A few months ago I wrote a comparison of the 3rd Eye and Heads Up
glasses mounting mirrors. I expressed the hope that the Heads Up would
last a bit longer than the 12 months typical of the 3rd Eye before
breaking (it didn't, it lasted about 6 weeks). As usual when the
subject of mirrors comes up, somebody recommended the Take a Look. I
have now acquired one (from ICE) and have been using it for the last
couple of weeks.
<URL:http://www.ice.hpv.co.uk/trike_details_general_accessories.htm#takealook>
The first thing I noticed about the TAL was that it doesn't look
anywhere near as cool as the Borgesque 3rd Eye. In fact, it looks
/very/ geeky. I may be able to improve upon the look by painting the
frame and the back of the mirror black (somebody suggested painting a
picture of an eye), but that rectangular mirror is never going to look
as good as the 3rd Eye's round one. But, functionality is more
important than looks.
The second thing was that it felt heavier. My kitchen scales say 10g,
compared to 8g for the 3rd Eye or the Heads Up.
Initial setup was slightly more complicated with the TAL than with the
other 2 mirrors (although being an experienced mirror user helped). All
3 mirrors are designed for the US market, i.e. for mounting to the wrong
side. With the 3rd Eye and the Heads Up, the mirror is attached at top
centre to the end of a stick. The position of the mirror relative to my
eye is effectively the same whichever side I mount it. With the TAL,
the stick bends downwards through 90° at the end, and the mirror is
attached at the edge like a flag. If I mount it to the right hand side
then the mirror is on the outside of the frame, when I need it on the
inside to get it within my field of corrected vision. It's not a
problem if I'm wearing contact lenses, but I usually don't.
I got round this by rotating the stick through 90°, meaning that the
mirror is in a portrait orientation rather than landscape. I'd rather
have the wider field of view that would be afforded by a landscape
orientation, but I don't think I'd be able to fit the entire landscape
width in my field of corrected vision without obstructing too much of my
forward vision anyway.
The TAL is harder than the 3rd Eye to adjust while riding, largely
because one of the "pivot points" (the one at the glasses end of the
stick) is pivoted by bending the wire, rather than by using a
ball-and-socket joint as on the 3rd Eye. Some people think this is a
good thing (because the mirror is less prone to being accidentally
knocked out of alignment). I disagree - knocks are inevitable and I
want to be able to correct the alignment quickly and easily. I have
found that the extra length of the TAL makes it more prone to knocks.
At 27mm x 36mm the TAL mirror is slightly bigger than the 3rd Eye (29mm
diameter) and shorter than the Heads Up (a 29mm x 42mm ellipse).
Unfortunately, where the 3rd Eye and the Heads Up have slightly convex
mirrors, the TAL mirror seems to be flat. The result (with the mirror
in portrait orientation) is a frustratingly smaller field of view - a
little over half the width of the 3rd Eye's field. In landscape
orientation I get a field as wide as the 3rd Eye, but that's not an
option unless I'm wearing contact lenses.
The TAL mirror has a longer stick than the 3rd Eye, meaning that it sits
3-4cm further from the eye. The advantage of this is that I get less of
a blind spot when glancing to the right. The disadvantage is that it
won't fit in the case with my cycling glasses, which may not affect
performance but it's important to me and it means that I'm more likely
to lose or forget the mirror.
In the past I've mentioned a certain amount of mirror vibration when
using the 3rd Eye or Heads Up. I noticed just as much vibration with
the TAL as with the 3rd Eye, suggesting that it's head vibration rather
than mirror vibration. In fact, with one pair of glasses I found that
the extra length and weight of the TAL meant there was more vibration.
In conclusion, if you wear prescription glasses or cycling glasses with
prescription inserts then I think the wider field of view makes the 3rd
Eye the better mirror. Otherwise, the superior mounting mechanism gives
the TAL the edge.
--
Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my reply address)
<URL:http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/>
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine