Varias on Rivs

[Bicycle Belle Ding Ding!]

I started a thread about the frustration of finding a mounting place on my golden Charlie Gallop and it surprised me how many others were navigating/had navigated the same. I apologize for being repetitive, but I wanted to create this so that anyone looking for answers will more easily find them. If you are reading this and have a Riv outfitted with a radar, send your pics and commentary! They have been immensely helpful on the Charlie thread.

I have 4 Rivendells and 3 of them have mounts. I am currently puzzling through the final bike as there is just no way to get a Varia mounted without buying a new rack.

Pics up next.

[Leah Peterson]

Here is the gang. All of them get taken on the roads around here, and once you get used to having a radar, you want it on all the bikes. Unless you are going to be in an urban area, a radar is a really nice piece of cycling kit. 

But radars seem to be for roadies and road bikes, and my bikes have not been cooperative with the mounts on the market. I have 3/4 rigged, but there has been trade offs for the raspberry bike and Charlie. I think the periwinkle is great, as long as I keep a basket. No mount figured out for the purple bike yet.

As the previous thread mentioned, I struggled with Charlie because I had to part with his saddle-mounted Bananasax. I ordered a Swift bag for the handlebars that will be more discreet but still agree with Charlie’s aesthetics and theme.

This Platypus has a dyno tail light and no room for a Varia mounted on the rack. My mechanics rigged up this little system instead. As long as I have a basket, this will work.

I have no idea what the metal piece they used is. I just know it’s a sturdy place to hang a Varia.

The OG Platy gets its mount on the Nitto rack. It’s unfortunate that the taillight gets obscured, but again, what other option is there? I had the older Varia on a mount on the Saddlesack, but the new one is heavier and the mount didn’t seem adequate.

Finally, the little Platy. This one has a Pletscher rack, which I love, because I tuck a U-lock into it and it’s quiet and just works so well. I love this bike in Columbus when I visit my husband. I also love it for gravel and travel because it’s LITTLE and has fat tires. Anyway, there is a Pletscher light mount for this bike, so I bought the mount that screws into it and I got it all done (which was no small feat, long story) and THE VARIA WON’T FIT. You cannot do the quarter turn because the Varia hits the top of the rack. I was so demoralized because this was the perfect answer. I have no mount on this bike and have not figured out what to do about it. I rode it tonight and it was disconcerting not to have that radar. I could get the Nitto rack and put a mount on it like the OG Platy, but I love the Pletscher….

I’m still hopeful for a solution.

Leah

On May 17, 2026, at 9:46 PM, Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! <jonasa...@gmail.com> wrote:

I started a thread about the frustration of finding a mounting place on my golden Charlie Gallop and it surprised me how many others were navigating/had navigated the same. I apologize for being repetitive, but I wanted to create this so that anyone looking for answers will more easily find them. If you are reading this and have a Riv outfitted with a radar, send your pics and commentary! They have been immensely helpful on the Charlie thread.

I have 4 Rivendells and 3 of them have mounts. I am currently puzzling through the final bike as there is just no way to get a Varia mounted without buying a new rack.

Pics up next.

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[Garth]

I'm thinking you could use a Gamin Varia seat rail attachment with a 6.5" extender arm like this : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D9Y97YG5/ref=twister_B0H262VT73

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/874032/

It's all angle adjustable so you should be able to get it to configure it to elevate and extend the radar so it's field of vision is clear. 

[Leah Peterson]

I’m definitely keeping this option in my back pocket, Garth, and thank you for sending it. I posted this on IG as well and one of the RivBros out East kindly DMd me his Varia mount creation and wants to try to make one to work for my Pletscher rack on the purple Platy. So, I might have a home-grown option! Which will be a fun add to this thread… We’ll see!

On May 18, 2026, at 8:37 AM, Garth <gart...@gmail.com> wrote:

I'm thinking you could use a Gamin Varia seat rail attachment with a 6.5" extender arm like this : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D9Y97YG5/ref=twister_B0H262VT73

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/f5f0eab8-3e87-46d6-ba7c-d386678d3bb5n%40googlegroups.com.

[Rusty Click]

Leah, 

On the Platy, could you add some spacers behind the Varia mount and the Pletcher adapter thingy to push the Varia out further?

Rusty

On Sunday, May 17, 2026 at 9:58:46 PM UTC-4 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote:

[Dale Click]

I was thinking of  a synthetic wine cork, cut to size needed and drilled out for new length bolt. 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/851c90fd-b0a4-4107-858b-7bf48e75132an%40googlegroups.com.

[Laing Conley]

Velo Orange has some good fender mounted brackets for lights that would probably work, basically anything that would mount to a rack would mount to the bracket. It can be bent as needed. 

Laing Conley

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[Laing Conley]

Did I mention that it is aluminum and can be anodized.