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Review on Enhanced Garmin Varia RVR315 - Advanced Cycling Rearview Radar with Visual and Audible Alerts for Vehicles Up to 153 Yards Away by Michael Moonin

Revainrating 5 out of 5

If you drive on country roads you NEED this

I have a very good helmet mirror so I didn't think I really need it. Then my brother bought one and was amazed at how well it worked. While I wasn't sure if it would really help that much, I want to maximize the odds in my favor, so I bought it on my brother's recommendation. I use it with a Wahoo Elemnt Bolt bike computer and it works great. It was very easy to install on my bike computer both physically and wirelessly. On my first drive, I was driving through the streets of a residential city at a time of day with relatively little traffic. I just looked in my mirror and saw that there was no one behind me for several blocks when I heard a beep and saw a car icon on my screen to let me know a car was close behind me. My first thought was "this thing won't work" but when I looked in the mirror again I saw that the car had gone off the curb right behind me. Over the next 20 minutes I had several more instances where the radar spotted vehicles faster than I could see them in my mirror. alerts you when a car "disappears" (parks on the street or turns) so you don't have to wait to be overtaken by a car that's no longer approaching you. On my second ride I did about 30 miles on country roads and this is where this unit REALLY shines. It not only shows you that there is a car behind you, but also how many cars are behind you. I was impressed that although I could only see 1 large truck behind me in the mirror, the radar showed there were actually 3 cars behind me and as the truck passed me I saw the radar was correct. i don't plan driving down the street again without one of them. Now all I want is a seatpost mount so I can easily move this unit between bikes. Moving the rack between bikes isn't that difficult, but I'd really like to mount the rack on both of my road bikes. I was impressed that although I could only see 1 large truck behind me in the mirror, the radar showed there were actually 3 cars behind me, and as the truck passed me, I saw that the radar was correct. i don't plan driving down the street again without one of them. Now all I want is a seatpost mount so I can easily move this unit between bikes. Moving the rack between bikes isn't that difficult, but I'd really like to mount the rack on both of my road bikes. I was impressed that although I could only see 1 large truck behind me in the mirror, the radar showed there were actually 3 cars behind me and as the truck passed me I saw the radar was correct. i don't plan driving down the street again without one of them. Now all I want is a seatpost mount, so I can easily move this unit between bikes. It's not that difficult to move the carrier between bikes.

Pros
  • Car electronics accessory
Cons
  • You could choose a newer model