[Trek CarBack Radar Rear Bike Light : Know what's coming] [image] Trek Enters the Radar Game With CarBack Bike Radar Treks new CarBack radar boasts a slew of features, some best in class, including spotting rear-approaching vehicles up to 240km away Est. reading tim…

It 100% has better optics. Having ridden behind my friend with a Varia and girlfriend with Flare RT, the Trek is way brighter during the day, and over a distance. It has this brightness that can’t be matched :slight_smile: which makes me kind of okay with the form factor, if it’s a better light.

On group rides I can see the Varia about a mile away, on bikes ahead of me. On super bright California sunny afternoons.

Re: light function, I’d be more interested in features and usability than raw brightness. The Varia has the feature where the flash pattern changes/gets faster as cars approach. Do we know if the Trek does this? I think this is a key feature as it sends an “I see you” message to drivers. Also curi…

I’ve read the statements about how the Trek is better and it left me wondering how much “better” does it really have to be compared to a Varia. At some point a super bright flashing light crosses over from being noticeable just being obnoxious.

[image] Jonathan: I’ve had 3 Varias and all of them start out capable of handling a 6hr ride, and but the end of the season they start giving warnings toward the end of big days, then the next year the warnings drop to 4hrs, then to 3, What setting are you on? I’ve don’t 25,000 miles on mine …

Owning both a Varia 510 and RT 200 this has been my experience. A few years ago I setup both on flash mode in the garage and walked away maybe 150 meters to compare them from a distance. The RT 200 was indeed brighter and more attention grabbing IMHO. Now when a vehicle gets into radar range and the…

Totally agree! :slight_smile: What worries me more is that there are cyclists out there with lights that doesn’t even appear to be on, unless its pitch black, and even then they are like a fart in space. Rear light makes a HUGE difference in how visible you are on the road :slight_smile:

There was a GCN (AD) video couple years back where they talked about the ION RT 200 Lights and how they were tested by a university and came up with that triple flash beam pattern. I bought the lights shortly after watching that AD and am convinced these are some of the best day light running lights…

[image] Jonathan: Battery life (and degradation reduction) is the real improvement we need on radars What temperatures out of interest? My varia is about 6 years old, still handles 5-6 hour summer rides no problem (I turn it off on any stops). Battery life is noticeably worse in winter, I get…

Trek CarBack Radar Rear Bike Light

Equipment

kiwifyx April 21, 2024, 2:00pm 63

“Like clock-work, two years after releasing the last version of the Garmin Varia radar, the company has released its now third generation version.”

-DCRainmaker 13-May-2020

Therefore we’re due a Varia update pretty soon anyway?

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Trek CarBack Radar Rear Bike Light

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