yayforebikes

Anybody know a really good mirror for my bicycle? I currently have a mirror that attaches to the helmet but A) it looks really dorky. B) it puts a little too much pressure to make it uncomfortable to put on my helmet. C) it's hard to see because when I look at the mirror I see double vision.

fietsbob

A) Get over the image thing . EVT | Safe Zone Mirror or there are handlebar mirrors.

Or just learn to look behind you , by stopping. ride a straight predictable line.. & worry less.

flan48

Hi Yay,
There are many handlebar mirrors available as mentioned above. After barely avoiding a few collisions with cars, I realized that I "needed: a mirror. The kind of handlebar mirror that fits in the end of the grip is no good for me as my bike has Trek's Isozone handlebar that will not easily, if at all, accomodate this type of mirror. So I went to my LBS and ended up with a Sunlite mirror:
Sunlite- Products

The clamp is kind of chintzy, so the LBS put on a better clamp. Here is a picture of the mirror on the bike:


Some may think this is kind of "dorky", but I love it. I feel so much safer with it. Plus it is a flat mirror, not convex, so the images are real, not shrunken like a passenger side car mirror.

Regardless of which mirror you choose, having one is much, much better than not!
Best regards

jfowler85

Bingo. Just look over your shoulder.

bikemig 

Ortlieb makes a good one:

Amazon.com : Ortlieb Ultra Light Bike Mirror Black : Sports & Outdoors

ramzilla

Cateye Racing model. Attaches to handle bar end. It's a classic that's been around for ever. Use it on all my bikes. Five stars!

79pmooney

I use the Third Eye mirror with the clamp for helmet visors but instead of clamping on to the visor, I make a small fiberglass piece that attaches to the helmet securely with two small screw then mount the mirror on the fiberglass. Much, much more secure and places the mirror perfectly at the upper corner of my glasses.

An aside - I wish the helmet manufacturers and mirror manufacturers got together and created a standard whereby any helmet could mount the same mirror with a couple of small screws. THen other mirror makers could make their own to fit that mount. All helmets could then take mirrors. All mirror makers could get in on the action. And we riders would have much better choices; mirrors that worked really well, didn't fall off, easy on and off, no vibration and a nice clean looking mount. What's not to like? What I have been using for years works so well that I have to ask why others aren't doing it. Well others aren't doing it because at the prototype level it takes fiberglassing skills not everyone has. But as a production item? It would cost 50 cents to make. I am not a marketing whiz and this would be a very poor use of my time and energy (and probably money) so I'll not take this on. But it is a no-brainer that it would make cycling better for a lot of people it it existed and was universally available.

Ben

79pmooney

For those advocating "just look over your shoulder" - that 's advocating riding with less information. The over the should look takes far longer. That is time when you are not seeing anything in front of you. Might work fine for years. Might work fine on the open road, but when there is a lot of traffic, esp a vehicle right next to you, that advice can be suspect.

A real world example. This happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I was riding an open road, beautiful day, good pavement edge but with a couple inch drop into dirt/gravel. No traffic. A farm truck approached from behind pulling as trailer. I thought nothing of it as I was wearing very bight colors and the lighting was perfect for me to be seen. The truck passed me very close, like less than two feet. The truck kept getting closer. I knew he had a trailer so I checked my mirror while he was beside me. And saw this was going to be VERY close, like inches. I pulled over to 4" off the pavement edge and observed that flatbed missing my hip by that same 4". The truck pulled into the next farm. I pulled up and got ordered to leave the farm property as I was trespassing. (It was quite ovbvious the what had just happened was no accident.) I called the incident in to the sheriff's non-emergency number. That farmer got a visit an hour later.

If I was still an "over-the-shoulder" guy I suspect the outcome might have been a little different. It was that look while the truck was very close that prompted me to hug the pavement edge. Getting that flatbed corner in my buttock would have hurt a bunch is my guess and the sheriff would have been hearing the farmer's story before mine. (Or maybe he would have just kept going. There were no witnesses.)

Ben

jimmie65

I use 2 of the smaller round Sunlite mirrors (I use butterfly bars, so I have the room - the left is set for upright riding and the right for when I'm on the front of the bars.)

GovernorSilver

I'll check this out. I have a Hub Bub mirror on my helmet at the moment, but the Safe Zone looks more easily adjustable.

GovernorSilver

Some people think wearing a helmet alone makes you look like a dork. You can't win the Dork War. Just ride and be happy.

canklecat

Been using a Mirrycle for about a month. Fine for me and my comfy bike with upright bars. But it's very high profile and I need to fold it in to get through doors and narrow halls. And I remove it whenever I need to flip the bike to repair flats or other maintenance. Easily done - a single bolt - and easily reattached and adjusted.

When I drape my forearms across the bars for steep uphill climbs or into headwinds I need to adjust the mirror a bit to see. Usually I do this only in rural areas where there's a wide shoulder and little or no traffic, never in regular town/city traffic. I always sit bolt upright in traffic to be sure I'm visible.

No way I could go back to looking over my shoulder - permanently damaged C2 precludes that.

Only drawback is I can't quite see to my right, so I may add a smaller profile mirror to the right side. Occasionally I encounter intersections with traffic merges from the right.

ksdog

Using a combination of ortlieb ultra light bike mirror plus EVT safezone helmet mirror works good for me.

jhazel

I have several different bar end mirrors. My current favorite is the Blackburn Multi Mirror
Blackburn Multi Mirror
I was using a Mirrycle that mounted to the top of my brake lever and I really liked it but I kept breaking it by bumping against walls and things. It was easier to change mirror styles than to pay more attention to where I lean my bike.
I can't get my head around far enough to see much behind me so I depend on my mirror. We all have to do the best we can to deal with what's behind us.

Tim_Iowa

Although I really like the Ortlieb mirror's huge field of view, I've broken three of them. They last a couple months for me, tops.

I've had much better luck with the Busch & Muller mirrors. They have more metal parts that hold up to bumps and crashes better. You can get them from Peter White, or I order them from zee Germans.

The B&M 901 models have a 2" mirror
the 903 models have a huge 3" mirror
the /2 variants come only with a bar-end plug, where all the other variants come with the bar end plug as well as hose-clamp style mounts.

bruce19

A bit of a pain to align correctly but once done they are excellent.

The Italian Road Bike Mirror (IRBM) - www.AVT.Bike

Jim from Boston

Any good bicycle mirrors?

When I saw this thread, as a staunch mirror advocate, I was going to refrain from posting to this thread because everybody has an opinion about their mirrors. But I’m glad you wrote this reply to the naysayers. They are akin to the anti-helmet crowd. Why deter someone from perhaps a useless practice, though intuititively a safe one? As you note, it may be environmentally relative; I cite my experiences in heavy urban traffic, and going fast downhill on poor pavement with upcoming traffic.

Last year I wrote a post (with no reply) as to what are the real downsides sides of a rearview mirror? I came up with:

• You might poke your eye out, with an eyeglass or helmet mirror
  
  
• You might spend too much time trying to use the mirror, distracting you from the road
  
  
• Maybe you’ll have a blind spot with an eyeglass or helmet mirror
  
  
• dorkiness, though non-cyclists who have seen my two eyeglass mounted mirrors have exclaimed “cool.”

Those are the detriments I can recall; there may have been one more. So in deciding to use a mirror, those are the factors against, IMO.

Lt Stonez

God ****'t it up... He should have given us cyclists a brown eye in the rear

dksix

I was using a POS bar end mirrow from eBay and it was much better than no mirror. I later bought a helmet mount and have no problems with it at all.

What kind of bike/bars are riding?

GovernorSilver

Yep, this is why I'd rather have a mirror than not, even though I also look over my shoulder for final confirmation before a lane change.

ganchan

Is there a version of this mirror that attaches to North Road-style bars?

pataspen

I use the Third Eye that mounts on sunglasses. Adjusts easily and I find it simple to use. The only drawback is that the attachment tends to break. So I tape it to the temple of my sunglasses. That has worked like a charm for multiple long tours.

I feel the mirror is possibly my most indispensible piece of equipment. It has saved my butt a few times when cars were approaching too closely. A helmet may have helped protect my head if a car hit me, but the mirror prevented me from gettting run over in the first place. If I had to choose between using a helmet and a mirror, I'd opt for the mirror.

Mostly, I like it because I can see what's happening behind me. I can tell if a car going is going to give me 6 feet of space or 6 inches and I can ride accordingly. I can see the car's blinkers and know if he is going to pass or turn. I can tell if I need to ride on the last 2" of pavement or if I can ride out in the road a little bit. And I actually once foiled a thieve in Buenos Aires who was tryng to grab something off the back of my bike at a stoplight.

The biggest problem is that at the begining of winter I instinctively look for the mirror while skiing.

jimincalif

I use a beer view mirror clipped to my sunglasses.

Beer View Mirror

canklecat

Dunno, I've only seen the Mirrycle on flat and upright type bars. Those North Road bars are good looking. Maybe a bar-end type made for drop bars - CycleAware or Sprintech? Although depending on the bike and tape wrap style a chrome mirror might look sharper. Bound to be something suitable out there.

Mr Grinch

Have these on four bikes. Won't ride without one.