Mirrors
 

As a bike tourer and everyday bike commuter, I use mirrors. I almost can't get on a bike without one. I've gone through many over the last decade since I got back into bikes, and my hope is that this synopsis will help someone short-circuit the process. My perspective is informed by the fact that I wear glasses, don't wear sunglasses, and all of my bikes now have drop bars.

Before I get too deep into this, note that mirrors do not need to do much to be useful. A single bit of information, whether a car is back there or not, provides the majority of what you need for safety. Second-order bits would be distance, speed, etc. The first bit is absolutely crucial, so if the mirror bounces too much to read, or the field of view (FOV) is too small to capture much of the road, the mirror is at best useless. It can be a negative if you think there's no car, but there really is. Large FOVs require either the mirror is mounted close to your face (helmet or glasses), is enormous (nobody does this), or is convex. Convex mirrors give problems w/ determining distance, but are perfectly good for determining whether something is there.

Here's my take:

helmet mounted (third eye etc), attaches to helmet w/ sticky pad
Pros: no vibration, good field of view, easy to point.
Cons: cheap plastic attaches to helmet, easy to bump, break, have to adjust every time I get on the bike, difficult to get a good position, have to be careful w/ the helmet.

glasses mounted (take-a-look is the best)
Pros: the gold star for function, great field of view, no vib, light. If you have a separate pair of sunglasses in your handlebar bag, and wear them every time you get on the bike, look no further.
Cons: Since I don't have a separate pair of glasses just for biking, I need to take it on and off every time I get on or off the bike. For those of you who care about looks, they are seriously goofy-looking. Rubber sheaths on the "clamp" fall off and get lost.

handlebar mounted
I'm left w/ this category, so here is my take on several that I've tried.

mountain-bike barends: bar ends are way too far back to be of use

sprintech barends: Very cool looking, but I find them too close to my body (have to look straight down to use them), they are small, and I bump them w/ my knees.

STI-mounted (mirrcle): right position, but I've had bad luck w/ them breaking, and I don't currently use STI.

BlackBurn Road Mirror:
pros: gets great reviews, easy to mount/unmount, usable
cons: Vibrates too much, doesn't stay in position on big bumps, sticks way out (hard to get through doors), and mode of attachment, while functional, flat (so limited FOV), is cheap and ugly.

German Ultralight Mirror:
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=330979.
Frustrated w/ the blackburn, I went back through the amazon reviews. Among all the glowing ones was one guy who said it couldn't hold a candle to this mirror, so I tracked one down and tried it.
Pros: doesn't stick far out (vertical orientation), little to no vibration, solid attachment, convex (decent FOV)
Cons: convex (takes practice to estimate distance), cheap plastic, FOV still nowhere near take-a-look.

I have several different mirrors, but only one german ultralight, which I mounted on my heavy commuter bike. I liked it, but wasn't blown away. Without realizing it, however, I've avoided using any other bike over the last two weeks, even for 20+ mile rides, because I'd have to use a different mirror.

Basically, it does everything pretty well. Convex+no-vibration means that I get a good sense of what's behind me and it's clear enough that I can estimate distance well. The mirror stays put with road bumps, and mostly even when bumped directly. Eyeglass-mounted mirrors are easily angled around so you can look left or right by turning your head. A mirror attached to the handlebars is less maneuverable, but the convexity mean you don't have to maneuver it very far to see left or right. I don't know how durable it will be, but I've read good things about this in other reviews.

Bottom line is that I ordered another for my touring bike.

Since you can no longer get a Chuck Harris these are nearly as good. http://teamtigereye.com/OUR_MIRRORS.php

Very nice OP. Strange that few cyclist use mirrors. Last year I bought one of the third eye set-ups that clamp to your glasses. I used it a couple times but found it to be too much of a distraction while doing my sight-seeing trips. That's the main issue with head mirrors. Nice to have when needed but a real distraction if you're not used to using them

I've thought about a bar end mirror but one of those would interfere with my hand position while climbing. Now one of those might work if I can find one that has an extension and is not too big.

For the most part I don't think you need a mirror unless you make a lot of lefts into heavy traffic. Personally I don't so unless that changes real soon I wont' be too worried about it. I just turn my head to check traffic when needed and at least for the time being this seems to work.

Thanks for the info northerntier, I believe I'll be trying out the Take A Look and probably gluing those rubber sheaths on if that's the case.

Better helmet mounted mirror ... http://efficientvelo.com/products/safe-zone.html

I use this mirror and it works great. My only complaint is the large size. I have been using this mirror for a year with no problems and is very sturdy. I ride rural 2 lane roads and want to know what is coming behind me. I don't ride without a mirror.

I didn't see this one in the list - and the best one of all IMO.

Bike Eye

http://www.bike-eye.com

I've found it gives the best view, does not get in your field of vision and works really well.

J.

webcam facing backwards is an approach for the technically focused ..

It gives the best view? Reeeaally? OK, maybe it does, though it seems you'd only get it part if the time, depending on leg positions. Is the field of view anywhere near as wide as a bar mounted mirror?

That does seem like a better helmet mount that the Third-Eye type.

What if you carry bags or things on a rack or even a saddle bag? I feel like any of those things would block your view with this mirror - if so, this wouldn't be an option for many people.

I use a glasses mounted mirror. I don't find myself being involuntarily drawn to look at it so wouldn't characterize it as being distracting. I position it up and to the left so it's largely out of my forward field of view. Of course it has the pros and cons that have already been enumerated. Among the pros that outweigh the cons as far as I'm concerned are low vibration, large true-to-size FOV, and scan by moving head. Plus, I don't dork up the bike with a mirror. I dork up myself instead.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=332399

Bike eye doesn't work great if you have certain bags/panniers or rack top ones. You need to try it out to really tell.

Other than that, it's the best mirror I've used. Seems to be less effected by vibration too. I've used several helmet mirrors and two bar end styles (Italian road mirror and another one that's more adjustable). I like this the best by far.

They have a video on their website so you can see how it works.

J.

I posted this in the Clydesdales/Athenas area this morning.

I use a helmet mounted mirror with a truly tiny, but extremely effective mirror that gives me a very adequate rear view. See pics below.



I'm a zealous mirror user and for a good reason; using a mirror has kept me from getting killed twice. On two occasions, trucks, coming from behind, have gone far out of their way to hit me, but they couldn't because I saw them coming and took evasive action.

On one occasion, a dump truck was coming from behind and I saw, in my mirror, that he was on a collision course with me and closing fast. I was on a straight two lane road that had no paved shoulder, but had a 5' gravel area that I could escape to. I went about 3' off into the gravel and the truck passed me with his right side tires across the white line. There were no other cars within sight. It was about 2:00pm and there was unlimited visibility. There was no reason for this truck to head off the road at the very same time that he was passing me.

Years later there was a similar situation. About 2:00pm, straight two lane road, but this road had a 3' paved shoulder, where I was riding. I heard a semi truck coming from behind, looked in my mirror and saw that he was way too close for comfort. I kept looking and knew that this guy was going to hit me if I didn't do something fast. I went off of the shoulder and about 3' into the grass and the semi passed me with his right side wheels IN THE GRASS. There was no other traffic and no reason for him to move off the side of the road at the very same time that he was passing me.

Wouldn't you use a mirror, too, if you had experiences like this? Fortunately for me, I began to use a mirror BEFORE these two close calls.

Here's what I'm using (see pics below); it started as a Third Eye mirror, but I modified it. The reason for the modification was that the standard mirror (a little bigger than a quarter) blocked too much of the road ahead, obscuring traffic and things like dogs running from the left side of the road toward me. There is a nickel behind the mirror in the second pic to give you and idea of size.

Although the mirror portion seems small, it gives plenty of room for me to see all that I need to see without obscuring forward vision.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f4...ps439f9c85.jpg


http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f4...ps88971a23.jpg

The Bike Peddler Take a Look mirror can be mounted on the helmet! When I had a visor I attached the mirror to it. With my new road helmet, I used some zip ties to attach it, because I didn't want to order and wait for the special adapter to some in the mail.
I mounted it on my glasses 2 or 3 times, but I couldn't stand it there. The glasses' frame always seemed to be in the way. :notamused:

Actually I don't think I would like the idea of trying to predict whether or not an over-taking vehicle is going to run me over. On the other hand if a very large vehicle is trying to pass me with very limited room I would like to know about it well before he actually starts to pass. If I feel at that time that there is not enough room to pass safely than yes I might bail off the road if possible. I've had 18 wheelers pass me on roads with very little shoulder. It is not a comfortable feeling when the trailer is no more than two feet from your handlebars. When possible I try to avoid roads that have said scenario. Small roads with big trucks don't mix. If I have no choice but to use a road like that I really want my best day time lights going. ;)

I bought the "Take a LOOK Mirror" yesterday and took it for a ride today. Once again the mirror seems to block a portion of my FOV to the left that I do not find pleasing. The real bother though was that while I could see traffic behind me very well, I could also see the brightness of my own "day glow" yellow jersey while looking over my shoulder. It was almost like having a yellow light shining in my eyes the whole time. I really couldn't deal with that.

When I got home I considered and tried mounting it to the helmet but couldn't seem to find a position that would work. Than I took a look at the photo ( above ) and could see that you have yours bent a little different than mine. I bent mine so it was a little higher. Haven't tried it on the bike yet but I don't think I'll be seeing my jersey which is a big improvement. I can see a little of the wire but that doesn't bother me. This should also be an improvement that will also improve my FOV to the left...hopefully.

I like the Take-A-Look mirror in most every respect except wearing it on my glasses it is too heavy. Riding Texas chip seal the vibration, sweat and weight keeps pulling the glasses down.

I bought the Take-A-Look mirror after "loosing" my Chuck Harris mirror. (at least I think it is a Chuck Harris circa 1985) Then I "found" my Chuck Harris mirror and while it has a smaller mirror when I use it it is dead on where I need it to be view wise. I can move it from one pair of glasses to another much easier then I can the Take-A-Look mirror and is certainly a lot lighter.

I find nothing beats a helmet mirror. I can scan a very wide angle behind me, and I can see more at a glance than I can with anything mounted on the bike unless it's a convex mirror. I don't like convex mirrors because I ride on roads where the traffic is moving at 60 MPH and cars that will be passing me in 3 seconds are the size of a grain of rice on a convex mirror.

I used to use a Take-A-Look, but in the course of a wipe-out a few years ago, the edge of the mirror, which has no protection on it, cut a gouge in my face that took 8 stitches to close. Also looking at the wreckage I can see that it wouldn't take much for that stiff wire to get driven into my face.

I now use a Cycleaware reflex, which seems to me to be far safer and effectively the same thing. Actually a little more adjustable, but the downside is that after 3 or 4 years the ball joint can get a little loose. Easy to fix though.

I agree that the Take A Look mirror is the best in its class, and it's not even much more money, if at all.

I have only used the on-lense button mirrors. It works for me EXCEPT, it's only "what's back there". You can't really get details, speed, or what they're doing. Is it that much better with a helmet mount mirror, or more or less the same?

This is still my favorite for convenience and usability and being out of the way.

What's this one called?

Looks similar, but larger, to the Italian Road Bike Mirror. Got mine at Aspire Velo Tech (http://www.aspirevelotech.com/Mercha...ry_Code=MIRROR). Not associated with them, etc., etc.,

Thank you. That was enough information for me to find the blog post I was looking for. I found this to be a good review.

http://www.signatureride.com/PRtwomirrors.html

I ended up returning my Italian Road Bike Mirror recently. The view is more like a the left side view mirror in a car (i.e., it's not a rear view mirror). But because it uses a convex (or is it concave?) mirror you can't see much past about 1/2 block back unless you stare at it. It's fine for one thing - riding on a shoulder or bike lane and keeping track of cars passing you. It's not hard to install but I had to rotate my bars forward quite a bit which placed my drops is a less usable position (plus I had to reposition my hoods.) It might be fine in a quiet rural setting but I found it nearly useless for Los Angeles. If you buy it on ebay the vendor has a 30 day return policy and it only costs you return shipping to try it out.