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Re: I much prefer this $8 solution instead of Garmin Varia [RCCo] [ In reply to ]
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Varia+1, I didn't think i would love it till i used it. Now on the back roads i use the whole road till it beeps then i roll to the side a little bit.
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Re: I much prefer this $8 solution instead of Garmin Varia [hadukla] [ In reply to ]
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hadukla wrote:
rruff wrote:
hadukla wrote:
I typically go for rural roads with little traffic so I can just be in aero and more in the middle of the lane just hammering intervals away


If you are on a rural road with little traffic, can't they just go around you? And why do you need to be in the middle of the lane? I can understand riding a couple feet from the line, but that should be plenty.


They can but that doesn't mean they will be happy about it and the less I piss off the operator of a 2 ton + death machine, the better.

A couple of feet from the line is still the middle in the eyes of a driver. It shouldn't be, I know, but it is and it won't change any time soon.

Also, in the driver's mind if they see you move over from the "middle", it shows that you are aware they are there, and are doing what you can to help them get past. There are some angry drivers out there, but a little bit of courtesy can go a long way.
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Re: I much prefer this $8 solution instead of Garmin Varia [mcalista] [ In reply to ]
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mcalista wrote:
Also, in the driver's mind if they see you move over from the "middle", it shows that you are aware they are there, and are doing what you can to help them get past. There are some angry drivers out there, but a little bit of courtesy can go a long way.

Strongly agree. Unfortunately, though we have the right to take the lane in many situations, showing drivers that you are also trying your best to let them by should result in more courtesy from drivers.
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Re: I much prefer this $8 solution instead of Garmin Varia [cholla] [ In reply to ]
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cholla wrote:
mcalista wrote:
Also, in the driver's mind if they see you move over from the "middle", it shows that you are aware they are there, and are doing what you can to help them get past. There are some angry drivers out there, but a little bit of courtesy can go a long way.


Strongly agree. Unfortunately, though we have the right to take the lane in many situations, showing drivers that you are also trying your best to let them by should result in more courtesy from drivers.


Maybe we need some equivalent of turn signals. Sometimes I'll block the road when I don't think it's safe for a car to pass me. And some drivers think I'm making a show of being a massive dick. But really I wish I could indicate that, "Yes, I know you're there, and the shoulder widens about 100m up the road, and I'm going to move over up there so the pass will be safe both for me and you." So chill the F out. Little different than an RV on a mountain road.

One time I put up my index finger for "wait a minute," but that wasn't interpreted correctly.
Last edited by: trail: Oct 6, 19 17:49
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Re: I much prefer this $8 solution instead of Garmin Varia [trail] [ In reply to ]
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I'm definitely also a proponent of "take the lane" when needed, and I would also attempt to signal "just a sec" with a raised finger....but it's pretty easy to see that could be an issue....
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Re: I much prefer this $8 solution instead of Garmin Varia [trail] [ In reply to ]
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This Varia vs. Mirror argument is possibly the first time a triathlete has chosen anything over a mirror in their lives.
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Re: I much prefer this $8 solution instead of Garmin Varia [TOMOP] [ In reply to ]
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Kevin, is that you?

29 years and counting
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Re: I much prefer this $8 solution instead of Garmin Varia [mcalista] [ In reply to ]
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mcalista wrote:
In rural areas, the Varia gives me confidence to ride in the lane and out of all the #$%^ on the shoulder, and move over when the Varia alerts me. It also lets me know if there is more than one vehicle approaching, which is something that sound alone (or a mirror) won't tell you.

In urban areas, I remove it, because the constant alerts are a distraction.

I think this would sum it up for me, if I got one.

29 years and counting
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Re: I much prefer this $8 solution instead of Garmin Varia [RCCo] [ In reply to ]
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RCCo wrote:
When i'm done riding with my mirrors i upload my ride on my ipad.


Heheehehehe
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Re: I much prefer this $8 solution instead of Garmin Varia [RCCo] [ In reply to ]
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RCCo wrote:
When i'm done riding with my mirrors i upload my ride on my ipad.

This! hahaha...
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Re: I much prefer this $8 solution instead of Garmin Varia [TOMOP] [ In reply to ]
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Any experience on how the Varia works on a Fenix 5 or 6? (Fenix 3 is not in Garmin's compatible list). How useful/incovenient is to have the radar on your wrist?
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Re: I much prefer this $8 solution instead of Garmin Varia [anakinpm] [ In reply to ]
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I have never tried it with my watch-- I didn't even know it was possible. I may give it a run. It would not be as easy to glance at as a traditional head unit. But, the on-wrist vibration would probably give a better alert than just a beep.
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Re: I much prefer this $8 solution instead of Garmin Varia [anakinpm] [ In reply to ]
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I use the Garmin 735XT for my varia, and yes it works good on my wrist but I do prefer to wrap the watch on my handle bars to make it easier to see the display. The watch displays the rear view on the side of the watch face and shows you how many cars are back there and if they are coming fast (display shows in red when cars are flying by you) it also has an audible beep and vibrates when it first recognizes a car in your radar field. I believe the Fenix will work the same way the only draw back to mounting the watch on the handle bars is that the wrist based heart rate monitor is no longer useful but I use a chest strap so that does not bother me.
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Re: I much prefer this $8 solution instead of Garmin Varia [swimbikerun66] [ In reply to ]
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swimbikerun66 wrote:
I use the Garmin 735XT for my varia, and yes it works good on my wrist but I do prefer to wrap the watch on my handle bars to make it easier to see the display. The watch displays the rear view on the side of the watch face and shows you how many cars are back there and if they are coming fast (display shows in red when cars are flying by you) it also has an audible beep and vibrates when it first recognizes a car in your radar field. I believe the Fenix will work the same way the only draw back to mounting the watch on the handle bars is that the wrist based heart rate monitor is no longer useful but I use a chest strap so that does not bother me.

exxxviii wrote:
I have never tried it with my watch-- I didn't even know it was possible. I may give it a run. It would not be as easy to glance at as a traditional head unit. But, the on-wrist vibration would probably give a better alert than just a beep.

Many thanks for your replies. I'd rather have the vibrating alert/beep than a screen to look at. My most dangerous situations have been in junctions, intersections and entrance ramps when vehicles think they have priority over me. I think it's important to reduce distractions and focus on what comes ahead.

I'm in the market for a rear light and having to decide between a €50 Flare and a €110 Varia, I think the Varia's alerts and its integration with different saddle posts is much better value
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Re: I much prefer this $8 solution instead of Garmin Varia [anakinpm] [ In reply to ]
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anakinpm wrote:
Any experience on how the Varia works on a Fenix 5 or 6? (Fenix 3 is not in Garmin's compatible list). How useful/incovenient is to have the radar on your wrist?


Fenix 5 or 6 series would work w/ the Varia.
I have my Fenix 5 on my wrist and my Fenix 3 as my up front mounted bike computer (i don't have an edge or such bike computer).
While on the wrist is nice with vibration and audible alerts, it's not as great as having the alerts / radar dots out in front of you and "in your eyes" and this is especially true (for me) when there are more cars.

Additionally, depending on where you are and how noisy the surrounding is - you may not be able to feel the vibrations on your wrist (on the Fenix - I have not found a way to change the vibe pattern nor the audible tone it generates - based on what I've read, It seems like the edge series - you can actually choose the alert settings. Others would need to confirm)

The Fenix 3 does not support the Radar natively but it is changing. I have coded up my own Varia Radar integration with the Fenix 3 and am in testing phase. Due to the VERY limited amount of memory present in the Fenix 3 series (CIQ data field) - user configuration of data fields would be limited or none.

Here's a screenshot of what it looks like for MY setup. (normally it's only 7 fields (https://apps.garmin.com/...48-805c-a3563efa5f94) but I had to rework it to have the middle of the watch for the RADAR display (I didn't like the Garmin implementation with the radar on the side of the watch as an arc - it obscured my data fields) and thus ended up w/ only able to put in 6 (3 on each side). [ you can see from the pic that I am experimenting smaller fonts and numbers on the left and right of the middle 2 display)



I have also ported it to my Fenix 5 w/ the same layout but due to the much more available memory, I am able to maintain user configuration of data fields + I also have this little Varia Icon showing the battery life it reports.



I do plan on porting the Data Field to the 920xt w/ the square layout. I'm fairly certain that quite a lot of ppl are still using that unit.

For the edge owners - I would like to seek feedback on what would encourage you to utilise this data field instead of using Garmin's native one (on head units / watches which support the RADAR, i found out that if the RADAR is connected to the watch natively, then the data field won't be able to connect to it - The data field is connecting to the RADAR via Direct ANT+ calls) hence rendering the data field to be "dumb".

If you do not enable the Radar to connect natively to the watch/edge, then the data field would work as it should. However, since it's not connected natively, this means you cannot use the RadarLight Widget to change light settings from blink slow / blink fast / solid. Not entirely sure how much a dealbreaker that would be tho.

appreciate any comments and feedback and things you want to have in this data field.

Note : Some things are beyond the control of Garmin CIQ, eg: I cannot change the Garmin Varia to NOT blink when a car is approaching (like in a group ride situation) - that is solely a Garmin Varia Firmware thing.
Last edited by: myjunk: Feb 17, 20 20:02
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Re: I much prefer this $8 solution instead of Garmin Varia [rruff] [ In reply to ]
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rruff wrote:

If the radar could tell stuff moving to intercept me in the front that would be cool. Particularly when I'm on the TT bike and my head's down...

agree.. I want a radar that will detect potholes and stuffs on the road so i can focus on looking at my power number :-p
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Re: I much prefer this $8 solution instead of Garmin Varia [kdw] [ In reply to ]
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kdw wrote:
This Varia vs. Mirror argument is possibly the first time a triathlete has chosen anything over a mirror in their lives.

Boom!

However the counterargument is that most of the time the triathlete chooses the most expensive option
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