jmeissner

I think I am the first person to say no. I don't seem to have any problem looking behind me for traffic (and maintain my line) if I am making a lane change. Although I don't ride in very heavy traffic only the last ~3 miles of my 20 mile commute is in heavy traffic.

billydonn

Mirycle Road Mirror goes on my bikes.

Doohickie

Yes.

FrenchFit 

Dumped mirrors, I turn my head. I have actually worked on stretches to get my head around comfortably and use a different technique on road bikes than upright bikes. I trust my eyes.

ill.clyde

I bought a helmet mount mirror years ago ... still haven't installed the thing.

I turn and look intermittently, but mostly I listen for traffic behind me.

Doohickie

My echo location skilz are not adequate to depend on my ears to know where the cars are behind me.

Neil_B

Ditto that.

snowman40

No, I don't want to see what is going to hit me if I'm going to get hit.

ill.clyde

Been trying to figure out a "non-morbid" way of saying the same thing.

Cyclomania

I installed a mirror I had tucked away in a drawer yesterday. So tired of being quickly passed by electric motorized bikes or speed demons on the road without their giving fair warning. Yes, I've become one Borg! Resistance is futile

ChrisM2097

You must not have many Prius' or electrics around your parts. If I didn't have my mirror, I would have never known they were approaching, using just the listening method.

After causing the traffic jam (see my earlier post), and having a few electrics / hybrids sneak up on me, I won't do any long (5+ mile) rides without a mirror anymore.

JacktheFlash

The 4th mirror I bought I am happy with. An Evo Sport mirror. Its basically an Mirricycle with a handlebar clamp. Doesn't interfer or vibrate. I like it and am glad not to have to try any more.

mikehattan

I use the Third-eye helmet mirror. I'm blind in my left eye so need to mount on right. Works OK, but not perfect. I need to adjust it every time I put on my helmet. One problem is when I wear my backpack, the backpack pretty much blocks my view since it sits up above my shoulder.

ill.clyde

I hear tire noise/road noise, maybe that's a function of riding on roads with higher posted speed limits or something?

It's pretty rare when a car sneaks up on me.

CliftonGK1

I use a 3rd Eye helmet mount for my road riding. Large enough to see a wide swath behind me, small enough that it's not an annoyance in my field of vision. I did have to make a slight modification, though. The ball/socket joints get loose after a couple months and then the mirror will flop out of alignment when taking a 25mph+ downhill. I popped the joints apart, wrapped the ball with a layer of cellophane packing material and reinstalled. It's rock solid now.

CACycling

I have no problem turning my head and always do a quick over-the-shoulder check before making a move but still find the mirror useful. Seems a lot of drivers around here equate turning your head with actually starting to move and often take evasive action just because I turned my head. I find it easier to use the mirror to time my move then do a quick head check when the mirror tells me it is clear to ensure I haven't missed anything.

tortugaflats

https://www.messengermirror.com/

like this one. it's small and works ok for me. i like my headphones and while riding i just glance every so often to see if anything is approaching. anyone who has ridden in the wind will attest that it is impossible to hear a vehicle behind you. figure may as well hear music rather then wind noise.

figby

I install Mirrycle mirrors on all of my bikes, often before I even ride them for the first time. Right now I have the Road version on a touring bike and the Mountain version on a hybrid.

They're not as useful as I would have expected in traffic --because on a busy road there's ALWAYS a car coming, and you can't watch the mirror closely enough to know exactly what they're doing. But I ride at night on suburban roads in my neighborhood, and I can see headlights in the mirror long before I can hear a car coming. Also nice on the local multipurpose trail to see other bicycles coming up to pass...

bikeideas

Here's another option. Attaches to your eyeglasses. I made it because I wanted an eyeglass-mount mirror and the available products were too big, too pricey. Make your own from my design or follow signature link.

motobecane69

no mirror and I ride here in NYC. If there is traffic there is so much traffic that a mirror is totally useless because you know there are cars behind you pretty much at all times and I would never rely on just a mirror to make a lane change, I always want to see it straight up with my eyes so I would turn my head. I will probably be in the market for some kind of bar end mirror for my gf because I think it would give her an additional comfort level tho i'm afraid that she will spend so much time looking in the damn mirror that she won't see some type of pothole in front of her and crash that way.

RandoneeRider

Even when I was younger and more flexible to look behind me (easily), I never went out on the bicycle (as a young adult) without a mirror attached to my sunglasses. So when I bought another bicycle 30 years later, the first thing I bought for it was a bar-end mirror that resembles those on my motorcycles. It didn't work for me.....

So I returned the mirror to REI and exchanged it for something more familiar, the type that attaches to my sunglasses. Even if I lived where the traffic is predictably heavy, I tend to spend a LOT of time in my mirror. Only a couple times have I been snuck up on from behind and NOT seen or known that I was about to be buzzed. When THAT happens, I feel like I failed at my job of knowing at all times what my surroundings are trying to hide from me.

motobecane69

i honestly feel like cyclists oft exaggerate cars coming close to us. A car could come up to about a 18 inches away from me and I think that I would be fine. I don't always "take the lane" but I don't ride "in the gutter" either. if a car does come up close to me, I always have a bit of room to bailout. The more you ride around cars, the more comfortable you get. sometimes cars can't always swerve way out around us and I guess I put trust that the people behind me are paying attention just like I would do when I'm driving. I think i'm more comfortable riding in vehicle traffic than I am in bicycle traffic

IAmCosmo

Never used one and never needed one. The one time I got hit, the car came up so fast that even if I had seen it coming in a mirror, I couldn't have done anything.

StephenH

I use the kind that attaches to my glasses. I originally got it specifically to try to keep with someone that was drafting me, but got used to it and now feel like something is missing if I go out without it.

DEK

Don't use one because what's behind me is of no importance.