[RetroG]

I ride 2 abreast often on the back roads. I need a rear view mirror. Anyone have any experience with small, inconspicuous devices that would allow me to see cars coming up from behind? What kind has worked well for you?

 

[mr plow]

I ride 2 abreast often on the back roads. I need a rear view mirror. Anyone have any experience with small, inconspicuous devices that would allow me to see cars coming up from behind? What kind has worked well for you?

I haven't used any myself but i did find some here.
Hope that it might be of some help.

 

[Mike T.]

I ride 2 abreast often on the back roads. I need a rear view mirror. Anyone have any experience with small, inconspicuous devices that would allow me to see cars coming up from behind? What kind has worked well for you?

For years (like 30) I've made my own out of an old spoke and a tiny (like 3/8" square) piece of thin mirror (ladies' powder compacts) and epoxy. They're 1/2 the size of the store bought versions. I've talked about these before and posted pics. Do a search for the stuff. They work perfectly.

 

[fred3]

Well hey you Old Phart...

For years (like 30) I've made my own out of an old spoke and a tiny (like 3/8" square) piece of thin mirror (ladies' powder compacts) and epoxy. They're 1/2 the size of the store bought versions. I've talked about these before and posted pics. Do a search for the stuff. They work perfectly.

Was wondering if you were still trodding this good earth. Snow gone? Ours finally has.

 

[Mike T.]

Was wondering if you were still trodding this good earth. Snow gone? Ours finally has.

Hey howzit goin' Ferd? Yep still here. I think I could probably find a piece of snow if I tried hard but really it's (thankfully) gone. Now we have to wait for the trails to dry out ~ they're a sea of mud. But then that's why they made asphalt roads in the first place right? That's where my mirror comes in handy

 

[PooBoy]

I ride 2 abreast often on the back roads. I need a rear view mirror. Anyone have any experience with small, inconspicuous devices that would allow me to see cars coming up from behind? What kind has worked well for you?

You could try a Reevu helmet (reevu.com). They build a series of mirrors into the shell of the helmet, so that a quick look up towards your visor and you can see what's behind. I had one and can vouch they work, but it works better if you ride in an upright position rather than anything stretched out. Not the prettiest of helmet designs though.

 

[Mike T.]

And then there's this. I had one once; they work fine.

 

[SpinWheelz]

When you rely on mirrors, you pretty much have to make sure your head is positioned just right so that the angles work and you can see what you wanna see, right? Wouldn't it be better to simply flip your head back really quickly and look out the corner of your eye? I ride 6 miles each way to a local trail each weekend, and I used that distance to practice flipping my head back. I needed to, in order to ride more defensively.

It wasn't easy at first, but I read some really good advice somewhere - probably here - that when you do turn your head back, make sure you tuck your chin under your shoulder, not over it. Apparently, this is one way to keep your hands from inadvertantly turning to follow your eyes (a really bad thing, in this case), and I found that it really works. A few tries and I think I've got the move down now. Snapping a quick look behind me is no biggie now.

 

[Mike T.]

When you rely on mirrors, you pretty much have to make sure your head is positioned just right so that the angles work and you can see what you wanna see, right? Wouldn't it be better to simply flip your head back really quickly and look out the corner of your eye? .

I've debated this one ad nauseum over the years and am not going to dredge up all the old justfication for and against mirrors again. Don't use one if you don't want to. Angles? I'll take my 10 degree head movement over your 180 anyday. Re-think your "logic". You don't have a mirror in your car for the same reason right? As far as I'm concerned, if you haven't used a mirror for about 200,000 miles of road (and trail) riding as I have then you don't have an opinion worth listening to. How much experience DO you have with mirrors anyway? That's the last I'll say on the subject.

 

[YuriB]

I've used the ones that clip to glasses and they work great as you can take them off when you hit the trails - check REI. I've got a permanent one on my commuter helmet.
Bike Peddler Take A Look Original Mirror with Adapter
$15.00 Item 646191

 

[SpinWheelz]

Gee, Mike T, I'm not sure who took a big long piss in your Cheerios this morning, but I was merely offering my opinion/suggestion on how I look at cars behind me. I'm not exactly sure this antagonistic tone was warranted in anyway. I don't have an opinion worth listening to (sic) because I haven't ridden the 200,000 miles you have? Oooooh...

 

[RetroG]

No. That's why...

Wouldn't it be better to simply flip your head back really quickly and look out the corner of your eye

I want a mirror. Cars still manage to sneak up with the "turn around and look".
I've just never considered it because of the "Dork" effect. The older I get, the more practical I get. And isn't that the real definition of dork: 'really really practical'
I mean, the pocket protector. So freakin practical, it's dorky!!

 

[Mike T.]

you can take them off when you hit the trails

Mine's as useful ON trails as off. It's great for keeping track of riding buddies ~ the ones behind anyways.

 

[Grampa]

Mine's as useful ON trails as off. It's great for keeping track of riding buddies ~ the ones behind anyways.

Yeah, I used to use one to keep track of the kids when they were alot younger and we rode the trails. They always preferred to ride behind me so they would "know where to go."

I still use one when road biking. Wouldn't ride the streets of SoCal without it. Arguments to the contrary do not convince me. The "Take a Look" is my favorite (works well with prescription type glasses us old dorks use).

 

[carlo]

I'm having decent luck with a blackburn velcro-to-the-helmet model right now. Problems with these sometimes are that the pivots (just a plastic ball/socket joint) wear down and it'll bounce out of adjustment all the time. A little superglue will aleviate the problem, but the mirrors are so cheap that it's no problem just to pick up a new one. I'd be curious about homemade ones. I usually have a visor on my helmet and tuck the mirror up close to it so as to be as inconspicuous as possible since I already tend to look like a cyborg with a helmet-mounted light and its wire.

I've caught plenty of flack from buddies at the shop I worked at for having a mirror. One told me that he'd rip it off and stomp on it if I showed up to a ride wearing it.... "Why can't you just look behind you?" Because I want to know what's happening behind me all the time (like every 10 seconds), not just when I'm about to cut into traffic to make a left hand turn or whatever. A quick glance in the mirror is far easier and faster (for me) than turning my head. Plus I'm often wearing fairly narrow prescription glasses, which really cuts down on my peripheral vision, so I'd really have to crank my head around to see anything. I'm biking mostly in the city too, so higher ambient noise tends to drown out aural cues you'd normally pick up elsewhere, like in small towns and the country.

My general philosophy is that I am profoundly more interested in my own well-being than strangers passing in their cars are, thus I depend on myself -- not them -- to steer clear of disaster (yet strangely I would never touch a reflector vest.... ) . There are plenty of distractions for drivers and I don't want to end up in the hospital (or worse) as a result of a few seconds their carelessness. Is it a perfect 100% great system? Not nearly, and it doesn't lull me into a false sense of security. I realize the risks (mostly), take risks aplenty, but I minimize them when possible by riding as defensively as possible.. After a few years of having a mirror, I've seen some sobering stuff happen behind me that could have been potentially dangerous.

SpinWeelz: If the head-tuck works for you, good on ya. Some people don't have the range of motion, coordination or peripheral vision for it. I do it from time to time because I think a person should be able to use any and all methods to get the job done, but I prefer the mirror anyway just because I use it so often (gotta be on guard in the city) and it works well for me.

Tim T.: 180 degrees? Maybe you should rethink your "geometry" It doesn't take that extreme a head movement to look back.

 

[K'Endo]

Hey howzit goin' Ferd? Yep still here. I think I could probably find a piece of snow if I tried hard but really it's (thankfully) gone. Now we have to wait for the trails to dry out ~ they're a sea of mud. But then that's why they made asphalt roads in the first place right? That's where my mirror comes in handy

Snow? Bah, haven't seen snow in these HERE parts for months! Hadda go to Whistler to find that stuff.

Photo from my office window using crappy cell phone cam ...

Kn.