Cycling on the roads is basically an extreme sport these days, so it makes sense to cover your back in case a psychopath in a Chelsea tractor loses their cool – and the Garmin Varia Vue looks like just the ticket.
Rather than going full Jeremy Vine and having to stick a 360º camera on your head, the Garmin Varia Vue is a two-in-one job: a headlight that doubles as a camera.
Attach it to your handlebars and it can record video at up to 4K, so your footage of their number plate and enraged gammon face should be pin sharp, with a microphone for capturing their foul-mouthed, anti-cyclist rant.
If it detects what could be an “incident” the Varia Vue will automatically clip the video and store it for you. There’s no onboard storage, though, so you’ll need to add an SD card yourself.
And the light? That has five different settings, with the brightest offering 600 lumens of illumination, which should be plenty for both lighting your way and flashing in the gammon’s face to give you time to make good your escape.
With both the camera and light in operation the battery lasts up to seven hours, which should be enough for even the most epic commutes.
If you’ve got one of Garmin’s Edge cycling computers you can pair the two together and the light will adjust automatically depending on your speed and surroundings, while adding the Varia RCT715 (£300) means you’ll be able to record footage both front and back.
On its own the Garmin Varia Vue will set you back £460/$550, but if one of the videos you capture ends up going viral you’ll be able to make that back in no time.
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