Wozza2014

Hi.

I've been thinking of buying a wing mirror for my bike so I can see overtaking traffic. After looking around they all seem such poor quality.

Does anyone think they are beneficial?

Orkun KnighTR34

I use it only on left side. Riding with it is more comfortable and safer than shoulder checking, especially in crowded cities with roads with a lot of cars. I live in one of this kind of cities.

Tourist in MSN

I use a Third Eye brand (there are lots of brands) mirror mounted on my helmet.

robert schlatte

Helmet mounted mirror. MIne is CycleAware I purchased at REI. I can see what is behind me perfectly and I don't have to attach a klutzy rearview mirror to my handlebars

Aubergine 

05 fuji

I have one that fits in the bar end - keeps it out of the way and gives a good rear view. Not klutzy at all.

Tourist in MSN

I mentioned above I use a Third Eye brand one. Looks like this. This one has a clamp that clamps onto my helmet visor. Side note - the helmet rain cover was not for rain on a sunny day, it was because of the temperature.

rseeker

I have both a helmet-mounted mirror and a (left-side) wing mirror. I put the wing mirror on first and it was pretty great, but then I added the helmet mirror and that is *so much better*. For one thing, the effective size of the helmet mirror, which is smaller in actual size but closer to my eye, is about three-and-a-half times larger than the wing mirror. Also, the helmet mirror is a flat mirror, while the wing mirror is convex, which didn't turn out to be that great in comparison.

I've thought about just removing the wing mirror, which is kind of a pain because I'm always bumping it and I can't set the bike down or lean it on that side. Still, it's useful having both because if a bright light or headlight is in one mirror, the other may still be useful. Similarly at sunrise or sunset, the sun may be behind the helmet mirror making it impossible to use, but the wing mirror is still useful in that case.

I got the Take-a-Look helmet mirror and the Ortlieb Ultralight Bike Mirror for the wing mirror. The Take-a-Look has normal and compact sizes, with the difference being the length of the arm. I got the normal size, and I might wish I got the compact size instead, because the mirror wouldn't stick out so far (less bumping, less special handling of the helmet) and the mirror would be even closer to my eye and effectively larger. Also, mine vibrates sometimes, and a shorter arm might vibrate less. But I won't know for sure unless I try.

Anyway, having a mirror is way better than no mirror.

Wozza2014

I need one of those helmet mirrors. Can they attach to any helmet?

Wozza2014

Wow the take-a-look mirror is very tiny. I like it. It's a definite purchase for me!

bobwysiwyg

I don't recall the brand, but my preference is the helmet mounted round mirror. Yes, they attach to the helmet, but in fairness, it requires adding a strip of Velcro to the helmet. Tried the smaller mirrors that attach to the eyeglass ear piece, but I always had to readjust between rides as they are easily bumped out of position.

bobwysiwyg

I tried it, that's the one that is easily disturbed. Hope you have better luck with it than I did. And if you wear glasses, it's on and off between rides, thus adjusted for each ride.

Wozza2014

After looking at the take-a-look I'm not so sure. I may try the round one that you recommend. Can you give me a link to the one you purchased or something very similar?

BigAura

Take-a-look mirror is what I use. It works great and when properly used it allows pretty close to 360-degree viewing. Never a blind spot.

Bonus: It's somewhat less dorky than a helmet mounted monster.

bobwysiwyg

This is the one I use, trust me, I didn't pay that much for it, I'm too frugal. If dorky is an important criteria, you won't like it.
https://xion.store/product/efficient...4aAu7oEALw_wcB

Bikesplendor

I've tried several, including the Third Eye. The Take-a-Look is a superior design and better quality. More effective functionally. Higher quality materials and construction. Significantly better and more durable. The short reach version puts it closer to your eye, and gives a much better field of view.

It's very adjustable, and once you get it dialed in it becomes easy and natural to keep watch on what's behind you.

bobwysiwyg

Hmm, in fairness, it seems it has become more expensive since I bought it. It seems to be around $40 now. Definitely overpriced IMO, but I might pay it to replace it if I had to.

djb

I have used a Take-a-look mirror for about 8 or 9 seasons, and the same one is in perfect shape, and never, ever gets disturbed. It is super easy to readjust if moved while off bike, and the stiffness of the various movements means it always, always stays in place.

I never have to adjust it either with or without glasses.

great, superbly thought out and built product.
Have worn on many long trips, months long, and it just plain works.

practical

Glad that you're asking about mirrors. To me they are an essential piece of safety equipment. I don't know of anyone who has a good mirror ever regretting it. I use a Myrracle Mirror because it attaches to the bar end and it very adjustable and easy to see.

Bikesplendor

Yes, very important for safety, especially in traffic.
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Take-a-Look. Seriously. When a mirror is attached to the bars, bumps and vibrations interfere much much more than they do with the Take-a-Look. It also allows you to scan and change your head angle, viewing angle, and view, and to direct your view much more easily, accurately, and naturally, as needed.

bobwysiwyg

Take-a-Look is certainly more reasonably priced. Give it a try. There's always alternatives.

Sharpshin

Here's my bike parked outside the gym before work on a typical weekday morning, currently I'm carrying about 40 pounds of ballast (bottled water and other miscellaneous stuff) on my ten miles in, sorta training for my next tour.

I'm sure helmet-mounted mirrors work great for those who wear helmets, as for those $10 WallyWorld specials hanging on my trekking bars, I find adjusting them on starting out to be second nature, no problems at all, and if one is misaligned at any given moment the other is backup.

GamblerGORD53

Bicycle mirrors are all pathetic, IMO. So mine are the scooter style, only $20 also. Isn't that heavy either, with a plastic cover. Everybody like the looks of it too. They have a nice big size that I like.
Very solid with 8 mm AL arm and a big nut. It didn't come with a bracket, so I made do with some stuff I had.
The angles are a bit off with sitting higher on bikes. I have them on both bikes now on old style comfort swept bars, just the left side.
They do need regular adjusting, but I see better than ever before. I did a 3,900 mile tour last summer in the mountain NW. I would not leave home without one for sure. Needing to time crossing narrow bridges, etc.
I sure wouldn't use those head mounts.

rseeker

It depends on the helmet and the mirror. Different mirrors attach different ways and may depend on the helmet having a certain shape. My Take-a-Look depends on having some kind of thin edge to attach to, and I attach it to the helmet visor. You'll have to find something that works with your helmet. What kind do you have, BTW?

Here's a picture of mine. The only way I could get the mirror on was upside-down. You want the prongs pointing down so gravity works with you to keep it on, but I couldn't make it fit, I had to do it upside-down. So then I needed some way to be sure it doesn't fall off going over a bump, so I used a couple twisties just to be sure. I could have gone with something more permanent like a zip-tie or tape, but I also need to be able to take the mirror on and off for some activities*, which the twisties let me do.




Some activities: I use the bike for some hikes, in which case I clip the helmet to the back of my pack for the hiking portion of the program. The helmet rolls around back there, and there's no way the mirror would survive, so it comes off. Also some day I want to bike down and hook up with public transit, and same issue there.

MarcusT

Very beneficial. I use it all the time