Maybe another reason to ride bents
09-25-14, 10:48 AM
#1
Banned
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Lincoln Ne
Posts: 9,924
Bikes: RANS Stratus TerraTrike Tour II
Mentioned: 46 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3352 Post(s)
Liked 1,056 Times
in
635 Posts
Maybe another reason to ride bents
In another thread in advocacy and safety I posted the fact a cyclist was hit from the rear by a drunk driver. After posting, I got to thinking about the fact that both my LWB bent and my trike are fitted with rear view mirrors. Depending on the street or road I happen to be on I watch my rear view mirror like a hawk, and keep myself ready to bail to the ditch if I sense a car is getting too close.
The point I am making is that most bents and trikes are fitted with a rear view mirrors, and are placed in a very effective position to alert the bent riders. More so than on DF bikes, altho a small percentage of DF bikes do have rear view mirrors.
IMO this is just another safety feature about riding bents.
The point I am making is that most bents and trikes are fitted with a rear view mirrors, and are placed in a very effective position to alert the bent riders. More so than on DF bikes, altho a small percentage of DF bikes do have rear view mirrors.
IMO this is just another safety feature about riding bents.
09-25-14, 12:51 PM
#2
Senior Member
Most 'bents, or at least their drivers, have mirrors because it's very hard for them to check behind without them. Unlike an upright rider who can look past their shoulder with relative ease. As you wrote, someone who is sufficiently paranoid about cars coming up behind them can easily add a mirror to any style of bike.
Personally, I think that watching behind you for the one that's trying to hit you is pointless - the one that's aiming for you will be the one you don't hear and so aren't watching. And you can only watch the mirror so much before you're not watching in front enough.
Personally, I think that watching behind you for the one that's trying to hit you is pointless - the one that's aiming for you will be the one you don't hear and so aren't watching. And you can only watch the mirror so much before you're not watching in front enough.
09-25-14, 03:44 PM
#3
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2012
Location: western Massachusetts (greater Springfield area)
Posts: 699
Bikes: Velosolex St. Tropez, LeMond Zurich (spine bike), Rotator swb recumbent
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 67 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 67 Times
in
32 Posts
I have mirrors on all my bikes, DF and recumbent. I find I can keep tabs on what is behind me without looking all the time, no different from in a car. When I have broken a mirror or borrowed a bike without one, I find it unsettling, keep looking at the mirror that is not there.
09-25-14, 03:53 PM
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 832
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 90 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 18 Times
in
16 Posts
i have them because i have a bit of a permanent crick in my neck. i can't look as far over my left shoulder as i can my right, so i try to be pretty diligent about keeping an eye on the mirror if i'm on the street. on the bike path i like to wear earbuds, so again i try to keep a good eye out so nobody can say i wasn't paying attention to other riders.
09-26-14, 08:11 AM
#5
Banned
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Lincoln Ne
Posts: 9,924
Bikes: RANS Stratus TerraTrike Tour II
Mentioned: 46 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3352 Post(s)
Liked 1,056 Times
in
635 Posts
phil
I never ride with ear buds either. Between being able to hear and see with my rear view mirror, as I say I am ready to bail for the ditch in an instance.
I never ride with ear buds either. Between being able to hear and see with my rear view mirror, as I say I am ready to bail for the ditch in an instance.
09-26-14, 10:50 AM
#6
Zircon Encrusted Tweezers
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: high ground
Posts: 1,346
Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 260 Post(s)
Liked 127 Times
in
82 Posts
In another thread in advocacy and safety I posted the fact a cyclist was hit from the rear by a drunk driver. After posting, I got to thinking about the fact that both my LWB bent and my trike are fitted with rear view mirrors. Depending on the street or road I happen to be on I watch my rear view mirror like a hawk, and keep myself ready to bail to the ditch if I sense a car is getting too close.
The point I am making is that most bents and trikes are fitted with a rear view mirrors, and are placed in a very effective position to alert the bent riders. More so than on DF bikes, altho a small percentage of DF bikes do have rear view mirrors.
IMO this is just another safety feature about riding bents.
The point I am making is that most bents and trikes are fitted with a rear view mirrors, and are placed in a very effective position to alert the bent riders. More so than on DF bikes, altho a small percentage of DF bikes do have rear view mirrors.
IMO this is just another safety feature about riding bents.
I have mirrors on all four of my bikes - two bents, two DFs. Mirrors can be effectively installed on any type of machine.
DFs have the advantage of more easily permitting one to turn and look behind when it's deemed necessary. No mirror and the field of view and size of image it provides is quite as good as what you see by directly looking at something.
So, while I personally feel that bents are a little safer overall, this 'mirror-only' issue is one way in which I feel they are slightly worse than DFs.
09-26-14, 08:36 PM
#7
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Scalarville
Posts: 1,454
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 4 Times
in
4 Posts
Disconcerting, to say the least.
09-29-14, 10:00 AM
#9
Full Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: SE Michigan
Posts: 464
Bikes: Serotta CRL, Litespeed Blue Ridge, Bacchetta Ti Aero, Cannondale delta V, 67 Schwinn Sting Ray stick shift.
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 26 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 7 Times
in
6 Posts
Eye glass mirror riding the df, handle bar mirror on the bent. Can't imagine riding without.
09-29-14, 07:21 PM
#10
Senior Member
IIRC, the Sunset has a fairly upright seating position. Low, but upright. That makes it easier to look behind, although I think it still helps to be young too!
10-05-14, 08:55 AM
#11
Uber Goober
I have and use a mirror for all my riding (on uprights)- but I would say the odds of dodging a car that was about to hit me from behind are not real good, either- I just don't watch it that close all the time.
Same in my car- I've got mirrors aplenty- but recently got rear-ended by a car I never saw.
Same in my car- I've got mirrors aplenty- but recently got rear-ended by a car I never saw.
__________________
"be careful this rando stuff is addictive and dan's the 'pusher'."
"be careful this rando stuff is addictive and dan's the 'pusher'."
10-05-14, 02:02 PM
#12
Old Fart In Training
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 2,268
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 12 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 22 Times
in
16 Posts
Not having to look down at a DF mirror saved my skin.
A 'Cowboy Cadillac' with tires as wide as the whole bike lane and taller than my bent was drifting into the bike lane behind me.
I saw him, bailed into a parking lot,
He scraped the curb right where I was. Do doubt I would have been killed...
There are always circumstances, and not watching behind with texting drivers In two ton cages doing 60 right next to us is well,,,,,,nevermind...
Point made.
Cowboy Cadillac :
Last edited by osco53; 11-29-16 at 06:31 AM.
