Mirror recommendation

[Stefan Mikes]

For years I've been using the Zefal Spy mirror and it is perfectly adequate.

That's exactly the place where my SQlab Innerbarend is located

Otherwise, an instructive post!

 

[Rás Cnoic]

So this is the ugliest mirror you could ever buy. Got it for almost nothing from Ali express or Temu as part of a bigger order on a whim, stuck it on the bike just for curiosity and it gives the best rear view! So now I don't care how it looks, it's staying on. Robust, simple and a great position to see behind you. Like an old motorbike mirror I suppose. On the tiny lanes especially grinding up hill it's hard to tell from the engine noise just how far back a car is. And as the lanes are the width of a car, it's unsettling. Legally they should just wait. But that means I can feel them glaring at me and revving as I slowly plod up the slope. Ruins my fun. With this I can judge when they'll get close and try and time it for a handy gateway or a passing place and we're all happy.

The damn thing is so big I suppose Icould use it as a weapon to attack the driver if they don't stop. So there's that.

 

[Nvreloader]

Yep, I got one on one of my bikes also, I just love it,
it has an adjustable 10" reach for the arm with a 3x5" mirror,
I can finely see behind my shoulders/body when,
I have to go on the street. I can fold it up out the way,
when I hit the sage brush trails. ymmv

20240622-102609 hosted at ImgBB

Image 20240622-102609 in Don Hansell's images album

ibb.co

 

[Rás Cnoic]

Yep, I got one on one of my bikes also, I just love it,
it has an adjustable 10" reach for the arm with a 3x5" mirror,
I can finely see behind my shoulders/body when,
I have to go on the street. I can fold it up out the way,
when I hit the sage brush trails. ymmv

20240622-102609 hosted at ImgBB

Image 20240622-102609 in Don Hansell's images album

ibb.co

Jeez that's a great looking mad max rig you have there!

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

The damn thing is so big I suppose Icould use it as a weapon to attack the driver if they don't stop. So there's that.

Sorry, I have to question this choice of mirror. Rear visibility is one thing, but the added drag could easily cost you 20 seconds in a time trial.

On the tiny lanes especially grinding up hill it's hard to tell from the engine noise just how far back a car is. And as the lanes are the width of a car, it's unsettling. Legally they should just wait. But that means I can feel them glaring at me and revving as I slowly plod up the slope. Ruins my fun. With this I can judge when they'll get close and try and time it for a handy gateway or a passing place and we're all happy.

Wait, you're thinking ahead to arrange a win-win in traffic?? Unheard of!

 

[Rás Cnoic]

Sorry, I have to question this choice of mirror. Rear visibility is one thing, but the added drag could easily cost you 20 seconds in a time trial.


Wait, you're thinking ahead to arrange a win-win in traffic?? Unheard of!

It's actually my very first mirror ever. My progression from BMXer, MTBer, Roadie, City commuter (but still y'no feeling cool), riding slowly with the kids and now e biker - is probably complete. Used to hate mudguards, mirrors, all that unnecessary extra blumpf.

Now you'd have to prise the mudguards out of my cold dead hands. And I just ordered THIS baby for my drop bar bike:

 

[Nvreloader]

Jeez that's a great looking mad max rig you have there!

Thanks,
This is one of two bikes I have set up this for cross country trail riding on wild horse or cow trails, I have all the gear/water/tools to fix/repair most common problems that may show up, also have 8x10' nylon tarps for sun or wet weather coverage/survival gear etc.
I am often up to 20+ miles from the nearest road and very limited
c phone coverage, most of the time, and so I have a Sat ph for back up, so I have to be self supporting, or this high desert will kill you, if you are not careful. ymmv

 

[Rás Cnoic]

The Cateye mirror arrived and I got it on the drop bar bike (Salsa Vaya) all set for the annual family expedition to the wilds of Ireland on Friday. Easy to fit. The ball swivel joint is good and stiff, nicely designed so it won't slip or be bounced out of position. And that's important as this thing is very discreet. I had a bigger mirror mounted in the same place, a Zefal one, more letterbox (horizontal & narrow) mirror that kept shifting and was very frustrating so I didn't end up using it. So the Cateye (BM45) is tiny but on this test ride it was easy to set it to the sweet spot and it does work very well. And on a drop bar bike, especially one as classic looking as the Salsa I didn't fancy a humongusly big mirror.

 

[PCeBiker]

I started using my helmet mirror and I'm really liking it now.
It took half a dozen rides to get used to it though.
I kept turning my head to look over at the mirror instead of just looking to the left to see it.
I'm using the slightly convex mirror, and it has a great field of view without an approaching vehicle being too small to see.
I got used to the vehicle being slightly closer than it appears and I can judge the distance better now.

Mirrors that extend outside the handlebars make the bars very wide. Such an arrangement would smash the mirror when the bike falls to a side.

I couldn't see what was behind me with a "properly" installed mirror, so it was completely useless.
I always wear a Jean jacket for protection (even when it's 34°C) and all I could see was my jacket unless the mirror stuck out beyond the handlebars.

Helmet mirrors require re-focusing the sight, and distract the rider from observing the road.

That's not true.
The mirror shows a reflected image of what's behind me, so the vehicle behind me becomes the focal point.
When I hold my finger up in front of the mirror my eye can't even bring it into focus, but the view in the mirror remains in focus.

When I'm riding, I can see the mirror in my peripheral vision, and a few times I noticed a car coming up beside me when I neglected to check the mirror enough, and when I'm looking in the mirror, I can still see in front of me with my peripheral vision.

The mirror being so close to my eye is like having a HUGE handlebar mirror which blocks a lot of the forward view, but my right eye sees everything that is blocked from my left eye.

With the handlebar mirrors my whole head had to turn to see the mirror and I couldn't see the road in my peripheral vision, and I couldn't see the mirror in my peripheral vision especially with the mirror being down and way off to the side.

Plus if you are not careful putting your helmet down, you knock the mirror out of position.

Yeah, that happens a lot.
But it only really happened when I'm off the bike and pushing it through a doorway or I hit a branch or something, but it's quick and easy to readjust it.
I've found that I have to set the mirror when I'm actually riding to get it aimed correctly.

Another thing that I like, is that I don't have to readjust the mirror when I'm riding no-hands or with my hands on the handlebars. The focus stays the same regardless of how I'm sitting.


One time, I was "seeing double" and I was going a little buggy.

It turned out that I when closed my left eye I could see part of the mirror with my right eye, so I bent the arm out a bit further until I couldn't see the mirror with my right eye and the double vision stopped.

,.. a mirror attached to my glasses frame or helmet makes me shudder. We only have one set of eyes and to have a metal stick hanging out in front of them in a crash - no thanks.

My mirror ended up kinda far off to the left so that my right eye couldn't see it, so in the event of a crash, it's far more likely to break away to the left, and even if it breaks to the right, it's most likely to fold and break in front of my face.
The chances of the mirror or stem being pushed directly into my eye is slim, and I ALWAYS wear goggles when i ride as well.
The mirror is plastic too with a shiny metal film as the reflector, so no broken shards of glass.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

You can't go wrong with this:

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[PCeBiker]

You can't go wrong with this:

Unless you lose an eye.

 

[TrevorB]

We use these Cateye mirrors. I have left hand one mounted on right, as it was Covid and that was all I could find. Works fine.

https://www.dicksmith.co.nz/dn/buy/abc-bikes-cateye-bm-500-oval-mirror-7223544807503/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=product_listing_ads&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwtNi0BhA1EiwAWZaANKJhO_nirLI-nQMjB9diMQXLGuwtJsttkgv8OkntzffO3HDD7eU7ABoCCbUQAvD_BwE

 

[PCeBiker]

We use these Cateye mirrors. I have left hand one mounted on right, as it was Covid and that was all I could find. Works fine.

The only bar end mounted mirror that I could find, that would extend out further was this.

You can adjust it up and out and it will fold in to clear doorways. (And hopefully fold out of the way when you fall over.)