Road Cycling - Do you use a mirror?

And what kind? What are the pros and cons of the bar mounted vs. the helmet mounted?
I've come to realize that some of the riders on my trail are a lot faster than me and have this way of sneaking up behind me no matter how many times I turn around and look.
So I need a mirror to help keep me from looking stupid and/or causing an accident.
Plus parts of the trail are right on the highway and its nice to know if bubba's comin up behind with his doublewide again.

NO WAY!! I'm a big enough geek as it is. :D

Apparently bike mounted mirrors vibrate too much -- but I've never used one. You might have more luck posting your question on the "commuting" forum.

I've never felt a mirror would benefit me. I have no trouble looking over my shoulder when I need to see behind me. Takes practice though.

I'm quite capable of turning my head, thank you.

Thanks Fat Hack. The vibration factor hadn't occurred to me. I'll get a helmet mounted mirror.
Moonshot, I think mirror would help me, especially since I seem to have this annoying tendency to swerve when I look over my shoulder, even when I consciously try to avoid it.

There's a current "mirror" thread in the "commuting" forum

I use a cycleaware mirror that fits on the helmet. I have also used an eye glasses mounted mirror that didn't work quite as well because the arms of my specks are so narrow and small. I have tried handle bar mounted mirrors and they vibrated too badly. I have tried a top tube mounted mirror, for a road bike with no seat pack it worked well also. I find the biggest advantage of a helmet or eyeglass mounted mirror is the ablity to move, cock, your head just a little and see in different directions. :)

No mirror for me. Guys that have them still dont see me passing them.

I tried a helmet mount. In the drops, I get a great view of my armpit. On the hoods, I have to turn my head in just the right position to see anything, I may as well turn my head and use my ears. Needless to say, I find the one I purchased useless. I don't know if there is a wide angle helmet mount mirror avaialable, like on picjup trucks.

BTW, I see there is a European helmet with a built in mirror that works like a periscope. You look up to the visor to see the rear view, like with a car. It sounds interesteding. Maybe Bell or someone will purchase the rights to mass produce it for the US market.

There's a current "mirror" thread in the "commuting" forum
.... and a guy here talking about riding on trails and posting his question to a roadie forum???

I wear one that mounts on my glasses. I like to know who's back there and how their driving. Now I'm so used to it, if I don't wear one I spend all my time looking back checking for traffic. I, like Don, tend to swerve a little when I look back... a bad thing if there's a car alongside, or almost alongside.

.... and a guy here talking about riding on trails and posting his question to a roadie forum???

Well, I think it's appropriate to post on the Road Cycling forum if you're talking about riding on some sort of pavement. The OP mentions the Vadalabene Trail in his profile which I believe is the Sam Vadalabene Bike Trail (http://www.greatriverroad.com/vadalabene.htm). This is described as "20 miles of level paved trail that parallels the Great River Road and the center portion of the Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Byway." It looks like a wonderful bike trail to me.

Yep Khuon, That's my 'hood.
I know, I did call it a trail, but it's all paved. What I really need the mirror for is those portions of the trail that are on the highway. There's glass and gravel on the bike trail/shoulder, but the highway is clean, so I like to ride the road when no cars are coming.
Most of the Vadalabene trail is dead flat, and runs along some limestone bluffs next to the river, and there's about a four mile section that wanders a little from the highway and has hills and twists, kind of a roller coaster for bikes. Lotsa fun.
Think I'll pick up a clip on mirror on my way home today. Thanks guys

Wouldn't leave the house without a mirror attached to my helmet. If it adds a few grams or whatever, or I lose some aerodynamics or whatever, oh well. If it increases my odds of living through my ride, well, I think it's a no-brainer.

I tried a helmet mount. In the drops, I get a great view of my armpit. On the hoods, I have to turn my head in just the right position to see anything, I may as well turn my head and use my ears. Needless to say, I find the one I purchased useless.
My experience was similar. I bought a helmet mount to use on my commute and found it worked only about 20% of the time depending on what position I was in. I have since taken it off.

55/Rad

When I started roadies last year, I used a mirror that attached to the bar-end. It didn't stick out much and was moderately useful. Unless I was in the drops, it vibrated a tad too much (though tightening it helped), but I could still see shapes. Helmet mounted is too disconerting and I get a headache from constantly looking up and to the left and having to change focus from far to near. I took my bar-end mirror off for an MS-150 and haven't put it back on. I've just gotten into the habit of looking back. I can see better and farther and don't have to worry about strong headwinds or other forces pushing it in :)

And what kind? What are the pros and cons of the bar mounted vs. the helmet mounted?
I've come to realize that some of the riders on my trail are a lot faster than me and have this way of sneaking up behind me no matter how many times I turn around and look.
So I need a mirror to help keep me from looking stupid and/or causing an accident.
Plus parts of the trail are right on the highway and its nice to know if bubba's comin up behind with his doublewide again.

I have used a mirror on both my bikes for over two years. I would not be without it. On my Trek Navigator, I have a bar-end mirror that is great. There is not that much vibration and I have always been able to see clearly behind me. It has saved my butt on more than one occasion when I was able to see idiots in motorized vehicles bearing down on me.

On my roadie, I wear a glasses mounted mirror. No matter if I am in the drops, on the hoods, or on the bars, I can see behind me by a slight head movement. I would not be without it. Once I set it, it doesn't move unless I inadvertently touch it. I have ridden into a 35mph wind and it didn't budge.

Geek? If I cared about what others thought, I wouldn't be riding a bicycle wearing lycra shorts at 240 lbs. I ride in what is comfortable and use all the safety equipment I can.

On my roadie, I wear a glasses mounted mirror. No matter if I am in the drops, on the hoods, or on the bars, I can see behind me by a slight head movement. I would not be without it. Once I set it, it doesn't move unless I inadvertently touch it. I have ridden into a 35mph wind and it didn't budge.

In aviation, there is a popular phrase called "see and avoid". Pilots are always taught to keep looking around, develop a scan, check all angles. This is doubly-emphasised to combat pilots. When I'm riding, I take along the same lessons and my head is on a swivel. I'm always flicking glances around to keep my SA up. How well would a glasses mounted mirror work in such a situation? I'd be afraid the added protracted weight might cause my glasses to fly off my face due to sudden jerky motions of my head.

One that mounts on the stem of my sun glasses. Never thought Id like it but seems so strange now to go out without it, isnt driving anything else without one against the law? and for good reason? Cant see much in front when truned around looking back, things happen fast.........

Yes. I use a mirror. I use a mirror that attaches to my sunglasses. The ability to see other bikes and the cars without turning my head (much) is very valuable to me. As others have mentioned, once you get use to it, it seems strange to be without it. Imagine driving your car with any mirrors. I ride about once a week for the joy of it. How it makes me 'look', or the weight or aerodynamics is not an issue. For me it’s a safety and convenience issue. I prefer to come home after each ride in one piece. A mirror helps in that regard. Hey, if the guys (and gals) that want to blow me off the road don’t want to use a mirror, that’s okay. However, I have a mirror, and I will see them coming (most of the time), and I will give them room to get by and let them go on their way. On the other hand, I sometimes pass other cyclists. Some have mirrors, some don’t. However, with a mirror, once I pass them I can keep an eye on them (without turning my head every five seconds) until they are far enough back so that I don’t have to worry about them anymore. A mirror simply gives me just about 360 degrees of vision, where without a mirror I have only a little more than 180 degrees. Simply put, I choose to use a mirror because it makes me feel better when I am out on my bike, and isn’t that what it is all about anyway?

-Spoke

The best mirror that I've found is called the Take-a-Look mirror by the Bike Peddler. It mounts to your glasses, has a wire frame that is very durable, and a good sized flat mirror that provides an excellent rearward view. When properly adjusted, you get an instant view of what's behind you with only the slightest of head movements, whether you're in the drops or on the hoods. It's very easy to spot cars a long ways off. And, just as important, you can check cars as they overtake you to make sure they're not giving you a close shave.

I've never noticed the weight or the aerodynamics with this mirror (used it a week ago on a century with top speed of 52 mph). The rearward view is awesome, and compared to "listening and looking" techniques, I have much, much greater situational awareness than without it.

Here's a link to the Take-a-Look mirror: http://www.mtbreview.com/reviews/Extras/product_86204.shtml

And, here's a general review (http://users.rcn.com/icebike/Equipment/cyclingmirrors.htm) of cycling mirrors, including the Take-a-Look (which rates the highest).

Yes. I use a mirror. I use a mirror that attaches to my sunglasses. The ability to see other bikes and the cars without turning my head (much) is very valuable to me. As others have mentioned, once you get use to it, it seems strange to be without it. Imagine driving your car with any mirrors. I ride about once a week for the joy of it. How it makes me 'look', or the weight or aerodynamics is not an issue. For me it’s a safety and convenience issue. I prefer to come home after each ride in one piece. A mirror helps in that regard. Hey, if the guys (and gals) that want to blow me off the road don’t want to use a mirror, that’s okay. However, I have a mirror, and I will see them coming (most of the time), and I will give them room to get by and let them go on their way. On the other hand, I sometimes pass other cyclists. Some have mirrors, some don’t. However, with a mirror, once I pass them I can keep an eye on them (without turning my head every five seconds) until they are far enough back so that I don’t have to worry about them anymore. A mirror simply gives me just about 360 degrees of vision, where without a mirror I have only a little more than 180 degrees. Simply put, I choose to use a mirror because it makes me feel better when I am out on my bike, and isn’t that what it is all about anyway?

-Spoke
What do you worry about after you pass them?

And what kind? What are the pros and cons of the bar mounted vs. the helmet mounted?
I've come to realize that some of the riders on my trail are a lot faster than me and have this way of sneaking up behind me no matter how many times I turn around and look.
So I need a mirror to help keep me from looking stupid and/or causing an accident.
Plus parts of the trail are right on the highway and its nice to know if bubba's comin up behind with his doublewide again.

Well all I can say is I USED to use them but that was when I was a kid.

Im a head check kind of guy, no mirror for me ;)

That's wierd Biker2004. When I was a kid, I would've never even thought about wearing a mirror, or even a helmet. Of course nobody did back then. But now I'm older, and wondering how I ever got to this age, I worry about my safety a lot more.
My first bike was a 40lb. Western Flyer that now that I think of it, tried to kill me many times. It was my all purpose bike. There were no bicycle helmets. Lots of offroad downhill races, lots of crashes, busted ribs, collar bone, fingers. And a concussion from trying to cross a log over a deep creek bed. Safety still wasn't a concern, other than my dad shaking his head, and my mom yelling at me.
Maybe my lessons took a little while to sink in, but I'm a firm believer in using any kind of protective equipment appropriate for the task.

Don,

Even if you do get a mirror I'd recommend learning how to look over your shoulder.

Try this when you are not riding in a group: As you look over your left shoulder bend your torso (thereby leaning your bike slightly) to the right. This is how I maintain my line while looking over my shoulder. It's second nature to me now.

What do you worry about after you pass them?

If there is another rider within a bike's length of me, I want to know about it and keep an eye on them. I have had people come up from behind and do some very stupid things just off my wheel. Sometimes when you pass someone, they want to draft. I don't have a problem with it, it's just that I want to keep an eye on them and know where they are. Mirrors are a big advantage in this regard.

-Spoke

Moonshot, I agree that I should learn to look over my shoulder. And I always will, even with a mirror. but it's still nice to have a visual que to let me know when I'm being approached from the rear, and by what. I tend to profile car drivers. I don't feel threatened by a family in a sedan coming up behind me, but when bubba and friends are cruisin with their six packs, I tend to give them all the room they want.
Thanks for the tip about shfting my weight. I'll practice that.

Moonshot, I agree that I should learn to look over my shoulder. And I always will, even with a mirror. but it's still nice to have a visual que to let me know when I'm being approached from the rear, and by what. I tend to profile car drivers. I don't feel threatened by a family in a sedan coming up behind me, but when bubba and friends are cruisin with their six packs, I tend to give them all the room they want.
Thanks for the tip about shfting my weight. I'll practice that.

Another technique that I've found useful for holding my line when looking backwards is to rotate my head so that my chin is firmly touching the top of my left shoulder. Somehow this seems to stabilize me and the bike while looking back.

One way I use a mirror to avoid "close shaves" is generally not possible with the "look over the shoulder" technique. Because I can see and monitor an overtaking vehicle from quite a ways back, it allows me to determine if they are moving left enough to safely go around me. If there's no oncoming traffic, and the overtaking driver is not moving left, I will move my bike a bit to the left as they approach. I usually do this when they are about 50-100 meters behind (depending on roadway speeds). The overtaking drivers will nearly always move to the left then, and as they get close, I move back to the right resulting in a nice gap between us when they go around.

I ride mostly on rural and semi-rural roads with little to no shoulder and speed limits of 45 mph, so this technique might not work in more densely populated areas.

Imagine driving your car with any mirrors. I ride about once a week for the joy of it. How it makes me 'look', or the weight or aerodynamics is not an issue. For me it’s a safety and convenience issue.

-Spoke

I started using a mirror for safty reasons and gave it up because I found it to be unsafe.

1. Turning your head controls traffic - YES it's true. When riding in the city, I found that if you turn your head occasionally, the cars will think you're getting ready to cross the lane and slow their speed. I find this technique incredibly invaluable for controlling cars. While this may not be true all the time, in many cases, it controls the motorist need to acclerate past you to a degree. I found that cars will bullet past you if you keep your head straight ahead all the time. Even keeping your head turned at an angle will slow down the motorist.

Using a mirror makes you turn your head less or not at all thus increasing overall danger.

2. Too many blind spots.--- My experience has been these mirrors leave way too many blind spots and when riding a bicycle, you cannot make a mistake. Certain cars engines run real quite and they would be right next to me but the mirror would be out of focus. The cyclist must have total confidence in the device regardless of the blind spots. I could not develope any kind of trust enough to risk my life based on a mirror that was less than 1 inch round.

3. The concept of safty is an illusion. - Once a car would appear in the mirror, the motorist would pass me in less than 2 seconds. If the driver was drunk, there would have been NO CHANCE of jumping off the bike in time to save my life. Furthermore, I could not determine which cars were going to hit me or not! Once I came to the realization this device could not help me determine which motorist was going to hit me, I found it useless.

I purchased the REVUE helmet that is made in Europe and found that it needs work. First, the one size fits all did NOT fit my head so I gave it up. Maybe I'll sell the thing on Ebay as it was giving me headaches. Someone said BELL should buy out this company. I agree. This device was very close to the solution and needs maybe a half a million more in development.

I started using a mirror for safty reasons and gave it up because I found it to be unsafe.

1. Turning your head controls traffic - YES it's true..

Using a mirror makes you turn your head less or not at all thus increasing overall danger.
I use a mirror, but I also still turn my head when they get close so that overtaking drivers can see that I am aware of their presence.

You mentioned "quiet" cars...this is definitely more of a problem nowadays. Many cars are quite "stealthy" with respect to sound levels, and this may become worse in future with the introduction of gas-electric hybrid vehicles. Fortunately, a good mirror solves this problem quite well - I can see the vehicle long before I can hear it.



2. Too many blind spots.
Get a better mirror. The Take-a-Look mirror has no blind spots. I can easily sweep my entire six with a simple 10-20 degree turn of my head.



3. The concept of safty is an illusion. - Once a car would appear in the mirror, the motorist would pass me in less than 2 seconds.
Again, get a better mirror! A good mirror allows you to detect overtaking traffic a lot further back than that, and there should be no "focus" issues.

Out on most rural and semi-rural roads, I can see overtaking cars a LONG ways back - 5-10 seconds and more (especially now that many cars have built-in daytime headlights).

See this review (http://users.rcn.com/icebike/Equipment/cyclingmirrors.htm) for more on mirrors in general, and the Take-a-Look mirror in particular. It addresses in some detail the reputed problems with mirror usage.

Get a better mirror. The Take-a-Look mirror has no blind spots. I can easily sweep my entire six with a simple 10-20 degree turn of my head.
.

Alright...... I just ordered the "Take a Look" mirror and will test that one out. I really hope it's better than the Third Eye that was very disapointing. If this doesn't work, I'm done with those mirrors.

In aviation, there is a popular phrase called "see and avoid". Pilots are always taught to keep looking around, develop a scan, check all angles. This is doubly-emphasised to combat pilots. When I'm riding, I take along the same lessons and my head is on a swivel. I'm always flicking glances around to keep my SA up. How well would a glasses mounted mirror work in such a situation? I'd be afraid the added protracted weight might cause my glasses to fly off my face due to sudden jerky motions of my head.

Outstanding advice, khuon. I sometimes tend to get tunnel vision on the road ahead, looking for broken glass and other tire-eating debris. I have to remind myself to keep my head and eyes moving so I am aware of the entire environment.

I was surprised by some of the reports that people have had poor experiences with mirrors, but I think there may be good reasons for people’s different experiences. My thoughts in no particular order:

1) If you are trying to use your mirror on your non-dominant eye, you may find it much harder to see clearly what is behind you.

2) If you wear glasses due to poor distance vision you have to turn your head much further to see behind you. That is, I can't see anything out of the corner of my eye. I have to turn significantly further around so that I can see fully through the lenses of my glasses.

3) Some people are less flexible than others. It's harder for some to turn their head as far.

4) It takes a while to adapt to using a mirror. After a while it becomes second nature to monitor what's behind you. In fact, if I’ve been wearing a mirror while riding for a long time, I begin to expect it there even when I'm not riding.

5) Some mirrors are better than others.

6) Different riding positions make it easier to turn your head or easier to use a mirror.

No mirror for me. Guys that have them still dont see me passing them.

Yeah right Shokhead , oki dokie........... To use or not use a mirror is starting to sound like the tripple vrs double chain ring debate. Like a mirror is a weakness of some sort? hmmm. Such insecurity seems to abound among cyclist. Maybe its a fear getting old?

And what kind? What are the pros and cons of the bar mounted vs. the helmet mounted?
I've come to realize that some of the riders on my trail are a lot faster than me and have this way of sneaking up behind me no matter how many times I turn around and look.
So I need a mirror to help keep me from looking stupid and/or causing an accident.
Plus parts of the trail are right on the highway and its nice to know if bubba's comin up behind with his doublewide again.



If I tried using a mirror with my looks, they would just keep cracking.

If I tried using a mirror with my looks, they would just keep cracking.

And then it becomes cyclical (no pun intended) as you undergo yet another seven years of bad luck... :D

Alright...... I just ordered the "Take a Look" mirror and will test that one out. I really hope it's better than the Third Eye that was very disapointing. If this doesn't work, I'm done with those mirrors.

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but I feel duty bound to point out a flaw with the Take A Look mirror. It fails the Murphy's Law test. "If anything can go wrong, it will".
Its not hard for me to imagine that metallic rod piercing someone's temple during a forward impact, considering its linear orientation.

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but I feel duty bound to point out a flaw with the Take A Look mirror. It fails the Murphy's Law test. "If anything can go wrong, it will".
Its not hard for me to imagine that metallic rod piercing someone's temple during a forward impact, considering its linear orientation.

Well, I haven't crashed with mine, but I find that highly unlikely. I assume that it would simply fly off of the glasses with impact (it's held on with a simple 3-fingered clamp). The Take-a-Look has been around for quite a few years...presumably, if some serious injury like your describe had happened there would have been a lawsuit and that little company would be out of business.

As for Murphy's Law...hell, if I paid attention to that I'd never get out on the bike in the first place :D.

[As for Murphy's Law...hell, if I paid attention to that I'd never get out on the bike in the first place :D.[/QUOTE]

Good point. I just seem to be one of those people Murphy was refering to. I can accidently ruin a cannon ball in a sand box, with a rubber mallet. If we're ever in a thunderstorm together, don't stand under the same tree I am.
I guess the actual risk in this situation would put my scenario in the freak accident range of the dangerdanger scale. :D

Yeah right Shokhead , oki dokie........... To use or not use a mirror is starting to sound like the tripple vrs double chain ring debate. Like a mirror is a weakness of some sort? hmmm. Such insecurity seems to abound among cyclist. Maybe its a fear getting old?

I didnt mean i pass a ton of riders because i dont. I'm saying some of them,when i pass even with a mirror dont see me because they either dont use it or it doersnt work.

I also use the take-a-look mirror mounted to my glasses. I would feel naked not having it. The problem I had was when riding into a headwind I could no longer hear cars before they were on me or passing. Also, with the mirror, I can monitor to see if the driver is going to give me plenty of room or skim past me just missing my elbow. The latter really p****** me off. I've also noticed that when I ride with a group and call out "car-back" a few times, I almost always have somebody say that they really do need to get a mirror. I couldn't care less how it looks. :rolleyes:

For me, the only way to go is the little mirror that sticks to the inside of your sun glasses. Once you get it adjusted it doesn't move. Not quite as good of a view as some other styles but very convenient, no one knows you have it (don't look like a geek) and I hate having to adjust the outside mounted ones. Got it at performance for about 12.00,

Just a thought: Do any of you riding with those rectangular mirrors hanging from your sunglasses or helmet ever get the urge to flick them inwards and pretend you're aiming proton torpedos for the exhaust vent of the DeathStar?

"Use the force, Luke...."

:D

Never! For that I use my helmet mounted Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator. :D

That's wierd Biker2004. When I was a kid, I would've never even thought about wearing a mirror, or even a helmet. Of course nobody did back then. But now I'm older, and wondering how I ever got to this age, I worry about my safety a lot more.
My first bike was a 40lb. Western Flyer that now that I think of it, tried to kill me many times. It was my all purpose bike. There were no bicycle helmets. Lots of offroad downhill races, lots of crashes, busted ribs, collar bone, fingers. And a concussion from trying to cross a log over a deep creek bed. Safety still wasn't a concern, other than my dad shaking his head, and my mom yelling at me.
Maybe my lessons took a little while to sink in, but I'm a firm believer in using any kind of protective equipment appropriate for the task.

Yeah that's good but I just can't get myself to wear a helmet even though I was "pulled over" once for not wearing it...seems that our city has some obscure biking rules.
:rolleyes:

.... and a guy here talking about riding on trails and posting his question to a roadie forum???

I wear one that mounts on my glasses. I like to know who's back there and how their driving. Now I'm so used to it, if I don't wear one I spend all my time looking back checking for traffic. I, like Don, tend to swerve a little when I look back... a bad thing if there's a car alongside, or almost alongside.

So he's a latent roadie...he snuck in...very cool ;)

Yes, and a big one mounted to my handlebar end. I'm not image conscious. I rarely if ever lose enough of the image due to vibration (25 mm front tire @ 110 psi) where I can't do what I want with it. I ride a three or four feet into the traffic lane to give me room to move over if the overtaking vehicle is approaching too closely. So I use the mirror a constantly in higher traffic areas. I can't imagine doing that by turning my head. I'd be looking behind way too much. However, I don't rely on the mirror for left turns, pulling left across the lane. There I look behind. I only trust mirrors so much as they do have blind spots.

Tried helmet mounted and eyeglass mounted mirrors. Didn't care for them.

Al

How come they dont use them in the TDF? I think LA should be the first.

How come they dont use them in the TDF? I think LA should be the first.

Why bother with a mirror when you have the DS in the support car and a bunch of teammates with radios to tell you what's going on?

Wow, now I have to add mirrors to the list of stuff that isn't cool?? Damn, let's see what I've got here:

1. Hydration Systems
2. Triple Cranksets
3. Reflectors
4. Seat Bags
5. Anything with USPS on it
6. Mirrors

Damn, I'm glad that I'm not cool. I simply don't have time to keep up with this stuff! :rolleyes:


PS: I'm going outside now to strip the mirrors off my car. I'm on my way to being coooooooooool again! :D