shokhead

What does it matter what is behind you? I don't get a mirror. Guess it depends where you ride.

cccorlew

I think you may not have your mirror adjusted optimally, or just never got used to it. I just need a quick glance, and it workds really well.
Pro racers generally ride on closed roads during races. They are in the top .000000001 percent of the population in skills. They don't need no stinkin' mirrors, so they don't use 'em Me, I do.

thump55

I am not sure why you would look over your left shoulder at a car passing you on the left when you have traffic merging from the right? Maybe I'm not picturing it properly, but I don't see the the need to take your eyes off the road ahead to look at a passing car whether it be with a mirror or a head turn.

UCIMBZ

Every one is passing you guys anyways. So why would you need a mirror?

springs

Good guess.

aruban

This is what I use. Works great and looks aero.

John_V 

In many states, Florida included, a mirror is required when riding a bike on a public roadway. It isn't heavily enforced but using the excuse of "I didn't see him behind me" doesn't fly and you will be cited for failure to yield or improper lane change if you are involved in a crash with another vehicle. Someone posted earlier, "Better Fred then dead" and I subscribe to that 100%.

banerjek

If you're dealing with heavy traffic, you can tell exactly where vehicles are, if they see you, where holes are that you can fit in if you need to cross the road, if an oversized load hanging way over the shoulder is approaching, etc. You can see people coming to buzz you and figure out exactly what the margins are. They're not bad on high speed descents on rides with idiots because you can see kamikaze riders who are going to come much closer to you than they should. Even on emptier roads, you can follow approaching vehicles when weather conditions prevent you from hearing things in a timely fashion.

I find that a mirror is not so useful on mostly empty roads because you can hear vehicles coming and looking over your shoulder is feasible. They are also not particularly useful in pacelines because the rider behind is so close that the useful info the mirror can give you is blocked.

There are reasons to wear or not wear mirrors. But anyone who doesn't find them useful in any circumstances either limits their riding to situations where they don't help or don't know how to use one. I would quit wearing a helmet before I'd give up my mirror for most of my riding. But if I rode in groups, I'd prefer the helmet and skip the mirror.

The dumbest reason not to use a mirror is because of how it looks. If someone doesn't find it useful, that's fair enough. To not use something just because some idiots might find it funny is as thin skinned as it gets.

banerjek

Because you need to watch the traffic coming from behind (i.e. on the left) and the traffic merging on the right at the same time. I encounter this when crossing entrance ramps to highways. At highway speeds where there is traffic, the holes can be small so you really need to time your transitions properly. A mirror allows you to watch behind on the right and left at the same time.

You don't take your eyes off the road to use a mirror.

You've never seen cars drift way off the road, trucks hauling equipment hang way over the shoulder, or had the shoulder used as a deceleration lane (BTW, if emergency vehicles come by, people pull over while looking *behind* them rather than in front where they're pulling over)?

Trusting motorists is insane. Always ride like people are trying to kill you, but don't take it personally.

thump55

In the situation described, the traffic on the left was irrelevant. The rider is on the right side of the two lane that is turning into three and I presume, he is trying to get to the right side of the new right lane. He has to worry about the traffic merging from his right and whatever is in front of him.

Carbon Unit

If I need to make a left turn at a light, I use my mirror to see if I have cars coming up on my left side as I cross two or three lanes of traffic.

springs

True, but for every paceline with n riders, you will be on the rear 1/nth of the time and then the mirror is even more useful than when riding alone, since you are responsible for informing the rider(s) in front of you of cars back, etc.

shokhead

That's BS for sure imo of course.

muzpuf

I cut the helmet end off mine and attach a piece of copper wire to it and then tape it to my glasses it lets me bend it anyway i want

banerjek

Your logic is as impeccable as your grammar...

muzpuf

there is the reason for mirrors >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>You can see people coming to buzz you and figure out exactly what the margins are. They're not bad on high speed descents on rides with idiots because you can see kamikaze riders who are going to come much closer to you than they should

david58

I am totally sold out on the use of mirrors. Commuting, or road rides.

Commuting it simply makes sense - what is coming up behind? Although I use the mirror for a quick look - before I make a lane change or turn I will still look over my shoulder. Gray cars in the early morning or fog with no lights, all too common and they disappear in the mirror.

On road rides, they are handy to see coming what you cannot hear. Last road ride with my wife we needed to dodge up a driveway a bit, since the cultivator driving down the road was overhanging not just the fogline, but the ditch by some several feet. Fun thing is many of the farm equipment drivers are about 15 or 16.

I may not be cool, but I have rarely been so accused anyway. And too old to care.

Myosmith

There was a car coming up from behind to pass me on the left still in my lane. When I'm about to be lane splitting with someone in traffic, I want to know exactly where they are and how much room I have, so I took a quick look over my shoulder as I heard him approaching. As I was now on the right side of the center lane (remember that the two lane had just become a three with the third lane on the right) the truck on the right had a whole lane to himself and I had no idea he was changing lanes as he didn't signal until he already started moving over. The guy who had been going to pass me had to slow down quickly to make room for him as the truck driver apparently didn't see either one of us. If the guy about to pass on my left hadn't hit the brakes I would have either become his new hood ornament or been crushed between his car and the truck.

It's a rude awakening when you think you are about to share the lane with the guy on your left, take a quick look over your shoulder, and turn around to find a truck about overtake your same time/space coordinates. Perhaps (just perhaps, no way to know for sure) if I had been able to check out the car coming up on my left with a glance in the mirror, I would have seen the truck moving over a second or so sooner which could make the difference between squished and not squished. Granted it was an unusual event, but it did get me thinking about how a mirror might be useful in traffic.

One Way Rider

To me, eliminating a tool of situational awareness due to "looks" is the ultimate FRED move.

Function is everything, and being effortlessly aware of my surroundings will always trump what some insecure cycle-fashionista has to say on the matter.

Fox Farm

Exactly!

shokhead

Great comeback. Don't get mad, I just don't but it and I belive I have that right just as you do. I just find this{But anyone who doesn't find them useful in any circumstances either limits their riding to situations where they don't help or don't know how to use one** crap!.

muzpuf

again it depends on where you ride if you are in a bike friendly area you do not ever need one so its rare to see one ...now if you are in a area where the people in cars are always yelling at you to get on the sidewalk then its in your best interest to have one ...I can watch the car coming close to me to buzz along side me and I wait till the car is about 15-20 feet back then I swerve out to the left then back ...gets them away everytime

UCIMBZ

Fred in a nutshell.

shokhead

Might be helpful in traffic but of little help on bikepaths. Still, I'd rather take a quick look around then use a mirror. That's what I do in my car. I guess if it make one feel more safe then go for it. I'd just rather focus on what's going on in front of me more then in back but I guess we all have our own style.

banerjek

This is what I do with hostile drivers. If I see them coming in on me, I drift left either slightly into their path or only allowing a few inches of clearance -- these guys want to scare you, not kill you. As they pass, I drift back right since now I have loads of space. I then make a friendly five fingered wave and try to memorize their vehicle. If I see them again (which normally happens since people are creatures of habit), I always give a friendly wave.

My experience is that once you strip them of their anonymity and they realize they don't get under your skin, they never harass again. In fact, some become even more considerate than the average driver.