{"id":9991,"date":"2025-01-07T11:23:36","date_gmt":"2025-01-07T11:23:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chevinblog.citruslime.com\/?p=9991"},"modified":"2025-01-09T17:25:48","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T17:25:48","slug":"garmin-varia-radar-light-long-term-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chevinwordpress.citruslime.com\/2025\/01\/07\/garmin-varia-radar-light-long-term-test\/","title":{"rendered":"Garmin Varia Radar Light – Long Term Test Results.."},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Garmin Varia - Long Term Test<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Garmin Varia Radar Rear Light \u2013 my thoughts 3 years in. <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Words written by John Nicholson, Cycle To Work Business Manager.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>

NB: This is not a technical specification review \u2013 there\u2019s plenty of those to be found on-line. These are my thoughts having owned and used one for almost exactly three years.\u00a0 Spoiler Alert: I love this bit of kit!!<\/p>

First, the unit is working precisely as it was out of the box.\u00a0 There seems to be little reduction in battery life*, the light is as bright and functional as it was when new and I\u2019ve had zero issues with connectivity etc..<\/p>

Some basic \u2018stats\u2019 \u2013 it\u2019s just over 1000 days old.\u00a0 I\u2019ve ridden with it on pretty much every ride in those three years \u2013 over 300 rides, about 14000 miles (22500km), in all conditions\u2026.. 30C in Gran Canaria, Sleet & Snow in Scotland and mostly, on the generally wet & filthy roads in Yorkshire.\u00a0 During this time it has never missed a blink (if you pardon the pun).<\/p>

A bit about the \u2018light\u2019 for those not familiar with the Varia\u2026 it is a Radar unit, with a light (a very bright light).\u00a0 The in-built Radar detects vehicles approaching from behind (from about 150 meters away \u2013 which is plenty) and when it does you get an audible bleep and a graphic on your head unit (works with Garmin & Wahoo) telling you a vehicle is approaching.\u00a0 Better still, the graphic and audio warnings are brighter and louder depending on how fast the vehicle is approaching.\u00a0 And\u2026.. the Varia\u2019s light flashes more quickly and brighter to make you even more visible to the approaching driver – so everyone is more aware and safer.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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It is, in short, a very clever and effective device.\u00a0 Personally I can’t ride without it \u2013 or at least I feel far more vulnerable without it.\u00a0 You\u2019re very lucky these days as a cyclist if you don\u2019t experience poor driving and near misses \u2013 this unit gives me a far more confident feeling that \u2018I know what\u2019s coming\u2019 \u2013 and hopefully that drivers have seen me well in advance.<\/p>

I have good hearing for a man of my tender years (although my wife wouldn\u2019t agree!).\u00a0 The Varia alerts me to traffic behind much earlier than my ears.\u00a0 And of course in respect of \u00a0\u2018silent\u2019 EVs it is a complete essential.<\/p>

It truly is the best accessory I\u2019ve bought since I started Road cycling ten years ago\u2026 without doubt.\u00a0 It is reliable and robust and most importantly an amazing safety feature imho.<\/p>

Not cheap at \u00a3170 RRP I agree, but for me it\u2019s so far worked out at less than a penny a kilometre (who doesn\u2019t justify the cost of cycling in this way!\u00a0<\/p>

*A word about battery life \u2013 I\u2019ve not done a precise test on this, but I haven\u2019t noticed any deterioration.\u00a0 Also, I am pretty \u2018religious\u2019 in recharging my devices after every ride.\u00a0 This in itself is probably not recommended in terms of getting best longevity from a Lithium Iron battery, but none the less I still always get a four hour ride without the device \u2018dying\u2019.\u00a0 I\u2019ve done a few \u2018tons\u2019 without running out of charge and often been out all day and still not run out of juice (I always turn off at caf\u00e9 stops).\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Tech Specs;
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Garmin Varia Radar RTL515<\/strong><\/p>
Dimension<\/th>98.6 x 19.7 x 39.6 mm (3.9\u2033 x 0.8\u2033 x 1.6\u2033)<\/td><\/tr>
Weight<\/th>71.0 g (2.5 oz)<\/td><\/tr>
Light modes<\/th>Solid, peloton, night flash, day flash<\/td><\/tr>
Lumens<\/th>20 solid, 8 peloton, 29 night flash, 65 day flash<\/td><\/tr>
Water rating<\/a><\/th>IPX7<\/td><\/tr>
Battery life<\/th>6 hours solid
8 hours peloton
6 hours night flash
16 hours day flash<\/td><\/tr>
ANT+\u00ae<\/th>Yes (radar, bike lights)<\/td><\/tr>
BLE<\/th>Yes (radar)<\/td><\/tr>
Viewing angle<\/th>220\u00b0<\/td><\/tr>
Visibility distance<\/th>1.6 km (1 mile)<\/td><\/tr>
Rear tail light<\/th>\u00a0Yes<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Garmin Varia – Long Term Test Garmin Varia Radar Rear Light \u2013 my thoughts 3 years in. Words written by John Nicholson, Cycle To Work Business Manager.\u00a0 NB: This is not a technical specification review \u2013 there\u2019s plenty of those to be found on-line. These are my thoughts having owned and used one for almost […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":10008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,35],"tags":[12,13,93,89,94,91,90,63,92],"class_list":["post-9991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-reviews","tag-chevin-cycles","tag-chevin-cycles-harrogate","tag-chevin-cycles-otley","tag-garmin-varia","tag-product-test","tag-radar","tag-rear-lights","tag-safety","tag-yorkshire-roads"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chevinwordpress.citruslime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chevinwordpress.citruslime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chevinwordpress.citruslime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chevinwordpress.citruslime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chevinwordpress.citruslime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9991"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/chevinwordpress.citruslime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10050,"href":"https:\/\/chevinwordpress.citruslime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9991\/revisions\/10050"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chevinwordpress.citruslime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chevinwordpress.citruslime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chevinwordpress.citruslime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chevinwordpress.citruslime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}