bikingtotown

Just got new bike. going to be riding on country roads some gravel with zero shoulders. Also going to be my everyday commuter so don't want to bulky of mirror. Was thinking "The Italian Road Bike Mirror". Anyone have experience with this one? My other choice was sprintech drop bar mirror. If anyone thinks I should go another way or know anything about these let me know. Thanks.

Johnny Mullet

I bought a Bell mirror from Walmart that has a velcro strap to hold it to the handlebars. I liked it so much I bought one for my drop bar bike too.

texbiker

I find the mirror attached to the handlebar to vibrate too much and not be aimed at what I need to see sometimes. I use a helmet mirror. My favorite is the Monkey Grip mirror.

KenshiBiker

I used the Italian Road Bike Mirror on my fixed gear for a couple of years. It wasn't bad, kind of a pain because you need to make absolutely sure you adjust it perfectly before you tape your bars. Eventually I went back to the eyeglass-mounted Take a Look - I've used this brand for 20+ years (off and on). I recently also got a helmet-mounted mirror (Hub Bub) for commuting since my winter commuting glasses don't work too well with the Take a Look.

Looigi

Yep. Other benefits of helmet or glasses mounted mirrors is a wide 1:1 view that can be scanned by rotating your head a bit. My go-to is the Take-A-Look compact.

Stucky

This:

Amazon.com : SUNLITE Pro Road Warrier Bar End Mirror : Bike Mirrors : Sports & Outdoors

It's bigger and better than the Eye-talian mirror- and easily adjustable. And it looks great.

fietsbob

You see the picture some one posted , here, before, ?.. the Lens out of cheap mirrored sunglasses attached to the back of their Bike Glove ?

Sewn on and sticky back velcro as a combination would work Fine ..

yugyug

That sound new to me and pretty interesting..!

For the OP, I use an Italian Road Bike Mirror on one of my bikes. Its pretty good, looks great, great quality mirror, doesn't vibrate much (for me). Downsides is that it takes careful mounting and takes some time to get used to. Works in one riding position, say on the hoods, but not then in the drops.

BobbyG

I wear a take-a-look mirror on my glasses AND each bike has a bar-end mirror for redundancy. If I had to choose one, I'd choose the glasses or helmet mounted mirror for the ability to sweep the background for a much wider view.

Fly2High

I too just purchased a mirror. Had the handlebar one and the vibration and size made its use limited and I had to take my eyes off the road in order to look down at the handlebars.

Got a Take A Look eyeglass mounted mirror and love it. I set it up so that it is just above horizon(by bending the wire) and pointed to my blindspot immediately to my left. With just a 10-15 deg. turn of my head and I am looking down the road. A fixed mirror on the handlebars cannot be used to scan. I went with the eyeglass mount over a helmet mount because several commented about the mount not sticking well or permanently/long term.

Also, it is so lightweight, I barely know it is there. Even while riding at about 19 mph into a 15 mph wind, they did not move. The only time the mirror moved was when I was taking a drink and went to wipe my mouth and hit it with the bottle. Otherwise the 3 hinge points did not move on a 35 mile ride (just shy of 3 hours)

I love my Take A Look mirror.

Frank

Nightshade

Since a good big mirror can save your life I use scooter mirrors mounted to my bars with "P" clips.

All the dinky assed bicycle mirrors are a waste of time...........

bikingtotown

Hey thanks so much you guys for input I really didn't want to get helmet mirror because I was brought up not wearing helmet on bike and disliking most safety gear but now riding with cars coming by at 55 + I'd like to take every precaution I can. I'm ordering the take a look mirror and a nice fitting helmet I wil hopefully like wearing. Any helmet advice ? I found a giro pneumo on closeout for 80 I'm thinking..

noglider 

Another important safety item is glasses, whether or not you need a prescription, because they keep debris out of your eyes. Be sure to get plastic frames, because you don't want metal puncturing your face in a crash.

So now that I've talked you into wearing glasses, attach a Take-A-Look mirror to them. That's what I wear almost every time I ride. I've tried many eyeglass mirrors, and this one is the best, by a long shot.

bikingtotown

Do you think the take a look mirror would be as effective on helmet? Should I get regular or compact version? I wear glasses already usually sunglasses or yellow for cloudy days. I just am always taking off put on glasses alot and I have a obcession with keeping them scratch free. Why I wanted to attach to helmet and just leave it on there all the time

auldgeunquers

Have to agree here - my commuter has a bicycle specific bar end mirror from Walmart on it and it works fine, though it folds for parking and storage, so it has to be adjusted each ride and being small, it is also finicky to adjust.

My utility/kid hauler bike has a bar end mirror that I scavenged from a Motorcycle - it is big, but very effective - and it has indents so it can be swung out of the way for parking, but just clicked back to riding position without losing adjustment.

Having said all that - I am thinking, as I read other posts here, that I may take a closer look at a take-a-look...

StephenH

I know a number of riders with VAST riding experience. They all use mirrors. And they all use DIFFERENT mirrors. There is no consistency at all. So yes, get a mirror, use it, but don't expect a unanimous choice for "best" mirror.

Personally, I tried about 4 or 5 mirrors before finding one I liked. First one glued to the helmet, but it vibrated too much. Another one was supposed to clamp on the helmet, but the helmet is tapered the wrong way where it needs to clamp. One was supposed to clip on my glasses but wouldn't. And so it goes.

My current mirror is the CycleAware "Heads Up" mirror that mounts to eyeglasses. Works great for me. Drawback is that you can accidentally knock it off your glasses wiping sweat. So a rubber band left wrapped loosely around it solves that problem.

Assuming you find a mirror you really really like, buy a spare or two. I'm forever misplacing them.

missinglink

I'll cast another vote for the Take-a look mirror. I tried mine on my glasses for a while, but saw some pics on the web showing them helmet mounted. Mine is mounted very similar to this pic I grabbed off the net. I also used a couple of zip ties, although not sure if they're really needed.

https://velohobo.files.wordpress.com/...15-800x550.jpg

Fly2High

If the helmet has a visor, you could attach it to that. To me, as a safety precaution, I would zip tie it if you are doing that to the visor. It isn't necessary but a good measure to take. I have the regular which is a little larger than the compact and has a slightly longer arm and find it perfect. For me, I would not want it closer or smaller. I attach it to the paddles and it is so light you do not even know it is there.

mounting/adjusting is all on the instruction sheet/packaging.

thse guys are a great resource for a lot of things:
https://www.youtube.com/user/globalcyclingnetwork

As for helmet fit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyhyrITHDgw

It should fit snug, leaving about 2 or 1 finger above the eyebrows and not shift when wiggled side to side or front to back. If you yawn, it should pull the helmet down.
Frank

Domane

I use a Cycle Star 901/2 bar end mirror. It is real glass instead of the plastic that many use and it is larger than others allowing you to actually see what is coming up from behind. They make two sizes and I have the smaller of the two, they are out of the way and do not vibrate while riding. These are solid mirrors of very good quality that go into the bar end on the handle bars.


Cycle Star Mirror (Bar End) - 901/2

obed7

i have tried a bunch of different mirrors, all kinds of mounts, and the one I wound up putting and keeping on all my bikes is the sprintech drop bar mirror...
Some folks say that bar mirrors are small, vibrate etc...I am using the mirror to see things the size of cars, not to shave with...
they are easy to install, pretty much stay where you position them and a quick flick of the eyes let you know what is behind you...
they do not get hung up on things when you lean the bike up against something and they are not ugly on the bike, most folks do not even realize I have a mirror mounted when they glance at the bike...
but mirrors are a very personal thing, not every one likes the same thing....helmet mounted mirrors scare me, I always wonder where that thing is going to wind up if I have a fall