bikecommuter13

I saw some good reviews on Bike Peddler Take a Look cycling eyeglass mirror and I bought one.

I have used it a few times now. I don't like it so far. It's especially useless and cumbersome when I going down hill at high speed in street traffic -- I wish the mirror is not in front of my face.

Is it only good for slow and casual biking?

Iride01 

I didn't. I see no need to know what is behind me. Too much in front of me I have to pay more attention to. Those behind me are responsible to make certain they safely avoid me as I have right of way and privilege over them.

Never had an issue with those behind me in over 60 years of riding a bicycle. I've had more issues with the people in front of me that have mirrors.

mpetry912 

I never cared for the helment mirror - was worried that, in a crash, I have that piece of metal close to my eye.

Plus, they have a high "dork factor" and coefficient of Fred-ness

Unlike @Iride01 above, I do like to have situational awareness of what's behind me so all my bikes have a bar-mounted mirror, and on the ebike I have used the Garmin Varia "radar" which is a fantastic product.

where I live I am fortunate that there is not much traffic, but I feel much safer with a mirror, and the radar

/markp

himespau 

I like bar end mirrors instead. I have some drop bar end mirrors that I really like.

wolfchild

I have used helmet mounted mirrors and also mirrors which mounted to my sunglasses but could never get used to them. I prefer handlebar mirrors.

cyccommute 

Yea…no. Doesn’t always work that way. It should but it doesn’t always.

Wait a minute…. Weren’t you the guy who said that those behind you are responsible to safely avoid you when you have right of way and privilege over them? Doesn’t that apply to you when someone is in front of your with right of way and privilege over them?

Iride01 

I never said I didn't have situational awareness of what is behind me.

I also share your same concerns about a helmet mirror. I was given one as a gift a long time ago. It's still in the original package.

zandoval 

10wheels solution has worked good for me...

Iride01 

The few times it doesn't work that way, I doubt that one will realize it in time to do anything about it. Passing cars frequently stay in the lane behind me until they are close enough that if they didn't move over to pass, then I'd be hit by them before I could react to get out of the way.



When I come up on some people with mirrors, they do unexpected things. Many times they'll slow down and motion me to pass them.... but we are all in a blind curve. Not even they can see far enough ahead to know if something is coming the other way. Another time I caught up with a person to be prepared to pass when we got out of the blind curve and they braked on me. I wasn't even close enough to be considered on their wheel, but I imagine what they saw in their mirror made them wrongly conclude what my intentions were. They actually braked just as I got close enough to tell them what my intentions were, which is what I do whenever I come up behind another that I can't pass at the moment.

cyccommute 

I can’t tell you how I got used to a helmet mirror because I got used to them decades ago. I did try a Take-a-Look long ago and didn’t really like it. It was too short and I didn’t like the weight of the mirror on my glasses. I used the Third Eye Pro up until recently but it was mounted on my helmet. It’s also got a longer stalk on it so it’s further away from your eye and a bit more out of your sight line. You can see in both of the pictures of the mirror below that the mirror isn’t in my sight line. I have no problem mountain biking or using one on a high speed descent.





More recently I changed over to the EVT mirror. It’s more expensive but has more adjustment ability. Again, it is out of my sight line and causes no problems at high speeds or in rough terrain.



The biggest advantage of the helmet mirror to me is that it has little to no vibration even in rough road situations. My head doesn’t bounce around a lot in those situations but my bike does. Handlebar mounted mirrors have aways be blurry to me and so far out of my sight line that I actually have to look away from the road to look at them.

Another issue with bar mounted mirrors is that they are actually limited in terms of field of view in ways that helmet mirrors are not. You are limited to the angle of the mirror on the bars. With a helmet mirror, you can rotate your head and get more than a 180° view behind you…depending on how far you want to sweep your head.

Crashing, by the way, isn’t an issue. I’ve crash many times with a helmet mirror including intimate contact with the ground (aka sliding along). The mirror has never been a problem

cyccommute 

I use a helmet mirror more to tell me what traffic looks like behind be before moving lanes than as a notice of impending doom.

Again, I’ll remind you that you said, correctly, that the overtaking vehicle has the responsibility to yield to the vehicle ahead of it. People do dumb things all the time but braking in a blind corner isn’t necessarily one of them. Maybe they just hit the brakes because they were uncomfortable with that speed on the corner.

Barry2 

I use the same mirror.
I’m in the USA so wear it on my left side. I have it positioned in the very top left of my peripheral vision.
I feel naked riding without it and never had issue with it from day one, but being left eye dominant likely helped.

Barry

NOLA Sekai 4K 

I've used "Take A Look" eyeglass mirrors for 3 years now. I have two...one for sunny days (affixed to my riding sunglasses), and one on an un-tinted pair of safety glasses used in low light or overcast conditions.
Okay, it took a ride or two to get used to, and then only after I properly (per instructions) bent the stem to position the mirror further up and to the side so it didn't block my vision.


And when I bought the second set, I found the mirror prone "wind drift" during high speed/downhill riding. So I stiffened it up a bit with Threadblocker Blue.
Now, it's second nature, and I can't ride without it, at least not comfortably. I even find myself automatically turning my head for a sweeping views behind me, particularly after a turn.
But beware! From time to time, usually in busy parking lots I find myself glancing to the upper left to see behind me...while walking to the store from my car!

cyccommute 

Yup. A common problem

mstateglfr 

I got used to a helmet mirror by not using one and instead using the power of technology to project objects behind me onto the screen of my GPS unit.
- Garmin Varia rear light and radar- it displays the number of vehicles behind me, shows how fast they are approaching relative to my speed, notifies me when one appears, and notifies me when all within 150 yards of me are no longer traveling faster than my speed.

Admittedly I dont really care about it too much on paved roads in the metro's city or suburbs. I expect there will be traffic and mostly ride either side roads, roads with 2 lanes so cars can easily pass me, or well traveled single lane roads that have a speed close to what I can ride on that road. In all those examples, I notice vehicles, but dont really care that they are there since I set myself up for safe riding and am easily passed if necessary.
The Varia really shines on gravel roads. I can ride wherever I want on the road and can freely pick the best line, wherever it may be, while not worrying if a car is inconvenienced behind me. This is especially true since I cant always hear vehicles approaching due to wind and surface noise. Once the radar notifies me, I check back and move to the right to allow the car to pass. They dont have to slow down and I am safe- everyone is happy. It is helpful on country roads/county highways too, though to a lesser extent than gravel. Vehicles go faster on the paved roads and since its paved, I am over to the right at all times, so there really isnt much for me to do when the head unit notifies me. It is still nice to know though, since it can sometimes be 5 or 10 minutes between vehicle passes. Its sort of a finger snap to wake up and be aware for a moment since its really easy to get into a focus tunnel when you are on quiet rural roads.


Anyways- let technology be your guide. Give in to the robots and stop trying to look behind you by using a bouncy small mirror.

Iride01 

If you experienced those situations with me, I'm sure even you would agree that they were slowing down for me. In many instances like the ones motioning me to pass, they are just trying to be nice. But they create a bad situation in trying to be nice.

In the instance of the person that braked on me, they were already going slow and following a runner through the blind curves. Not too certain they weren't just surprised when they realized I was coming up on them and they were slightly embarrassed that I caught them ogling the runner's butt since they never passed the runner on the straight going into the curves.

By far most people with mirrors aren't creating issues. But some seem to be too wary or even fearful of anything behind them and create situations that can be unexpected by those about to catch up to them, and possibly dangerous for them included.

Even without mirrors I am very aware of what is going on behind me and I almost always know a car is coming before my Varia alerts me of it.

dmwill

I tried several different mirrors, found that I tended to smash the bar end mirrors on the door frame when bringing the bike inside, and the helmet mounted little round mirror wouldn't mount well on my helmet and was too close to my eye anyway. Tried the Take-a-Look but initially didn't like how it blocked my view. Then I saw MB on BBB Adventures on Youtube with it in this down position so I gave it a try and really like it. I can see everything and it does not block my view to the horizon in front.

cyccommute 

I think you are making too much of their mirror usage. It sounds more like they were new and/or timid riders that just happen to have a mirror.

mstateglfr 

Tangent- that is quite the diverse looking group!
It looks like you are on a tandem, there is a woman with a flat bar suspension fork bike, old due with riser drop bars and tennis shoes, clearly a roadie way back in the middle doing his roadie sit on the top tube resting position, and many others of varying age.
Cool to see, thats all.

tak2

I've used a helmet mirror for 3 years and find it very helpful. I started out with a 1" mirror on a telescoping straight support and it was difficult to adjust and hard to see. I went to a 2 1/4" mirror by Efficient Velo Tools with a multi-jointed support and while it takes a bit to adjust, I am able to see clearly behind me with a small movement of my head and it does not obstruct my forward and side vision. Having to wear glasses now my peripheral vision sucks and this allows me to keep track of what is behind me and when it is safe to cross the lane for a left turn.

NOLA Sekai 4K 

Never tried using theTake a Look all way down...it seems better! I'm going on a ride right now to find out, dammit!

10 Wheels

I liked mine.

dmwill

This was the Ride of Silence in Sarasota Florida last May, to honor cyclists who have been killed or injured while cycling on public roadways. Yes, it was a mixed bag of participants and our demographics tend to run gray around here

bikecommuter13

I like that idea a lot. I didn't know the radar tail light existed. It's pricey though. The suggested price is $200, and this site is selling it for $60. Can it be real?



https://suntparadise.com/products/ga...RoCRH0QAvD_BwE

big john

I started using a glasses mount mirror this year. I can't turn my head around like I used to. Tried them in the past and I always hated having a mirror but now I'm used to it. It's especially helpful when descending and when changing lanes/crossing lanes.

I just forced myself to start using it and eventually it stopped bothering me, mostly.