Canuck1

How many of us wierdos wear rear-view-mirrors on our helmets or clipped to our glasses? Just curious.

SchreiberBike

I generally wear a mirror clipped to my glasses when I'm riding in unfamiliar areas. Around home, I can find safe back roads, but when I'm in new areas it's easy to get caught where it's really important to know who's coming behind you.

The time I was really glad I had a mirror was when I was exploring in Wisconson and I the only route I could find was in an area frequented by people pulling boats on trailers. Drivers kept forgetting that they were pulling a trailer which was wider than their vehicle. I'm sure I would have been hit if I hadn't been able to see the trailer coming at me so I could run off the road.

sch

I feel naked without a mirror (visor clipon) but on the other hand have long noted
a tendency to turn the bike in the direction I am looking in the mirror, ie if I have to rotate my head to scan behind I tend to float out into the car lane when riding on
or near the white line. So if cars are sonically close behind I will NOT check out
where they are to avoid moving toward them. My mirror is set up for the view just
off my L ear and is good to check on cyclists behind me or cars a ways back but cars
near me are in the 'blind spot' hence the need to rotate the head a bit. I worry about those wide trailers, but around here most drivers seem to be aware of the need to give extra space when passing. Steve

mtessmer

I've been using a helmet miror since 1981.

bentrox!

Who's a wierdo?

lowell

I always use a mirror on the helmet. Always want to know that anything coming up behind me, see's me. If they don't start to get over then I do!!

Canuck1

I wouldn't ride my bent without my helmet mounted mirror. It is too awkward to turn and look back when reclining in the comfi seat.

I was on a tour in British Columbia a few years ago. The road we were on had a very narrow shoulder with a rough pebbly surface. Because I had my mirror I just rode in the middle of the car lane and only moved over when I saw a car coming. It was perfectly safe because I could keep a constant watch behind. After awhile the wedgie riders around me would ride in the car lane and I would warn them if a car was coming which took a lot of trust on their part.

Hal Hardy

This helmet mirror is the cat's pajamas. What's behind you is reflected to the full width visor mirror through the top of the helmet itself.

https://www.reevu.com/rv.asp

BTW, I use a bar end mirror. Can't forget to put it on.

khuon

The Reevu is a really cool helmet.

I was having a chat with some friends while riding once and we were toying with the following idea... What I'm waiting for is someone to introduce a helmet with an integrated Bluetooth enabled CCD or other PAN (personal area networking) capability coupled with a flexible display (currently they have only B/W today but they're working on colour) in the visor. The CCD can be buried deep in the helmet to protect it and gets fed by two fibre optic cables. This way the basic shape and crash characteristics of the helmet can be more easily preserved. One optic feed is mounted facing forward and the other mounted to face the rear. This CCD assembly normally is set to use the rear optic feed and displays the image onto the flexible display in the visor to act as a rear-view mirror. Another option is to use two CCD assemblies but that gets more expensive in terms of space, power and manufacturing. Since the CCD assembly is Bluetooth enabled, it can also be made to work with a special bike computer that has the ability to send it signals to transfer the image to the computer's onboard storage media (SD, MMC, CF, MS, etc...) and to switch to the forward optic feed thus turning your helmet into a digital camera. The controls are part of the computer and integrated into the hoods or brake lever assembly like with Shimano's and Campy's computers. The helmet based system can be very low powered. It can make use of the same system as say the Citizen Eco-Drive watches to keep it powered. I'm sure there's enough movement and vibration of your head to keep power levels up and/or the helmet can have flexible solar panels embedded into the top. Other neat things could be done with this sort of setup. For instance, if the computer had built in GPS and mapping, it could be used to display navigation data onto the helmet's display. One could have a "crash-cam" feature whereby the computer stores a rolling 1-minute of video footage that can be used to analyse a crash... sort of a video "black box" for the bicycle. This is automatically saved in the event of a crash and the operator can also use this feature to record "bad incidents" that may happen to them by pushing a "memo" button of sorts which may aide in say a police report.

The thing that's neat is that all this technology is available today. I wonder if I should post this idea on Halfbakery.com.

mtessmer

Do you know any locale US distributers of this? I think it's a great idea and should be sold on this side of the "pond".

Gus Riley

Count me in as a weirdo!

Hal Hardy

From doing a quick Google search, it doesn't look like Reevu has gotten over here yet. There is one dealer in Asia.
There are drawbacks. Mylar isn't as reflective as silvered glass, so it's low light effectiveness is diminished- like flipping to the antiglare setting with your car's mirror. The helmet is also heavier. It's good to see some real world innovation in this area, though.

BruceBrown

There are a number of online dealers that carry the 2 Reevu bike helmet models and ship to the US. Here's one of the UK online dealers:

https://www.kinetics-online.co.uk/htm..._colours.shtml

The RVLX is 50 pounds and the lighter RVDLX is 65 pounds. Shipping to the US, Canada and Japan is 15 pounds. Both models come in a variety of colors.

BB

Prosody

Oh, you're talking about cost. For a minute I thought you were talking about weight.

vrkelley

? where's the nite vision on this thing???

khuon

It's bundled into the package that also includes the Lead-Computing Optical Sight (LCOS).

megaman

So, all you guys who use these types of mirrors, how long did it take to get used to it?
That mirror sure looks awfully small. I suppose it would have to be pretty close to your eye to get a good view. But then does it block part of your forward vision?

SchreiberBike

I've been using my off and on for years, so I don't remember how long it takes to get used to, but I'd give it a couple days of riding to adapt to it before you come to a decision.

There is also some art in adjusting the position. When I have to set up my mirror, I
1) mount it on my glasses
2) stand in the house with my back to a wall mirror
3) crouch so I'm in roughly a cycling position
4) adjust the mirror in-out so that it's on the edge of where I'm comfortable seeing it
5) adjust the angle of the mirror so I can just see my reflection of the wall mirror
6) ride on side-streets and further adjust the mirror
I'll bet I look pretty goofy doing it, but it works.

I don't see a need to worry about the smallness, because as you say, being so close to one eye, it takes up a fair percentage of your vision. It leaves the other eye completely free, so it doesn't block any meaningful part of your forward vision.

Trsnrtr

I do use an eyeglass mirror on some bikes, but on my Volae I use the B&M mirrors:

beatle bailey

I tried one on the helmet, it fell off when it got hit by a gust of wind. I could not find one with a long solid stem that mounts just ahead of the grip, so I made my own. Then I glued a wide angle mirror onto it, and now I'm a happy triker.

USX Sid

Reevu ebay- Looks like some good deals.

https://search.ebay.com/reevu_W0QQfro...wordredirectZ1

bnet1

I use a bar end MTB mirror on my Tailwind. It folds up which is nice since I sometimes transport the bike in the back of my daughters Explorer or the wifes F-250 pickup. It is easy to adjust. Glad I got it. I certainly helps when riding to spot approaching traffic. Really helps when you want to change lanes for turns, etc. At work I prop the bike up against a wall in the engineering lab so folding the mirror up makes that task easier.

'bent Brian

meb

I generally prefer to use the my helmet visor clipped mirror because it's easier to remember to take it along since it's already attached to the helmet. But the eyeglasses clipped gives a broader span of visibility since it's so close to the eye.

Many years ago on my road bike I had two bike mirrors mounted above the handlebars and two concave motorcycle mirror extending out each side for broad panaramic view. The non distorting mirrors above let me ascertain distance behind.