Bicycling Mirrors

We have used a number of bicycling mirrors over the years and have settled on a few that work well for us.  (The ones above are not among them.)  There is a good summary article about the various types of mirrors at Icebike.org.

We have used mirrors mounted to handlebars, helmets and sunglass temples.  We have not tried mirrors that attach to the bike frame, the rider's wrist or inside the corner of a sunglass lens.

With a few exceptions, handlebar mirrors seem to work best on the flat bars of mountain, comfort and fitness bikes.  We have used mirrors from Blackburn and Bell that attach to the end of the bar with velcro with limited success.  The velcro wrap can be in the way of your grip and may not work with bar ends.  I also found them hard to adjust and easy to come out of adjustment.

A good mirror for use with flat bars is the Mirrycle MTB.

Both Zelma and Sarah use these on their fitness bikes and they work well.

After an unsuccessful trial of an eyeglass mirror, Zelma is using a Sprintech drop bar mirror on her road bike.  It is out of the way of any hand grip positions and fairy inconspicuous, replacing a handlebar plug.  A similar design is available from CycleAware.

Sprintech mirror and Mirrycle Incredabell bar end bell   

One potential issue with any mirror mounted to the bike is that it may vibrate more than a helmet or eyeglass mirror.  Your body acts as a kind of a natural shock absorber with the latter.  You can also pan the area behind you by tilting your head.

An eyeglass or helmet mirror can take a while to get used to, and some people never get comfortable with them.  Zelma tried for a short time and gave up.  They also look pretty dorky, but I'm already a senior citizen dressed in lycra and wearing a plastic hat, so a mirror is a small thing.

At some point, I went from a Blackburn Mountain Mirror to a Third Eye Pro Helmet Mirror.  The mirror is attached to the helmet with an adhesive patch, and because of the curvature of the helmet, I had to secure it with additional packing tape.  It was also easy to knock the mirror out of alignment when setting down or transporting the helmet.

I later got a new helmet, and partially because you can't easily switch the mirror from one helmet to another, I started using a Third Eye Eyeglass Mirror.


 I liked the idea of an eyeglass mirror, but had a couple of issues with the Third Eye model.  The top of the mirror arm sits fairly high above the sunglass temple and could interfere with the helmet.  And the three plastic prongs that fit over the temple are not adjustable and can be difficult to mount on a thick temple.

I moved to the "Bike Peddler Bike Products Take a Look Cyclist Mirror" and never looked back better.

The Take a Look has a much lower profile on the temple and the three attachment points are very adjustable.  All of the mirror joints are fully adjustable through 360 degrees and the mirror can be used on the left or right side.  It might be a little heavier than some others but it's not really noticeable if your sunglasses fit well.

If you are looking for a new or different cycling mirror, the ones that have worked for us are:

    Flat Handle Bar - Mirrycle MTB Mirror
    Drop Handle Bar - Sprintech Drop Bar Mirror
    Eyeglass - Take A Look Cyclist Eyeglass Mirror

(The above links are to Amazon.  If you can find a mirror that works for you at your local bike shop (LBS), buy it there.  I will do a post later about where to buy bikes and accessories, but that is for another day.)

My own personal preference is for an eyeglass mirror, but your mileage may vary.  They a relatively inexpensive, and I think they are worth a try.

Though mirrors can be a bit dorky, once you get used them, it's hard not to have one.  We use them even on off road paths to keep track of each other and who might be coming up to pass us.

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