Kevindale

Agree about esthetics, disagree about functionality. Perhaps it's related to how they're used. I look in the mirror knowing what I expect to see, and so I'm just getting confirmation. I generally ride where there are long straight roads and relatively little traffic, but the traffic that's there goes way too fast and are often big trucks. When I hear something behind me, a shoot a look into the mirror to confirm that I don't need to drive into the ditch to avoid being run over. I can also tell quickly if the vehicle is pacing me because we're on a curve or hill, or if they're doing a dangerous pass. These are not times when I want to turn my head.

Also I ride with a newbie paceline group regularly, and the bar-end mirror is good for easily keeping track of how people are doing behind me (assuming they're not behind and to my right) without turning my head. My bike handling is improving, but looking completely behind me often causes me to wobble, which is not good in a paceline.

When I commuted in traffic, I loved my helmet-mounted Take-a-Look mirror. Not sure why I didn't get one again when I got my current roadbike. I probably would get one again if I were driving in more complex traffic or commuting.

Kevindale

This is the one I use. Agree that the optics aren't great, but good enough. That Italian one is very slick!

Speaking of helmet mounted ones, a friend has one like this, though without the little handle underneath. Very cool, and functional.

Bolo Grubb

I use the Take-a-look mirror on my glasses. I do not find it distracting or that it blocks any of my view. It works for me.

flanso 

Please post a review after you've used the Sella Italia Eyewink.

RobbieTunes

I can't get used to them, either, but most of the people I ride with, they really like them. I don't debate them as they're probably right, safety-wise. My vision is not good, so by the time I saw, identified, and analyzed a threat, I'd be a hood ornament, anyway. I heard you get used to it. I have enough problems worrying about left, right, and ahead.

I do feel safer when riding with those who have them, except I get a little tired of "car back." I ride as if there is always a car back, except on big group rides. Then I kind of figure the cars have gone by enough folks they know we're there.

Of course, it only takes one Pokemon to do you in.

abbynormal

not sure where I'll find mirrors, that I like, and can afford right now, but they are a must. I took my first ride today and realized I am lost without rear-view, or a much of that as I can have. I've been in my truck since 94 when I bought it, did very little bicycling, so starting from scratch. I've gotten so used to being able to see at a glance what's beside me, and behind me, and I find riding a bike is so different for me now, than way back when.

Never have toured, never even done and over-night/camped and that's my dream goal now, to (by next Spring/Summer) be ready for a ride up our Pacific Coast.

I like the mirror in your first pick, that's what I'd like to have on both sides of my bike. I don't like having to just glance back, and take my eyes off what's ahead too long. Just easier for me to "glance" more often, and not crank my neck so much. I know the mirrors are limited, so both is necessary.

chewybrian 

As requested... I put it on the LHT for a test run.

This mirror is probably the best option you will find for drop bars. The arm is plastic, but it is sturdy. The shape is perfect to fit in aero levers such that you don't even notice it's there. There is a thin pad where your hand rests for comfort. The mirror is pretty close in, but the shape of the arm keeps it out of the way for braking or riding on the drops, tops or hoods. I don't have 'brifters', but I don't imagine it would bother you shifting.

The pivot is extremely stiff, which is a good thing, meaning minimum vibration. I took it on some paver roads, aka Florida cobblestone, and it still did the job. There is less vibration than any mirror I've tried (which is quite a few). The down side is that this means it takes effort to dial in the placement you want. You need to over adjust and let it spring back. Be ready to spend some time getting it where you want it, but then it will stay there.

It looks good. It's discreet (as possible), with minimal billboarding. I wish it came in a gum / Brooks honey color, though.

The major down side is the price. You can get it for about $50, but shop around, because you will see it for $100, too. The mirror is glass, which means that a drop could easily be fatal. If you are big on mirrors, as I am, I'd say it's worth it.

Bad Lag

I've tried a lot of mirrors. Here is what it comes down to for me.

I do not trust my mirror with my life. I use it only to judge when to turn my head to look and take a look. Cars are a lot quieter than they used to be.

I don't like bar end mirrors on drop bars because you have to move/lower your head to use them, then move your head back. They are the least intrusive, aesthetically, but also the least effective.

I don't like helmet-mounted or glasses-mounted mirrors because I am concerned about the possibility of the mirror ending up in your eye in a crash.

My mirror is mounted to the left brake lever and is positioned like the image in the first post. Mine happens to wrap around the lever and is held in place with a Velcro strap. This makes it easy to move to another bike or to remove it.

easyupbug 

When you hit your upper 60's you may find as I did that trying to turn your head far enough is trusting your limited mobility with your life making a well placed helmet mirror the safest option. Electric cars can be horribly silent.

rumrunn6

got a picture on the bike? what's involved in installation?

chewybrian 

I took it back off and packed it up for the Bob Jackson build.


^Not on my bike, but for illustration.

It's just a velcro strap. Hold it down with firm pressure and velcro it together underneath and roll. Really, it's just the adjustment that is tough.

Bad Lag

I am od enough and have had neck troubles, so I fully appreciate your point. It is in part why I consider a mirror more important than when I was a young man. Still,once the mirror's view says no one's coming and it's safe to change lanes I will always check with my eyes before I commit.

<rant mode on>

Electric cars so so quiet, they need to add some sort of electronic noise. I will even go so far a to say this should be Federally mandated (by law). Sound is an important indicator when driving, even a horse and buggy make sounds. You need to be able to hear a car over the background noise from some minimum distance (maybe ~100 ft) without looking Its presence needs to be unambiguous).

<rant mode off>

bulldog1935

I know the thread is fixed handlebar mirrors. My friend uses them on several bikes and makes it the job of his tandem stoker to monitor the mirror. But I have stuck with Bell Metro helmets because I love the little mirror that snaps in.
I'm a junkie for it and would feel naked without it. A nod of your head, and you can scan a large area behind you. At the same time it doesn't get in your vision and it's head's up to use it.

RobbieTunes

Thank you for that. I was about to ask if folks with mirrors routinely actually see hazards, identify same, analyze the risk and take evasive action because they have a mirror. I've ridden thousands of miles, and not yet have we had to do anything but stay where we should be because someone identified a car back.

My main threat is oncoming cars passing other oncoming cars, and mirrors don't help that.

I'd really like to hear of more situations or routines (like commuting) where the rider is actually using the mirror to take action. I simply ride as if there's a car back all the time. It's the highway, after all.

bobwysiwyg

I always use a mirror, helmet mounted. The most frequent use depends on my route. One in particular, Huron River Drive between Ann Arbor and Dexter, MI is very popular with cyclists, nice view, shade, etc. However, drivers are very aware of cyclists but the road is very narrow, two lanes and only 35 mph all the way to Dexter. When I see oncoming traffic, I automatically check my mirror. If a car, or cars coming up from behind appear as though we are all going pass the same spot at the same time, I evaluate defensive moves. I really don't care who has the right of way. This road has no bike lane and virtually no paved shoulder in most places. Pavement to the right of the fog line is a gift.

Kevindale

I use my mirror all the time when riding in a pace-line group. Usually I'm the one who spots that the trailing rider is dropping off the group. When I'm pulling I can tell with an eye-dart that I'm clear to go left and let someone else lead. I'm not an expert enough bike handler to want to be swiveling my head in a pace line, at speed, any more than I absolutely need to. It's not uncommon for some of the less experienced riders to be slightly overlapping my rear wheel.

I also ride on a lightly traveled road that parallels a freeway, and it can be difficult to tell if the sound of that oil truck going 60 mph is coming up behind me, or if it's not even on the same roadway.

I've also read enough reports of bicyclists being mowed down from behind that when I hear a car getting close I always glance into the mirror, to confirm that it is indeed giving me room, and not about to run me down. Fortunately I haven't ever had to drive into the ditch to avoid this, but I figure I'll only get one shot.

The Golden Boy 

I received my Selle Italia Eyelink mirror today (yesterday) ordered from a German vendor.

While I've been waiting for this delivery- there hasn't been a whole lot of time to check it out. I've been having some car problems as of late- and on Thursday nite- I found THE car I was looking for. Today, I went for it, so today, I've been giddy on the thrill of a "new" car and sick to my stomach on the prospect of an outrageous amount of debt... But what a car...

Anyway- from what I have checked out- which is up and down the street a few times... I've tried the mirror out on 6400 aero levers on my Trek 400 Elance and some Aero Gran Compe on my Trek 720.

I like the look of the unit. I like the shape of the mirror. I played with a couple of different ways of mounting the Velcro strap. Maybe I haven't put enough time into mounting the mirror- but it seems that your left/right view is entirely based on how you have the mount connected to the body of the brake lever- and any movement of your hand moves the mirror all over the place. In all honesty, it doesn't seem to 'mate' with either set of levers, which means it doesn't sit 'stable-y.'

Another thing, when I moved the mirror- it seemed to 'droop down.' Maybe I need to tighten things up- but it I kept pulling the mirror up- but it may have had something to do with the way I mounted the mirror housing to the lever body.

I'll get some pix tomorrow (today.)

And where my attention is focused at today...

The Golden Boy 

A few pix of the Selle Italia Eyelink and Axiom mirrors from after my ride this morning.

Because there's no ball joint pivot on the SI, the left/right adjustment is handled either through moving the housing, or by adduction of the mirror (swinging it down) and your "up/down" adjustment becomes different ranges of 'left/right.'

Here's the mirror at about where I liked it pointed. The Axiom shows that the view is 'sorta' the same-




Now, if I were to just rotate the mirror up to the position that looks like it would be the most 'normal' and give the widest view of the street behind you- it throws the view way off to the left.




The mirror can be angled up or down or swung down and in.










IMO- it's a VERY expensive solution that doesn't quite work with the two types of aero levers that I'm using.

dailycommute

Your axiom mirror(s) looks like the best line/adjustment imo. Congrats on the new A wheels, looks very nice. I very much hate car debts (and all debts actually), probably why I drive a 11 year old subaru that is entering beaterish/cv aura these days.

The Golden Boy 

Thank you!

I traded in my 2001 BMW 5 series wagon for this. There was just too much stuff going wrong on that car- last straw was a wheel bearing- apparently it takes propriatary BMW tools and stuff- and even an independent shop will run around $500. Best case value on the car was $1500. 1/3 of the value of the car to fix a wheel bearing- and tons of other stuff that needed attention. I'm sad to leave that car, it was about perfect for most everything I needed out of it- but this wagon should be close- not quite the same cargo room, but still pretty cool.

RobbieTunes

Wow, 2 mirrors. In your town, that means you're pulling a camper.

The Golden Boy 

Yeah, but I'd have the big chrome stick mirror holders. On both sides.

This was just to overcome the uselessness of the Selle Italia mirror.

I'm going to try writing to Selle Italia and see if I can get anything helpful, other than: "it won't work with your old stuff."

noglider 

This morning, as I got ready to leave for work, I discovered that I left my mirror at the weekend house. I was annoyed, but I adapted. I feel more comfortable with it than without it.

dailycommute

Drove a late 80s manual acura legend, no stopping that car. Probably is still rolling on some more southern salt free road. I hear you on bearings, most cars have their specific issues and had to swap both front axle sets on the subaru (and they ear front inner axle boots fro breakfast) but an excellent car. They are all money pits losers, that is for sure.

Kevindale

Thanks, that's a really helpful and clear comparison. I don't have pictures, but since this thread started I can now compare the Sprintech bar-end mirror to the Italian Road Bike mirror. First, the Sprintech was more vulnerable to getting lost, as can happen if you let a friend load their own bike onto your hitch-mount rack, and their bike rack bumps against your handlebar end.

The Sprintech is a ball-and-socket design that stays very stable during rides but is easy to adjust, which are it's great strengths. But that design means in can get knocked all the way out of the plug and go bye-bye.

The Italian Road Mirror is about the same price, and was delivered within days of my eBay order. You have to retape your bar to mount it, unlike the Sprintech. The maker suggests you tape the bar starting from the stem, which would make it easier to uptape a bit and adjust the mirror, but I didn't do that. You attach the IRBM with electrical/plastic tape OVER the handlebar, and with a bar-end plug in place. It has 4 rubber flanges that fit over the bar end, and this is what gets taped down with plastic tape, and why you need to take off the bar tape to adjust the mirror significantly. I chose to tape it into place and leave the bar tape off till I was pretty sure I was good to go. This was important.

The IRBM naturally mounts so it's lined up on the axis of the handle bar end. I had just mounted new handlebars, and adjusted them the day before. When I mounted the IRBM, the mirror was aimed at the ground just behind the bike. My new handlebars are aero drop bars, and with the top level the bar ends are angled downwards. Tilting the handlebars forward to get a good mirror position was terrible -- just a couple of degrees of tilt forward on the handlebars ruined the cockpit fit.

After adjusting the handlebars back, I remounted the IRBM by first securely taping down only the top two flanges (the 4 flanges are oriented at the 1:30, 4:30, 7:30, and 10:30 clock positions with the mirror properly aligned vertically). I then tilted the mirror up, a bit higher than the ideal position, and, holding it there, taped the ends of the bottom 2 rubber flanges to the handlebar. This made the middle section of those flanges bulge downwards. Then I taped the middle of those flanges snug against the handlebar, moving the bulge towards the end, and keeping the mirror pointed up just enough. I rode a couple of rides like this, and then put the bar tape on.


You can see the way the bottom rubber flanges bulge downwards.

The IRBM is definitely clearer and brighter, being glass. It's a tiny bit heavier, and also much slicker looking. The view is pretty good, about equivalent to the Sprintech, but easier to see in lower light. It is slightly adjustable, but not much, and I don't know if my system will hold true, or if I'll need to adjust and retape in the future. It also feels like it'd be pretty vulnerable to being loaded in the back of the Subaru with the mirror down, so now when I load the bike that way I lay the bike down on it's right side.

In all, the Sprintech is much easier to set up and maintain, and works well if you find that bar end mirrors are useful (I do!). It smudges easier, or rather is harder to get really clean, but it's easy to adjust during a ride, and is relatively robust. The Italian Road Bike Mirror is slicker, better looking, better mirror image, but much fussier to set up, and much less adjustable. Time will tell which one a prefer, but right now I like the Italian by a narrow margin...