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

This is a GREAT unit, and it makes me safer on the road. It is ridiculously affordable insurance, a wonderful bit of technology, and an absolute flawless joy to use.

I have been riding with this unit for about 6 months. It paired seamlessly with my Wahoo Element. Incredibly accurate and sensitive. I would recommend it for anyone riding streets and roads. Realize that you need a GPS to pair it with.

This is a fantastic product and works as advertised. I do a fair bit of road biking and this worked like a charm. It was able to tell 2-3 cars coming up behind me 95% of the time, although in some instances the second car indicated a bit later but still over a 100 ft behind. I would suggest waiting 2 seconds after a car has passed in case the radar has not picked up any more vehicles behind. I have it paired with a Karoo2 with no issues and the accurate visual alarms really gave me much more confidence on the road. The only quibble is the stupid rubber band system to hold it to the bike. Almost $200 and we get this? Really?

You cant go wrong with this radar tail light. The only difference between the 510 and this 515 is the Bluetooth feature, which means you can use this one with a cell phone instead of a Garmin (or other brand GPS). I have ridden with others who have the older 510 version and there is no difference in sensitivity, so the 515 doesnt sense a car sooner than the 510. A few times Ive forgotten my Garmin so its good that I can pair my phone with it. I think every rider should own this!

First, know that there are other versions of the Varia radars with integrated lights. I had one and sold it on eBay out of frustration. No manufacturer of bike computers EXCEPT Garmin supports ANT+ lights, so if you arent using Garmin, dont bother getting one with a light. Secondly, as you search around the Internet, youll see tons of people frustrated with how Garmin works with the light version of this product. For me, I tried every trick suggested in their forums, but basically couldnt get the light to work unless I unpaired and repaired it tediously before each bike ride. I have a Varia front light, and have no such trouble with it. I did not ding this review over that, because its a different product (the RVR515) but if you are considering both, search the Internet and weigh in other peoples experiences and frustrations into your decision. For an additional data point, I have a Garmin Edge 1030 computer, and I went so far as to wipe it to factory, plus reset the RVR515 several times in an attempt to fix it, and had the problem across two versions of the Garmin software, and one update to the firmware of the RVR515. Just not ready for primetime!

Every cyclist that rides solo needs this device. It increases your safety 10 times

It works as advertised. I love the visual and audible warning. The blanking light gets drivers attention and increases awareness.

Title says it all. It took about a week of rides to get used to it, and I love it! It works flawlessly with my Wahoo Elemnt Bolt (w/ display, LED, and sound functions).

Great when riding solo! If in a steady peloton the device works well but Ive found that it does not work well in small group riding (2 - 3 riders) as the system picks up any variation is distance as a vehicle...even for my 52 wife riding her Felt with 650s. I have also found that cars will disappear from the display when riding rollers. But the reappear when they emerge from the valley.

This is a very cool device/light. I think they are absolutely worth getting. While you shouldnt rely on it 100%, what Ive found is that its quite accurate (Ive only had it miss a car once, and that was in a residential neighborhood with the car maybe only going 10-15mph, so ???). What this means is that I find that I leverage it not just for knowing when cars are behind me, but when they are not. This lets you say ride further away from the shoulder when you need to, or if you happen to be on a road where cars are rare and youre say riding no hands down the middle of the lane (eating, putting jacket on, whatever), you can be alerted if you have to adjust, etc.