interesting new garmin radar data

[Stefan Mikes]

Very sorry to learn Mark I deserved your blacklisting. People may have different opinions; even if I think Varia users are 'careless technocrats' you might simply disagree with me, that's it.

Any modern car I drove has three rear-view mirrors, and the radar is only used for backing the car off. The argument of no need to taking the rider's eyes off the road is indeed a weak one, as the rider has to at least look down on the display or phone (unless the aural alert is sufficient). If that's the audio alert, it usually means the rider's ears are plugged, which only fortifies my "careless" or "technocrat" statements of a diminished riding safety.

StVZO? Garmin Varia produces stronger tail-light upon detecting a car. The stronger red tail-light means "STOPPING" in Europe. The Varia user is not stopping, so Varia is misleading the drivers. For one, my Vado 6.0 has a stop indicator that actually warns the drivers I would be stopping.

Garmin Varia may be useful in some world region but it is not a Wonder of the World. Just a gadget.

yes … this coming from a man who lives, wait for it, IN THE NETHERLANDS!

Whoever could be called a "technocrat" it is DC Rainmaker. Have you cycled in the Netherlands Mark? I wonder whoever sane would use Garmin Varia on the Dutch bike paths riding together with thousands of other bikers in the country of the best cycling infrastructure in the world...

 

[Allan47.7339]

I use lights 24 x 7 so I have wired lights on both Creo's. I use the Garmin Varia™ eRTL615 as my combination rear tail light and radar mounted to my seat. I turn the beeps off in urban areas but it shows on my Garmin head unit and I have an IQ app that shows the speeds and car count.

 

[Prairie Dog]

To each their own. There will always be varying opinions on whether or not Varia is for everyone. For me, and like @mschwett it is a must have accessory. Good to know that a mirror works for you Stefan and for that matter, anyone else. Personally, I don’t road ride without my Varia and I do see more cyclists along my rural route choosing to use them.

I’m not claiming that it’s the best thing since sliced bread but I personally think that it is a piece of ground breaking technology with respect to improving my situational awareness while out on the road. It also doubles as a standalone tail light and strobes the car which is passing allowing drivers to focus more on their surroundings. It also pairs nicely with my Garmin Edge. On longer rides, I appreciate the fact that I don’t have to constantly look down or up at a mirror for vehicles approaching from behind as the audible chirps from the device are sufficient enough of a warning even on windy days. I’m able to detect vehicles before I can even hear them. I can’t say the same about listening for cars coming up from behind when the wind is howling.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Personally, I don’t road ride without my Varia and I do see more cyclists along my rural route choosing to use them.

I could understand the value of the Varia for a road bike as it is difficult to find a good mirror for them, and you people ride road bikes really fast, making the decision time rather short. On the other hand, I wonder how it was possible to ride a bike without Varia before it was invented...

The think I cannot understand though is the value of the post-ride stats of Varia

 

[Calcoaster]

I could understand the value of the Varia for a road bike as it is difficult to find a good mirror for them, and you people ride road bikes really fast, making the decision time rather short. On the other hand, I wonder how it was possible to ride a bike without Varia before it was invented...

The think I cannot understand though is the value of the post-ride stats of Varia

Maybe this will help, in your last statement “The think I cannot understand though is the value of the post-ride stats of Varia”, replace Varia with wahoo, Strava, Garmin, etc. and you will answer your own question yourself.

 

[Prairie Dog]

On the other hand, I wonder how it was possible to ride a bike without Varia before it was invented...

The think I cannot understand though is the value of the post-ride stats of Varia

I don’t think that it’s much different than when we rode without our bike computers, HRMs, power meters and smart phones. To be quite honest, I never rode with a bike mirror and I guess that practice stuck with me until I discovered how much of a positive difference Varia made in my daily rides. We live in a technological age that has evolved drastically since those bygone days. Speaking of which, I think that you would also agree that the prolific advancement of ebikes has elevated our desire to ride faster and farther than ever before.

As far as traffic stats go, I think that there is a bit of cycling analytics DNA in all of us. I’m not into graphs or charts detailing every metric like some others follow but I do find vehicle counts/movements of some significant merit since I would be able track where the densest traffic occurs along my routes and could avoid riding those during certain times of the day. When I acquired my first Varia RVR315 several years ago, I used an app called MyBikeRadarTraffic and found it to be a useful tool particularly on heavily trafficked roads such as Hwy #93 along the Icefields Parkway. We’ve ridden that stretch of tarmac only twice due to the high number of vehicles transiting between Lake Louise and Jasper during the summer months.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Maybe this will help, in your last statement “The think I cannot understand though is the value of the post-ride stats of Varia”, replace Varia with wahoo, Strava, Garmin, etc. and you will answer your own question yourself.

Wahoo is the way for me to track my own performance, Strava helps me plan battery use for future rides. All related to myself and my e-bikes, not to the number of cars that passed me or their speed.

When I was cycling as a young person, I didn't need these tools because my rides were actually short. E-bikes changed my life and the length of the travel. I didn't jump on Wahoo or Strava early; I was using Maps.cz or Endomondo on a smartphone since 2013. I use Wahoo because it is weatherproof and has a great battery life. Wahoo helps me navigating, informs me on upcoming climbs, and records my rides. Strava is even my e-bike maintenance log.

I simply do not use gadgets that do not make me a better cyclist.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Let's face it: Few things discussed in this forum are necessary in any real sense. If they're harmless (except to wallets) and some members find them interesting or useful in their own riding, I say, let them enjoy and share.

Plenty of room for that on EBR, and the rest of us might just learn something.

As a lifelong math and science buff, I have many interests with nanosecond glaze-over times for nearly everyone else. If I run across someone who sees even a glimmer of interest in one of them, it's a treat.

 

[sc00ter]

When I was younger and rode road bikes I always ended up in the back of the pack. Why you ask? Because I always ran a mirror on my road bike. I was the first person calling "Car back!" on our group rides on narrow 2 lane country roads (Pungo Virginia to those who've ridden it). I've always ran mirrors and trust them, because I'm a Luddite at heart. I would love to try this Garmin thing but know I'll never fully use it as intended because I'm always checking my mirrors anyways. My 10,000 miles a year on a 125cc scooter on crazy surface streets has taught me well! I have my ebikes setup the same way, 2 big mirrors that don't vibrate. I think the term is Spacial Awareness.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

When I was younger and rode road bikes I always ended up in the back of the pack. Why you ask? Because I always ran a mirror on my road bike. I was the first person calling "Car back!" on our group rides on narrow 2 lane country roads (Pungo Virginia to those who've ridden it). I've always ran mirrors and trust them, because I'm a Luddite at heart. I would love to try this Garmin thing but know I'll never fully use it as intended because I'm always checking my mirrors anyways. My 10,000 miles a year on a 125cc scooter on crazy surface streets has taught me well! I have my ebikes setup the same way, 2 big mirrors that don't vibrate. I think the term is Spacial Awareness.

If your rear scouting rates are reasonable, you might be able to pick up a few extra bucks as the low-cost alternative to the Varia.
;^}

I also have a Luddite streak. But if I rode the shoulderless roads and highways that @Prairie Dog does with any frequency, I'd probably want a Varia too, as most of the threats would then come from behind.

However, with the huge network of wide bike lanes here, most of my threats come from the front or sides instead. And for that risk environment, I'm content with a mirror and the hypervigilence habit developed on Suzuki and Kawasaki road bikes many years ago.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Here's a prime example of the type of idiots that we occasionally come up against. This footage was shot from today’s ride. Posted speed limit is 80 kph and these guys were traveling faster than that.

In complete fairness, the majority of drivers are not typical of these fools and drive responsibly by either slowing down, providing a wide berth before passing or both. Unfortunately, the county doesn’t feel the need to budget $$ to incorporate any form of bike infrastructure on rural roads such as done within city limits and I completely understand. However, even erecting a few road signs advising others to share the road with cyclists would go a long way in helping to establish some form of protocol. The threat level LED on my Garmin turns bright red if a vehicle is approaching at a high rate of speed as it did with these two maniacs giving me time to prepare. Some sections of shoulder along our routes are not even marked which requires us to up our level of awareness.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Here's a prime example of the type of idiots that we occasionally come up against. This footage was shot from today’s ride. Posted speed limit is 80 kph and these guys were traveling faster than that.

The maniac drivers exist in Poland, too. I was often verbally abused by a driver for my mere presence on the road (where I was legal to ride). It happened not once nor twice the driver intentionally overtook me 'by width of the safety razor' (as we say). More: A roadie friend was intentionally hit by en enraged driver and pushed into a deep ditch at the side road! (The case is still under prosecution).

Having said the above: How would Varia prevent all this? How does the "awareness" of the road-pirate behind you helps you survive?

 

[Prairie Dog]

Having said the above: How would Varia prevent all this? How does the "awareness" of the road-pirate behind you helps you survive?

What planet do you live on? What a silly question. Do you have a force field that protects you from an imminent impact? It certainly can’t prevent me from being hit but it does give me peace of mind and audibly alerts me well enough in advance to move closer to the edge of the shoulder and when vehicles are approaching from behind so quickly there’s not much time to react. As I stated before, the display turns bright red which indicates the vehicle is traveling at a high rate of speed which fortunately doesn’t occur every time a driver overtakes me.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

It certainly can’t prevent me from being hit but it does give me peace of mind and audibly alerts me well enough in advance to move closer to the edge of the shoulder and when vehicles are approaching from behind so quickly there’s not much time to react. As I stated before, the display turns bright red which indicates the vehicle is traveling at a high rate of speed which fortunately doesn’t occur every time a driver overtakes me.

What would you do to prepare? "Uh, uh, uh, I'm gonna die?" Brace for impact? Wouldn't you see the same in the rear-view mirror?

I looked at the map around Range Road 270 and I certainly agree it is not a cycling area. Here, it is a description of an accident that occurred just a few weeks ago in my area, which is a cycling area:

Let us start with a cyclist has no priority on bike crossings in Poland unless "he or she is already on the crossing". The intention of the law-maker was to prevent cyclists enforcing the priority on the bike crossing (as the car might have no time to stop). The man was riding his bike from the north and simply rode onto the crossing, where he was (probably fatally) hit by a van. I think the cyclist had his ears plugged with earphones (as many do). He even had no rear-view mirror (judging by a press photo) or a helmet. If he were reasonable, he would at least look behind his shoulder, or better slow down or stop and look around. I cannot trust the mirror there (as the bike path is naturally off the road), so I listen, slow down or stop, and look around there. When an approaching driver sees me slowing down and making an eye contact, he/she usually lets me go. In many cases, the driver even accelerates, though! I think Varia might or might not work there; I believe the radar would rather give me a false feeling of safety there, which is counter-productive.

What planet do you live on?

On the same as you do, just a different world region. As useful Varia could be, it is not a panacea.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Incidents might occur regardless of where one rides, even on MUPs. Yes, one does increase risk where there are more vehicles on the road. Unfortunately, that’s life. I don’t have the luxury of riding where there few cars and the rural roads are much safer than any of the provincial hwys. The heart of the issue here is you simply can’t accept that people use these devices because they won’t work for your needs so naturally, they’re not acceptable in your opinion. Good on you for including a mirror in your kit as it’s better than taking no safety measures whatsoever.

 

[AvalancheRun]

Love the Varia and totally agree that it's a great device for increasing visibility. My eyes are drawn to them on the road when I drive, even during the day.

Really wish the app would allow support for multiple Varias. Huge miss that it doesn't especially since they offer a hardwired version. They should also include this data natively in the app. It's interesting and thought-provoking. To have data to speak to how drivers interact (often very poorly) with people on bicycles could be helpful in discussions.

Trek has a device that actually tells you if a vehicle is aimed towards you, in addition to the functionality Varia provides. Don't know anything else about their product, but Varia needs something like that. That warning would be invaluable.

 

[AvalancheRun]

Here's a prime example of the type of idiots that we occasionally come up against. This footage was shot from today’s ride. Posted speed limit is 80 kph and these guys were traveling faster than that.

In complete fairness, the majority of drivers are not typical of these fools and drive responsibly by either slowing down, providing a wide berth before passing or both. Unfortunately, the county doesn’t feel the need to budget $$ to incorporate any form of bike infrastructure on rural roads such as done within city limits and I completely understand. However, even erecting a few road signs advising others to share the road with cyclists would go a long way in helping to establish some form of protocol. The threat level LED on my Garmin turns bright red if a vehicle is approaching at a high rate of speed as it did with these two maniacs giving me time to prepare. Some sections of shoulder along our routes are not even marked which requires us to up our level of awareness.

I'm so sick of drivers nowadays. They are by far the most entitled and indifferent set of people I run into in daily life, while also being the most lethal. Whether I'm behind the wheel, on foot, or on a bike, drivers are always the issue. We have a city limit of 25 mph, which is really too fast in many situations. Most drivers will think nothing of buzzing you at 30-40 mph while on their phone in my Austin neighborhood. In many situations here faster than 20 is just plain unsafe. The lack of respect for human life is insane.