coffeesnob

Opinions on which one you prefer. Not for mountain bike riding, mostly dedicated asphalt/limestone trails and street riding. The helmet mirrors seem awful small but the handle bar mirrors seem like they would be another thing to worry about when I pack them in my van. Any thoughts appreciated.

decentdrummer91

I never tried a helmet mirror, but I used to have a handlebar mirror, it worked pretty decent. But when there is any kind of bump or rattle in the road, it transfers over to the mirror, so sometimes when you go to look in the mirror, the reflection will be rattling. Honestly I don't use a mirror anymore. There's the blind spot issue. Whichever way I need to turn, I will firmly rest my opposite arm on the handle bars, and turn with the upper half of my body to get a nice good look

rydabent

IMO the handlebar mirror is the safer of the two options. It will not take your eyes so out of focus that you could miss what is ahead.

drlogik 

I prefer the Take a Look mirror that goes on sunglasses. Been wearing this type of mirror for years. Small, effective, light weight and just works. It's like having a heads-up display.

Scraper

[QUOTE=drlogik;19470469]I prefer the Take a Look mirror that goes on sunglasses. Been wearing this type of mirror for years. Small, effective, light weight and just works. It's like having a heads-up display.

I'll second the take a look. Once you get used to it it's automatic. I commute on roads so am contestantly checking the mirror. Had a handlebar mirror and actually think that the looking down contributed to some neck problems, which have now gone away.

Juan Foote

I love(d) having a handlebar mirror. The only drawback I would comment about was that it's mounted to the side of the bike you lean against or lay down (opposite the derailleur) to make sure to get one with a wide hinge range. Using a kickstand eliminates the negative.

coney462

Myrracle mirror. mounts on bar ends , never rattle on bumps, and turns completely around over handle bar when stowing away.

decentdrummer91

Nice! Still not worth It/necessary for me to use though

kevindsingleton 

I use a Cycleaware Heads Up mirror on my sunglasses. Even though it's small, it's close enough to your eyes that it still gives a big picture view. I'm so used to it that I miss it when I'm walking or running.

Shimagnolo

I rode with a handlebar mirror for a couple years. The downside it that since it is so far from you head, they need to be convex in order to show a reasonable angle-of-view. That means everything you see in it is a lot closer than it appears. So you still need to look back to see how close it really is, (e.g. if planning a left turn or changing lanes).

Since I switched to a helmet-mounted mirror, I know that whatever I see behind me is exactly as close as it looks, and I can sweep the entire area behind me by just turning my head a few degrees.

79pmooney

It's a myth that one focuses on the mirror. The close helmet mirror doesn't change ones focus at all (unless you are using it to read the label on your jersey collar).

I use the CatEye helmet mirrors but hate clamping mirrors with plastic clamps to plastic helmet flanges never designed with a mirror in mind. So I make my own brackets that the mirror clamp mounts on with no slip, then bolt that bracket to the helmet visor. (Work but my brackets last longer than two helmets.)

I love the wide field of view and no blind spot. Far better than my car mirrors.

Edit: a handlebar mirror would be a poor choice for me as I vary my position over the bike so much, coming way forward both riding hard and standing to climb steep hills and other times way back to power up hills while sitting.

Ben

BobbyG

+100 I bought my first ten years ago and there's been no looking back! (Ha, ha!) I still have mirrors on my bikes, but they don;t compare to the Take-a-look Mirror. Just a slight tilt of the head and you can see behind you from curb to curb, with no vibration. If I didn't wear glasses, I'd get a pair of light sunglasses or safety glasses, just to use this mirror.

Miele Man

I've used both a helmet mounted mirror and a glasses mounted mirror such as the Take-a-look mirror. the BIG advantages of those over a handlebar mounted mirror are:

#1. the object you see in the mirror is where you expect it to be. That is there's no distortion or the object being CLOSER than it appears because the mirror on the handlebar is usually a wide-angle one.

#2. The glasses or helmet mounted mirror allows you to instantly switch between viewing the road ahead and what's behind you by simply moving your eye. When looking in the mirror you can still see what's in front of you which is great when riding in traffic.

#3. Your arm does not block your view of the mirror nor do you have to look down to see it.

#4. It's very easy to scan behind you with either a glasses mounted mirror or a helmet mounted mirror. Simply turning your head allows you to see more of what's behind you. That's very useful when in a turn and your handlebar mounted mirror is NOT showing you what's behind you but what's to one side of you. Also you can turn your head to see what's on your right behind you too (North America) as well as your normal left.

Cheers

700

Or Glove Mirror ?

(never tried it myself - just inquiring)

10 Wheels

Nice one ^ ^ ^ ^

Seattle Forrest

Garmin Varia Radar.

reppans

Another vote of Take-A-Look - I use the larger sized one velcro'd to a helmet or smaller sized on an eyeglass leg. I'm lazy and find the slight eyeball/head turn movement with the TAL is the least amount effort to see the most area behind me. I also like that it can fold-up pretty securely/solidly against the helmet if you have to stuff it a bag.

demoncyclist

+1 for the Take-A-Look. I actually have it mounted to the visor of my helmet with a pair of tiny zip-ties. Have used a variety of handlebar and helmet mounted mirrors over the years, but nothing works as well as the Take-A-Look.

kickstart

I like helmet mirrors for all the reasons previously stated. I found bar mirrors to be obtrusive and limited in field of view.

canklecat

Both.

I like the Mirrycle handlebar mirrors:
They're intuitive to use -- at least if you've driven a car or ridden a motorcycle.
Tough -- my first Mirrycle has held up through a few crashes, bike drops and scrapes against brick walls. Just a little scuffing in the plastic frame. The design pivots the mirror itself out of the way.
Versatile mounting options, above or below handlebar.
The MTB/flat bar Mirrycle can be shortened by removing one of the pivot elbows. I've done that for mounting on the wider riser bars on my hybridized mountain bike. Feels less likely to knock someone on the crowded narrow MUP and bike/pedestrian bridge crossings.

As other folks noted most handlebar and similar mirrors exchange 1:1 view for a wider angle. I use 'em to glance quickly for approaching traffic, lights at night, etc. But it can be tricky. On roads where cars may travel much faster than expected don't rely on a quick glance to be sure the road is clear before changing lanes. A car traveling 50 mph or faster can go from an invisible tiny dot in the mirror to right on your tail in a blink.

Based on recommendations here and from a friend locally I tried the Take-A-Look mirror last fall.

Initial impression -- hated it.

Every ride for the first two weeks I swore I'd get rid of the Take-A-Look mirror. It was disorienting and distracting. Not at all intuitive.

I finally realized I had to remove the Mirrycle handlebar mirrors and force myself to use only the Take-A-Look mirror (this would apply to any helmet mirror, in my case).

After a month I finally got accustomed to it. Now, about four months later, I find it easy to use. But it didn't come easily, at all.

I had to learn to find the right position for the mirror, which involved rigging up a customized homebrewed mounting method that I could pivot to suit myself. It's just an old grocery store discount plastic card trimmed to fit a niche inside my helmet. The Take-A-Look stalk is zip-tied to the card. The card is zip-tied to the helmet. It's secure and there's just enough friction to pivot up and down as needed.

Then I had to find the perfect position of the mirror on the end of the stalk. This changes slightly from ride to ride depending on how my neck feels (permanent C2 damage limits mobility).

Then I had to learn to scan quickly by pivoting my head slightly side to side, up and down, etc., without being distracted from the road ahead. I practiced a lot on some isolated rural rides until I was comfortable enough to try the MUP and city roads with traffic. Even then for awhile I'd flip the Take-A-Look mirror completely upward and out of the way, and fall back on the handlebar Mirrycle. But gradually I got used to using the Take-A-Look pretty much full time.

So I'd suggest starting out with any good handlebar mirror. There are many, so get whatever appeals to you and suits your bike's handlebars and cosmetic preferences. I know of one local roadie who prefers bar-end mirrors on his drops and doesn't use a helmet mirror. We ride the same rural routes and with converging traffic from highways in a few locations, so a mirror is practically essential for safety.

You might even try a good helmet or eyeglass mirror at the same time. But expect to need a bit more adjustment time to get comfortable with one.

tyrion

Why would a helmet mirror take your eyes out of focus more than a handlebar mirror?

bobwysiwyg

You don't focus on the mirror surface, your eyes focus on the object (in the distance) being reflected. If you have a good camera capable of manual control, have something at some distance reflected and try to focus on it with the camera say foot away from the mirror. When the object is in focus, check the distance on the camera lens. It will will not be 1 ft. but rather the distance between the object and the mirror, plus the distance between your eye and the mirror if you want to get really picky.

KD5NRH

How well does it handle a loaded bike falling over on it? Lost four handlebar mirrors to that this year, and I haven't replaced the last one yet.

It really should be not only legal but encouraged to beat kickstand sellers bloody with their product when it can't hold the bike upright on level concrete. A small fine not to exceed $50 for actually killing them with it might be acceptable though.

mrodgers

With a handlebar mirror you have to take your entire view away from the road and look over and down to see the mirror.

I had a Take-a-look mounted on my helmet. LOVED it. But I'm of Italian descent, therefore if you tie my arms and hands down, I can't talk, LOL. So, I'm riding and chatting with a buddy and my hand as I talk swipes up and knocks my mirror off the visor. Couldn't find it. 60 miles later at the restaurant another buddy arrives and reaches in his pocket. He hands me 3 pieces of my mirror. It was a trail event so hundreds others were riding behind me and it got ran over a lot, LOL.

Local shop didn't have any helmet mounted so I picked up the Mirricycle handlebar mirror in the interim until I can order another Take-a-look. Hate the thing. It's all but useless. Takes a ton more effort to take your view away from the road, look down, adjust your body position and head position so you can get the only correct angle and focus on what's in the mirror. The helmet mount mirror is right there almost in front of your eye and only takes a quick shift of the eyes to see behind you. Not just that, but a slight movement of the head is all that's required to take everything into account behind you.

Got my Take-a-look ordered and arrived. I still have the Mirricycle mounted and only use it when I stick strictly to the trail of which I usually don't wear my helmet. The Take-a-look is a necessity though when on the road. I rode once on the road with the Mirricycle and parked the bike until the Take-a-look came in the mail.

canklecat

So far I haven't dropped my fully loaded errand bike on the mirror -- yet. But I have fallen on the mirror side three times in the past year, on both bikes. Hurt myself worse than the mirror.

The Mirrycles are really tough. The plastic is tough stuff -- a few scrapes, nothing cracked. They pivot out of the way. The design is clever but simple. Just long bolts and washers through sturdy plastic arms, including a plastic wedge that fits inside the bar end. The trick is to snug up the bolts enough that it takes some effort to move things around. Then it'll stay put through road vibration yet still give enough to pivot out of the way on impact.

They're utilitarian looking, that's all. Fine for most bikes. Not great looking for a classic roadster.

Agreed about kickstands. I'll probably eventually get a double leg stand for my errand bike. The kickstand that came with it was both massive and useless. It could have been a good sturdy kickstand, but was crippled by that one-size-fits-none chainstay crusher clamp that never holds well.