Helmet/Mirror Problem
 

Need some creative help. Been using Giro Indicator helmet for years, had a mirror that threaded onto visor. No problems. My new Giro Register has a barely attached visor that sort of wedges itself into the holes in the helmer. My old screw-0n Third Eye Mirror is a no go. I guess my next choice is a glue on or tape on mirror. Even so, finding a flat area to do that is sort of hard on this thing. I am about to break down and get an insert and glue it into a drilled hole in the helmet. When my head hits the concrete I can have a nice shiny brass insert sticking out of my forehead.
Anyone done any creative fixes for this? These new 'organic' shaped helmets are not always friendly for mirrors.

I use Take-A-Look mirrors on both helmets, rather than on eyeglass frames as intended. I've described my setup in this 2018 thread.

Basically, I clip the mirrors to plastic cards, trimmed to fit the helmet. Then zip tie the card and mirror stalk to the helmet. I've swapped helmets since these photos but the setup is the same on my Bell Formula MIPS and POC Omni Air Spin.

However due to the unique POC design I also use a bit of Blue-Tack putty or Scotch or 3M equivalent detachable putty. Very versatile stuff, lasts for years, holds securely but can be peeled off without damaging most surfaces, especially polycarbonate shells on bike helmets. I use putty to secure video camera mounts to my helmets as well for my Drift Ghost X cameras. No problems in years of using this method, in all kinds of weather.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...fe85e453f3.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...32f037b47e.jpg

My experience with helmet mounted mirrors has been less than ideal. I find that even when my helmet is extra tight, the mirror moves with the helmet, picking up road and wind vibrations which in turn, distort my rear view. Also, I've been challenged by similar mounting issues.

I don't seem to experience the vibration distortion with mirrors mounted to the arm of my glasses. My guess is my Halo headband holds them tight against my skull.

However, keeping the mirror secure to the arm can be challenging. I've broken several of [MENTION=418370]canklecat[/MENTION] 's example above. I've had them come off while riding and splatter across the road. Or the arms break due to the thickness of the glasses arm. Finally, I produced a sewn-on leather band to secure the mirror to the arm.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...841ada1ab8.jpg
The leather band is laced to the arm, like shoelaces.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0833ee94a8.jpg
One of the plastic retaining arms had broken on the above mirror.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...1c93e90c07.jpg
The mirror can fold inside the arms for storage in the case.

Thanks guys, I am off to hardware store with ideas and measurements. Third Eye Mirrors sit on a 1/4" 24tpi threaded post. Going to see what I can find. My friend has a machine shop/mill etc . Thinking he can help me fab a tap to glue on helmet, with insert or tap and thread for the mirror. I have multiple pairs of glasses, all with different temples, so the glasses mount is not in the cards.

Has the OP considered something in the style of the mirrors that Chuck Harris used to make and sell? Chuck is gone, but the Hubbub bike shop sells a mirror that is similar but built with modern methods.

It "grips" the helmet along the front corner. A visor does get in the way, though. I'm using one of these on one helmet, and an old Chuck Harris on another helmet.

Steve in Peoria

those might be worth a try. still mulling here

I use a CycleAware Reflex Helmet Mirror on my Giro helmet. I had to carve a clearance notch in the left side of the visor, but otherwise the setup works perfectly.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...649cdcf35b.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...58c8c51c88.jpg

Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time. Somewhere around here, I have one of Chuck's glasses mirrors made with a plastic coated spoke and square piece from a Sprite can. I used that a lot in the early eighties.

For the past 15 years I've been buying helmets with visors, 3rd Eye Hard Shell Helmet mirrors and making a mount that screws onto the visor. The mount extends down about 3/4" and turns out at the bottom, forming a lip that keeps the mirror clamp from slipping off. To wash the helmet I just take the visor off. Really simple, really secure and places the mirror in exactly the right place.

To make the piece, I cut some aluminum sheet with metal shears though really sturdy scissors could also probably do it. I then shape the aluminum to fit the helmet and bend the "L" at the bottom. Last, I fiberglass both sides with light cloth and epoxy resin. Trim to the aluminum when still carve-able or grind later. Lightly sand smooth and maybe paint. Drill 2 holes in the visor for #4 screw or the like (they can be much smaller; I've used #2s and metric equivalents), use that to mark the visor and drill it. Get some nice SS screws at Ace. I run the mount inside the visor, running pan head screws from the outside. End result doesn't look like an add-on.

Yes, a bunch of work. None hard but a few steps and a two day process. Every time I wonder why the helmet manufactures and mirror people cannot get together and come up with an easy standard because my system is so good, and if done in large batches, so cheap (molded plastic, not hand laid fiberglass) and the end result looks clean, not a jury rig. Mounts easily after the holes are drilled. Holes are so small that they would be barely visible in a new helmet and could be less visible with creative styling, logos, etc.

Every time I put the helmet on, I appreciate just how nice a good, solidly mounted mirror is. Given I wear my helmets roughly 5 years and often can get an identical next one, it really isn't much labor for the reward. (My mounts would outlast a dozen helmets. Academic because the helmets will have changed so much I'll have to make another to fit.) But - we have industries and technologies to do this easily, cheaply and they reap the profits. Why am I still doing this? Why can't I just walk into a bike shop and buy that mount? Yes, I could play inventor. BTDT. Spent a whole lotta money for a much more valuable dream that didn't pan out. But we have Bell, 3rd Eye, POC, Specialized and a whole bunch more that could do this as an easy side project.

Rant, rant.

Like my post above, I have to ask why? Why do we cyclist have to jump through such hoops to have a good mirror that works? Yes, for eyeglasses, there are a lot of standards. But there are also several big brands with huge marketing. Relatively few helmet makers. And how many cyclists who could benefit from really good mirrors who don't have our time or inclination?

Chuck was surprisingly active and well known back in the day. Grant Petersen had one (or two) articles in his Rivendell Reader about Chuck, and one was written by Sheldon Brown. A very interesting guy!

His mirrors were all hand made, for better or worse. The bracket was made from an old spoke, and I think the mirror was made from old car mirrors. A person could make their own bracket from a spoke too, if they wanted to go to the trouble. The mirror is a bit more work, and I think it needs a spoke nipple to be epoxied to the back of the mirror, in order for the bracket to thread into it.

The mirrors from Hubbub Cyclery are very similar, but with better materials. I still prefer my old mirrors from Chuck, simply because the Hubbub Cyclery mirrors are larger than I like.

Here's a scan of Chuck's literature about his mirrors, fwiw...

https://live.staticflickr.com/8111/2...2cb1d7_b_d.jpg


Steve in Peoria

I think the big reason I stopped using my CH mirror is when I went to flexible wire glasses frames. I think the Bollé and Oakleys I used later wouldn't have dealt with the stress the spoke wire would have needed to keep firm. Like my old Belt Beacon, this beast sticks around as a historical artifact from my early days on the road bike. What? Me nostalgic? Perish the thought. ;)