Rearview Mirror Options?

Elisa Francesca Roselli said:

So what is left? Is there any kind of rear view mirror that actually
works? I have been reluctant to explore handlebar mirrors because the
space on my folding bike is so exiguous and because I do not wish to mar
the folding action. Eyeglass mirrors too seem a strange choice. Do you
carry them around and put them on your glasses when you head out to
cycle, or wear them all the time? What if you have to swap glasses
regularly? I swap glasses all the time because I acquired varifocals in
February but find it impossible to walk with them.

I generally leave mine on my cycling glasses, but it's easily
removed.

Quoted message said:

Although I know that few normal people, and no-one on this list, is
likely to have the same motor problems as myself, I welcome your
experiences. Many thanks,

As I've mentioned before, I love my Take-a-Look mirror. It has a
decent-sized rectangular mirror (37mm x 27mm), it's very adjustable, and
a tiny head movement allows me to see everything behind me - my lane,
the adjacent lane, and even the pavement to my left. I too have problems
looking behind me (I can do it, but with a tendency to wobble) and the
Take-a-look cured this problem completely, with marvellous results for
my confidence and, IMO, safety.

Having said that, it did take a little while to get used to, simply
because you have to train yourself to focus on what's in the mirror and
process the information. For the first few hours, I tended to focus
beyond the mirror, and it would take a second to correct.

--
Keith Willoughby http://flat222.org/keith/
It's worse than Benny Hill, and that's bad enough

Elisa Francesca Roselli said:

So what is left? Is there any kind of rear view mirror that actually
works? I have been reluctant to explore handlebar mirrors because the
space on my folding bike is so exiguous and because I do not wish to mar
the folding action.

I use this one on my Brompton - a big easy to see mirror that flips
round along the handlebars for folding. It mounts on in the end of the
bar although that's not clear from the photo

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?W=0&Manufacturer=&UberCatName=&Cat=cycle&CategoryName=Mirrors&ProdID=5300005839&UberCat=0

Tony

"Elisa Francesca Roselli" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

snip

I have found a bike mounted mirror useless as it is not in a fixed
relationship to the eye.
I have used a Reflex Cycleaware helmet mounted mirror for many years as it
gives a good field of view, is quick to get used to and doesn't come
unstuck. I have a stock of these in case they become unavailable.
If you do try one a couple of tips. If you find the joints become a bit
loose and the mirror goes out of adjustment, put a bit of tissue paper in
the joint before snapping the mirror back on. The mirror can get knocked off
the arm when the helmet is not being worn so I have glued a safety line
across the joint with a bit of fishing line. I find there is no need to
change the side of the helmet when cycling in France as the field of view
behind is still excellent.
http://www.sjscycles.com/store/cat281.htm

Hope this is useful

Ken.

Are these any use ?
http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/ProductDetails/mcs/ProductID/6336/GroupID/4/CategoryID/50/v/8d27575d-4c65-47cd-a99b-5ab7ce1758fb

Adam

"Elisa Francesca Roselli" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have very poor balance and am a late learner with respect to cycling.
After 3 years I am still quite incapable of turning my head to look behind
me without falling right off my bike. In fact, I cannot even look behind me
while walking - I must imperatively stop before I turn my head. I also
cannot remove a hand from my handlebars to signal.

I use a helmet mounted mirror but it is not very helpful. It offers only a
very small circle of visibility and I really have to aim my head very
carefully to have any idea of what is behind me. In practice, the only
occasions on which it offers any real help is when I am waiting at a
standstill at a curb for a break in traffic so as to enter the stream.

I wanted to buy a kind of helmet called a Reevu, which has a 360° mirror
mounted into the visor. I was planning to pick one up in London when I
visit next week. But I am told they are no longer imported and the shops I
called have none in stock. The general consensus is that these helmets
were not a success. They are said to have been insufficiently vented, and
the mirror so hard to use that "by the time you figure out what is behind
you, you've crashed into something in front of you". The shops that used
to stock them no longer plan to do so.

So what is left? Is there any kind of rear view mirror that actually
works? I have been reluctant to explore handlebar mirrors because the
space on my folding bike is so exiguous and because I do not wish to mar
the folding action. Eyeglass mirrors too seem a strange choice. Do you
carry them around and put them on your glasses when you head out to cycle,
or wear them all the time? What if you have to swap glasses regularly? I
swap glasses all the time because I acquired varifocals in February but
find it impossible to walk with them.

Although I know that few normal people, and no-one on this list, is likely
to have the same motor problems as myself, I welcome your experiences.
Many thanks,

Elisa Francesca Roselli
Ile de France

Elisa Francesca Roselli said:

I have very poor balance and am a late learner with respect to cycling.
After 3 years I am still quite incapable of turning my head to look
behind me without falling right off my bike. In fact, I cannot even look
behind me while walking - I must imperatively stop before I turn my
head. I also cannot remove a hand from my handlebars to signal.

Please don't laugh at my response as it is not exactly answering your
question about the mirror. I am being quite serious about this suggestion.
Thinking "out of the box" perhaps.

I was placed in similar straits when I had several serious mishaps with my
feet - one on them is now fused. I am having a cusom-built bicycle to take
care of my size (big problem) and physical impediment(s).

To take care of your balancing difficulty and the fact that you need both
hands on the handlebars, how about getting a tricycle?

I understand the Greenspeed firm has built a number of them for people with
physical difficulties. of course that option is much more expensive than a
bicycle and a mirror. However, it may be a safer option for you. Just a
suggestion.

Ken
Winnipeg, Canada

Ken Pisichko said:

Elisa Francesca Roselli said:

I have very poor balance and am a late learner with respect to
cycling. After 3 years I am still quite incapable of turning my head
to look behind me without falling right off my bike. In fact, I
cannot even look behind me while walking - I must imperatively stop
before I turn my head. I also cannot remove a hand from my
handlebars to signal.

Please don't laugh at my response as it is not exactly answering your
question about the mirror. I am being quite serious about this
suggestion. Thinking "out of the box" perhaps.

I was placed in similar straits when I had several serious mishaps
with my feet - one on them is now fused. I am having a cusom-built
bicycle to take care of my size (big problem) and physical
impediment(s).

To take care of your balancing difficulty and the fact that you need
both hands on the handlebars, how about getting a tricycle?

I understand the Greenspeed firm has built a number of them for
people with physical difficulties. of course that option is much more
expensive than a bicycle and a mirror. However, it may be a safer
option for you. Just a suggestion.

Ken
Winnipeg, Canada

Must agree with Tony above.My wife has a Zefal Dooback on her Brommy.No
problem with folding whatsoever and a verygood mirror to boot.

Sam Salt

"Elisa Francesca Roselli" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have very poor balance and am a late learner with respect to cycling.
After 3 years I am still quite incapable of turning my head to look
behind me without falling right off my bike. In fact, I cannot even look
behind me while walking - I must imperatively stop before I turn my
head. I also cannot remove a hand from my handlebars to signal.

I use a helmet mounted mirror but it is not very helpful. It offers only
a very small circle of visibility and I really have to aim my head very
carefully to have any idea of what is behind me. In practice, the only
occasions on which it offers any real help is when I am waiting at a
standstill at a curb for a break in traffic so as to enter the stream.

I wanted to buy a kind of helmet called a Reevu, which has a 360° mirror
mounted into the visor. I was planning to pick one up in London when I
visit next week. But I am told they are no longer imported and the shops
I called have none in stock. The general consensus is that these helmets
were not a success. They are said to have been insufficiently vented,
and the mirror so hard to use that "by the time you figure out what is
behind you, you've crashed into something in front of you". The shops
that used to stock them no longer plan to do so.

So what is left? Is there any kind of rear view mirror that actually
works? I have been reluctant to explore handlebar mirrors because the
space on my folding bike is so exiguous and because I do not wish to mar
the folding action. Eyeglass mirrors too seem a strange choice. Do you
carry them around and put them on your glasses when you head out to
cycle, or wear them all the time? What if you have to swap glasses
regularly? I swap glasses all the time because I acquired varifocals in
February but find it impossible to walk with them.

Although I know that few normal people, and no-one on this list, is
likely to have the same motor problems as myself, I welcome your
experiences. Many thanks,

Elisa Francesca Roselli
Ile de France

Another vote for the Take-a-Look glasses mounted mirror (it can also be
mounted on the helmet) - I've used many different mirror systems, and this
one is the best I've found. It has a flat high quality rectangular mirror
that provides very good visibility. I leave it mounted on my cycling
glasses all the time.

For a good discussion of various mirror systems, look here:

http://www.icebike.com/Equipment/cyclingmirrors.htm

The Take a Look mirror is available from REI ( http://tinyurl.com/48rjk ),
or http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Extras/product_86204.shtml

--
~_-*
....G/ \G
http://www.CycliStats.com
CycliStats - Software for Cyclists

Quoted message said:

space on my folding bike is so exiguous and because I do not wish to mar
the folding action. Eyeglass mirrors too seem a strange choice. Do you

I have had a convex mirror on my right handlebar for years.It can give
a good idea of what the car immediately to my right rear is doing and
is of use in traffic, but I have to concentrate on it for a second or
two so at speed it gets little use.Because it is convex it gives a
usefully large field of view for close things, but is no good at all
for the open road or anywhere that a vehicle might be coming up from a
distance , since I can get the impression that the raod is empty when
it is not(!).I have always used it as a preliminary to a good look
with the naked eye.It seems always ot need adjusting.
I think that having a sizable mirror sticking out to the side keeps
traffic away another foot or so but that has to be balanced against
the inconvenience when squeezing past cars or ncn gates.

It broke recently but I will get another, possibly a plain one this
time.

TerryJ

PS what on earth does exiguous mean?

I recently started using a Take-a-Look mirror that mounts on my
glasses. I have been using a helmet-mounted mirror but got too much
vibration. The glasses mount keeps the mirror still in relation to
your eye. Other glasses-mounted mirrors were heavier thn this one and
had a smaller field of view. Expect to pay around $15.

[censored] Durbin
Tallahassee

Elisa Francesca Roselli said:

Eyeglass mirrors too seem a strange choice. Do you
carry them around and put them on your glasses when you head out to
cycle, or wear them all the time? What if you have to swap glasses
regularly? I swap glasses all the time because I acquired varifocals

in

Quoted message said:

February but find it impossible to walk with them.

I find an eyeglass mirror eminently practical. (I make my own, but
there are many commercial models.) As others have said, they stay in a
fixed position relative to the eye. Also, they give a wider
_effective_ field of view than a handlebar mirror (since you can pivot
your head to look back in various directions). They suffer no optical
distortion, unlike a convex bar mirror. They are tiny and convenient
to carry. They come off easily when needed. Most can move easily from
one pair of glasses to another. And incidentally, you won't need one
when walking, so don't worry about fitting it to that pair of glasses!

Some folks seem to have difficulty using them. It may have something
to do with eye dominance, or it may be an aiming issue. Mine is
visible in the upper left of my glasses' left lens, and aims back down
the lane when I'm in cycling position and turning my head slightly
left. Interestingly, I've noted that I've got a habit of quickly
blinking as I turn my head, just before I look back. I believe this
allows my brain to focus on that mirror image with my left eye, tuning
out my dominant right eye.

- Frank Krygowski

I agree with Frank, overall. I have used helmet and glasses mounted
mirrors for several years.I have problems doing left shoulder checks
due to an old neck injury and find that while a mirror does not remove
the need to shoulder-check they make travelling in heavy traffic much
easier. I prefer glasses mounted ones (Third Eye, Rodegear are two
brands I have used) give good vision and are generally easy to attach
and detach. There is even one mirror, Cycleware ViewPoint, IIRC that
glues to the lens of the cycling glasses. I like this one but it gives
a bit less breadth of vision.

Note that any mirror seems to take a week or two of practice before
useing it becomes automatic on a bike.

John Kane
Kingston ON

"Elisa Francesca Roselli" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

So what is left? Is there any kind of rear view mirror that actually
works? I have been reluctant to explore handlebar mirrors because the
space on my folding bike is so exiguous and because I do not wish to mar
the folding action. Eyeglass mirrors too seem a strange choice. Do you
carry them around and put them on your glasses when you head out to cycle,
or wear them all the time? What if you have to swap glasses regularly? I
swap glasses all the time because I acquired varifocals in February but
find it impossible to walk with them.

Yet another Take-a-look booster, here. The virtues of this mirror have been
amply described in other posts, so let me talk about glasses-swapping for a
moment.

I normally wear progressive lenses (presumably what you cal "varifocals"😉. I
also have prescription sunglasses that only correct for nearsightedness, and
cycling glasses (with swappable filters, dark, amber, clear) with a
prescription insert, also only with the far-vision part of the correction.

One of my two pairs of progressives has a sturdy all-plastic frame; I wear
these with a "Croakies" band for exercise of all sorts, since they won't
corrode. The Take-a-look mounts to them very nicely if it's more convenient
not to mess with the cycling glasses.

But normally the mirror lives on the cycling glasses. The Take-a-look is
very easy to move from pair to pair (no tools or anything, it's just a
pressure mounting. You can easily bend them for a snug fit on any thickness
of glasses stem.

However, thin/narrow metal stems don't work as well.

It takes some practice to become accustomed and adept with any head-mounted
mirror, probably including your helmet-mounted one. Once you get the mirror
angled so as to miss your shoulder, you have to learn where that imaginary
point in space is where, if you turn your head and aim your eyes right at
it, the rear-view "pops" into place. In a car, with the side mirror, it's
easy because that point in space is where the mirror is.

It took me a couple of long rides before it started to come naturally. That
was years ago, and today I have to think hard in order to describe something
I do without thinking, and that feels so natural I miss the mirror when it's
not there. Like when walking down the street.

RichC

Keith Willoughby said:

Elisa Francesca Roselli said:

So what is left? Is there any kind of rear view mirror that actually
works? I have been reluctant to explore handlebar mirrors because the
space on my folding bike is so exiguous and because I do not wish to
mar the folding action. Eyeglass mirrors too seem a strange choice.
Do you carry them around and put them on your glasses when you head
out to cycle, or wear them all the time? What if you have to swap
glasses regularly? I swap glasses all the time because I acquired
varifocals in February but find it impossible to walk with them.

I generally leave mine on my cycling glasses, but it's easily
removed.

Quoted message said:

Although I know that few normal people, and no-one on this list, is
likely to have the same motor problems as myself, I welcome your
experiences. Many thanks,

As I've mentioned before, I love my Take-a-Look mirror.

I second this recommendation. A good mirror that works well.

It has a

Quoted message said:

decent-sized rectangular mirror (37mm x 27mm), it's very adjustable,
and a tiny head movement allows me to see everything behind me - my
lane,
the adjacent lane, and even the pavement to my left. I too have
problems looking behind me (I can do it, but with a tendency to
wobble) and the Take-a-look cured this problem completely, with
marvellous results for
my confidence and, IMO, safety.

Having said that, it did take a little while to get used to, simply
because you have to train yourself to focus on what's in the mirror
and process the information. For the first few hours, I tended to
focus beyond the mirror, and it would take a second to correct.

Rich Clark said:

feels so natural I miss the mirror when it's
not there. Like when walking down the street.

Yep. I've taken to wearing it kayaking, so I can keep track when my
wife's kayak is behind me. (Um.. not white water, of course.)

- Frank Krygowski

"John_Kane" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've been known to turn my head to use the mirror when walking through
a shopping mall.
Mind, I suppose if I use the Cycleware ViewPoint mirror that glues to
the lens of the cycling glasses I could just keep wearing my sunglasses
indoors.

John Kane
Kingston ON

FWIW, I tried the ViewPoint mirror a couple of years ago, but found it
virtually unusable. It's so close to the eye that focusing was difficult,
and it's so small that it provided very little field of view.

The Take-a-Look solved both of those problems.

GG

"Elisa Francesca Roselli" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have very poor balance and am a late learner with respect to cycling.
After 3 years I am still quite incapable of turning my head to look
behind me without falling right off my bike. In fact, I cannot even look
behind me while walking - I must imperatively stop before I turn my
head. I also cannot remove a hand from my handlebars to signal.

I installed a bar end mirror on my Dahon Speed TR. It swivels in all
directions, so it doesn't really interfere with folding. I had to cut away
the rubber covering of the bar end.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Steven M. Scharf said:

"Elisa Francesca Roselli" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have very poor balance and am a late learner with respect to cycling.
After 3 years I am still quite incapable of turning my head to look
behind me without falling right off my bike. In fact, I cannot even look
behind me while walking - I must imperatively stop before I turn my
head. I also cannot remove a hand from my handlebars to signal.

I installed a bar end mirror on my Dahon Speed TR. It swivels in all
directions, so it doesn't really interfere with folding. I had to cut away
the rubber covering of the bar end.

That's what I'm using too, and it works okay for me.
I've got one of these:
http://www.mirrycle.com/mountainmirrycle.htm
It holds its adjustment very well. But it doesn't fit
the inside diameters of all handlebars, despite its
having 2 sizes of wedges. The mirror can easily be
swung inboard so it doesn't stick out, for trail riding.

I was using mirrors that attach to the handlebar with
a velcro strap:
http://tinyurl.com/49trq
Their weakness is the ball-&-socket joint -- the
mirror part is prone to getting knocked off by
brushers-by. The stem, which velcros onto the grip
adds thickness, which can affect hand comfort.
But if it's not mounted too tightly, it's convenient
to rotate the mirror a little when riding uphill.

Their strength is in their easy removability.

I thought Widek might offer handlebar mirrors; I figured
that might have some Euro apeal and availability for Elisa.
But, no soap. However, I note there are Busch & Muller
mirrors available for both drop and flat handlebars.

cheers,
Tom
--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

"GaryG" wrote: (clip) It's so close to the eye that focusing was
difficult, and it's so small that it provided very little field of view.
(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I don't think either of those should have been a problem. Close to the eye
has nothing to do with how you focus, since you need to focus on the total
distance from eye-to-mirror-thing seen. Close to eye should compensate for
the smallness of the mirror. Your angle of view is determined by the mirror
size divided by distance to eye.

If you still have that mirror, I think you should try it again. Of course,
there may be a problem I am not getting, so I am eager to hear your
response.

"Leo Lichtman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"GaryG" wrote: (clip) It's so close to the eye that focusing was
difficult, and it's so small that it provided very little field of view.
(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I don't think either of those should have been a problem. Close to the

eye

Quoted message said:

has nothing to do with how you focus, since you need to focus on the total
distance from eye-to-mirror-thing seen. Close to eye should compensate

for

Quoted message said:

the smallness of the mirror. Your angle of view is determined by the

mirror

Quoted message said:

size divided by distance to eye.

If you still have that mirror, I think you should try it again. Of

course,

Quoted message said:

there may be a problem I am not getting, so I am eager to hear your
response.

I tried it for a couple of weeks, but could never resolve problems with
positioning and field of view. I seemed to also have focusing issues, but
it's been a couple of years so perhaps I was wrong on that point.

GG