You can plug in and access folders and files.
Also: the Garmin Varia bike radar is absolute gold. I feel more unsafe without it than I do without a helmet.
Interesting, I didn't know such a thing existed. However, I'm struggling to understand the need. I ride my bike every day but I don't remember the last time I was surprised by a car approaching from behind.
Where in the world do you live / where do you typically ride your bike? In what situations are you glad to have that radar?
I’m in New Zealand. I ride in the road in town and out in the hills at the weekend.
The way I use it is to look down, see if a car is behind, then look behind before pulling out. I don’t bother looking back if there is a car close (the range must be around 100-150m I think?).
It also yells louder if the car is approaching fast. The integrated light changes how it flashes when it sees a car.
In group ride with talking etc, it’s helpful too as it usually doesn’t pick up bikes (unless the guy behind is an absolute unit) and the squawk of an approaching car is helpful for the group.
Electric cars and busses no longer sneak up on me, it’s great use of tech on a bike.
So yeah, with "New Zealand" as context a device like that makes more sense.
With a headwind I often don’t hear cars behind me at all, so I can see the use case
Road trains a very big, move very fast and they don't stop for anyone on a bike. So knowing they are coming up on you from a distance gives you time to get off the road.
That's a very special usage case but I think any rural road with fast moving traffic would also benefit from the early warning even with just cars to contend with.
Do people with varia use headphones or something?
I don't have issues being aware about upcoming traffic, in either city traffic or rural environments. The only exception would be in heavy headwind situations
Coupd that make hearing cars easier somehow?
The Caria is good in noisy situations or with multiple cars approaching. Unusually fast car approach get an extra alert.
I have used it with headphones but usually don’t. You detect the cars far earlier than you do by hearing them.
For running they're much better!
Not get rear-ended by a car? There's also model with a camera to collect evidence. I have the one without the camera, just the radar and a light.
> Where in the world do you live / where do you typically ride your bike? In what situations are you glad to have that radar?
Central and Eastern Europe. Whenever I share the roads with cars. Although I'm more relaxed on outdoor paths or gravel roads where I don't have to keep an eye on cars all the time.
For MTB you probably don't need it, but in road scenarios it's great.
> Where in the world do you live / where do you typically ride your bike? In what situations are you glad to have that radar?
UK; It's handy for knowing when on town or country roads without too much traffic; it can typically spot fast moving vehicles before you can hear or see them in mirrors (let alone if relying solely furtive glimpses over shoulder)
Tbh, nice as it is to be notified about approaching vehicles, what I really like is that the light flashes at proportionately faster rates in response to the speed of the approaching vehicles. The changing rate does a better job of attracting the attention of drivers than constant illumination, and is also a psychological hack that makes the driver think they are being watched [0] and consequently behave slightly better when they do pass.
Cumulatively the light/radar combination is a winner because it makes cycling more pleasant _and_ reduces the chances of getting hit by drivers.
[0] In some of the newer units they are being watched as well, as they have camera's in them - apparently unit is a bit chunky and video quality in low-light is ropey.
Variable-time/Random bicycle light flashing is a pet peeve of mine: I find it much easier to track the location and velocity of cyclists when the frequency of flashing is constant.
The video quality is ok.. ish. It’s not good in any lighting conditions but is plenty fine for getting licence plates etc.
The main issue for me is how hard it is to get it off the unit wirelessly. It’s slow and frequently loses connection.
Removing the card and doing it that way is better but the card is clearly not designed to be removed regularly and it would be very easy to break the slot that holds it.
Almost all delivery vehicles and taxis round here are BEV too, along with a good chunk of private cars. Can be very hard to hear them above wind noise and general background hubbub, especially when wearing a helmet.
Though an e-bike goes 25km/h. This is a lot more dangerous and people should definitely wear a helmet when driving one.
There are plenty of e-bikes that pass me, and I’d estimate they are doing 40kmh.
Not wearing a helmet would be mad.
e-bikes are usually 25km/h max in my countries (Benelux)
The data backs it up. Look at the deaths per capita in the Netherlands. You can see a steep rise with the introduction of e-bikes, but before that it was one of the lowest in the world. And that is saying something when it is the most cycling dense country of the world.
I mean, we can go back and forth here all you want. You can look up the data yourself or visit the Netherlands and look around ...
also, nit: you don't drive a bicycle
That bit is about e-bikes. I can get behind that phrasing.
bikepacking is a completely different way of cycling and has nothing to do with the way people in the netherlands use their bikes.
Its steep price wise but if you are doing a lot of road cycljng on rural roads and fast traffic where one hit is the end its an easy to justify life insurance product.
I never knew I needed the Varia but once I tried it I can't cycle without it; best bike safety device ever -- especially if you ride in places without much traffic
The Instinct is also easier to polish than the sapphire. I've tried to buff out blemishes on Fenix watches I've gone to sell and have had a hard time getting them back to flawless. I've not had the same issue on any Instinct.
That being said I'm really tempted by the new Fenix Pro. I have an inReach device I take with me for backcountry snowmobiling in the mountains and I've forgotten it a time or two. I never forget my watch and always have some extra battery with me.
I just wish I could get basically the same specs as Fenix in a non-color and highly efficient display like Instinct. The 2 Solar is my daily watch and the battery life + built in flashlight make it my almost perfect watch. I don't even care about LTE but if I could get Instinct with inReach that would be a perfect setup IMO.
Garmin does a lot of things right, but pricing is not one of them. Especially given they're moving towards subscriptions which is counterintuitive to their buyer market. I really don't want anything AI in my watch.
I found the same thing too - the instinct face gets protected while the Fenix is almost a brick and rock magnet :(
So far, I think it’s only the black Tacticals that look like they would hide more surface scratches… but I’ve never had one yet.
But, yeah - think if the Instinct 3 Solar came with Sapphire, I’d sleep better at night, so much so that it would probably be my forever watch!
well the reason its not common is because they cant charge you their subscription fee integration or something like that