Just upgraded to a Varia 2 rear light from the Varia 1, seemed to fix everything I didn’t like about the first version (weak light, horizontal aspect). Gave the light a try today on a 50 mile ride and noticed that the new model seems to pick up riders behind me as a false alert far more frequently than the old version (very, very rare). Some firmware tweaking still needed?
I also upgraded from the original varia and noticed that the 510 is a little more sensitive. It doesn't give me alerts when there is nothing there, but it certainly alerts on smaller or slower moving objects than the original varia radar did. It hasn't been a problem for me, but I haven't really decided if I like it or not either.
I'm not really sure that they can or should... I only get the alert when a new object appears that is actually closing on me. I'm not sure what the overtake speed is that it triggers on, but it seems to be a few mph at least.
The increased sensitivity is a great feature. On group rides, it lets you know when others are attacking. It would be a nice feature to adjust the sensitivity, but that might be a liability issue for Garmin.
I'm guessing that anything that acts as a Radar reflector gaining on the RTL510 will be seen as a 'target', I can't see much can be done about this. As a side thought are steel bikes a bigger Radar reflector than carbon ones?
I'm getting multiple false alerts from cyclists in my group after upgrading to the RTL510 from the previous model. The old model was about 95% accurate about not alerting for other cyclists. I noticed a recent update and hopes this helps with this issue.
I called and spoke with technical support because the same thing has been happening to me since I upgraded to the RTL510. Annoying as heck! And Garmin's response was, "Yeah they do that", even when I pointed out the old Varia design didn't pick up cyclists. Real good response, Garmin. And it's been two years since the last post. Wahoo Roam, here I come. jimg
