ditto

Me, glasses mounted for the reasons already mentioned: Wide field of view, less/no vibration, can scan behind by turning the head a bit. Current preference is the Take-a-look Compact mirror.

BTW, the focus in a mirror is basically the same as looking without the mirror. You focus on the scene, not the mirror. Bend the mirror mount or otherwise arrange it so that the mirror is up and to the left, out of your direct view.

Interesting!

There seem to be a minority of people who have a hard time focusing on the image in the mirror rather than the mirror itself. I wonder why? Are you perhaps very near sighted?

As for me ... my close-up vision took a dive when I reached 45 and is now in the Mariana Trench. NO WAY I could focus on the mirror frame or surface anyway, so my eyes naturally focus on the image.

Why I prefer helmet mounts to handlebar mounts:

1. Can scan behind me by wagging my head ... no blind spots.
2. Pretty wide field of view.

What I don't like about them:

1. Vision is limited with a backpack (but solvable by adjusting the mirror and wagging your head to see behind you)
2. They can get knocked around and off and need to be readjusted regularly.

Why I prefer them to sunglass/glass mounts:

1. I don't wear glasses.
2. I ride in hot weather and at night. Sometimes, I want to take my sunglasses off entirely, and of course, I don't wear sunglasses at night.

YMMV, of course. Get what works for you!

BTW .... Not all helmet mounts are the same, so you might want to try others to find one you like. I've actually sent 3rd-eye foam helmet mount mirrors to friends who said they couldn't get used to helmet mounts ... and they're now converts of that model.

Take a look + 111, just got another one, left mine in the rental bike on Sanibel last week!

Better lenses. Works fine with mine. New user. I took the first set I had made back and went somewhere else. Zeiss.

I always have a helmet mirror. Can't imagine trying to ride without it. When I'm hiking, I'm always looking for it, wanting to know if someone is behind me. Glasses mounted mirror would be too weird for hiking, even for me.

I always use Mirrycle bar ends on all my straight bar cycles, I am also partly deaf, so I cant hear anyone till they are upon me, got some tongue and cheek answers here Years ago re: this issue, always some people making fun of others handicaps, mirrors save people, too many jerks on the road driving cars, gotta know whats going on around you at all times. Oh yeah! the pros they don't have mirrors , before they ***** helmets , headgear was made fun of also, just saying...

I have had all three, glasses mounted, helmet mounted, and the Mirricle bar end mirror. The first two were a pain keeping in place plus I own more than one helmet and the one I had was glued in place with double sided tape. I did break more than one Mirricle mirror by crashing an underseat steering two wheeled recumbent. You can buy replacement mirror heads for around $3 so it wasn't a big deal. And yes, it has saved my tail more than one time. I often use it to see if anyone is coming up behind me in a right turn lane to decide whether or not I need to "take the lane" now on my trike or to wait a little until I get closer to the intersection.

It's another valuable tool, to keep them away from me - I get to make that decision, when I see they aren't moving over. Lotsa peace of mind too!

Being a recumbent rider, a mirror is almost a necessity. And since I wear glasses anyway, it's a natural for me to use a glasses-mounted one. I've gone through the ones made from a spoke and bottlecap (Chuck Harris?) and the third-eye (which broke after a season,) and ended up using the Take-A-Look. No further breakages, although I've had a few stolen.

If you try to focus on the mirror when looking behind you, you'll be doomed to disappointment. Cars will be 20-1000 feet behind you, not 3 inches, and you need to focus on the car! The other trick is to use your dominant eye; otherwise you might not even SEE the mirror without closing an eye. Luckily neither of my eyes is excessively dominant.

I never ride without a mirror. I have a MirrCycle bar end mirror mounted on my hybrid and a Sprintech Italian style bar end mirror mounted on my road bike. I have tried eyeglass mounted, helmet mounted and bar end mounted and for me, I choose these.

OK. I think that I'm ready to give a bar-mounted mirror a try. But I'm not sure whether one can easily be mounted to the left end of my bar. Here are three pics of the left end of my bar. It has a molded grip on it. Would this present a problem? (Note: I am severely DIY-challenged....)



I see these choices on Amazon. ( Amazon.com: bicycle mirrors for handlebars) Perhaps I should just go to my LBS and let them handle it?

Thanks!

I used to use a take-a-look mirror, and it was OK but I found that it was taking too long to look behind me. I'd look at the mirror then I'd have to wiggle my head around to aim like Annie Oakley shooting that target behind her with a ***** over her shoulder while looking in a hand-held mirror.

Also I'd always reach up to wipe sweat out of my eye and knock the mirror out of line, then I'd be riding down the road and fiddling with the mirror, so intent on being able to see behind me that I wouldn't be watching what was in front of me, and ride into the side of a cow.

Hey! It could happen to anybody!

On a whim I bought an Italian Road Bike mirror. It's a mirror on a sort of cone-shaped streamlined mount that replaces the plug in the end of the handlebars. Needless to say it only works with drop bars where the end of the handlebar points straight back. You pop the bar end plug out, stick the mirror in, and adjust it. When you think you've got it you wrap the mount in electrical tape to lock it in place. (I measured how high my bar end was from the floor and went down to the end of my hallway and put a post-it note on the wall. then I got on the bike and tweaked the mirror until I could see the post-it note. Then I wrapped it. Got it danged close, as confirmed by my next ride.)

I like it, although I find i have to pull my left knee in a little to see past it. But it's quick, unobtrusive, doesn't vibrate, and never gets out of whack.

The Italian Road Bike Mirror (IRBM): Italian Road Bike Mirror - www.AVT.Bike - Aspire VeloTech - Chris King World's Largest Dealer

I use the Mirrcycle as well. You scan it just like the one on your car.

I use a quick < 1 second scan to look in the mirror on my glasses, and check the road behind for vehicles. Same way the instructors told us to do a panel scan very quickly so you didn't lose your concentration on the aircraft attitude and situational awareness so no long distracting look. Vehicles coming up from behind quickly on the rural roads are my biggest concern, been run off once and that was enough. Mirror and blinkies went on most riki-tik.

Bill

Easy. Beat straight in on the end of your grip with a hammer. It will punch a perfect circle out of the end of your grip. Then just stick the mirror into the handlebar and tighten the screw.

I use a helmet mount and bar end. 2nd day of a back to back century with a helmet mount I had to flip it up as my eyes started not being able to properly focus. When my eyes get tired I get a little parallax drift and the helmet mirror made that worse. Bar end works great on my MTB, not so well on the drops.

This has nothing to do with the OP. The gentleman was asking for people's preference of head mount or handle bar mirrors. If you are on the road and on a bicycle the danger is 360º around you not just in front. The most serious threats I have experienced so far have come from cars approaching from the rear.

Now back to the actual subject of the thread.

I tried the Take A Look head mount mirror but it drove me nuts. I currently use the Mirrycle mirror on my hybrid and the Sprintech drop bar mirrors on my road bike. I much prefer the handlebar mirrors myself but I see a lot of people who use the head mount ones with success.
I really like the Sprintech mirrors because having two of them allows me see the whole road behind me.

+1 only I use the drop bar model on our touring bikes. Good quality , tough, and easy to adjust.

The same mirror with a different mount is used for flat bars. We've tried 3 different brands of mirrors, and this was the best one.

However, I don't use a mirror on my road bike.

I always feel much safer with a mirror available . . . And find this model is an outstanding addition to my road bike.

(Be sure to check the listed brake/shifter units this mirror will properly mount on.)

Mirrycle Road STI Bicycle Mirror
by Mirrycle
Link: Amazon.com: Mirrycle Road STI Bicycle Mirror: Sports & Outdoors

I find threads like this unfortunate because they are written based on one’s individual experience, but given as a virtual truism for cycling. I ride in a busy urban environment on narrow roads with parked cars on the right, continuously upcoming traffic on the left, and frequent potholes.

And another thing…I wear two Take-a-Look eyeglass-mounted mirrors, right and left, and posted about the advantages including,

Bill, I'm concerned you pirated my "situational awareness" line I ride on some very narrow or non-existent shoulders with 55+ mph traffic. While I don't recommend trusting a mirror 100% if I'm approaching a left turn I'll use the mirror to assess approaching traffic and time my arrival at the turn. Based on the mirror I may move over a bit and will definitely turn my head prior to the turn.

I wear progressive lenses and have no problem with my helmet mounted mirror. As Biker395 discussed, the ability to look around my turning one's head (or adjust for a billowing wind vest) can prove to be valuable. My personal choice is the Hubbub helmet mounted mirror. Darn thing is expensive, but I haven't had to readjust in two years. I have used less expensive helmet mounted mirrors, but found these just didn't stay in adjustment. I really liked eyeglass mounted mirrors, but didn't like the "look" your left with when your helmet-less (as in Starbucks, etc.); I wear prescription cycling glasses (Rx inserts) so I don't have the option of removing the glasses.

I suppose if I were a true roadie with a) a really flexible neck and b)superb bicycle handling skills I could do without a mirror, but age and a lack of natural ability has deprived me in these areas. I do wonder how many folks can look behind (neck turned far enough to employ the central visual field) and maintain a track that is +-6"; I don't have those abilities.
r

I like having a mirror and have tried all kinds. On one bike with 105 I used a miricycle hood mount and liked it. I haven't found anything similar for my SRAM Force hoods or would try it. Glasses mounted mirrors just don't feel comfortable to me although others love them. A friend hand makes helmet mounts from old bike spokes and hand cut and smoothed mirror fragments (the nipple is soldered onto the mirror which screws onto the spoke tip). I mounted one of his mirrors on my helmet a couple of years ago and love it. A nice feature is that if I have my helmet I have a consistent experience regardless what bike I ride.

sorry, where should I send the copyright royalties check That one is pure habit from being drilled into my hard head, forcefully.

Bill

I used that mirror on my 09 Giant Defy with Tiagra STI's and it worked great. Extremely easy to mount and remove from the bike. The only problem with it is that it no longer fits any of the newer designed Shimano STI brifters and that was disappointing.

Regardless of mirror or not, I always double check with a visual scan by turning turning the head and looking left and behind before movement toward the left. This is the way we teach the kids in bike safety classes.