would invariably slow them down.
I felt I enabled me to manage the traffic without having to turn head (which itself leads to a wobble).
Sure, take a glance anyway as you might have… after a while I realised it was so unerringly accurate, I sometimes didn’t turn my head at all. Crazy cyclist, eh 🤪
A top safety device 👍
Mine is paired with my Wahoo Roam (a brilliant nav device, great battery life!) & links up rapidly every time…of course I would expect the same for your Garmin! Not sure how well it works with a Hammerhead.
Note: if all your cycling is in busy city traffic, perhaps less useful: the beeping would be non-stop: mine is all leisure pedalling 😎
Used throughout my LEJoG earlier this year (& on around 4,000km rides in total so far).
It let me know about cars often before I’d hear them.
If I felt it was unsafe to be overtaken (approaching corner or brow of hill, etc), I would wobble out a bit into the road (well before they were ‘on me’) without turning head. That would invariably slow them down.
I felt I enabled me to manage the traffic without having to turn head (which itself leads to a wobble).
Sure, take a glance anyway as you might have… after a while I realised it was so unerringly accurate, I sometimes didn’t turn my head at all. Crazy cyclist, eh 🤪
A top safety device 👍
Mine is paired with my Wahoo Roam (a brilliant nav device, great battery life!) & links up rapidly every time…of course I would expect the same for your Garmin! Not sure how well it works with a Hammerhead.
Note: if all your cycling is in busy city traffic, perhaps less useful: the beeping would be non-stop: mine is all leisure pedalling 😎
Mine has fooled when stopped and about to set off when the alert sounded so waited for a passing vehicle when it was an approaching pedestrian. One day I got a radar low battery message come up on my Wahoo with still some distance to go; an hour later another and it was still working when I got home.
Like this on my Roam? (how it looks with two cars almost behind me)Nevermind! Found a video with the little car icon moving up the side.
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kenmiles
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Cork, Ireland
Got one a couple of weeks ago and love it.
Big T
Guru
- Location
- Nottingham
Had mine for over a year and it’s been well worth it. If cycling in a group, several people can pair to the Varia and they all get the warning of cars approaching from behind. When riding with my wife, she has the Varia as she normally rides at the back, but we both get the traffic warnings. A bonus for me is that I know if she has been dropped because I get a “Radar disconnected ” warning if she falls more that 30m behind me. The radar picks up cars from 150m distance and the warning shows distance behind, speed of approach, and number of cars approaching.
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Ridgeway
Veteran
- Location
- Lausanne, Switzerland
The low battery alert on a Wahoo is effectively because Wahoo and Garmin don't talk perfectly to each other. What's happening is that once the Varia battery gets to 75% it sends a notification to the Wahoo which understands it is "low" and hence it gives out the only message it can. On a Garmin head unit you can actually see the % battery level of the Varia, but not on Wahoo.
In the end a Varia will last 6-8hrs in regular mode.
Seems to be lower than that given the level of the battery around a hour and s half later.
Ridgeway
Veteran
- Location
- Lausanne, Switzerland
It sends out a message at 75, 50 and 25%, all messages result in "low radar battery".
HLaB
Marie Attoinette Fan
I would have been one of those cynics, why do you have to spend £100+ for something that'll do the same for free (a quick shoulder check). However, having actually got one I'd say its definitely worth it. You can concentrate on the road/hazard ahead and you are not surprised by something from behind that glance might have missed (speeding traffic/ something pulling out of a side road etc). You can gauge how cars are approaching, fast or slow and how many. Its supposed to react to car so as to catch the eye of the driver too. Also when there's nothing there and it lets you know you can relax and enjoy your ride more.
Touchwood I've never had it miss anything, it has recorded a few false positives as it goes on speed differential (other riders in your pack going the same speed don't set it off), if you are stopped though a pedestrian can set it off or an advantage an attacking rider can set it off.
