GarminVaria RTL515 Radar With Tail Light(Return to Product Page)

This is my second Varia. My first one's battery wore out after so much usage over the past 6 years. I used this in Vietnam to warn me of the cars and motorcycles that swirled around me. It was a big help. I now use it here in the USA. Too many of my friends have been injured in accidents caused by cars, so I am so happy to have this as a part of my daily cycling.

I have bee using a Garmin 510 for at least six years. After a recent software update I noticed this radar unit listed in the menu. Upon a little research I found that with the update this unit was compatible with older Garmin units. I purchased this rear light/ radar unit and have been using it for the past month. I've been impressed with its performance and ease of use. I ride mostly on paved county/ farm type roads and average about 700 miles month. The unit warns me when traffic appears about 400 ft behind and graphically shows the progression toward me. I have found it very helpful when I have to merge into a traffic lane. I always look before moving but this shows the gaps in traffic and lets me know when to look back. Good product

This product has made my rides a lot less stressful. I love getting a warning that a car is approaching before I can hear it. When I'm flying down a hill it's comforting to glance down at my Wahoo Element Roam, and see a nice green line, letting me know that the road is all mine. I would have bought one sooner had I soon it was compatible with my Wahoo device. I was proud to say goodbye to the little mirror on my sunglasses. This is much better, and I like a little cooler!!

I am not a tall rider so there is no seat-post real estate below my saddle bag so I had to order a new saddle bag with a Garmin mount. It works pretty well but the angle is down more than I'd like.

The light is very bright, I put it on flash mode to save battery. I disabled the audio from the radar as it is quite annoying in heavily trafficked roads.

Always relied on a bar end mirror, then husband talked me into also getting this. Surprised by how good it is. Often, didn't hear a car coming if windy out or other noise. But the Varia lets you know something is behind from WAY back and shows its progress in getting closer to you, so you will be ready to watch in your mirror when it is passing. GREAT product.

I love the radar feature, I have an older Garmin and it does sync with it so I feel safer on the road. The negative thoughts: It does not seem to hold the charge a 2 hour ride. It should come with a hard mount the elastic mount is a cheap and non secure method to keep an expensive light on the on the bike. I bought a hard mount separate.

I use this with my new Garmin 1030 Plus. I feel much better now when turning left. Even with a mirror, I like the radar for giving me the added security!

I've been using this bike radar for a while now, and when I compare this to other less expensive options, the radar cone (the triangular detection area) the radar covers is larger, and accuracy is a bit more precise when detecting oncoming rear traffic.

As with any threat detection system, the rider's eyes and ears are the best.

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!

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.

My third Varia taillight, the 510 lost ability to hold a charge for a whole ride, the replacement 515 went 4 years and began acting like it wasn't charged when it was. The new one works perfectly as expected, I'll figure 4 years from this one as well. As far as the Varia radar taillight I really can't imagine anyone riding road without one. A basic requirement for safety.

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.

I suffer from double vision and struggle to look behind me to the left. That's not good for me or those I need to alert to "CAR BACK". The Garmin radar works really well. It even alerts you to multiple vehicle approaching. The only problem I have is that the red alert is not very bright when wearing sun glasses and the audible alert ought to be louder.

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.

I bought this after various cyclists I respect mentioned how with more electric (silent) vehicles on the road, we can all use some extra help detecting passing cars.

So far I've taken it on one ride, connected to my phone in rear pocket but I have no bike computer. So I'm relying entirely on sounds and vibration.

At first the thing was beeping non-stop for no apparent reason. I turned off "Green Level Threat Zone" which seemed to reduce the chirps to only when cars were actually nearby. But the thing still seems to err too much on the side of false positives -- ie: it seems to chirp every time I made a right turn.

Also the alerts come too soon -- cars can be hundreds of feet behind me rather than actually approaching.

I knew this when I bought it, but still disappointed that the thing won't connect to my Fitbit. Clearly an aggressive ploy to get me to buy a Garmin watch next time, which I probably will whenever my current Fitbit dies.

No need to turn your head around for cars anymore. Visual on Garmin & audiable. But, it must be fully charged for each ride. Mine is paired w/ Edge 820.

I have been using this on my road bike and absolutely love the radar feature. It notifies you right on the Garmin computer screen letting you know cars approaching from the rear and also gives an audible alert. Really helps to keep you informed of traffic behind you.

This is a really nice, potentially life saving piece of equipment. I have really gained a much higher level of traffic awareness. I know when cars are behind me much sooner than ever before. Relying on sound to identify traffic is sketchy at best. This thing rocks and like other reviews I read I'm not really sure how I did without it for so long. Buy it. You won't be sorry.