Wish I had bought this sooner than I did! Held off for years using helmet mounted mirror! That was dumb! This is so much safer...works perfectly with my Edge 830! Only challenge I had was where to mount it as am also using a camera on seat post. Saw where some folks had mounted to seat bag using a home-made bracket! I did this and it works well - movement of the bag does not seem to bother it! Got caught in rain storm which didn't stop it from working but killed the camera! Only suggestion to Garmin is to add provsion for a safety cord as they have on the Edge units!
I use the light when I'm doing my training rides by myself. It's helps out a lot. I don't have to keep looking back for cars behind me. I also use it during group rides too. I helps keeping the group together and safe. This is a awesome product.
The Garmin Varia RLT515 is the best taillight you can own! It works better than I ever thought, knows if a vehicle is behind you better than looking back. So much safer making a left and just in general. Great product, and BikeTiresDirect got it to me unbelievable fast!
I recently purchased this light to go with my 830 head unit.
No regrets and no more craning your neck to see whats about to hit you.
This thing really works and provides you with real metrics to gauge traffic proximity and speed.
It's a game-changer - highly recommended
excellent battery life
great app for battery and warning of approaching vehicles
Garmin computer syncs seamlessly with the light, and you as a rider can get prepared for passing cars with plenty of warning, ~ 1 mile on a straight road, less on curvy roads. Love it! feel naked riding without one now!
I think this is a must have safety item unfortunately these days, with so many distracted drivers and so many large vehicles that approach us way too close for comfort.
The Varia RTL515 has immediately become indispensable for me. I ride mostly country roads and have never been able to get used to a helmet mirror, so the Varia is great. It picks up vehicles at the same time as my riding partners with mirrors. The battery life is fantastic - no problem for 100+ mile rides. Garmin undersells what I think is a great feature - the reactive-blink tail light. I think drivers intuit that increasing blinking to mean you know they're there, and they are less apt to brush you with their side view mirror. The only feature/flaw that I see as a negative is that any vehicle that appears on the radar then matches your speed disappears! Once you realize that, you can adjust your perceptions accordingly, but this characteristic of the radar could be in all caps in the manual. Overall, not inexpensive but worth every penny.
This product to me is a game changer. I bought this because with the pandemic I was mainly riding alone and felt more vulnerable to cars than in a group of 20 riders. This tells you without looking that a car is coming from about 1 1/2 football fields away (I think actually 143 meters). You can see it approaching you and how fast. I know if I happen to be riding side by side to mover over or if by myself to move as far right as I can. Even if there are things in the road like a hole or debris I know if I can just go right around it or if I need to slow down because there is a car. The brightness of the flashing rear light increases as does the frequency when it detects a car. There is also an audible tone if you want and colors of the approaching car to indicate how fast it is approaching. I see people riding with mirrors but this if far superior. I think at $199 it is the deal of the century. Seems more than worth it to avoid getting hit by a car. Battery life is great. Syncs perfectly every time to my Garmin. Easily can be transferred from bike to bike. Takes about 30 seconds.
It only takes one ride to realize how valuable this is. It works extremely well. It does not get fooled and give false alarms very often. However, if you are riding on a trail that parallels a street, it will rightfully pick up that traffic. If you make a 90 degree turn, the cars passing on the street you just turned off of, will briefly trigger the radar. When you do get an alarm (a very distinct beep) there is plenty of time to react and being able to track its progress is fantastic. If there are multiple cars approaching you will see multiple dots on the screen. It does very well on twisty roads as well. It detects cars approaching around corners sometimes before you can see them. My only word of caution is to always charge it up before every ride. Not that it doesn't have a good battery but It takes a lot of power to do all this and a real bummer if it runs out during a ride.
Im 75 with bad hearing and cant wear my hearing aids because of the wind noise. I ride in Spearfish Canyon and there is a lot of traffic at times and loging trucks. It works great and if the are several vehicles behind me it will show each one on the led lights.
My son bought it for me on Fathers Day several year ago and I been using it ever since
I highly recommend it.
The light is small, but more than adequate during the day or night. But the most important aspect is that I can pair it with my i-phone and it gives me clear warnings when there is a car(s) behind me. It generally picks up the cars at about 75 yards, which I think is more than adequate. I am more than happy with it.
It is very nice knowing that a car is approaching without having to use a mirror. The light seems to be very bright and noticeable. Because of the pandemic I have been riding alone so have not determined how it affects other riders in a paceline.
I really like this product. Before having it I was always wondering about traffic coming on behind and getting distracted with looking back. Now I know what's coming well before it passes me. I also know that the light is helping with visibility as it kicks in to high gear flashing when it detects a car approaching. Fantastic
Easy to set up and link with my Garmin 1000 and phone if needed . Such a great device now you don't have to be Surprised by a car on top of you . Now you'll know When a cars coming from behind.
Out of all the money I have spent as a cyclist this is the greatest investment I've made I feel so safe riding my bike let me know a block and a half away that a car is behind me! And the number of cars to how great is that!
I use the rear tail light (rtl) radar every time ride on roads. It has really given me the confidence to ride on roads with cars approaching me from behind. I feel like it's a third eye (rear-facing).
