School me on rear lights

[RWL2222]

Other than maybe a helmet, can anyone think of another piece of (optional) cycling gear where you hear people say 'I won't ride without it?'

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by johnniecakes

The portion that senses the car and changes the blinking pattern or intensity makes sense to me. Is there a version of light that does this only? There are enough distractions ahead of me that I don't necessarily want the computer adding to it.

If you simply don't "pair" the Varia with your cyclometer you will receive no feedback about its behavior, but the rear-facing radar will still sense the oncoming cars and trigger the flashing light behavior.

[gravelreformist]

Originally Posted by johnniecakes

The portion that senses the car and changes the blinking pattern or intensity makes sense to me. Is there a version of light that does this only? There are enough distractions ahead of me that I don't necessarily want the computer adding to it.

I'd suggest you do want the alerts at the very least, and the visibility on your head unit is better yet. I find that the Varia removes so much of my need to pay attention to what's coming from behind me that I have much more attention left to pay attention of what's ahead - even with the computer.

[redir]

The Varia is obviously very well liked on this forum and I have read elsewhere similar comments. It makes me want to try one but since I have yet too I still think to my self, why would I want to know a car is coming any further away then when I can hear it? I'm fortunate enough to live in the boonies and see very few cars even on a 60 mile ride... But I digress.

I commute and don't have computers on my bike so this is what I use:

https://lightandmotion.com/collections/vya

Cheap and effective. They seem to go on sale often too.

They are quite bright and have some sort of flashing system built in that is supposed to be eye catching. I like the one with the on off switch. They are supposed to be 'smart' but I had one without the switch and I used to just twist it out of it's USB holder to turn it off and one day went off riding in the day time when I didn't need it and lost it. So with the switch I can keep it mounted all the time.

[Baron Blubba]

Originally Posted by redir

The Varia is obviously very well liked on this forum and I have read elsewhere similar comments. It makes me want to try one but since I have yet too I still think to my self, why would I want to know a car is coming any further away then when I can hear it? I'm fortunate enough to live in the boonies and see very few cars even on a 60 mile ride... But I digress.

I actually find the radar more useful when riding in quiet countryside. Cars are getting quieter and quieter, and can easily 'sneak up' on you, cycling with the sound of the wind in your ears. I prefer to know that a car is approaching before it is 30 feet behind me.
Also, it sets drivers at ease to know that you know they are approaching. Just lift your hand and wave for a couple of seconds when you hear the 'beep beep' of the radar. It's a friendly and safe gesture that I think diffuses a lot of potential frustration/confusion/anger from drivers.

When I ride in congested areas, I expect cars to be there almost all the time, so the radar, while still very useful, is less useful.

[benb]

You guys are selling me pretty hard on getting a varia rear tailight + headlight from this thread.

All my lights are > 10 years old and my tailights in particular are not working well. I have a 600 lumen Nightrider that is still working fine but it could definitely be brighter. I have two little tailights, one takes 2x CR2032 and is working but burns up batteries the other is USB rechargeable and seems toast. I have an even older 250 lumen Niterider but that one is not 100% functional like the 600 lumen one. Retiring the 250 and moving the 600 up to helmet use with the garmin 800 one on the double side mount would be a really nice upgrade. A lot of the time I would just not ride at night cause the lights are a pain, and I'm really bad about not using a taillight during the day.

I have very little worries about cars coming up from behind though. Side/front are what I worry about. But the glowing reviews make me curious.

[glepore]

Originally Posted by Baron Blubba

I actually find the radar more useful when riding in quiet countryside. Cars are getting quieter and quieter, and can easily 'sneak up' on you, cycling with the sound of the wind in your ears. I prefer to know that a car is approaching before it is 30 feet behind me.
Also, it sets drivers at ease to know that you know they are approaching. Just lift your hand and wave for a couple of seconds when you hear the 'beep beep' of the radar. It's a friendly and safe gesture that I think diffuses a lot of potential frustration/confusion/anger from drivers.

When I ride in congested areas, I expect cars to be there almost all the time, so the radar, while still very useful, is less useful.

Teslas are very quiet.
The best feature of the Varia, IMHO, is that it tells you how many vehicles are behind. Sure, sometimes you can hear something approaching, but its very good to know if you have to stay over after veh A clears as there may be vehicle B. The downside is that you have to be alert for trailers...the landscapers around here speed and often move back over before the trailer is clear.
I was an early adopter and wouldn't ride without.
There are a couple spots where mine routinely falses, presuming its some sort of microwave motion detector or something.

[elvisthehorse]

Look for the bundle on Garmin website. They still offer the separate head unit just for radar.


https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/601468/pn/010-01981-00

[hernium]

I will say that I use the Varia RVR315 i.e the one without the light as I have a nice selection of rear lights already, and with 3D printing I have made Varia mounts for all my Pro Stealth saddles right where the accessory mounts would usually go so it keeps the bike looking just a bit neater. Purely an aesthetic reason, but we are on paceline...

[flying]

Originally Posted by Sarhog

Not effectively.

You can, however, use it effectively WITHOUT a computer if you have an iPhone. .

Just Curious but,

You say not effectively without a Garmin unit or smart phone....I was curious what is not effective on The Wahoo Roam V2? Watching their functionality with a Varia seems effective. Does the Garmin do something more?

[cgolvin]

Originally Posted by flying

Just Curious but,

You say not effectively without a Garmin unit or smart phone....I was curious what is not effective on The Wahoo Roam V2? Watching their functionality with a Varia seems effective. Does the Garmin do something more?

Someone who has used both can correct me but, from my experience using a BOLT v2 and reading the description of the Varia functionality on Garmin head units, I don't think there is a lot of difference, especially with the recent software update that provides light network support on Wahoo v2 units. I seem to recall that the Garmin units provided additional control over the alert sounds (Wahoo is pretty much a radio button), could be misremembering.

Originally Posted by djdj

Also, I take it that the alarm sounds for every overtaking vehicle? Thanks.

The "car back" alarm sounds the first time a car appears behind you (someone said that means <=500m); if there are additional cars behind that first car it does not sound another alarm, but you see the number of cars in the animation on the head unit. When the last of the cars behind passes you (or turns off the road) it sounds another alarm to let you know there are no more.

This may be obvious, but if you're on a windy road with traffic further behind you will get a number of "car back" then "no cars back" pairs of signals. The first couple of times this happens it can be disconcerting and cause some uncertainty about the radar working correctly, but thereafter you recognize what's going on.

[donevwil]

Originally Posted by elvisthehorse

Look for the bundle on Garmin website. They still offer the separate head unit just for radar.


https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/601468/pn/010-01981-00

It appears that is not the case, the RDU (radar display unit) is no longer offered. Your link is to the "Previous Models" page, no "Add to Cart", plus it appears the RDU was never available separately anyway, had to be purchased as part of a bundle.

[Sarhog]

Originally Posted by flying

Just Curious but,

You say not effectively without a Garmin unit or smart phone....I was curious what is not effective on The Wahoo Roam V2? Watching their functionality with a Varia seems effective. Does the Garmin do something more?

I misread the question. I meant, not effectively without ANY computer or smart phone.
It works great with a Wahoo, which is what I use.
Sorry for the confusion.

[elvisthehorse]

Originally Posted by donevwil

It appears that is not the case, the RDU (radar display unit) is no longer offered. Your link is to the "Previous Models" page, no "Add to Cart", plus it appears the RDU was never available separately anyway, had to be purchased as part of a bundle.

Sorry, I didn't see it was the old version. Which is sad. I have one of the little units and it awesome. Some of my bikes I just put the little head unit and no Garmin head unit. No numbers but I still have my radar for safety. Just a relaxing ride.

[Elefantino]

Late to this party, but I was a very early adopter of the Varia. Yes, it's more expensive than a light. No, I won't ride without it, either.