Originally Posted by
Metieval
No more exhausting than mirror glancing in a car while driving. Neither is it distracting when done correctly. In my opinion riding with a mirror just means the rider is that much more of a communicative, alert, situational aware, courteous rider.
I don't care for the helmet mirrors, but I love my bar end mirror.
Cool. On pavement, I almost fully stick to side roads and 2 lane 2 way roads, so cars are either rarely needing to pass or cars can see me from .25mi away and take the other lane entirely.
Courtesy is built into that since I mostly avoid busy 1 lane roads that would frustrate cars. Beyond that, I am not sure what courtesy there is in knowing a car is behind me. I ride straight and they move around me either way.
The Varia that I now own is an awesome bit of tech. A rare advancement in tech that actually does improve my ride. I did a 2hour mixed surface ride last night where it was 12mi of pavement and 21mi of gravel. I didn't care when the Varia was going off on pavement as cars easily move around on side roads and 2 lane 2 way roads. It was great for the gravel miles as I was able to move over to the right multiple times without delaying/frustrating the vehicle behind me.
No constant checking and still situationally aware and courteous. Win win.