Maybe after my RTL 515 dies but just got it as a warranty replacement for my 510 which Garmin warrantied even though the warranty was up. Good customer rations adds allot of value to the Garmin! They also did not have any 510’s and sent me the 515 instead.
The Magene radar was already a pretty serious competitor. Bryton a little bit less so, but I believe their last update fixed many of the issues.
But Trek will have better distribution, so there is that side of the argument.
The Bryton (with the update) is very good. I have not encountered and missed or error readings. Maybe range is better on other brands but I find it acceptable. Just bought a second one for under $100usd.
guess i'd have to look into it. i'm already sort of committed to the garmin ecosystem, and i find that generally my varia "just works," so i'm not sure exactly why i'd switch. maybe if trek can offer this at a great price? ____________________________________ https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan
guess i'd have to look into it. i'm already sort of committed to the garmin ecosystem, and i find that generally my varia "just works," so i'm not sure exactly why i'd switch. maybe if trek can offer this at a great price?
This was my take too. In my experience, the Garmin Varia just works with no drama. And it has been around for many years. I would be perfectly open to something else, but that something else would need a compelling difference, like much lower cost, to pull me away.
Garmin 515 is still the king. But Garmin fumbled the ball with the camera version, read some reviews before just getting a 515. The Car Back may be best of the non-Garmin radars though if you dislike Garmin and want something that may be supported long term.
There is a podcast called Geek Warning on escape collective. They review it in the first 10min of the latest episode
That wasn't exactly a glowing review so far!
Ageed. They didn't have much good to say other than it was likely a more margin profit area for the dealers. Price is the same as Garmin, shape seems more boxy and they really panned the accuracy of the Trek model as it didn't pick up traffic well in it's current state. I can't imagine why one would pick the Trek over the Garmin unless it was from the dealer pushing their higher margin product. Kiwami Racing Team
The Bryton (with the update) is very good. I have not encountered and missed or error readings. Maybe range is better on other brands but I find it acceptable. Just bought a second one for under $100usd.
Yeah, I was about to buy an Garmin to replace mine that had very poor battery life, and but saw an Amazon deal for like $70 for the Bryton. I also don't like that the Garmin still uses MicroUSB charging, and the Bryton USB-C. I *hate* micro-USB - personal thing. Come on Garmin, it's 2024.
It's not *quite* as good as the Garmin - slightly underperforms in picking up a chain of multiple cars. Car positions can jump around in that scenario, etc. But overall it's just fine. No regrets.
I think the biggest, if only complaint I've heard (and had myself) of the Varia is that the battery life is too short, like 3hrs runtime, maybe 3:30-3:45 if you're lucky.
A longer-lasting Varia would be a real game-changer, or heck, even one with a well designed clip-on battery attachment to run it for 6-8 hrs would be really cool.
And yes, I know you can just buy two of them and just swap one for the other if you want the long runtime that badly.
I think the biggest, if only complaint I've heard (and had myself) of the Varia is that the battery life is too short, like 3hrs runtime, maybe 3:30-3:45 if you're lucky.
A longer-lasting Varia would be a real game-changer, or heck, even one with a well designed clip-on battery attachment to run it for 6-8 hrs would be really cool.
And yes, I know you can just buy two of them and just swap one for the other if you want the long runtime that badly.
5 hours ride time with mine and still charged enough to ride the next few days. Maybe you need a firmware update? Kiwami Racing Team
I think the biggest, if only complaint I've heard (and had myself) of the Varia is that the battery life is too short, like 3hrs runtime, maybe 3:30-3:45 if you're lucky.
A longer-lasting Varia would be a real game-changer, or heck, even one with a well designed clip-on battery attachment to run it for 6-8 hrs would be really cool.
And yes, I know you can just buy two of them and just swap one for the other if you want the long runtime that badly.
5 hours ride time with mine and still charged enough to ride the next few days. Maybe you need a firmware update?
It probably varies how much traffic passes you - my friend just got a new one and on similar routes as mine he gets the same runtime as me - he def complains about it because he's training for IM and often runs out the battery.
I think the biggest, if only complaint I've heard (and had myself) of the Varia is that the battery life is too short, like 3hrs runtime, maybe 3:30-3:45 if you're lucky.
A longer-lasting Varia would be a real game-changer, or heck, even one with a well designed clip-on battery attachment to run it for 6-8 hrs would be really cool.
And yes, I know you can just buy two of them and just swap one for the other if you want the long runtime that badly.
Nope! I'm using the Varia I bought back in '19 and I had it burning for a 5 and 1/2 hour ride yesterday. I do run it on blink (not solid).
PSA: I always run it on the road and I have it on my gravel bike just in case I end up riding a stretch of busy road. It gets muddy and dusty on the gravel bike and I'll wipe it off before using it on the road. Before yesterday's ride I gave it a really deep clean. To my surprise I noticed it was picking up cars a lot farther away than what I had gotten use to. Keep it clean for maximum range!
My Varia is getting pretty long in the tooth, so i don't know how long it lasts now. But I have gone on 8 hour rides with it in the past in blinking mode. My 520 dies long before the Varia does.
My Varia is getting pretty long in the tooth, so i don't know how long it lasts now. But I have gone on 8 hour rides with it in the past in blinking mode. My 520 dies long before the Varia does.
I have had good battery life with my original unit, but it eventually got a bit older and the battery was a bit sketchy, so bought the new model and no problems there. One thing that really is interesting is that none of the typical gear reviewers like DC Rainmaker/ GP Lama etc have said a word about this Trek unit... that seems very odd. The Geek Alert podcast did not give a very positive review though.
Another anecdote from me - I did a century ride recently, and purposely did not turn on my Varia for the first 4 hours, as I figured I'd save it for the final hours when I'm more fatigued and there are fewer riders around.
Tons of Varias in the first 4 hours, seemed like well over half the riders had them and they were all chirping. I could just follow their chirps for cars on the country roads.
In the last few hours after I turned mine on, seemed like I saw very few of them on or chirping anymore. Yes, there were fewer people around, but it went from like everyone having them on to literally nobody except me - several groups I rode with in the last few hours - NOBODY had a functioning Varia except me. They were there - just 'off'.
Ageed. They didn't have much good to say other than it was likely a more margin profit area for the dealers. Price is the same as Garmin, shape seems more boxy and they really panned the accuracy of the Trek model as it didn't pick up traffic well in it's current state. I can't imagine why one would pick the Trek over the Garmin unless it was from the dealer pushing their higher margin product.
This 100%, I actually heard this exact thing from a bike shop owner, Garmin does not give shop owners big margins, but Trek does, so shops will be pushing this, as a consumer though I would absolutely go with the Garmin, this is something that has to work all of the time, not just most of the time.
the key for battery life with the varia is to put it on auto mode and set to turn on only when the head unit is recording an activity. that way it turns off when you stop for a coffee and varies the light depending on conditions and presence of cars
One thing that really is interesting is that none of the typical gear reviewers like DC Rainmaker/ GP Lama etc have said a word about this Trek unit... that seems very odd. The Geek Alert podcast did not give a very positive review though.
SUPER weird, right???
I'm a big believer in the Bontrager Flare RT brightness and flash pattern, and scientifically proven* that a significant amount of cars give me more room with it on. I'd much rather have a car see me than radar see a car. I'm such a big believer, I currently run the Flare RT plus a Varia 315. When I saw the first review of the Car Back I nearly bought it without reading a review...
My Varia is getting pretty long in the tooth, so i don't know how long it lasts now. But I have gone on 8 hour rides with it in the past in blinking mode. My 520 dies long before the Varia does.
I have had good battery life with my original unit, but it eventually got a bit older and the battery was a bit sketchy, so bought the new model and no problems there. One thing that really is interesting is that none of the typical gear reviewers like DC Rainmaker/ GP Lama etc have said a word about this Trek unit... that seems very odd. The Geek Alert podcast did not give a very positive review though.
From listening to the recent FIT file podcast (DCRainmaker and DesFit) about the life of a sports tech reviewer, I would hypothesize that they did not get media loaner units in advance. They stated that in that case, they will usually review an interesting product, but clearly cannot launch a review "at launch."
Ray is often on this site, so perhaps he will chime in.
One thing that really is interesting is that none of the typical gear reviewers like DC Rainmaker/ GP Lama etc have said a word about this Trek unit... that seems very odd. The Geek Alert podcast did not give a very positive review though.
SUPER weird, right???
I'm a big believer in the Bontrager Flare RT brightness and flash pattern, and scientifically proven* that a significant amount of cars give me more room with it on. I'd much rather have a car see me than radar see a car. I'm such a big believer, I currently run the Flare RT plus a Varia 315. When I saw the first review of the Car Back I nearly bought it without reading a review...
Besides the fact that the Varia flashes when a car approaches and the CarBack doesn't lol.
I'm all over it. They didn't supply a media unit. I had to find one in store the day after release. I've since tested it extensively.
Firstly, the media reviews missed so much information I'm pretty peeved after having spent money on one only to have to find out all the finer points myself. It's the first radar to use 77GHz, that's a big change from the standard 24GHz all other radars currently use. NO review tested the extraordinary detection distance claims. No mention of the flashing pattern not changing on a detection. No mention the post mount was shitty on aero posts. No mention of the ANT+ Radar spec limitation of 196m maximum distance reporting that would/could possibly screw with head units.
All that aside, I set out to verify their claims of 240m detection distance. They'd hung their hat on this in their promo videos, every media review was parroting the same specs. HUGE if true. I couldn't. Not with an Edge and ConnectIQ app that shows vehicle distance. Putting that aside, visually I couldn't see it pick up cars any earlier than 140-150m with a rough measurement, it was definitely not 240m. After obsessing about what I screwed up with my testing overnight, the next morning I was out testing the unit side-by-side with the Bryton Gardia R300L then the Garmin Varia RTL515. I observed NO difference in the detection times/distances in what I would consider near perfect conditions. That was all captured in full 4k... along with someone flipping me off and mouthing something at me for standing on the roadside looking like a speed trap. Nice.
Road Test:
Side-by-Side Test:
I had to put in WAY too much work in an attempt to have this device prove itself. It never did. 240m is a BIG claim. BIG.
I've since had two calls with Trek (Friday and Monday). Kudos to them for answering my queries and wanting to discuss my testing protocol/conditions. They're confident in the measurements/testing they'd done, which is great. I can't replicate their results with the unit I purchased.
I'll give it a little more time.. but not much. Stay tuned. I'm in the states for a week and have the unit with me. I might pick up another while I'm here and do more testing before putting up a review in full. Shane Miller - GPLama YouTube | Web | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Strava