Supercharger Garmin Varia rtl515 Rack Mount

[Aushiker]

I was wondering if anyone has mounted a Garmin Varia rtl515 to their Supercharger 2 or other Riese and Muller rack? Looking for ideas.

 

[MD99]

I haven't put one on the rack, but my Supercharger has 4 holes where the tail light is fitted and I'm sure you could make a bracket to fit. I've attached a couple of photos my mount I made for my Selle Anatomica saddle on my Timberjack, it was made so I could fit a tool bag under the saddle. I drilled and tapped the frame of the saddle as there is plenty of meat there. Note the kink where the light is fitted. The first attempt stopped just after the mount, but I found that the light kept getting bumped and I frequently found it ready to pop out of the mount. A large o-ring keeps it in place, with a bit of old inner tube to stop the vibration. Difficult getting the bends exactly right as I did not want the o-ring putting pressure on the mount. It works well.

 

[Bill G]

I couldn't use a seatpost mount since my trunk bag would block it. This works for me on an R&M Nevo 3. Also tethered the Garmin.

 

[sammcneill]

Couple of previous discussions on this here:

Garmin Varia usage on eBikes

Hi Team wondering if anyone else uses a Varia radar? https://buy.garmin.com/en-NZ/NZ/p/601468 I use on my road bike and consider it essential safety equipment now. I would like to use on my SC2 but there is not enough seat post below the thudbuster cushioning and the frame for the radar to...

forums.electricbikereview.com

And

Garmin Varia Radar

Does anyone have suggestions as to how to mount a Garmin radar to a Supercharger 2 GX? There is not enough room to mount to the seat post.

forums.electricbikereview.com

I’ve used the under saddle bracket on one of my bikes and on my gravel bikepacking rig I mount it to my Aeroe rack using a Garmin mount.

I’ll try find a picture of it

 

[sammcneill]

Mounted on rack on the right hand side.

Same bike; different bag configuration and mounted under the saddle

 

[Aushiker]

Couple of previous discussions on this here:

Garmin Varia usage on eBikes

Hi Team wondering if anyone else uses a Varia radar? https://buy.garmin.com/en-NZ/NZ/p/601468 I use on my road bike and consider it essential safety equipment now. I would like to use on my SC2 but there is not enough seat post below the thudbuster cushioning and the frame for the radar to...

forums.electricbikereview.com

And

Garmin Varia Radar

Does anyone have suggestions as to how to mount a Garmin radar to a Supercharger 2 GX? There is not enough room to mount to the seat post.

forums.electricbikereview.com

I’ve used the under saddle bracket on one of my bikes and on my gravel bikepacking rig I mount it to my Aeroe rack using a Garmin mount.

I’ll try find a picture of it

Thanks. Yes I had seen those threads.

SInce posting I have given it some more thought and will now likely not use a saddle bag, so mounting along the lines you did here looks like the way to go.

 

[sammcneill]

Thanks. Yes I had seen those threads.

SInce posting I have given it some more thought and will now likely not use a saddle bag, so mounting along the lines you did here looks like the way to go.

Nice - works flawlessly.

Whilst Garmin Varia is bullet proof, the market has exploded with radars/lights now so there is a heap of choice in this space.

 

[Aushiker]

Whilst Garmin Varia is bullet proof, the market has exploded with radars/lights now so there is a heap of choice in this space.

I am aware of the alternative products but have not seen anything worth considering over the Varia; at least so far.

 

[drewberz]

I am aware of the alternative products but have not seen anything worth considering over the Varia; at least so far.

What are you looking fot? There are A LOT of alternatives.

Check out roadio.ai (Disclaimer: I used to work there) for a camera-based alert system too.

 

[Aushiker]

What are you looking fot? There are A LOT of alternatives.

Check out roadio.ai (Disclaimer: I used to work there) for a camera-based alert system too.

A lot of alternatives? Do you mean such as the Bryton Giardia R300L, the Trek CarBack, Magene L508 (I have not heard anything about this one, which speaks volumes to me), IGPS SR30 (does not make the shortlist), Tutuloo W100 (never heard of this one before now ... not going to cut it). In my view, the Bryon and the Trek are not up with the Garmin. I have not seen anything from a credible source to suggest that any of these listed are a variable alternative.

I am not interested in obscure brands unless you can point to extensive credible independent testing (e.g., from DCRainmaker or GPLarma), so I enquired about mounting options for the Garmin.

 

[MD99]

Agree with @Aushiker, Varia is currently the way to go. I was poking around the other week, and noticed there is a 12 VDC ebike version, the Varia eRTL615, which could replace the existing rear light. Would be on my shopping radar (ha!) if I didn't already have the RTL515. Not sure how they justify the 50% price increase over the RTL515 though. They don't even supply a connection cable, although I'd probably slice into the existing wires.

The only thing I don't like with the Varia, is the inability to turn off the radar and leave the lights on, but I live with it.

 

[drewberz]

A lot of alternatives? Do you mean such as the Bryton Giardia R300L, the Trek CarBack, Magene L508 (I have not heard anything about this one, which speaks volumes to me), IGPS SR30 (does not make the shortlist), Tutuloo W100 (never heard of this one before now ... not going to cut it). In my view, the Bryon and the Trek are not up with the Garmin. I have not seen anything from a credible source to suggest that any of these listed are a variable alternative.

I am not interested in obscure brands unless you can point to extensive credible independent testing (e.g., from DCRainmaker or GPLarma), so I enquired about mounting options for the Garmin.

What are your requirements? Are you looking for a light that blinks? Something to give you a 'heads-up'? Etc.

That Magene has plenty of online reviews. Trek's just came out but expect it'd be baseline fine. I may have misread what you've previously written, sounds like you really just want a good mounting solution for your use case.

 

[Aushiker]

What are your requirements? Are you looking for a light that blinks? Something to give you a 'heads-up'? Etc.

This thread is about mounting for a Garmin Varia. That should be a big hint

That Magene has plenty of online reviews. Trek's just came out but expect it'd be baseline fine. I may have misread what you've previously written, sounds like you really just want a good mounting solution for your use case.

From what I can find, there are none from DCRainmaker or GPLarma other than some basic. These are the unit-type videos from about a year ago. That said t makes no difference to me, given I am looking at mounting solutions for a Garmin Varia.

Since you mentioned it, the Trek Carback has been extensively tested and falls short of its claims. It is not a credible alternative to the Varia, at least for me.

 

[Aushiker]

Agree with @Aushiker, Varia is currently the way to go. I was poking around the other week, and noticed there is a 12 VDC ebike version, the Varia eRTL615, which could replace the existing rear light. Would be on my shopping radar (ha!) if I didn't already have the RTL515. Not sure how they justify the 50% price increase over the RTL515 though. They don't even supply a connection cable, although I'd probably slice into the existing wires.

I saw that option as well and got all excited till I saw the price and then thought about the wiring issue given I have a Bosch drive unit on a Riese and Muller Supercharger.

 

[sammcneill]

A friend of mine saw my Varia and loved it so much he tried to get one - there were none in stock anywhere so he bought the Magene which had recently been released at the time. It's worked pretty well for him but on longer rides I don't think the battery is as good as the Varia in my experience.