aprildavy wrote:I have used one one all my bikes since I was 13 (now 52). It is one of the most important safety additions you can make. If the mirror is properly mounted, you can see behind you at all times, just by glancing in it. You can judge the speed of the traffic, the size and width of the trucks. A lot of cyclists only look round when the cyclist is intending to manouvre. It gives YOU much more time to cycle defensively.
On several occaisions, I have seen white van man, or quarry truck man, accelerating towards me, left hand indicator flashing. Then the truck overtakes, slaps the brakes on, and pulls a hard left in front of me cutting me up. You can see all this emerging in your mirror and take avoding action, like stopping pedalling or braking since you knnow what he is going to do.
Get one - no question about it.
plus, one of hte guys at owrk on his motorbike, said after passing me one evening, he gave me more room, because the mirror sticks out.
I use the blackburn oval shaped one which fits over the right hand drop lever - see pic above.
Cheers
More than +1
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
I find the bike eye mirror to be effect though less so for picking up the motorist who suddenly appears, overtakes and turns left in front. Perhaps this would happen with any mirror I fit. http://www.bike-eye.com/
Tacascarow wrote:Has anyone tries fitting a mirror to butterfly/trekking bars, & if so what mirror & how successful was it? It's something I've been wanting to do for a while but all the mirrors I've seen are designed specifically for drop or straight bars.
This is what I've done on my butterfly bars - works for me!
It is a straight bar end topped with a Mirrycle Mountain mirror. Very solid in use and gives an extra hand position as well.
Decent quality and it's big enough to see what's coming.
+1 Got one too. If your going to 'ave one - make it a big un. The smaller ones are useless. A mirror really comes into it's own on a loaded bike, enabling you to get some idea of what's going on behind you. It's simply far too dangerous to start twisting yourself round to see behind when you're on a bike that you don't normally ride loaded up. Don't even try it in traffic.
horizon wrote:If you use a Blackburn drop bar mirror, there is little or no vibration, the mirror is large enough to see cars a long way off, especially at night, and it allows you to see cars you cannot hear - the ones following the one you can hear. A mirror enables you to ride assertively because you can constantly check where cars are and position yourself accordingly. It's not my job to encourage you to use a mirror - it's your choice. But how you cycle safely and calmly without one, I don't know.
+1, though I'm tempted to have a fling with the B&M to see what (if anything) I'm missing out on.
Assuming you can perform a shoulder check safely, I'm still a little lost as to how much they help (though I could see one being rather more useful on the tandem). If someone's going to drive a car into the back of you then being able to watch them do it doesn't seem particularly advantageous (and if they're going to miss you then I'm not sure what you gain either). I quite like having to look around anyway, since it's an indication to anyone behind that you're likely to want to make some sort of manoeuvre.
+1, though I'm tempted to have a fling with the B&M to see what (if anything) I'm missing out on.
Assuming you can perform a shoulder check safely, I'm still a little lost as to how much they help (though I could see one being rather more useful on the tandem). If someone's going to drive a car into the back of you then being able to watch them do it doesn't seem particularly advantageous (and if they're going to miss you then I'm not sure what you gain either). I quite like having to look around anyway, since it's an indication to anyone behind that you're likely to want to make some sort of manoeuvre.
I can perform a shoulder check correctly and I still use a mirror.
Without going into all the positive details that others have posted on this and other threads about the use of mirrors, if you drive a car, try pushing your mirrors out of view and driving for a day without using them. And if you don't drive would you consider motorists not having/using mirrors to be a safe/sensible thing to do.
The lead Greyhound never has to look at another Greyhounds derrière.
stewartpratt wrote:if someone's going to drive a car into the back of you then being able to watch them do it doesn't seem particularly advantageous
But it does give you the option of steering off the road at the last moment rather than be hit be a large 60mph vehicle. I've had to do this once.
More frequently I've seen dangerously close overtakes coming and been able to move a foot or two left to mitigate them. Since I started using a mirror I've not had any of the near elbow brushing overtakes many cyclist experience because I can avoid them by using a mirror and riding far enough from the kerb to have swerve room.
No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?
Spending all day, sometimes for days at a time, watching traffic in a rearview mirror as it approaches you and overtakes, you get a very good idea of what is normal and what is going to be dangerous to you.
You can see traffic as it approaches, and watch it move out as it goes to pass you - you get a good idea of how close the vehicle should be before it starts to move out to overtake. If it gets too close and has not yet moved out to overtake you - its time to get out of its way !
I ride quite a bit in groups, and use a bar-end Zefal mirror on either side to keep tabs on who's how close and where. I started doing this after one night ride when there was a rider close on the outside and an idiot kept trying to edge up into the 18" space between me and the verge. Suddenly seeing a rather weak headlight pop into your field of view on the wrong side is kinda disconcerting. They're also good when riding relays, for keeping tabs on whether partner is flagging or not.
Funny thing is, I haven't any mirrors on the mule, and when I'm riding it I tend to glance into the space where the mirrors would be on my Audax bike: I don't see any vehicles following, of course, and a couple of times I've started to move out on the strength of it. Oops.
