Garmin was one of the first who came up with a solution to warn cyclists of upcoming traffic. The new Garmin Varia RCT715 has a built-in camera beside a red LED and radar sensor.
Garmin Varia history
The Garmin Varia is already out there for some years. The first edition of the Varia (RTL 501) lineup had a rearview radar with a tail light. The separate Varia RDU was added to the handlebar of the bicycle. This unit displayed upcoming tail traffic. The follow up of the Garmin Varia RTL 501 was the Varia RTL515 a smaller device to add to the seat post of a bike. If you already owned a Garmin cycling computer the Varia RTL515 let you connect via ANT+ and the Edge cycle computer was displaying tail traffic. Then Garmin came with the Varia RVR315, a radar only version of the Varia RTL515. This means a compact device without the LED tail light.
Safety during cycling
With the increasing amount of hours people cycle year over year, not only gets it busier on the roads, visibility and safety become more important. The new Garmin Varia RCT715 has a built-in camera that is constantly recording. It saves automatically footage if it detects an incident and the moment before the incident. You can control the camera right from your Garmin device, and access footage via the Varia smartphone app. Besides the camera, 20 Lumen LEDs and radar there is a lithium-ion polymer battery that can last to 4 hr. in camera mode and up to 10 hr. in day flash mode (camera disabled). To get an idea how the quality of the camera is a sample video below. The tail light can be seen up to a mile away.
Price and availability
The Garmin Varia RVR315 radar (without light) is available for 149,99 EUR and the Varia RTL515 (light+radar) 199,99 EUR. Last but not least, the Varia RCT715 (light+radar+camera) cost EUR 399,99. You can order the new Garmin Varia RCT715 or RTL51 or RVR315.
