Garmin
Varia Radar 2 RTL510 Rear Light

gives you great reassurance that no one is coming up on you. Find it great on curvey climbs and descents. Country roads it shines!

I hadn't considered this until I had trouble with cars on faster descents. The RADAR works just as I expected, and gives me enough warning time to look ahead on the road and choose where to bike, and to turn and take a look behind me. This is what I wanted, a reliable device that told when to look. I'd recommend this rear light for anyone.

As an owner of the original Varia, my only real complaint was battery life. Version 2 has fixed that. The original was good for 4-4.5 hrs, I have yet to come even close to draining the battery on my new model. Might be a tad heavier (I haven't weighed it) but well worth the tradeoff!

Likes the included mount fits on my pinarello aero seat post. It's fairly small but still very bright. It changes flash patterns and intensity when cars approach. It works seamlessly with my garmin 520 head unit. I ride with a small mirror on my glasses but this gives me MUCH earlier warning for approaching cars (and I'm not always staring at my mirror either). The radar works fabulously on smaller, more lightly traveled roads where you may not hear a car till the last minute. I find the display very easy to interpret. The form factor of the this model varia is nicer sleeker than the original model and works just as well.

Dislikes the seat mount is just a rubber band with a standard garmin quarter twist mount. The twist part feels very secure to me but the actual assembly tends to rotate on the seat post from time to time. It's an easy fix, even while riding but I'm not always paying attention. Getting it to pair the first time was a little dodgy (if I recall, I had to pair the radar and then also include it as part of a garmin light network, but it was only a one time issue)

Overall I now consider this to be an essential part of my daily riding gear.

Ingenious product and absolutely a peace of mind enabler. You are alerted to cars approaching from the rear on your Garmin head mount unit and it blinks in increasing cadence as cars approach to alert distracted riders to your presence. I would not bike without it.

This is a fantastic upgrade from your standard blinky light and communicates with your garmin head unit. You can hear the rear beep alert and see the number of cars on your garmin head unit. It adds another degree of confidence when on rural roads when one can be lulled into pacificity and the alert is a nice reminder that even remote roads have traffic, often faster than urban and with little shoulder the increased blink cadence of this unit as traffic gets closer is another enhancement for your safety. Wise insurance.

This is now the equivalent of wallet, keys, phone if I'm on my bike. I can't imagine cycling on the road without it now. It's responsive and accurate and gives me a feeling of security in knowing if/when cars are coming. I prefer to ride in the middle of the road since I live in a rural area, and this picks up cars from far enough away that I have time to prepare accordingly.

I had the previous generation of this product and loved it. This one is even better. It's eye-catching and informative - even a bit too sensitive sometimes, identifying vehicles moving on a road parallel to me and a block to the side. No matter - better safe than sorry. I do not like the "rubber band" mount, but it has been secure even on some pretty rough terrain. It works great with the Stages Dash head units, too, giving you the option of showing on the right or left side of your screen. I like to choose the traffic side.

I was a little skeptical, even after looking at u-tube videos. But wow, I'm very impressed with the technology. I bought it because I ride solo more than 50% of my miles (5000 - 6000 per yr), but it works equally as well with a group.

I use it with a Garmin edge 830. Love how it interfaces and shows me the approaching vehicles on my 830 head unit. Shows multiple vehicles. I have found it very reliable. Rarely do I get a false reading from another bike (only if our differential speed is significant). Definitely makes me a safer rider. Only wish - louder or adjustable audio alarm.

At the beginning I was concerned with the battery performance but after using the radar in the blinking mode all my concerns went away. I have used this product on a 7 hour rides and it has worked great. You just need to be sure to use it in the blinking mode if not the battery last around 4 hours.

Paired with my Edge 520, this rear light alerts me when cars are approaching by showing RED highlights on both the left and right edges of the screen. Even better, on the right edge of the screen inside the RED highlight is a dot for each vehicle that is approaching you. Each dot starts at the bottom of the screen and slides up the screen as the vehicle is approaching you (moving up the screen faster if the vehicle is moving faster). Once all the vehicles have gone by, the left and right sides of the screen flash GREEN to let you know the cars have gone by. It feels so much safer riding on the road to know that a car is coming so that you can time your look back accordingly.

Riding on country roads, cars can kind of sneak up on you. Especially the quiet hybrid and electric types. The radar, synced with an Edge 520, does a great job of giving a heads up on cars and trucks coming from behind. The light is super bright and has a bunch of different flashing sequences. It can be a bit finicky to get the radar working sometimes. I have to turn it offon along with the 520 to get it to sync up properly sometimes. Kind of annoying when youre trying to get going, or dont notice until cars are passing with nary a beep. But when its working properly, it is totally worth it.

Being old school I wasn't sure I needed Radar but after talking to other riders in our club I decided I would give it a try. We have a lot of grey days and visibility is not always great radar makes me aware of stealth drivers before I might initially be aware of them. It took a ride or two to remember to glance at my GPS unit as part of my usual scans. I won"t ride with out it now.

I bought one of these after my riding partner did and I am glad I did. This puppy works perfectly and when paired with a compatible Garmin head unit alerts you to vehicles behind you visually and aurally if you can hear well (which I cannot). I really like the way it starts blinking randomly and vigorously when approaching vehicles are detected. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this unit and am absolutely delighted with its performance.

The single most amazing safety upgrade ever. The unit is so reliable you almost never need to look behind. It provides audio warning, shows the number of vehicles approaching and gives all clear after vehicles have passed. It also integrates with head unit and shows the battery level. The thing turns on and off by the head unit so you never have to touch it. Truly set it and forget it.

I have always loved my handlebar mirror for keeping track of traffic behind me, but now that I bought the Varia I'm amazed at how much safer I feel!

Not only do I get audible warnings when cars come up on me, the display on my Garmin 520 shows me exactly how many of them are back there.

I have been recommending this to everyone in the bike club and now more of the riders than not are using one too.

I enjoy my rides much more with the radar. No more contact looking over my shoulder for traffic. Of course, riders still need to be alert and occasionally look back to confirm what is there, but the radar brings a great piece of mind. The best feature is seeing how many vehicles will be passing.

I struggled with adding such a large appendage to my rather stealth bike, but once it was up and running in action, it proved its value countless times. Only complaint is a fair amount of false positives, but it is nice to know when that big guy behind you is about to attack and pass you!

I ride five or six days a week. I rely on the Garmin Varia Radar to help me see what's back there, coming up on me. I'm 72 years old, and it's tough to tuck and look under my arm like I did when I was younger. So with the Varia, and my rear-view mirror, I am more relaxed in traffic. Now, If only it could see around corners, or into the future...

Wonderful tail light. The radar works great. I have a Edge 520 and it can cause it to drain its battery faster. I had to adjust the back light to get it to last through all day rides. I sure a newer Edge would pair better. You can control the Varia with the 830 and old 520 does not have that capability. But other than that I love the unit and would recommended it.