The Varia became a necessary part of my rides after I was hit by box truck while riding. As a result of the accident, I had sustained a severe spinal injury. Although I was lucky enough not to end up paralyzed...my spinal fusion surgery meant that it is not possible for me to turn sideways anymore. The Varia really helps me by alerting me about approaching cars (even other cyclists). This allows me to ride safer and enables to "see" what is behind me. The camera feature is a great addition as now I have videos of potentially harmful events. I would highly recommend this product or the less expensive version without the camera. It is a game changer these days with so many distracted drivers and also the prevalence of silent electric cars.
I ride on a mix of a state highway, with an 8' shoulder, and quiet county chip seal roads. The Garmi Varia works very well, with no false positive or negative alerts thus far. I also ride with a rear mirror attached to my glasses at all times. This combination works well.
Although the rubber o-rings that attach the mounting bracket to the seat post work ok, I was not confident they would not eventually fail. So, I bought an aftermarket mounting bracket on Etsy [reasonable price) that uses a machine screw and nut to attach to the seat post.
As others have commented, the old style USB charger is not up to modern type c charging standards. However, it works fine and the sale price was very reasonable. This is a fair compensation for the outdated, but not obsolete, charging technology.
The good - small, effective, and long lasting lights that can be easily attached. Variety of band sizes will let you use these in a variety of ways. Multiple flash patterns, with good duration.
The bad - charging these is weird and difficult. They're not USB mini/micro/USB-C - - they need to plug directly into your computer USB port or a USB charging dock. They take up a lot of space, so if you're charging these the other USB ports may be covered, and they're finicky (wouldn't work with my USB charging adapters). These are hindrances to otherwise good lights. Oh, beware the packaging 'cause it's difficult to get open.
love the options, but not the battery life. Many times this thing dies on me after just 1 hour and 15 minutes. It override the low light switch all the time witch drains the battery even faster. for this much money I demand better. I use a garmin head unit and radar tail light so this seemed like a no brainer, but I am going back to my cyclic head light. It's half the price and does everything this garmin does for twice as long. sorry garmin, you missed the mark on this one.
