6 Likes
CAAARRRRBAAAACK!
nice name
5 Likes
I am most impressed by this
“Treks new CarBack radar boasts a slew of features, some best in class, including spotting rear-approaching vehicles up to 240km away”
At 240km it will be detecting oncoming vehicles before they even start driving
20 Likes
That typo is getting some well deserved attention 
1 Like
Nice, I like my ION 200 RT bikelights. Good to see competition in this game. I definitely never ride on the street without my garmin varia and my ion 200 frontlight. Would consider running that bontrager thing under the saddle. Looks a bit porky on the seatpost. Great typo on that bikerumor article as well 
3 Likes
When going downhill this thing could detect the ISS on your headunit. Mind blown meme
9 Likes
I’ll be curious to see what DCRainmaker says about this. I remember he was pretty critical of another radar in the past basically saying “The Garmin works so well, if a radar is ever not seeing cars, you shouldn’t get it” But if this lives up to the marketing material, it would be superior to the Varia
6 Likes
I’m not certain there is enough here to make me choose it over a Varia…arguably more sighting distance, but I get so much advance warning with my Varia that I can’t see needing more.
Initial images made it look pretty big vs. the Varia, but it may not be as wide as I first thought.
Competition is a good thing, but I’d likley just stick with the market leader…especially if I was running a Garmin headunit.
3 Likes
Ugh. I want to want this, but it is heavier, less aero, doesn’t come with a gopro style mount option, and at no point has told me why it’s better than a varia. Is the battery larger (MAh?)? Light brighter (no lumen count?)?
3 Likes
I thought the video was pretty clear at laying out the advantages:
- 100m more range
- Lane detection (only shown on phone app… but it has it. Maybe wahoo can support on head unit)
- Battery gauge on device
3 Likes
From the video, it seems like selling points are longer detection distance, smaller (or at least less tall) form factor for mounting on small frames or bikes with racks, and a visible battery indicator on the unit. The latter seems pretty handy, I’ve been caught with a low/dead Varia battery a few times.
They don’t mention if it has the Varia feature of a flash pattern than changes/gets more intense as cars approach. I think this is a pretty key, and I’d swear I get fewer close passes with it activated on the Varia.
3 Likes
I don’t think I’d be interested in the longer range, the varia is often too far in advance anyway especially in group rides. The batter indicator isn’t really crucial to me either as the Edge tells me the status of the Varia anyway. But I would be interested in it being able to tell the lane position of the following driver. If its reviewed as reliable and the price is right 
2 Likes
Honestly I’d love a radar that was more selective and precise about notifications. The Varia seems to notify if anything behind you is getting closer to you on any vector, i.e. you get notifications for traffic crossing your route behind you, or for cars on nearby roads if riding parallel on a bike path. If this Trek unit does the same but “sees” nearly twice as far, it seems like you might get a helluva lot of non-useful notifications, which for me at least lead me to just ignore or turn off the unit.
I have my 
that Shane and/or Ray will do paired (or tripled) live tests with 2x or 3x radar & head units with that and other observations to share.
5 Likes
Trek: we’re looking to remove 40% of skus
Also trek:
4 Likes
Meh.
Compared to cutting out extra colors of complete bikes, barely different spec levels in an already large range and dumping poor performers entirely… this is a totally new product for them that actually makes solid sense.
2 Likes
You have a point, but just seems like something that’s already well sorted by Garmin. Along with all their SPD pedals they offer now.
I think that is a fair point as it pertains to MTB pedals…pretty flat category and most riders that are candidates for clipless already have them.
However, as it pertains to the radar, there is a LOT of untapped market potential. The household penetration is still pretty low…plenty of people out there still running blinky lights with no radar. So in a growing category, there is more opportunity to grab marketshare vs. trying to take established marketshare from other suppliers.
4 Likes
I’m just glad to see another option. Huge radar evangelist over here. I’d like to see some competition to bring the prices down and appeal to more people.
11 Likes
Have you seen their accessory lights page? It’s a fertile ground for culling, and 1 new product won’t make much difference.