Garmin 010-02376-00 Varia RTL515, Cycling Rearview Radar with Tail Light, Visual and Audible Alerts for Vehicles Up to 153 Yards Away

I admit I was skeptical about a bike radar. Do I really need this? Will it be useful at all? I ride in suburban streets that are not real busy so I didn’t think I would use it. Boy was I wrong. Radar detects cars a long way back which really helps me anticipate intersections and especially turns at intersections. I have yet to get a false reading. I like it most when I’m out alone and there is “no traffic.” Many times a car sneaks up that I don’t hear but the radar picks it up. Battery life is not great but passable. I get about 2.5 hours per charge on max power. Would definitely buy it again and highly recommend it.

Let me start off by saying, Ive been biking since my 20s, now in my 50s. Im what I consider a long distance, casual, organize touring biker. In other words Im not a racer. Im not sure how this device has escaped me for as long as it has. I used this radar for the first time on a 20 mile loop only due to the time of day. I must say I was very excited with the way the radar performed. For the first 5 to10 mins I still looked over my shoulder. Once I had a handle on where the car or cars were in relationship to what I saw on my phone. I felt pretty confident with using the radar. Sometimes when you have to rely on your hearing or looking over your shoulder some quieter vehicles manage to sneak up on you especially if the wind is blowing in the opposite direction that you are riding. You then have to make a split second decision on whether to avoid bad road pavement and possibly creating a close call situation or play it safe with the car and pray you and your bike survives hitting a pot hole, gravel, etc. I feel with the radar it allows you to focus more on the road ahead of you, instead of constantly looking over your shoulder. Which actually allows you to make a more informed decision on navigating the pavement, because you see ahead of time where the cars are in relationship to you. Im very satisfied with that feature. I use the radar with the Varia app on my retired LG G7 phone. They both work well together. Im very happy with the app. Its a very basic, lean, and clean app. Its not loaded with a bunch of unnecessary options. It does just what it is suppose to. I may be a little picky, but I just wish that I had the ability to turn off the light and continue to keep it linked to the app. I probably would not use it that way, but it would be nice as option if you need to stretch the battery life a little longer. Definitely not a game changer. Also the bracket is okay, not a big fan of the silicone like stretchy bands for attaching expensive devices on the back of my bike that could possibly brake loose and I may not know in time if the device fell off my bike. I also wish that garmin would make a bracket that allows the radar to be extended pass your saddle bag. I since have ordered a K- Edge Go Big Pro Saddle Rail Go Pro Camera Mount. I was also going to order a 3d garmin to Go Pro adapter to attach to the mount, but i decided to buy a For Garmin Varia Radar RTL510 tail light mount holder saddle bracket off Ebay. This bracket is much shorter, but I only bought it to remove the garmin attachment and attach that to K-Edge. The housing around the garmin attachment is made of medal, which I feel would be better than a plastic 3d adapter. Hopefully with the extra length that the K-Edge has it will be just long enough to clear my saddle bag. I will update when I acquire all of the above mentioned mounts. Oh by the way there are similar mounts on here on Amazon like the RTL510 that also include the garmin attachment, but it seems like they all ship from China. Which would be okay if your willing to wait 5 to 7 weeks.

NICE NICHE ITEM. NEEDS A LITTLE TWEEKING. BUT OVERALL GOOD FOR SOME CYCLISTS

I bought this as a supplement to my mirror. I was nervous about mounting it on the post below my bag, thinking it might not work, but it did! I took it out for a spin. A couple times I thought it was giving me false alerts and then sure enough a car wound up coming up on me, sometimes around a bend where I could not initially see it. I was impressed with the distance it picked the cars up. It works great with my Edge Explore. I have it paired to my Venu also. They both work, but the Edge connection is better.

If you ride on roads often, this is an incredible investment in safety, IMO! Ive used this with the Varia phone app as well as my Garmin Edge 530, and the advance notifications and accuracy of vehicle position, number of vehicles, etc. really raises the level of confidence on the road. Ive used only the day flash mode so far and battery life has been good, as advertised. The flashing light is VERY bright. For me, the added safety this provides is well worth the cost paid. Excellent.

Perfect purchase!

Wow oh wow. This is an absolute must have. Just do it people. Its about your life, your safety. If your family cares about you. Just do it.

Very good!!

I bought the Varia RTL515 last week. The radar and light worked perfectly, and was easy to set up on my Hammerhead Karoo 2 bike computer via the ANT protocol. Like many reviewers I was immediately smitten after one use (40 mile ride).

This definitely gives me piece of mind while riding. I get audible alerts on my bike computer and vibration on my watch when a car is approaching. Great when on long rides and I may drift a little.