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Small saddle bag for use with Varia?

ChrilleS
over 9 years ago
My Varia RTL arrives next week and after a 55 mile ride with some nasty surprises from cars, I really look forward to adding an additional safety device.
I've read that the RTL should be mounted as high as possible on the seat post. What saddle bags do you use with the Varia? Any suggestions? Don't need much, needs to hold spare tube, CO2 inflator and basic tools.

Thanks, Hans
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    My Varia RTL arrives next week and after a 55 mile ride with some nasty surprises from cars, I really look forward to adding an additional safety device.
    I've read that the RTL should be mounted as high as possible on the seat post. What saddle bags do you use with the Varia? Any suggestions? Don't need much, needs to hold spare tube, CO2 inflator and basic tools.

    Thanks, Hans


    I have done a lot of detailed testing with Varia RTL and found that seat post mounting height did not make a difference in Varia performance. My Varia is mounted at the bottom of the seat post near the clamp to allow full scanning allowance with my seat bag of 5.5x3x3 inches installed. The seat bag is very close to the Varia but I pick up vehicles up to 500 ft behind on the Varia. Enjoy your Varia for it is an amazing device. I do not have a sloping top tube.
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    I use a small Timbuk2 seat bag (they call it a medium but it is not). The bottom of the bag is less than two inches up from the top of the Varia. The center of the radar is 31 inches from the ground. I have tried numerous positions on two bikes and it does not seem to make any difference for detecting cars.
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    I put my tools in a water bottle on spare cage so varia sits unobstructed at top of seat post
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    I have attached a spare connecting clip to the back of my saddle bag, however, I do find that the unit then does point downwards a few degrees.

    So, I also have the main clip just above the seat post and it works great with no interference from the saddle bag.
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    So, I got myself a Toppeak Micro. But it's too small to hold the stuff I need. Will check for Timbuk2 and report back
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    I've got mine at the bottom, literally acting as a seat post clamp marker. It works fine. It also helps when I put my bike up on my repair stand so I don't have to unscrew the mount.e

    Some people are on smaller bike frames, even if they had it on the "highest" position on their seat post, it will still be lower than someone on a larger bike. It's basically a line of sight thing. Higher is better obviously.
  • 0 over 3 years ago

    I found success using black zip ties to attach the standard mount to the fabric loop on my saddle bag. It's very secure, looks invisible, and cost only a few dollars. One zip tie looped through the hole on each side of the mount, which also ensures stability, and added a third tie through one of the loops as a backup for good measure. You can adjust the angle of your bag, the direction of the mount, and the tightness of the zip ties to ensure the unit doesn't angle improperly.

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    I have older version Timbuk2 smaller saddle bags.  Just big enough for a tube and tire irons.  I had great success drilling small holes to zip tying garmin mounts (xtra's from head units) to the back/top of bag.  These bags did not have any fabric loops.  There is no bounce of the light.