Anyone have Rear Radar Alert?

[markz]

I hit up the local bike store and saw a nice $5k+ road ebike up on a mechanics Park Tool repair stand,
Older guy (60+ in Lycra) was chatting about rear radar, something I never heard of for bikes.
Should really have camera's for quick catch, sue and get paid fast.

Sept. 23, 2020 Article
https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/garmins-rearview-bike-radar-eyes-for-the-back-of-your-head/

the RTL515 ($200), which integrates a tail light, and the stepdown RVR315 ($150, no tail light)

 

[pickworthi]

I have had a Garmin rear radar for four years now, and swear by it.

It alerts me to cars approaching long before I could hear them, and also how many cars and relatively how fast. I wouldn't ride without it.

Nothing to do with a camera - separate use case.

 

[raylo32]

Several folks in our bike club have then and also swear by them. But I have never looked close bu have been meaning to. Is the unit easily swappable from bike to bike? Does in include a flashing light? And if not is there room for both on the seatpost?

I have had a Garmin rear radar for four years now, and swear by it.

It alerts me to cars approaching long before I could hear them, and also how many cars and relatively how fast. I wouldn't ride without it.

Nothing to do with a camera - separate use case.

 

[pickworthi]

Several folks in our bike club have then and also swear by them. But I have never looked close bu have been meaning to. Is the unit easily swappable from bike to bike? Does in include a flashing light? And if not is there room for both on the seatpost?

Easy swappable:
Yes, it uses the standard Garmin quarter turn mount, so as long as you have a mount on the other bike its quarter turn off, quarter turn on. I take mine off the bike after every ride, to charge it indoors. All this assumes you also use the same Garmin head unit for each bike. If not you would have to re-pair, I think, never tried it.

Does it include a flashing light?:
The RTL510 model has a good rear light built in. It flashes in response to detecting traffic, so steady when none, flashing faster as traffic gets closer. But that is just one of the modes available, you can have steady only, and flashing only as well. Should you loose the control head unit (e.g. through flat battery), it reverts to it's default no connection setting. I *think* this can be flashing, but haven't tried.

It is possible to have both the RTL unit and another rear light, you have to be a bit inventive. If your rear light has a mounting that attaches to the saddle rails, its easy - rode like that when commuting a while back. These days I fashioned a Garmin mount that attaches to my rear rack, and have a saddle mounted rear light - to accommodate a bag on the rear rack.

 

[marty]

moth effect driving

The “moth effect” theory posits that drivers are attracted to or mesmerized by light much as moths are drawn to a flame. ... A moth effect behavior was defined as an instance when the participant driver left the lane of travel and steered toward a lead vehicle that had moved to the shoulder.

Drunk, tired, stupid, car drivers see a flashing light and drive into it.

 

[raylo32]

I'm more worried about the texters. They don't see the lights, either. Way more of them than drunks.

moth effect driving

The “moth effect” theory posits that drivers are attracted to or mesmerized by light much as moths are drawn to a flame. ... A moth effect behavior was defined as an instance when the participant driver left the lane of travel and steered toward a lead vehicle that had moved to the shoulder.

Drunk, tired, stupid, car drivers see a flashing light and drive into it.

 

[pickworthi]

Drunk, tired, stupid, car drivers see a flashing light and drive into it.

I think this may be true for a light flashing at a regular interval, which would appear to mesmerise the weak willed.

The RTL flashing varies with approach distance, which *may* just snap them out of it.

Plus - never rely on just one layer of protection - mirrors, eyes, ears all form part of the protection system. The radar just gives you an added edge of early warning.

However, if you are riding in medium to heavy traffic, the radar is pretty useless, since it will be warning all the time. It comes into play on quieter roads.

 

[bobc186]

love the Garmin……i’ve been using mine for two months on my new ebike conversion….wouldn’t ride without it…..modified the mount for my install location…..

 

[Eastwood]

I use a camera on the rear of my bike and it connects via Wi-Fi to my smart phone. It also records the rides.
It was a little bit pricey but I have no complaints with the actual product.
Now that I’ve used it I couldn’t live without it while riding on the road. I can see cars coming from far away.
Bike Camera with LED Tail Light,
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088RB82F5/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_KVXDSA4KRFPZBG64CYB9?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Bobw]

We are still awaiting the arrival of an e-assit recumbent trike that we ordered for my wife in April. She loved the demo ride but remarked about not getting a very good view in the rear with the mirror. We do much of our riding on busy bike trails and the road bikes especially come up behind you fast and silent, often not using a bell or announcing a pass.
I had some spare parts lying around and was looking for a project to do, so I came up with this homebuilt unit as pictured below. The unit itself will mount on the underside of the rear rack, using velcro to provide some shock protection from bumps while underway. It is 8 inches long, 3 inches wide, and 1 inch thick.
The box contains a rearward facing camera and red rear light powered by a 3 cell lipo battery, running everything should get about 2 1/2 hours of runtime. There is a power distribution board to step down voltage to componemts that require it as well as to filter the video signal. A video transmitter sends a signal on a 5.8 mhz frequency at 25 mw of power to a hi-res 2.5 in. monitor mounted on the steering arm. A major concern is the build-up of heat by the transmitter, to address this I have a fan blowing air over the tx, works well but it generates too much noise for my liking.
I'm going to try using a heat sink on the tx to see if it would suffice in keeping the tx to a reasonable temperature without overheating.
I also need to dial-in the camera settings to get a good image under a variety of lighting conditions. The camera has wide dynamic range and other settings such as brightness and contrast to tweak to your taste.
The box itself was made from 2mm acrylic sheet available from Lowes or H.D. for 4 bucks. The standoffs are used to attach the top of the box and to provide some structural ridgidity.

 

[Eastwood]

Nice, you made your own. Thanks for sharing!

 

[raylo32]

Interesting, nice. That basically looks like repurposed drone FPV gear. Those little TX boards do get hot which is normally not a problem whilst flying. Fan seems like a good idea.

We are still awaiting the arrival of an e-assit recumbent trike that we ordered for my wife in April. She loved the demo ride but remarked about not getting a very good view in the rear with the mirror. We do much of our riding on busy bike trails and the road bikes especially come up behind you fast and silent, often not using a bell or announcing a pass.
I had some spare parts lying around and was looking for a project to do, so I came up with this homebuilt unit as pictured below. The unit itself will mount on the underside of the rear rack, using velcro to provide some shock protection from bumps while underway. It is 8 inches long, 3 inches wide, and 1 inch thick.
The box contains a rearward facing camera and red rear light powered by a 3 cell lipo battery, running everything should get about 2 1/2 hours of runtime. There is a power distribution board to step down voltage to componemts that require it as well as to filter the video signal. A video transmitter sends a signal on a 5.8 mhz frequency at 25 mw of power to a hi-res 2.5 in. monitor mounted on the steering arm. A major concern is the build-up of heat by the transmitter, to address this I have a fan blowing air over the tx, works well but it generates too much noise for my liking.
I'm going to try using a heat sink on the tx to see if it would suffice in keeping the tx to a reasonable temperature without overheating.
I also need to dial-in the camera settings to get a good image under a variety of lighting conditions. The camera has wide dynamic range and other settings such as brightness and contrast to tweak to your taste.
The box itself was made from 2mm acrylic sheet available from Lowes or H.D. for 4 bucks. The standoffs are used to attach the top of the box and to provide some structural ridgidity.

 

[MadRhino]

Almost every police radar out there doesn’t have the precision to evaluate the speed of a bicycle, thus its reading wouldn’t hold in court. But, if the police is after you, they don’t need a radar anyway. Police cars have dash cams that can prove your bike illegal. The stationary automatic radars are useless for vehicles that have no licence plates. I really can’t see the point of having a radar detector on your ebike. Radar detectors can easily be detected at inspection and are illegal in most countries, commanding very expansive fines. Find another gadget if you desperately need one more.

 

[pickworthi]

Almost every police radar out there doesn’t have the precision to evaluate the speed of a bicycle, thus its reading wouldn’t hold in court. But, if the police is after you, they don’t need a radar anyway. Police cars have dash cams that can prove your bike illegal. The stationary automatic radars are useless for vehicles that have no licence plates. I really can’t see the point of having a radar detector on your ebike. Radar detectors can easily be detected at inspection and are illegal in most countries, commanding very expansive fines. Find another gadget if you desperately need one more.

I think you misunderstand.

The RTL device alerts you (the rider of the bike) to a vehicle approaching from your rear. It doesn't tell you the speed, or provide any data whatsoever.

It is a radar emitting device, not a radar detection device.

 

[HK12K]

Almost every police radar out there doesn’t have the precision to evaluate the speed of a bicycle, thus its reading wouldn’t hold in court. But, if the police is after you, they don’t need a radar anyway. Police cars have dash cams that can prove your bike illegal. The stationary automatic radars are useless for vehicles that have no licence plates. I really can’t see the point of having a radar detector on your ebike. Radar detectors can easily be detected at inspection and are illegal in most countries, commanding very expansive fines. Find another gadget if you desperately need one more.

I don't know about that. My town has a 25mph speed limit throughout most of it with a number of those electronic signs that display your speed. They report my speed accurately within 1mph of what my Nucular controller indicates. None are setup to issue infractions however.

My favorites are the ones that flash and blink "SLOW DOWN!!" after a certain threshold. That's how you know you've really made it as an illegal ebike builder :lol:

 

[marty]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosensitive_epilepsy

Photosensitive epilepsy (PSE) is a form of epilepsy in which seizures are triggered by visual stimuli that form patterns in time or space, such as flashing lights; bold, regular patterns; or regular moving patterns.

 

[TDB]

I use RTL-515. It is hard to be without it now. Also RVR315 with separate light. They see cars long before I can. I use the audio cues and go straight to the mirror or camera and always check for more traffic behind the first to pass.

$20 wireless reverse camera wired to my main battery. iPhone on Quadlock mount also connected to main battery. Plus bar end mirror.

Action cameras front and rear. On the main battery again. The world has gone mad and cameras are becoming more necessary for evidence. The reverse camera was an easier solution than getting rear view from the action camera.

 

[MadRhino]

Sure, all vehicles should have fr/rr cameras. Everything happening on the streets would be well documented with cameras being standard equipment

Still not seeing much benefit from rear radar though, probably because no one overtakes me generally, and the few that are trying are making very loud noise coming.

 

[pickworthi]

Still not seeing much benefit from rear radar though, probably because no one overtakes me generally, and the few that are trying are making very loud noise coming.

Imagine yourself in a country where the legal assist level for a bicycle is 25 kph, or that you are riding an actual, no-assisted bicycle.

 

[markz]

People would build ebikes stealthily so you'd never know its electric, which would mean you couldnt really go fast, but maybe you could wear Lycra, fake pedal and go roadie speeds. Some of them go pretty fast.

Imagine yourself in a country where the legal assist level for a bicycle is 25 kph, or that you are riding an actual, no-assisted bicycle.

 

[TDB]

All it does is alert me to the presence of a faster moving vehicle approaching from behind.

110kph/70mph limits everywhere near me and rural area with trucks pulling two trailers. The only time I don't have vehicles overtaking all the time is when I am in the car or on a motorcycle. Varia lets me know before I can hear or see them, giving a crucial few seconds of extra warning.

 

[Audisport09]

I have both A front and rear facing dash cam 170 view angle. The radar is hit and miss around town. I move at a fair pace and tend to get cars following trying to workout what monstrosity is in front of them, so it misses/stops tracking a lot of cars. Probably better on an analog bike. Where I find it most useful is in country roads with faster speed limits. It picks of cars well before my ears do.

 

[999zip999]

I believe the police have the radar vacuum clock your bicycle I tried to ride in between the pocket of cars if I have to be on the street. I was going downhill about 45 miles an hour and I look up on the other side of the gauley and there's a cop sitting there on the golf course with a radar gun pointed well I can't pedal that fast but I just started windmilling the damn thing looking like Dorothy in The wizard of Oz. he pulled his gun down look at it then shot me again and looked at it and you can see him just shaking his head at himself I was flying. even if you can't keep up pedaling you got to windmill it. I like minimum lights minimum as people look at it and like a fly to the candle.

 

[TDB]

Huh?

 

[markz]

Windmilling means fake pedaling.

Huh?