Long time road rider. I have worn out the battery on 3 varia units, much quicker than the head unit battery. The battery charge lasts through a couple of long rides, same as Garmin. I am hoping, but don't know, if it will do better than the varia at holding that charge 2 years from now. My hope is based on a newer design and electronics. The mount is sturdy, and easier to secure to the seat post. Some of the features are controlled through a separate app, although you won't need to use the app after initial set up. Radar function works as well as the Garmin, and there are more flash patterns, the light turns off if there are no cars detected, and it has a brake light function.
I thought after pressing the buy button that this was one of those silly clever, but useless tech purchases that would end up in my dustbin of gadgets. However, In conjunction with my ELEMNT Roam 3, it provides me with a measure of safety I just didn't expect. The TRACKR not only alerts you of oncoming vehicles, it tells you how many, how close, and when the coast is clear. I wasn't sure how the brake light aspect worked until I was behind another TRACKR user and darned if that didn't work too! Safety is priceless, but at $249 the TRACKR is a bargain.
The improvement in situational awareness in riding on the streets of a large metropolitain area is incredible. I don't think I can ever ride without this on city streets again.
More safety with motorists is a real good thing! I almost bought the Garmin version a while back since many of my riding buddies liked theirs, but when I heard Wahoo was coming out with this radar unit I decided to wait and match it to my new Wahoo head unit. Setup was very quick and easy. Battery life is excellent and the radar is very accurate. Of course I still use my sunglasses mirror for busy SoCal streets, but when you are flying downhill it's nice to know you can take the entire lane with no cars behind you. Yes, it's a bit pricey, but your safety is always worth it!
I've had this for about a month now and ridden with it at least 20 times. While I wasn't sure I really needed it when I bought it, it has become almost a necessity now that I have used it. I am a senior rider (78 years), and it is wonderful having the few seconds of extra notification of a car approaching from behind. It gives one sound when a car is approaching, a slightly different sound when a string of cars is approaching, and a different sound if the approaching car turns off at another street before passing you. It also has a graphic display on the Element Bike Computer which changes color from green to orange to red as the car approaches. We have a lot of younger (almost everyone is younger than me now days) riders who are very capable (fast) including a fair number of pros (Boulder, Colorado), and the Trackr also alerts me when someone on our many bike trail is approaching on a bike. While I always double check with a mirror, this is a necessity at my age and probably useful for younger riders. The only issue I've found is riding a bikeway that parallels a highway (such as the one along US 36 from Boulder to Denver). The unit kind of goes crazy (constant beeping) in that situation and I have had to turn it off.
The set-up, installation and pairing to my head unit was easy and as advertised. The radar works well, I wish I had purchased it earlier.
