I’ve been a daily bike owner since 2015, and I’ve had my fair proportion of motorcycle crashes — all minor, fortunately, the place I bought away with a number of gashes at worst — and the frequent denominator was that I used to be distracted by my cellphone.
A smartphone mounted on bike handlebars is a distraction magnet. The large, vivid display screen is nice for navigating with Google Maps, however notifications and different pop-ups can even take your focus off the highway. This setup can even drain the cellphone battery fairly rapidly, particularly in case you’re additionally recording your journey on an app like Strava, making it lower than preferrred for longer rides.
Bike computer systems intention to handle these points. They could resemble small smartphones, however with out the distractions, recording metrics like velocity, distance, coronary heart fee, time and extra. They’ll vary from primary fashions that value not more than AU$20, to high-end computer systems which have built-in GPS and maps, and even a digital ‘bell’ by way of an on-board speaker (for about the identical value as a mid-range smartphone).
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Chances are you’ll like
Eyes on the highway, not on a display screen
I examined Garmin’s latest bike pc, the Edge 850, to see how a lot the journey expertise improves in comparison with utilizing my cellphone whereas mounted on my handlebars.
The smaller black-and-white display screen solely shows numbers, which minimized distractions and stored my eyes on the highway extra typically in comparison with utilizing my cellphone. It additionally has real-time alerts of any upcoming hazards like potholes and highway particles, that are normally user-reported (just like how Waze works).
(Picture credit score: Future | Nico Arboleda)
The on-board GPS is correct, and the maps are simply as intuitive to navigate as Google Maps, and the Edge 850 would additionally re-calculate your route in case you miss a flip.
Whereas the options above are nice, what really makes a Garmin bike pc a necessary security improve for anybody who rides bikes is a separate add-on accent: the Garmin Varia RearVue 820.
Tesla’s automobile detection tech, however for bicycles
The Varia RearVue 820 could seem like a traditional rear bike gentle on the skin, nevertheless it accommodates a radar to detect if there are automobiles behind you — just like Tesla’s personal vehicle-detection tech.
Bike radars are usually not a brand new invention by any means; Garmin made the primary business rear-facing radar in 2015, which has since spawned copycat fashions throughout the biking business.
What units the Garmin Varia RearVue 820 aside is that it will possibly additionally inform you whether or not the automobile behind you is a standard automobile or one thing a lot larger, like a bus or truck.
What to learn subsequent
- Garmin Varia RearVue 820 at Jenson USA for $299.99
Being overtaken by a big automobile at velocity whereas using a bicycle isn’t for the faint of coronary heart. The air displaced by the overtaking automobile creates a push-pull impact that might both make a bike owner veer off right into a kerb or into some gravel or grass, or worse, the bike owner might get “sucked in” and crash into the truck or bus’ facet. That is one purpose why vehicles of any dimension ought to give at the very least one meter of house when overtaking a bike owner, however that’s a subject for an additional day.
I’ve been in conditions like this many instances, and I’ve had a number of shut calls the place I‘ve narrowly averted a crash when a truck overtook me at full velocity. With the Varia RearVue 820, seeing the alert for a big automobile on my display screen helped put together me to brace when it passes, holding on to the drops of my handlebars to forestall it from steering by itself.
(Picture credit score: Future | Nico Arboleda)
The radar connects to a appropriate Garmin bike pc or smartwatch and provides a brand new part within the display screen to duplicate a highway. Every automobile detected exhibits up as a car-shaped icon with their corresponding dimension. I used to be in a position to connect with the Edge 850 fairly seamlessly, however I used to be pleasantly shocked when it was simply as simple to pair with my 9-year-old Garmin Fenix 5 smartwatch.
The alerts are accompanied with beeps, so that you don’t should be glued to the display screen. Autos will be detected way back to 170m away to provide cyclists extra time to organize. The radar can even present whether or not the automobiles are in the identical lane because the bike owner, bolstering that peace of thoughts.
Garmin says this expertise is feasible as a result of the next frequency 60Hz V-band radar (in comparison with the 24Hz in its different fashions), detecting ‘outlines’ of a automobile as a substitute of a single ‘dot’, that are then transformed into digital vehicles that present up on the bike pc or smartwatch display screen.
Extra seen than ever on the highway
The bike gentle isn’t simply there to make the radar discreet — the Garmin Varia RearVue 820’s rear gentle is vivid sufficient to be seen to different highway customers 2km away. Garmin says a automobile working 100km per hour covers 2km in round 70 seconds, so this visibility would alert a driver a lot sooner than different bike lights would, giving them extra time to regulate.
The sunshine can even flash quickly once you all of the sudden should brake, with the Varia RearVue 820 utilizing radar information and an accelerometer to detect deceleration to provide a ‘visible shout’ to alert different cyclists and highway customers. I had not been conscious of this characteristic till somebody at a gaggle journey pointed it out to me, exhibiting how efficient it was.
The linked bike pc or smartwatch can management the sunshine remotely as a substitute of the bike owner having to succeed in again and set it to the way you need the sunshine to look. The sunshine will be set both for full visibility or at a a lot much less vivid ‘peloton mode’ whereas using in a gaggle.
(Picture credit score: Future / Nico Arboleda)
Must you get one?
Whereas the Garmin Varia RearVue 820 is sort of correct at detecting automobiles, it nonetheless shouldn’t be a full substitute for often wanting over your shoulder to examine for vehicles when it’s protected to take action.
That stated, it’s nonetheless a superb piece of security tech, given how cyclists are a few of the most weak highway customers. The addition of the brake gentle performance and the elevated visibility additionally provides to the protection issue. At $299 / £259.99 / AU$469, it’s a giant ask for some cyclists — however, for somebody who places security above all else, it’s a clever funding to assist save lives.
(Picture credit score: Future | Nico Arboleda)
Whilst you can splash for the high-end $599 / £519.99 / AU$949 Garmin Edge 850, Garmin says the Varia RearVue 820 is appropriate with 162 totally different gadgets, together with Edge bike computer systems from 2015 and smartwatch fashions from 2016.
You may even skip the bike pc fully and simply pair the Garmin Varia RearVue 820 together with your smartphone. The Garmin Varia app on iOS and Android replicates the identical expertise on a bigger display screen, and can even work alongside Google Maps by showing as a slim sidebar. Simply be certain that to briefly disable notifications by setting a Focus Mode or Do Not Disturb profile that’s optimized for biking, so you possibly can cut back distracting notifications.
This makes the Garmin Varia RearVue 820 a necessary security improve for anybody who commonly rides bicycles on roads — whether or not you’re a critical bike owner utilizing a motorcycle pc to maintain observe of your coaching, or a motorcycle commuter together with your cellphone mounted on the handlebars. Heck, I’d say it’s even price utilizing once you’re taking a leisurely journey to the native espresso store.
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