DQRider 

No, not what you're thinking

I made these images last year, just before our first snow, and I was thinking about how cool it would be to see the view from behind other cyclist's handlebars. This is very easy to do: You simply straddle your rear wheel, rest your elbows on your saddle to steady the camera, and frame the shot.

This first example is from the saddle of my Scott Sub 10, which I have converted into a sort of modern roadster. Or I suppose you might call it a utility bike - because it is the bike I go to for most of my riding - that basket up front is just perfect for my camera bag, for instance. If I ever decide to commute by bicycle, this will be my mount. Specs are impressive: Shimano Alfine 8 IGH, driven by a gates belt drive, all of which can be brought to a halt by hydraulic disc brakes - all modern conveniences that were not around when I first took up cycling. The rest of my bikes would be considered C&V, or Classic and Vintage...

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This next image is from the saddle of my 1991 Specialized Rock-Hopper, modified into a Curb-Hopper cargo bike. This I have converted to a Deore XT 1 x 10 drivetrain, with a 34t chainring driving an 11-40t cassette. The baskets are lined with wood slats, just like a classic pickup truck, and the bike is just perfect for the Farmer's Market or grocery runs.



I look forward to seeing the view from other saddles in here. Thanks for looking...

exmechanic89

Those are cool shots, I'll have to give that go.

1nterceptor

On board a borrowed bike share:

Citibike New York City by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

bikecrate

A couple of weeks ago on my new Giant Fastroads at a flooded out portion of a path.

Dan Burkhart 

OK, I'll play.
I grabbed these as screen shots off some of my videos.

avidone1

Very interesting idea. I like it.
Will take some shots after it stops pouring outside

Paul Barnard

I take a lot of photos that way. While this one doesn't show the road I was on, it captures a lot of beauty.

DQRider 

That's fascinating - these Go-Pros and Herocams just make it too easy, don't they? I see you are another guy who, like me, feels naked without a rearview mirror. I could never get used to those goofy things you wear on a hat or helmet. I need a real mirror, right where it would be when I'm riding a motorcycle or driving. Too many years on motorbikes, I guess. I've got two more bikes to capture this way, but that will have to wait until the salt is off the roads. Those are my babies...

dougmon 

I love those handlebars!

DQRider 

Aw, now that is beautiful! Kind of makes me want another mountainbike. Kind of... but my old bones just made me shudder, right there. My mountain bike days were in the 1980s, at Mammoth and Big Bear, when they first became popular. I was stationed out there with the Marines at El Toro. But that was a long time ago, and a long ways from here. Thanks for that gorgeous image...

DQRider 

Waaaaait a minute... you aren't Bike Snob NYC, incognito, are you? He was just writing about those...

Paul Barnard

Thank you for your service and for a great thread. This bike is actually a flat bar road bike I built and put drop bar ends on it. It's an oddball. This coming weekend it is getting gear reassignment surgery. It's getting transformed from a 3x9 to a 1x11 with an 11-40 cassette. This picture was taken on a ride from Mt Crested Butte CO to Cimmaron CO. I live in New Orleans and have found that my soul needs a journey to the wide open spaces of the west every now and then.

mrodgers

Next time I'm out I'll have to get a shot. All I have is this one that I took when I bought the bike, but it doesn't show the Allegheny River Trail that I was on. 2014 Giant Escape 1, cheap Bell wireless cyclecomputer, $4 cree single AA flashlights which only last about half an hour.

Paul Barnard

I really do have a lot of the behind bars shots. Here's one at the opposite end of the spectrum from the previous one, and unfortunately more representative of my normal ride. The bike is another build. It's my gravel/touring bike.

1nterceptor

Nah; I'm too bad of a writer to be that guy.

DQRider 

Well, that could only be one place: N'awllins - French Quarter? Just guessing, I've never been there. It's on my bucket list. Somewhere in the back of my mind is a notion to ride south, and follow the Mississippi River all the way down. That can only happen after I retire (IF I can retire!), or win some kind of lottery. It would really be epic if I did that trip on my DL1 Roadster - and just imagine how that would look in that environment!

PatrickGSR94

I'm the opposite, I can't live without my helmet mirror. It gives you a much larger field of view than trying to see a small mirror several feet away from your face.

I'll try to take some pics like this maybe this weekend, hopefully on all 3 of my bikes.

bargeon

OK, here's a challenge: lets see a shot down the road that includes something interesting reflected in the mirror.

DQRider 

Cool, I look forward to seeing them.

As far as the mirror thing is concerned, I guess it's all about what you are used to. I concede your point about the wider FOV, but after almost 40 years on motorbikes, I don't see myself changing anything now. A question: If I have to use reading glasses to see anything close up, would that rule out the helmet mirror anyway? Or is it some kind of tricky physics thing, where the focal length is extended by the mirror? Just curious...

Paul Barnard

I have a few good ones, but they were taken from my motorbike.

Paul Barnard

Yep, the Quarter. I have a pretty cool 30 mile loop I do through the area. If you ever make it down this way, we will ride it. It's an early Saturday or Sunday morning ride. This place sleeps late, so there is no traffic to compete with.

PatrickGSR94

When you look in a mirror, it's just as if you're looking at the combined distance from your eye to the mirror, and from the mirror to the object. So looking in a helmet mirror at something 100 feet behind you, is going to be the same as looking directly at something 100 feet away, essentially.

And of course the actual image in the mirror is only visible in my left eye, which is what you want because your two eyes can't overlay the views of something so close but visible to both eyes (try looking at your finger a couple of inches in front of your nose, you'll be seeing double).

bmthom.gis

Ah that can only be Bourbon Street. Fun for the first couple of drinks, but then I used to just hop over to Frenchmen instead, or over to the R Bar. of course, most of my time in LA was in Houma or Not-So-Grand Isle, with a short stint in Venice

Paul Barnard

I am not a party type at all. If I go there at night it's to be a DD for someone. It does make for an interesting part of my loop though. I work in Houma. It's struggling with the downfall of the energy industry.

bmthom.gis

Houma was growing like crazy when I was there from 2010-2013/14. I can only imagine places like Morgan City and are faring even worse - at least Houma is close enough to Nola that oil isn't the only industry around. If you ever have dinner at Cristiano's after work, have some char grilled oysters for me!