Riding with radar
Give yourself some Daredevil powers and see behind you without looking with this Garmin.
It doesn’t look like it from the photos, but the Varia is actually much smaller than it looks – the height and width are actually shorter than a business card but it’s about an inch thick.
The device itself is a simple black box with a row of LED lights at the top – you attach it to your bike’s seatpost using the supplied mounting system with elastic bands. Here’s the interesting thing about the Varia – while the LED lights allow it work as a lamp, its primary function is to use radar to detect cars coming behind you so that it can alert you when they are about to pass you.
There’s very little setup necessary before you can start using the Varia – it only has a single button which you have to hold down for more than two seconds to turn it on.
A quick press, on the other hand, will cycle between the two light modes – flashing or constantly on.
There is also an LED on either side of the device which will help you stay visible to cars on your side.
Interestingly, only two out of the eight LEDs on the back are initially lit up – the rest are powered on when the Varia detects cars approaching you so battery life is not wasted.
Sounds pretty cool, right? And it works too.
The Varia is sold either as a single unit or with a wireless head unit that you attach to your handlebars.
The head unit is not necessary if you already own a Garmin cycling computer like the Edge 520 or Edge 25.
The Varia can pair with these devices which will then display the traffic information on the main screen.
In our tests, we used the Edge 25 as the head unit – when paired together, the Varia will transmit information wirelessly to the cycling computer.
Surprisingly, despite the limited screen space on the Edge 25, it worked so well – you get a bar on the edge of the device’s screen with circles representing cars behind you.
The closer the circles move to the top, the closer the cars are behind you.
As the cars get very near you, the Edge 25 will make an audible beep to alert you. It’s that simple. The Varia was quite accurate in use – I used it extensively on my daily commute and was often pleasantly surprised at how consistently accurate it was at predicting how many cars were behind me and when to expect them to pass me by.
While it didn’t stop me from taking a quick look behind me before changing lanes ( which is just prudent), it certainly reduced the number of times I needed to look behind as I was cycling.
Battery life is only about four hours or so though, so you probably need to charge it after a long ride or at least once every other day if you’re just using it for shorter rides.
The Varia Rearview Radar is a really cool device and it works exactly as advertised.
The problem is that while it’s cool and really quite useful, it’s expensive for what it does, especially when you could buy a rearview mirror that clips on the side of your handlebar that essentially does the same thing.
However, it has to be said that the Varia might be useful for folding bicycles, as a rearview mirror can’t easily be attached without affecting how the bicycle folds.
Nevertheless, I really loved the time I had with the Varia and it could be a lifesaver.