Lights

At first, I was put off by the weight of this light vs my Lights in motion tail light. But the radar tracking of aproaching vehicles is fantastic. I've always used a small rear view mirror on my helmet, which I'm not abandoning, but that involves me tipping my head to look up every so often. The Varia alerts me to cars and even other bikes consistently, so I know well in advance if something is comming. If there are several cars in a row, the Varia shows me that as well, without my taking my eyes off the road ahead. I have it paired with a Garmin 840 edge computer.

I've seen some useres complain about the difficulty picking out specific instances to view on the cameral video aftereward. I agree. You have to scroll through a lot to find what you might be looking for, and can only do so when viewing on your cell phone. But the main reason for the camera is to document a crash or other dangerous incident. In that case , you can mark the spot on your computer widget, or if you are hit, at least the camera will have automatically recorded it for retrieval later.

It can be set to record only when the radar is detecting something, and then continues for about 30 seconds after. This saves battery, and disk memory, which is several hours anyway on flashing mode. You can get even more battery life by setting it to only flash when there is a vehicle aproaching from the rear.

For me, the benefits of this light are worth the weight, sort of like electronic shifting and disc brakes are worth the added weight over old cable shifting and rim brakes. And unlike disc brakes, you don't need to upgrade your entire bike frame to add the light.

The vast majority of the 150 Miles per Week that I ride are on roads. The Varia Radar in conjunction with my Edge 1030 Plus make those rides far safer. The unit starts to flash as soon as it "sees" an approaching vehicle. I was told by a UPS driver that he could see the flash as far back as 3/4 of a mile in bright sunlight. That anyone who claimed they didn't see it was either blind or lying. Simultaneous with the intensified flash a display on the computer screen tracks the approaching vehicle. I have found it is quite easy to estimate the relative speed of the vehicle. As many as 6 individual cars have shown simultaneously in the display. The display is tinted red until the last vehicle has passed, then it turns green indicating the road is clear. No car has ever passed me and not shown on the display well in advance. It is absolutely essential when I have to move across the lane to reach a left turn lane. This unit is my second one. The earlier one was still going strong after more than three years of use, and many thousands of miles of travel. I mistakenly thought that the battery was weakening, and chose to replace it. That is fine. I gave it to a friend who will continue to use it, likely for many years to come. Of all the safety gear I have purchased over the years, this is the best. For those who might wonder, it is also usable with Wahoo computers.

The Light in Motion is necessary for those early morning commutes. The ease of operating and the battery life is exceptional. Mounting is secure on helmet�s, handle bars and forks with the bungee strap provided. Bright enough that those caught in the beam shield their eyes even when pointed down and away. (Some say you need to turn it down) with 4 modes of brightness you can see/be seen and that�s what this piece is about.

A lot of bike tech these days seems like overkill but that's not the case with this. It has made my commute safer and I wouldn't feel as comfortable riding without it. I use the Garmin 530 and the ap on my phone. I keep one earbud in while riding to get the sound alerts. I love the color sequence that it goes through: orange means a slower vehicle, red means a faster vehicle and green means all clear. After using since last May to commute, I can honestly say I have yet to see a false positive or negative. The only issue I had was my old pannier system blocked the sensor. so I had to swap that out. Otherwise, this thing works flawlessly and makes my daily commute safer. I hated the small mirror I used to use on my bar end which was way to distracting.