Mirrors.... thoughts?
 

Do you use a mirror when cycling and if so, what kind (on the helmet or on the bike?)

Thoughts: they're very fredly, but if you want to give yourself eye strain, trying to follow things in a vibrating mirror is a good enough way to do it.

Great with traffic all around you.

Very fred. That said. Flat handlebar - Mirrycle. Drop Handlebar - Zefal mirror

I use Take-A-Look (eyeglass mirror) mounted to a pair of $2 reading glasses that I punched the lenses out of. I don't wear a helmet and I don't need glasses for vision, so this solution provides an elegant mirror with zero blindspots that I can transfer from bike to bike easily.

On a straight bar bike they work really well because they are out to the side and give you a really nice view. I also have an 'STI mirror' and it doesn't work quite as well because it's directly on top of the STI lever so you have to sort of move out of the way a little bit before you can see.

I use the Bell mirror that is made for my Citi helmet (and a couple of others). Not very big, but it works for me, and I love the mounting system.

Found over the years that mirrors gave me a false sense of security. These days I keep my head on a swivel when I'm in traffic. Also, I try to keep my ears 'tuned' to what's coming up behind me...the sound of a diesel powered dumptruck is unmistakable, so I move over slightly to give them room when I can.

I have the standard cycle mirror mounted to my helmet. Don't know what fred is but I guess that would be me. I find it convenient for glancing back before I make a left turn. I still look back too though.

I don't use mirrors. I don't trust them. I think they can be a distraction, and provide a false sense of security. I constantly turn my head and look back and listen. I would never trust a mirror when changing lanes , I just have to look back and see.

Anyone who doesn't look isn't not being safe. The mirror is an aid, nothing more. I use it to gauge traffic behind me so I have a rough idea of what I should be seeing when I actually do turn my head to look a dozen or more seconds down the line. Just like how I drive.

No mirror: Can I turn? Turn head, look, nope. Turn head, look, nope. Turn head, look, nope. Turn head, look, ok.
Mirror: Can I turn? Look, nope. Look, nope. Look, nope. Look, maybe, Turn head, look, ok.

With the mirror you can keep track of threats in front of you as well as behind. If you continuously turn your head, something stupid may jump out in front of you when you weren't looking. I like to minimize the head turns.

I use a round bar end mirror on my flat bar commuter. I commute through fairly mild traffic with only a few busy places, so the mirror is handy for knowing when a car sneaks up behind me. I also frequently turn my head about so I am not surprised by something I didn't see in the mirror.

I don't have a mirror on my road bike. I do use the road bike occasionally on my 27 mile r/t commute, and find I don't really miss the mirror too much.

I use a Third Eye adhesive mount mirror on my helmet. I greatly prefer the MOUNTAIN MIRRYCLE on my mountain bike's handle bar, but it doesn't fit my current commuter's handle bar.

Third Eye helmet mount for me. I find it extremely handy. It, and the visibility enhancements I added to my helmet are the main reason I wear the thing: to help prevent a collision with a motor vehicle.

Bar end mirror, I'd be too rough on a helmet mirror, and I don't need the ability to be able to read the fine print on a sleazy contract at a 100 yards, I need only a rough estimate of what is going on behind me.

I have a Mtn Mirracycle, but it is currently in the parts bin. It was difficult to find that sweet spot with it and the bar ends before, but since installing the Ergon grips, it just ain't happening. Briefly mounted the mirror to the bar end itself- great for hand positioning, but my arm kept blocking the view rearward...

I'm pretty new, and I guess you can call me Fred.

However, I have neck issues and cannot turn my head very much without problem.

I use a helmet mounted mirror. Due to vibration, whatever - am unable to see for a great distance, but find it quite useful for closer objects.

Don't really care about a great distance very much anyhow.

I use my mirrors a lot in the car, cannot imagine not using mirrors on a bicycle - even on a bike path.

I use this one:

http://www.messengermirror.com/

I had a mirror glued to my helmet for about a year, but I found that it impaired my vision and kept getting knocked out of place when I wasn't wearing the helmet.

Glasses-mounted ones never stayed in place for me.

Now I'm using one that mounts on the STI lever. The angle is never quite right, but it's better than the other two for me.

Never could get used to a helmet mirror. Love the idea, but just didn't work for me.

On my bike that has open barends I use a Zéfal Cyclop. Unfortunately, I recently snapped it off by sideswiping it with another bike. :mad: Great mirror; cheap, stable, and a wide view. I won't bemoan its durability since I bent it in a way that it wasn't meant to bend. My only real gripe with the mirror is that the bolt that tightens it down has a slotted screwdriver head. IMHO it ought to have a Allen key head.

For my trekking bar-equipped bikes I use a Zéfal Spy on one, and a Busch & Müller Cyclestar 901/1 on the other. The Spy is a great little mirror... but it is little. I like that it's easy to swap from bike to bike, or to throw in your bag when locking it up. The B&M mirror is a quality piece, but it attaches more securely so I leave it on the bike, and so far it hasn't gone missing. :D Hopefully no self-respecting thief is gonna be caught dead stealing a mirror!

Bar mounted on the commuter bikes. Glasses-attached on the road bike. Nothing when MTBing.

Couldn't imagine not using one on the road. Would you drive a car without mirrors?

Ditto this. I ran with a mountain Mirrycle for my first year and then I just decided to dump it one day to see how I could cope. Basically, I feel as if I wasted money on it. I'd rather work on honing my spider senses and just look back now and again.

Glasses mount
 

Mithrandir said it for me... "Anyone who doesn't look isn't not being safe. The mirror is an aid, nothing more. I use it to gauge traffic behind me so I have a rough idea of what I should be seeing when I actually do turn my head to look a dozen or more seconds down the line. Just like how I drive."

I just use my fully functional neck to turn my head when I want to look behind me.

Are you teeling us you don't have mirrors on your car either? Or that you don't use them? Don't even try to tell us that they aren't the same thing because that's all I ever hear in here: bikes are vehicles. You wouldn't dare remove the side mirrors off your car and the only time you'd go without a rear-view mirror is if you were pulling a trailer. And if so you'd have extra-wide side mirrors... right? Feel silly yet? I've got more but I'm hoping I don't have to go there.

H

Bar end mirror, I could not get used to helmet or glasses mounted mirror. They seem to leave a big blind spot (truck size) up and to the left, you know, where trucks usually are. Now I have a bar mounted mirror I probably look at a thousand times per ride to work, just for a second, but it helps a lot, and makes me feel a bit safer when I hear a car coming up to pass. having said that, I ride in the city and often have to merge accross several lanes of traffic to make a left turn. I will not trust my mirrors for that, I use them to see if I should even bother looking over my shoulder, if clear I merge as far as safe then look back to my mirror. Anything that makes you a bit safer is good.

I used to think mirrors were useless, because I was proficient in turning my head while riding in traffic. I rode a friends bike that had a handlebar mount on it and I hated it. 3/4ths of the way on my cross country trip I bought a glasses mounted mirror just to check it out. After the 1st day with one I will never go back. I went 2 years without one and I have had one for a year. I love it and feel much more aware with it. At one time I thought they were useless now I know that you simply cannot turn your head as frequently as you can glance in a mirror.

Hi

I have Zefal Spy Mirrors on all three of my drop bar bikes. I find they work really well for me.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6140/...663ccd653b.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-f...0/IMG_1874.jpg

Regards
Andrew

I use a helmet mounted mirror. At first it was a slight aid; just a preliminary check before I turned my head. After two years I have gotten so used to where it is and what I can see with it that it has become automatic. I can move my head a little bit each way and see everything behind me while still looking forward. I have become so dependent on it that I constantly glance at that position in space even when it is not there - when I am walking and driving. When it is not there I feel I am partially blind.

I have not tried a bike-mounted mirror, but its position relative to my eyes would change so constantly and drastically that I do not know how I could use it as effectively.

This is exactly how I use my mirror (bar end on both my mountain bike and road bike). I have one downhill stretch on my commute which is a sweeping S-curve with a fork at the bottom where I go left. Traffic isn't heavy but drivers tend to speed a lot and visibility is very short due to the trees and hills. I can use my mirror to time when I reach the bottom so I'm in a nice big gap in traffic.

Also, I find that repeated head turns can sometimes spook drivers behind you. You're waiting for them to pass so you can safely move left, but each time you turn to look they hesitate. Frustrating for both parties.