Ha! I'll tell you something about that unit. It has an LED display acting
as a taillight (I guess?) that responds with different blinking patterns
when it "sees" something. I was out riding this past weekend and ended up
on a guys wheel for a while wondering what the hell the blinking patterns
were trying to tell me --- I tested drafting close, farther back, off to
the side ... all sorts of combos until I was sure that whatever his rear
light was doing t was doing it in conjunction with me! Still, I couldn't
figure out why -- was it telling me I was more aero in one position than
another -- that I was getting a better draft? Finally, I gave up and pulled
along side him to ask. He laughed and explained the radar thing (a guy with
4 kids wanting whatever extra safety edge he could find) ... but he didn't
know that the display augmented with visual interference. And I'm still
wondering, what's the point?
On Tuesday, March 1, 2016 at 12:01:02 PM UTC-5, René wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> I am a geek, and love technology applied to my hobbies. Yes, there is a
> place for simplicity but so far it's not near me. I love my Apple Watch and
> iPhone 6 Plus, but after trying to use them as cycling computers with a
> very poor overall experience, I went back to my Garmin Edge 1000. I used
> Polar technology a decade and a half ago, but when Garmin entered the
> cycling market, it provided a better user experience for me, so I switched.
> I'm still upset that Garmin doesn't share data with Apple Health, but it's
> not enough to make me switch to the poorer user experience I had with
> Cyclemeter even factoring the Apple Watch app.
>
> It's not that I am obsessed with tracking all these numbers, I just like
> watching the data when I ride, and being able to go back and compare
> progress every now and then, see my tracks on the maps, etc.
>
> A couple of weeks ago I was at Palo Alto Bicycles looking for a helmet
> light, and I "discovered" a new Garmin gadget called Varia (
> https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/into-sports/cycling/varia-rearview-radar/prod518151.html).
>
> For some reason, I had never seen it, heard of it and was curious to see
> what it was. When I discovered it was a rear-looking radar to let you know
> when cars were approaching from the back, I was intrigued and did a bit of
> research online and then ordered one.
>
> I installed it on Sunday, and have ridden with it yesterday and today. I
> think it's very helpful and useful, particularly, when you are riding on
> roads with low traffic volume. If there are a lot of cars, then there is no
> purpose to it, but its use is very good when you are riding on low traffic
> roads as it lights up and tells you when and how a car is approaching from
> the back. My commute is mostly on such roads and trails, and now I don't
> have to keep turning my head back when approaching sections when I have to
> take the lane just to see if there is someone behind me. Particularly
> useful with all these electric vehicles in California that don't make a
> sound when they approach you.
>
> It connects to the Garmin Edge unit, so I don't need the version with the
> separate display unit. With the front load configuration I have it attached
> to the seat post with the mount provided, but for the Homer I'll devise a
> way to attach it to the saddlebag. It provides an additional dynamic
> tailight that lights dynamically as the cars approach you.
>
> Since I'll confess to the sin of riding while listening to music on my
> headphones, the benefit is significantly higher for me as I don't always
> hear the cars when they are far behind me. The angle of coverage is pretty
> wide, so on multi-lane roads or when riding on a trail next to a road, it
> will still light up when cars are behind you even if they are one or two
> lanes away. It still makes you aware. On my evening commute yesterday, I
> used it to enhance my timing to switch lanes in traffic so I could take a
> left turn. Worked very well!
>
> The only hassle is that you have to charge it, and I still haven't tried
> to see how long will the battery truly last. Although at NAHBS I saw these
> chargers you can piggy-back on the SON hub so you can charge your devices
> as you ride... Will be doing some research on those as well, although
> they'd only be truly practical if I ever go on a tour.
>
> Viva the geek!
>
> René
>
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