Cycling UK Forum

Mick F wrote:

Greystoke wrote:Helmet ones seem a good idea but haven't tried one.

First, you need a helmet to fit it to.
I no longer own one.

I live in a nanny statewhere helmets are mandatory!

Mike

I've cycled in Tasmania, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Bunbury.
This was back in 1988 and helmets hadn't been invented.

Tasmania.
On my way from Hobart to Port Arthur.

Oy, you can also fit them to your glasses.

Pic of the late Chuck Harris with eyeglass mirror, maker of helmet & glasses mirrors.

I use a mirror all the time. I generally position it so that it's seen from the hand position on the bars that covers the brakes. I tend to find if I need to be looking in the mirror, I'm likely to need the brakes at a similar time.

Speaking as a drop bar user, the only mirror I've found useful is the Mirrycle (Original in my case; there is an STI version that fits some Shimano STI levers).

The primary use of handlebars is for your hands, so anywhere that obstructs a regularly used hand position is no good.
Anything that requires you to adjust your own riding position (eg move your arm, or your head to look round the arm) is no good - you lose the "quick glance" check, and may as well just turn your head and look properly.
A bar end mirror is behind the arm in a normal riding position (quite apart from bar end shifters using the position), and often isn't set wide enough that the view isn't obstructed by your hip, the saddlebag pockets etc.
Down tube mirrors are obstructed by you, and by any luggage you may be carrying on the rear of the bike.
Eyeglass mirrors have a field of view that is too narrow to see behind without moving the head (to say nothing of obstruction by hair, hats etc). I don't use a helmet, but I expect a helmet mirror is similar.

A wrist mirror may be useful if you almost always use the same riding position (eg on the lever hoods), but I wouldn't think it's likely enough to warrant spending money to find out.

Flat bar mirrors are much easier, generally being a bit higher and wider than what you'd get on a drop bar. The main problem would be parking knocks changing the alignment, or crash damage.

a small curved (convex) helmet mirror has the potential to offer a good solution; offering a (steerable) wide angle view with minimal obstruction. But theory is one thing, practice is another. When I get old and stiff/deaf enough not to be able to turn around or hear vehicles coming up behind I'll investigate mirrors more thoroughly but in the meantime I'm happy enough without.

cheers

Mick F wrote:I've cycled in Tasmania, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Bunbury.
This was back in 1988 and helmets hadn't been invented.

They had certainly been invented by then!

I think that Victoria was the first cab off the rank in about 1990.

Mike

Mike_Ayling wrote:

Mick F wrote:I've cycled in Tasmania, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Bunbury.
This was back in 1988 and helmets hadn't been invented.

They had certainly been invented by then!

No doubt they had been, but not as a "device" for normal everyday cyclists.

A bar end mirror is behind the arm in a normal riding position (quite apart from bar end shifters using the position), and often isn't set wide enough that the view isn't obstructed by your hip, the saddlebag pockets etc.

Er, no it isn't obstructed by my arm, my saddlebag is sufficiently narrow and I don't use bar end shifters. Mine is just fine and very useful for keeping a group ride together as well as spotting traffic. It might be obstructed by one's arm if permanently on the drops - but I ride on the hoods for the most part.

Mick F wrote:

Mike_Ayling wrote:

Mick F wrote:I've cycled in Tasmania, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Bunbury.
This was back in 1988 and helmets hadn't been invented.

They had certainly been invented by then!

No doubt they had been, but not as a "device" for normal everyday cyclists.

https://www.davison.com/blog/2013/05/14 ... le-helmet/

Extract from above:

By the 1970’s, a group called the Snell Foundation began comprehensive testing of bicycle helmets and found that none of the helmets on the market were really effective, so they established some basic criteria for head protection, which coincided with the bike boom of the 1970’s, when many American adults took up cycling as an exercise and a sport. Then in 1975, Bell Auto parts invented the first real helmet for cyclists. It consisted of a hard plastic shell padded with a foam-like material. This was the beginning of the modern helmet.

Mike

There can't be many types of recumbent where the rider easily turn round to for a rear view

thirdcrank wrote:There can't be many types of recumbent where the rider easily turn round to for a rear view

Nor many small bar end mirrors that would work. Many helmet or glass mirrors would be full of seat back, too. I only recall seeing those long arm foldable ones on recumbents but I'm forgetful.

Bell 'biker' from 1975



Bell 'V1 pro' from 1983

cheers

mjr wrote: ... Nor many small bar end mirrors that would work. Many helmet or glass mirrors would be full of seat back, too. I only recall seeing those long arm foldable ones on recumbents but I'm forgetful.

As I posted above, a recumbent rider of my acquiantance dangles a mirror from his wrist. When it's needed, he holds it rather like a make-up mirror but for looking behind rather than at his mush. Whatever the ideological objections, it's very effective.