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

If you�re looking for more safety and want to know what�s coming behind you this is the product you should have attached to your bike. It definitely sees everything that�s coming towards you and gives a warning you do need a garmin computer for it to work properly.

You'll need a bike computer or Garmin watch, but assuming you have one (or both), this is a very worthwhile piece of safety equipment. It's quite reliable and easily understood. It pairs with your computer like any other sensor. I used to rely on listening for cars and looking over my shoulder before moving out into a lane. I still do both, but there are many times when I hear nothing and the Vario beeps to let me know someone is there.

I've had one of these for over a year and put it through some cold temps. Battery life has been great so far, as advertised even down into the upper 30's. The system itself can track multiple cars and has a nice beep warning when they are coming up on you. In an urban area, this can be pretty often, but it keeps you from veering into a car you wouldn't have seen otherwise.

It only comes with a mount to attach to a seat post, so cannot mount to a bag without some modifications. I poked a couple holes into my bag to get the screws in an it works great. Only other downside is no strap like the GPS's have to catch the unit if it falls off, so far it has not fallen off.

I already had one, so I know how great this thing is. I also use a mirror, but have to say this is one of the best tech things I've ever bought starting with my first odometer that mounted down by the dropout and only recorded mileage....(yeah, I'm that old and have been riding that long).

I do turn off the alert sound though as anytime I'm near town and heavy traffic it's way annoying....otherwise zero complaints.

Four years ago I got the RTL510 version of this (no bluetooth) and paired it with a Wahoo Bolt. That combo has been the single best bit of kit that I have added in ten years. If you ride in urban areas I would probably skip it as the radar will go off constantly, but in suburban and rural areas it is absolutely worth every penny. My first unit worked perfectly, the only reason I upgraded tp the RTL 515 is that after about fifteen thousand miles the battery life degraded from just over four hours to just over three (with the light on solid... if you use the flasher it has much longer life). Just finishing a month in France riding almost every day and the newer RTL 515 has been every bit as solid, with battery life exceeding 4.5 hours on solid. The few times I have gone out without it I feel naked. This from a guy that never used a tail light because it seemed like just one more think to complicate my life.

4 Stars because of it being kinda pricey.

This is my 2nd one. 1st one broke off on a rough trail (crappy 3d printed mount I made) Not fault of device at all!!

I ride alot of dirt roads and this gives me a heads up when wind/dirt noise makes cars behind hard to hear.

This device makes a wonderful addition to my cycling experience. I get notified as traffic approaches and how many vehicles there are within 253 feet behind me. I can see the speed of their approach and I am notified when all is clear. Also, the light flashes more intensely and quickly while traffic is approaching and so it provides better information to the drivers behind me about my presence. The only downside experience I had was a with the Garmin 830 controlling the light, type of flash and turning it off. Now, I could intervene on the head unit and reselect the flash type I wanted, but turning the Varia off that became a problem, surprisingly. It turns off the light when the Varia is switched off but leaves the Varia's Bluetooth on which runs down the battery. I did find the command in the settings to turn this feature off which works better for me.

All the reviews raving about how good this product is are true. I feel naked riding along a public road without this gadget. Now with that said, in true Garmin fashion it is grossly overpriced for what it is, but I think as a safety device it still delivers enough value to be a good buy. Just don't pay full price for one.

Battery life has been fine for me as long as I remember to charge it every couple of rides. (I ride almost every day)

The mount is crap. Buy a proper seat mount and you will be much happier and your device will be much more secure. I strongly recommend the BUP Labs mounts. They are excellent.

I just came back from a 3.5 hour ride. The radar worked great and helps on the left turns.

I have a back neck therefore my neck twisting is limited. This is an added safety feature for me along with a good rear view mirror.

The drawback is that I only had a 3% charge left in my edge 520 when I got home.

A longer ride and it may stop functioning due to the edge battery being drained.

My back up is the "Ride with GPS" app on my phone

Adequate as a tail light goes, but there are brighter out there for that. However the radar integration with the Edge is really first rate. My one gripe, and it is only one, is that i wish there were a quick easy way to temporarily mute alerts for a short period time. Think "Mute for 5min" or "mute for 1/2mile" kind of thing. Riding along frontages that parallel a highway is maddening with the alerts, but on the country roads this is really a terrific gadget. I don't think it will still a car from hitting me, but it will sure help me avoid pulling out in front of one accidentally.

I'm 84 and ride with the Big Dogs on my E-Bike. This light/radar unit keeps me aware of traffic behind me, including the faster riders, and keeps me up on the world. I'm getting better at pairing the Garmin Varia to my cellphone via the Garmin Varia app, and pairing my cellphone to my hearing aids. Now, no more surprises from rear!

I ride about 150 miles per week on mixed city and country roads. The varia really helps prevent surprises when you can't hear cars behind you. A friend of mine is looking to replace his old RTL 500 with the new 515, just because the light is so much better.

The only negatives have to do with battery life. By default it is set up in daylight-always-on mode which only gets you 5-6 hours of runtime. The configuration setting are more complex than they should be, but you can eventually get it to a flashing mode where it is only active when the ride timer is running. That should get 10-12 hours.

Using it with a Garmin 530 and paired to my iPhone running the Varia app. I ride with one bluetooth earbud to hear directions and alerts, the variations app relays all the visualization with tones so I don't need to look at the screen.

Used it in a group ride scenario on quiet and busy roads and it works really well, only alerts to other cyclists when the speed differential is large.

It definitely builds my awareness of the surrounding road users.

I docked it one star for the seat post attachment, the rubber band has worked for me in the past for things like cadence and shell sensors, but using it for something that is removed all the time to charge is not very viable in the long term. Fortunately there are plenty of places offering 3d prints of replacement mounts now and will give on a try.

My cycling enthusiast college to me on a ride and afterward said I should have this item to keep me safe on the road. I love it. It's easy to pair with all the other gadgets he recommended, and it reassuring to know if something is coming up from behind. The light is super bright, and l like the flashing options.

A riding buddy has the Varia and told me how much safer he felt being able to see traffic coming up on him. I wholeheartedly agree. It tracks all the vehicles coming up behind you from asfar back as 150 yards. Amazing.

The first thing I noticed was the underlying nagging anxiety you have about approaching cars on challenging roads goes away pretty quickly. You may find yourself using the better pavement parts of the road instead of the gravel strewn shoulder. You still should always check behind you.

Next I noticed that some of the roads I used to ride white knuckled really only had very few cars per mile and it's changed my ideas of what roads I'm more willing to ride.

Double edged sword of constantly reminding you there are cars behind you on busy roads.

The mount is kinda slick but I don't like that it's held on by a glorified rubber band, you can double them up or buy the fixed mount, but the fixed mount rubbed my legs.

This Varia is a solid item. It syncs easy, works well with my Garmin 1030 Plus, and detects cars. It is a most valuable accessory.

The Varia RTL515 is a nice rear light, extremely bright with different blinking modes. Works well with my Garmin EDGE device. Easy to set up with the EDGE device. I would have given 5 stars but the alert sound is at a frequency and volume I cannot hear with no way to increase volume. It doesn't give any feedback on whether it is on or off either when to turn it on or off. You have to guess whether you held the button down 1 and 1/2 seconds to turn it on, or 2 and 1/2 seconds to turn it off.

Keeps you aware of traffic approaching from behind. Even the electric vehicles. I feel a little safer riding the streets in Vegas.

I love it .... Should have bought it sooner but, I am having problems with it disconnecting from the Garmin 830 head unit randomly.