Garmin Varia Purpose

[Keith A]

I don't own one, but I'm considering it. A ride with a number of folks that have the Varia, and the changing light pattern when a car approaches is a nice feature as it lets anyone riding behind know there is a car approaching.

[fourflys]

Originally Posted by superbowlpats

I will not ride without my Varia. I also have another taillight (Bontrager) that I use in conjunction with it. It gives me situational awareness. It tells me how many cars are coming up. I can judge how far away the cars are from me by looking at the moving dot on my Garmin computer and then when close I give a quick look over to let the driver know I see him and also for me to see how much of the road the driver is giving. Its not a gimmick. In fact I think its the single best piece of cycling equipment I have ever bought.

Great synopsis, thanks! I appreciate the conversation and the fact there was only one snarky comment... this is why I've been a member of this group for a lot of years!

[KonaSS]

Hot tip - if you regularly ride with someone who has a Varia, you can pair your cycling computer to their Varia and you will get the same notifications that they do.

At least a cheap way to see if you want your own Varia.

[Hellgate]

I bought one recently. I'll admit I was skeptical but I love it. The proactive awareness it provides is pretty amazing. I ride in the city a get lots of blips, but it also lets me know when it is clear. In rural settings it's the opposite. After not seeing a car for a long time it picks vehicles up way before they are close to you and brings you out of the zone and back to the task at hand.

It's a great tool. Don't knock it til you try it.

[Elefantino]

I tell customers it's the best piece of cycling kit I've bought in 20 years (give or take a few Serottas).

[buddybikes]

Looks like nobody is discounting them now, think I got my RTL510 for 149. I can't live without it. Diabetic retinopathy plus stiff neck sometimes, for me highly valuable piece of equipment.

[ripvanrando]

I like the Varia on my road bikes but not so much on a recumbent. The Garmin 1030 is so far from my ears on the bent and the beep so lame that I hear the car before I can hear the beep, plus, I ride with mirrors on the bent. On the upright, a couple of my upright bikes have the Italian barend mirror but some don't and overall the warning is nice to have, especially knowing how many cars are coming and approximately how far back they are. The battery life on mine isn't very long.

[stev0]

I never understood the point of it riding in LA, as I was always either in the city or on a climb where you can hear cars way way back since the engine noise echoes. When I joined a cycling club in Alabama I thought it was weird that almost everyone had a varia, but quickly learned that on a pancake flat, two-lane county road (i.e. pretty much all the cycling there), cars could easily sneak up on you going 60mph without much time to react.

Now that I have one (going on 2 years now), feels pretty weird not to use it (rarely happens) even though I'm back in the city and burbs. it's a bit like when I first got an HR/GPS back in the day.. seemed unnecessary and not that useful, but i will never go back now. FWIW it's been my experience that the reviews are right and it never fails to detect a car - if anything there are many false positives (other cyclists, runners, etc) but the all-clear has never been wrong.

[m_moses]

I was a skeptic initially but after using it for 2+ years I really miss it if I forget to mount it or turn it on.

With a Varia, you gain a greater sense of awareness on the road than you’re used too and that soon becomes something you don’t want to be without.


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[PQJ]

It tells you how many cars are approaching, you can track them as they do, and it gives you a sense for how fast they are going. To me, it is invaluable. There may be better lights but the utility of the radar cannot be overstated. I feel naked riding without one.

[LJohnny]

Originally Posted by PQJ

It tells you how many cars are approaching, you can track them as they do, and it gives you a sense for how fast they are going. To me, it is invaluable. There may be better lights but the utility of the radar cannot be overstated. I feel naked riding without one.

This is the most valuable feature for me as well. I commute in a 2 lane parkway, curvy, speed limit is 25mph, but folks regularly hit 40mph. So if there are cars coming behind, it is awesome to see the relative speed of the moving dots, and how many.

[cgolvin]

Originally Posted by fourflys

2. The Varia lets me know when a car is approaching from behind me...

This is implied in some of the other responses, but I thought I'd point out that your point above doesn't adequately describe what the Varia does. To expand …

A. It lets you know via audio cue when a car first appears behind you;
B. It lets you know visually (on your Garmin/Wahoo/whatever) how close an approaching car is, and if there is more than one, how many;
C. It lets you know via audio cue if the (first) approaching car is closing at a high speed;
D. It lets you know via audio cue when there are no more cars approaching (helpful if part of your behavior is to reclaim a bit of road when there are no cars);
E. As mentioned above, its flash pattern cues drivers and riders behind you of your behavior such as braking.

I too thought of the Varia as gadgetry but decided to take a flyer on a used one and, while I wouldn't say I consider it mandatory, I find that I miss the benefits when I ride without it.

[djg21]

Originally Posted by superbowlpats

I will not ride without my Varia. I also have another taillight (Bontrager) that I use in conjunction with it. It gives me situational awareness. It tells me how many cars are coming up. I can judge how far away the cars are from me by looking at the moving dot on my Garmin computer and then when close I give a quick look over to let the driver know I see him and also for me to see how much of the road the driver is giving. Its not a gimmick. In fact I think its the single best piece of cycling equipment I have ever bought.

I use my Varia 515 with a Cycliq Fly6 CE on the road. Varia is low on Seatpost; the Cycliq is attached to the back of my Fizik saddle. I don’t use the Cycliq on my gravel bike, but I have received Varia alerts while on gravel when cars or trucks were approaching from behind. The Varia is helpful in these circumstances because I tend not to expect vehicles apart from the occasional John Deere tractor on the dirt roads I ride.

[OtayBW]

Having a Varia and using a helmet/eyeglass mirror seem a little redundant to me. I keep reading that the Varia alerts you long before you can hear a vehicle coming up, but the same could be said for judicious use of a mirror. I'll keep reading....

[Upcountry]

I'll echo all the sentiments above... I didn't ride with one for years, and in fact I didn't ride with a daytime light at all. And honestly if I were still in "the city" and riding busy roads, I probably wouldn't own one. I did a few rides back in my old stomping grounds(Reno) last Summer and I actually shut my Varia off, as there was a car passing me literally every single minute of the ride. Now living out in the sticks, it's not uncommon to go an hour without a car passing me. And with that, the shoulder on these roads is literally non-existent(no painted line, just a drop off to dirt). Additionally, to link up some of the quite roads and climbs, I have to ride on the highway(two lane, 70mph, trucking route) for several miles at a time. The Varia takes away the element of surprise from cars coming out of nowhere, but I think the most valuable aspect is in knowing the number of cars. Pre-Varia: typically you can hear a car coming, and a quick glance over the shoulder to confirm how far it is away, but often you can't see past it to tell if there is more than one. I know for sure there were times where I assumed it was a single car, and would start to move back into the lane a bit prematurely only to get over taken by another car at 70mph... Thats unnerving.
With the Varia I still ride similarly to how I did in the past, generally about a foot from the edge of the pavement, but it gives me the security to know that I can spontaneously move out into the lane to avoid a pothole or debris without looking over the shoulder. I now feel a bit naked without it. So much so in fact that planning for a multi-day trip I'm debating buying a second one. By far the major flaw is the battery life. Its not uncommon to only get 6 hours out of mine. I've now got a fully dynamo and usb charging setup, but the Varia doesn't have the ability to be charged while in use(it shuts off when plugged in). So I really might be "forced" into rotating between two of them.