GarminVaria Radar 2 RTL510 Rear Light(Return to Product Page)

This light makes both cars and rider aware. Works great on country roads. City too much distraction due to constant warnings. Great safety device for long rides in country roads with fast close traffic like the San Francisco Bay Area.

I lost my first Varia and realized immediately how much I rely on it to let me know what is going on behind me. This is a great tail light and I love and need the warning about the vehicles coming up behind me. Diesal trucks I hear, most new cars "sneak up" on me because they are so quiet.

This rear light with radar works exactly as described. It still amazes me that it works so well. You will not be disappointed if you are looking for early warning of traffic coming up behind you.

Excellent product from Garmin. The light is easy to setup and easy to use, with only one button so you won't get lost. I am currently using this without a headunit, and it appears the radar function still operates and the light becomes more intense as objects approach. The light is extremely powerful, and the battery lasts long. I can't wait to connect this to a headunit to get the full potential out of it.

I ride a lot of rural and Winding roads. Having now used for two months, I can't imagine riding without without the radar, I definitely have never felt safer on the roads. The blinking light also is a nice feature.

I ride on the road all the time. I highly recommend a Garmin Varia radar. It works very well and has little to no false readings. It seems to assist with my visibility too. I paired it with my Edge 520 Plus and will never ride without it again.

Been riding for over 30 years and this is great. Hook it up to your smart phone or garmin and have peace of mind. Picks up vehicles pretty far back and multiple vehicles too. Good light too nice and bright and can be seen far away and has multiple light settings. For the price its a great deal.

... those that love their Varia radar and those that havent tried it.

Thats a quote from Ray Maker of DCRainmaker fame and that pretty well nails it when it comes to the Varia Radar.

Excellent taillight that has a great optic that makes it super visible way down the road. The warning is hyper helpful. I dont know a single person that regrets using one.

I like that it has good battery life. It has turned its self off a couple of times will riding. When I restarted it came on for the rest of the ride.

This is a game changer, especially for people like me who can't turn their heads well to look behind. BI still do look back but this radar light has worked 100 percent of the time in terms of cars behind me. I would give it 5 stars but I had some problems with the device staying connected to my Edge 1030. It seems to have corrected itself

I ride on city streets with traffic and with the radar I know when someone is approaching and how fast they are moving...it really helps to keep me aware of my surroundings...very helpful!

I don't ride on the road without this on my bike. The radar function works extremely well and gives me plenty of warning when a car is coming from behind. It probably wouldn't be as useful on a busy road where there is constant traffic. But I ride in uncongested roads where the cars can be traveling quite fast and this gives me extra peace of mind. The light is a bonus for making me more visible to cars. I especially like the flashing mode.

During road cycling, you don't always know how many vehicles are behind you. not only will you Garmin alert you of upcoming traffic, it can let you know the number of vehicles that are there as well. Love that feature, especially when sudden changes may have to be made.

One of the best investments I have made to my bike. Also the price of $$$!

Great product. Easy set up and easy to use. Picks up cars, motorcycles and bikes. Great for quiet mountain roads that see little traffic. Reminds me to be careful for that car I rarely seehear behind me. It picked up 4 ATVs on ride yesterday. I could tell where each was.

Do not leave home without it, never

Pros Intuitive to use, fast set up and it reliably works. Perfect for light to medium traffic backroads. Alerts both the rider of a car behind well in advance via alert on cyclocomputer and alerts the overtaking driver with different light flashes. After 2 months of using it, I would say at least 80% of drivers slow down more and give me more room due to this device and it snaps me out of any potential day dreaming to alert me of an overtaking vehicle.

Cons if you ride in high density traffic, it will be much less effective as it will go off constantly.

I've purchased so many lights I can't even count. It gives me great peace of mind knowing what's coming up behind. It is especially useful when changing lanes. One small complaint is to increase battery capacity. I average about 6-8 hours of ride in a single charge.

ust finished my first ride with the Garmin Radar synced to my Wahoo Element. Blown away with its capabilities. It really is eyes in the back of your head.

A few blocks from my house, the first car to come up on me from the rear triggered the orange LEDs across the top of the Wahoo screen. But they did not go off after the car passed. I thought maybe the device needed to be calibrated because I did not hear any cars approaching me. Then I looked in my rear view mirror and saw a few more cars approaching a half black behind me. Once they all passed the LEDs turned off.

Riding north on Sheridan road on what seemed to be an empty road the orange LEDs lit up. I heard no cars. Looking in my rear view mirror I saw a car about 1 and half blocks behind me. I decided to look in my rear view mirror and note when I could hear the vehicle approaching. I found I can only hear a car from about 100 ft behind me vs the Garmin Radar alerting me of a car approaching at about 800 ft.

Ive always thought that not wearing headphones let my ears be another set of eyes. But today the wind was out of the north at about 15 mph and I had a beanie on under my ski helmet. Bottom line you dont hear cars approaching from the rear until theyre about 100 ft away.

Having always worn a rear view mirror on my helmet I falsely believed that I would see rear approaching traffic. Today's Radar reality checked showed me I don't look in my rear view mirror nearly often as much as I should, which should be every 5 to 10 seconds. The radar proved to me I only look in my mirror infrequently or not at all unless I hear an approaching car.

With 15 minutes left in my 90 minute ride I noticed some car icons moving up the left hand side of my screen. Having not read the directions for the radar I was pleasantly surprised that not only does the radar alert you to the rear approaching vehicles, it shows you how far back they are. It even shows you how many cars are behind you and there relative distance to you. They move up the screen as the car gets closer to you

Additionally, it has a strobe light that flashes brighter when the car gets closer.

Mounting takes about 30 seconds with a rubber band seat post adapter.

Bottom line, I was really impressed with the Garmin Radar and would recommend it every cyclist, especially if you wear headphones.

I am an active road rider in the midwest and ride generally on country roads. Varia gives you advance warning for cars approaching from behind. It has been 100% accurate an often notifies you of an approaching car before you can hear the car.