Best Bike Radar Taillights – Consumer Reports

Taillights: One of the devices that we tested but don’t recommend, the Garmin Varia RVR315, is just a rear-facing radar unit. It does a very good job picking up cars and seeing them at an average of 450 feet behind the cyclist, and has a number of audible and visual warnings for the rider. But the RVR315 doesn’t have any warning for approaching drivers that a cyclist is ahead on the road. Riders who already have a light that they are satisfied with may be okay with using the RVR315, although that means the rider has two devices to keep charged up.

Device connection: Another radar unit we tested, the Cyclami RT01, is a radar taillight that incorporates a brake light feature. When the rider slowed, the device changed the brightness and pattern of the light to alert drivers. However, the RT01 doesn’t connect to a phone or bike computer, and therefore has no way of alerting the rider about approaching or overtaking vehicles. The RT01’s Overall Score is too low for us to recommend it.

Tether strap: Two of the devices we tested, the Bryton Gardia R300L and Magene L508, come with a strap that attaches to the device and the bicycle. These provide extra security to keep the radar from being lost if the device falls off during the ride.

Video capability: One reason the Garmin RCT715 scores at the top of our ratings is its ability to record video and take still images. It has a helpful incident detection mode, where it will record a clip and prevent it from being erased if an internal accelerometer determines the cyclist may have been in a crash—such as a rapid stop or the radar suddenly moving up or down. However, some drawbacks are that it’s slow to review the video clips in the app, the unit is bulky, it has a short battery life, and it’s expensive.