IamAlan

I use a helmet mirror from Tigereye Home and find it to be very well made and sturdy.

Skipjacks

Ah! I thought you'd found a cheat code to the universe or like the perfect major spot where the mirror's line of sight was between your leg and the top tube, under the seat, and over the rear rack....I was going to be massively impressed!!!!

Robert C

I use them on my recumbents. There is no easy way to glance back on one.

rumrunn6

I do, but I forgot mine Saturday. been so used to riding on paved or dirt trails I forgot how useful they are, on the streets

f4rrest

I adjust the helmet/glasses mounted mirror so that the edge of my ear is visible in the edge of the mirror.

This provides a quick and easy frame of reference when you move your head.

I turn my head about 10 degree if I want to see directly behind.

flan48

Huge +1 from me!
Best regards

Fargo Wolf

I have in the past, but stopped doing so of late because my bike fell over a couple of times and destroyed my mirrors. I just shoulder check as much as I can for now.

bobwysiwyg

Yup.😉

davidallenxyz

I commuted on a motorbike (OK, scooter) for about a year before returning to pedal power a couple of months ago.

Could not imagine riding a motorbike without mirrors.

Took me a couple of days on the pedal bike before I stopped subconsciously checking them.

Haven't missed them since.

That's not to say I don't think people should use mirrors, just to say that I went from one vehicle where I needed them, to another where I don't.

On a bike, my ears give me most of my feedback about what is around me, and I never ride so fast that I don't have time to look over my shoulder before making a manoeuvre. And even if you have a mirror, it won't show you every angle, so you should be checking over your shoulder anyway.

Your ears are much less effective on a motorbike or in a car which is why you need to have more visual aids.

rachel120

Would you be willing to remove all the mirrors on your car? If not, why not? You can just bend your neck around to check your sides and behind, so who needs mirrors on a car?

People in cars need mirrors for the same exact reason cyclists do. To know what is coming up behind them and to get accurate information on what's behind them, and to get that without taking eyes off the road ahead. It makes being on the road a safer prospect, regardless of what type of vehicle you are using.

A few events that have happened to me illustrate why a mirror is a needed safety device.

- 16 days after getting my bike an unexpected road closure forced me in a situation where I had to make a right turn and then immediately cut across 3 lanes of traffic to get to the left turn lane for the light only a block away. And it was late at night so I'm doing this while trying to judge traffic movement from headlights only. I don't know how I managed it without getting myself killed. But I bought a mirror the very next day and when they closed the road in the exact same spot a few weeks later, that mirror made getting to the left turn lane a lot easier.

[Note: Turning right wasn't possible since the light at that intersection was built only for straight both ways and the road on the left; the road on the right had a forced right turn only when leaving. No pedestrian crosswalks across the road I was forced onto anywhere. And if I didn't turn left right there, I'd have been forced onto an 8 lane highway with heavy and fast traffic.]

- Just a few days ago I needed to make a left turn and would have to cross over one lane to get to the left turn lane. There was someone behind me, traffic had been heavy enough that I hadn't been able to enter the left straight lane earlier. The turn lane had already started and I only had 20 or so feet remaining of turn lane before the light. (State law says I can get into the left straight lane up to 100 feet before the turn lane.) The truck behind me wasn't jumping into the lane, so I signaled for a few seconds and then started left. I could watch him in my mirror as I went left and after I signaled and started left he decided to pass. Because I could see him in my mirror without taking my eyes off the road I was able to go back right and avoid a collision. And with the mirror I could also see that he went back to the right as well, which was the information I needed to know it was safe to get to the left turn lane at that exact moment.

- A couple of weeks ago approaching that same left I had three cars behind me. Two were signaling. I watched them in my mirror because I was going to wait for all three to go before going over. And they didn't. My guess is that they were used to me being on the road and knew exactly where I would turn off and wanted to turn right farther down, because when I took advantage of their generous nature and crossed over, all three stayed right.

- And finally the freaky one. I was on the bike path paralleling a road and was approaching a spot where a crossroad used to exist or is planned to eventually exist because the start of it is there. It's the local speed trap, so I checked my mirror before crossing it to make sure no cop car was moving in the dedicated right turn lane. (Yes, a nonexistent road has a dedicated turn lane.) I did see a car in that turn lane so I stopped before entering the laughable crosswalk. The car was not a cop car, it stopped beside me and the passenger rolled down his window and stared at me. It was unnerving and since the car was stopped I started moving very quickly. There's more that happened, some really scary stuff, but getting to the point I was thankful for my mirror for two reasons. One, I saw them in the turn lane and me stopping in the bike lane because I saw them took away opportunity to hit me. Two, after the car lost sight of me I was glad I could constantly check my mirror during the final leg home to make sure they didn't find me again.

practical

I agree 100% with everything you just said.

jefnvk

I think the nerve was struck was yours. I don't really care if one doesn't use one, in fact only half my bikes have them. I don't get on anti-mirror (or helmet, or insert random safety device here) threads and bash them, you feeling the need to do so certainly indicates someone who has been triggered.

Is that just a random piece of mirror, or something specific that was just taped in place? That looks like something that could handle my less than delicate handling of my helmet.

bmthom.gis

I was gonna let this one go without saying anything until the "if you don't use a mirror you are going to die" crowd came in. Like religion - it helps to keep your preaching to yourself. Stop trying to proselytize using fear.
I used one for awhile, and sold it with the bike and never cared to get another, I never found it valuable.

jefnvk

Because that is worse than folks dissuading using ignorance?

bmthom.gis

Far worse. No one is saying you shouldn't use a mirror, just that *they* don't use one. Plenty are chiming in with rather rude and annoying comments akin to "if you don't use one, you will die, are stupid, etc" like they are the only voice that matters.
Use your mirror if you like it, but quit talking down to everyone else.

jefnvk

Well, except for those saying those who use them must live in fear, or must be novices. No, no one is saying that one shouldn't use them directly, they are just insinuating that those who do aren't as "good" as those who do not.

As to the rest, there are a lot of idiots on the road that many of us would like to see. Unless you are one of them, why do you take that as being talked down to?

NewATBikeComute

Since I wear glasses, the Take A Look works for me. I feel much more comfortable riding with one; I feel I have progressed as a bike commuter faster because of the mirror.

With most cars having running day lights, I get a quick sense of what's coming. My ears are better trained, because when I hear something out of the ordinary, I look back.

This helped me relax, which lead to more riding, in more situations, which of course lead to more learning.

It did take more than a week to get used to it, and to build the habit of scanning periodically.

cycloaptrgangr

Bad analogy. Mirrors are required by law.

wphamilton

Random piece that I'd glued a block and wire to at some time. Too small really, which is why I didn't fabricate a holder of some kind.

jefnvk

Ah, Figured as much, but I like to give people the benefit.

Me triggered? I'm guessing you missed the bit where half my bikes don't have them. I think it is ridiculous when safety devices are being discussed, the discussion has to be transferred to who is most macho, pro looking, or fearless. I read 2-3 articles a week about a cyclist in Michigan being hit by a car, the arguments against mirrors really have no weight compared to their pros in the type of riding 99.5% of folks here do.

Call me fearful all you want, I'd rather not be one of those stories. It really says more about you than me. I can take idiots laughing at my face because I wear a face mask at beer league hockey, what an internet thinks about me for using a mirror is way down my list of concerns.

Machka 

Regarding shoulder checking ...

I do shoulder check, of course, but old age and issues with my shoulders makes shoulder checking a bit of an effort. If I can check my mirror before a lane change to get an idea of what I'm dealing with in the way of traffic, and then shoulder check as the last step ... that's a lot more comfortable.

dedhed

Broke mine and rode home without it tonight as the JB weld set. I didn't realize just how much I use it on an urban rush hour commute on busy streets. I was constantly looking down where it should have been.

mcours2006

No blind spot in my helmet mirror either

jack002

I have used a helmet mirror for decades. I depend on it. You can use it to scan and look up and down and left and right. It doesn't vibrate there and works very well. I can ride taking the lane with more confidence and am more prepared to move in traffic with it on.

79pmooney

Machka, I find it amusing that you say you shoulder check in your post immediately after the post about ice hockey. Trying to picture you lacing on a pair of hockey skates and checking someone into the boards!

Is that a tarantula in your pic? Fun story - driving out of Texas' Big Bend park many years ago - going ~60mph, I came upon a big tarantula I was sure I flattened. Bothered me so much I stopped and we went back to see. Road was clean. Then we saw the spider struggling to climb over the sparse grass at the road edge. (Apparently, the road concentrated the very sparse rainwater just enough to get a few lawn size blades to grow. It was just as obvious that tarantulas have not skills dealing with such grass that exists nowhere else.) The big spider was quite aware these two big humans were standing over him and he was going as fast as he could to get to firm ground, but he had to do it one leg at a time, find a foothold on that blade, the pick up another leg and do the same. With 8 of them it was a slow process. After minutes, he was finally down on hard Texas desert. Two jumps and he was 25 feet away!

Ben