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**AZguy** · 05-09-2018, 02:43 PM

Funny thing - I never got the dirt moto guys (not sanctioned racing - that's different!!) that would forego the mirror. Unless you expect to fall a lot why on earth would you not want to be able to see what's behind you with nothing but a quick glance?

My biggest gripe with the mirrycle is that is is just a bit too convex. Otherwise it's a great piece of kit. I'm stupid hard on my bikes (stupid 'cus I'll hurt myself if not careful!) but I seldom break a mirricyle and when I do I just get the replacement lens, they cheap...

**HarryS** · 05-09-2018, 03:06 PM

I like the Mirricycle, Only problem was I didn't read the instructions because it looked so simple. Instructions tell you the screw fit will be really tight., I din't know that and I didn't like how they were so tight, so I ran a die over the screw, It allowed it to screw in easy, but now it would spin loose from vibration. I tried some loctite, but not so good. So one of my Mirricyles has to be tightened before each ride.

I bought a few more for our other bikes. They work great and there is no problem with vibration. I did break one mirror when a bike tipped over. Bought a replacement.

**max_volt** · 05-09-2018, 03:14 PM

Maybe mirrors need their own category. I abhor crap hanging off my bars. Im always paranoid I going to clip a tree and get flipped to the ground or impale some poor pedestrian. I used to ride with bar ends but found out I could just horizontally palm the bar end with my hand. I used to use a small round helmet mirror but hated it. I see they have rectangular ones now that might be worth a look at. As far as a bu cam, I don't think the display would be bright enough in direct sunlight.

**artdrectr** · 05-09-2018, 05:24 PM

Here is a guy with a 'backup' camera for rear view ("$25 from Amazon"). Would like to see it in action tho.

https://youtu.be/i5QvQ7ddQaI

**roman** · 05-09-2018, 05:55 PM

I haven't figured this out yet either. I just need a mirror on my left side-- so I can glance at traffic before passing another cyclist or swerve around someone jumping out of a car.

**MoneyPit** · 05-10-2018, 01:08 PM

I am not fond of handlebar-based mirrors. I prefer to be able to see directly behind me while looking forward. Only way to do that is with a helmet mounted mirror. A full view behind yuou is just an eyeball flick away.

But there's a right and a wrong way to do a helmet mirror. Most of the products out there are all wrong. Primarily because the mirror is subject to vibration which ruins the rear view. The Sehen kickstarter mirror addresses the issue and shows the problem in this vid (vibration). I bought one of these Sehens and they do work, but you can achieve the same benefit with a couple strips of tape. Only the first 15 seconds of the vid illustrate the problem and value of the solution perfectly.

Sehen comparison

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ4MSqKNBYc

We made this little video to show you the technique we use to made the comparisons for our Kickstarter video.

Now, for the mirror that I use: $15. http://a.co/dU6AIiT

I hook it to the visor of my helmet. From there, two cents worth of gorilla tape fastens a bit of the boom of the mirror to my helmet and totally eliminates all vibration. In the pic below, I obviously wasn't trying to be neat. Since then I have prettied it up. Once on it never needs re-taping.

I focus the mirror just like a car mirror: I make the edge of my helmet visible for a reference point and from there I can look back and see 2+ lanes of traffic without moving my head at all. I have a stable wide screen TV view behind me.

I use the Sehen for the rare short trip where I am not wearing my regular helmet. I have gotten so used to just looking forward and being able to instantly see behind me I really don't feel safe otherwise.

**jeffcrilly** · 05-10-2018, 11:13 PM

Short story: I use a motorcycle mirror.

A bit more info: Recently I bought a pair of china mirrors on amazon which had "perch" clamps that mount to the bars..
The amazon mirrors were kinda diamond shaped and not real large, but I had a square motorcycle mirror laying around that fit the perch.

The mirror I am currently using is I believe identical to this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00230DQVA...526022527&sr=1

(I bought it years ago for an dual-sport motorcycle.)

I have a cruiser with "cafe" bars , so an bar-end mirror won't work.
On my mountain bike I use a bar end mirror and it works pretty good -- looks small, but actually is just fine size.

The motorcycle mirror gives me a great view of the road behind.

I mounted just one on the left side.

-jeff

**tklop** · 05-11-2018, 01:09 AM

Thanks a lot for this thread! Great topic, great responses.

I'm a big fan of seeing and being seen. We e-bikers often are moving faster than others expect. For our own safety and the safety of others, it is a good idea to do what we can.

I wanted mirrors myself, but with so many choices out there, I wasn't sure which way to go. Now, as usual, thanks to you folks I'm now a lot better informed!

If it's solid--I'm game for that helmet-mounted one. I like the anti-vibration properties--and even if my own tape-up job ended up a little ugly, that doesn't scare me much.

My only question--does it stay put in the wind too? It looks rather large, so I'm even more concerned in that regard. In that video, they're riding pretty slow. Enough to show the difference in vibration--yes, but (as far as I could tell) it was not fast enough to get much wind into play. I don't mind making adjustments sometimes, but it's when I'm travelling at the highest of speeds, when I needs the greatest stability in my mirror.

It's not quite the same, but I'm remembering back in the day--I had a job where I drove a 90's Chevy delivery van whose crummy factory mirrors would fold back in the wind--almost flush to the side-windows any time you went over about 50 mph. It'd happen at lower speeds too, with a head-wind, or a gust, or with the blast of wind comes from a truck travelling in opposite direction, etc. They were just crappy, and unfortunately non-adjustable (trust me--I tried). Eventually, I got my boss to replace them--but until then, it was a dangerous pain in the butt.

I'm thinking I may choose different mirrors for different bikes: My bakfiets can easily use handlebar-end mirrors, or motorcycle mirrors. Vibration will be an issue, but since the box is wider than the handlebars, I'm not going to be "clipping" anybody or anything on my way by. As long as they "stay put" I'm going to be happy for the most-part. Thing is, it's stable enough to manage, but it just demands two hands when I'm up and rolling. One-handed comes with too much "pucker-factor" so I don't want to have to be fiddling with my mirrors. I also appreciate hearing that some find the preferred model Mirrycle (or whatever it is called) can be a bit too convex. Again--great info! Thank you!

When I'm on my vouwfiets (folding-bike) or my stadfiets (city-bike), (both totally human-powered--though I can and do still regularly pass the MAMIL's on their roadies), I think I'll prefer to just go with something helmet-mounted; provided it'll hold up to the winds here in The Netherlands (which can be quite strong and often gusty).

Thanks to all for the contributions and comments. Very helpful!

Take care,

tklop

**MoneyPit** · 05-11-2018, 08:38 AM

calfee20 That helmet is a Bell Super3 where I spent the extra money and bought the chin guard add-on that I could have had all along if I had not been a cheapskate and instead bought a Bell Super3R... the same helmet with the chin guard painted to match. I initially was only going to wear it in hi risk situations but it was a pain to remove and replace so I just started riding with it always. Two weeks after install, I was hit by a car and my head first pavement impact ground one of my eyeglass lenses opaque... The eyeglass frame was undamaged so I was just *barely* above the pavement. the chin guard saved that from being my face. I bought another Super 3R as there's no arguing with that kind of success. Helmet destroyed but head uninjured. I felt MIPS do what it was supposed to do in real time as I went from top-of-head forward pavement impact to second impact on my back .,.. my head moved but the helmet, grinding into the pavement as I moved forward at speed - shifted internally on its MIPS liner; saved me from a lot worse than I got (the eyeglass grind happened as I was bouncing along further on down the road).

Where was I? Mirror oh yeah the subject of the thread. BTW the mirror survived the crash just fine.

tklop Yes it is solid. You can of course move it so if you bump the thing it will not break. It stays solid up until about 40 mph at which point it does begin vibrating. Basically, in all riding even when its a strong headwind its solid. You have to be going on a downhill stretch to get it to vibrate and even then its usable and is not changing position. If you wanted, you could increase stability by maybe using a bead of Shoe Goo over the hinge points. It would dry and form a rubber boot that would restrict motion but still allow same. Me I have never felt the need.

**calfee20** · 05-12-2018, 04:29 PM

That could be true but in my case when I slid down the road I had 3 contact points. Right shoulder, right knee and high on the right temple. I was leading with my head and had to use all of strength I had in my neck to keep the helmet and street in contact and not let the friction twist my face into the tar. I would not ride a motor cycle after that without a full face helmet.

I still use my full face helmet in the winter time when I need to keep my head warm.

**commuter ebikes** · 05-13-2018, 03:09 PM

I want to take this opportunity to be a safety nag http://www.williambenedict.com/bikes/safety.html

There really is a lot of new info for everybody on that page, including a link to a whole page entitled "How to not get hit by cars".

Ride safe, friends.

**MoneyPit** · 05-14-2018, 10:06 AM

max_volt I've heard of the full face issue before although it was in the context of racing autos on track. In that environment, the risk exists but the damage to your face from a frontal impact far exceeds the lesser risk of the helmet putting your neck in a bad position... and I know how that sounds. We are talking relative levels of bad. Full face is the way to go.

Insofar as bikes are concerned, MIPS is specifically designed to deal with what you are talking about. Your head rotates inside the helmet depending on your direction of travel. But it also remains protected. Look at what happened to the helmet. My head stayed protected. Now... my back was screwed up royally but my neck was actually in pretty good shape. I was out of the horse collar before I left the emergency room.

On that bottom photo... the face shield kept that brush of my eyeglass lens from being my face. Says better than I ever could what a 'chin bar' does for you. And finally an on-topic comment: You can see the mirror in the second picture. It just needed to be re-positioned and its fine.

**calfee20** · 05-14-2018, 11:17 AM

I got that mirror you use and installed it on my regular bicycle helmet. I haven't tested it yet, maybe tomorrow.

I went searching around for Bell helmets and found a 2017 closeout of your style at Universal cycles for $160. I should have it in a couple of days. I just hope it isn't to warm with the chin guard.

This is a good thread. I have been thinking of a good helmet since I got the BBSHD but I have been procrastinating about the mirror issue also. Now I have taken care of

both issues

.

**Tommycat** · 05-31-2018, 12:56 PM

Received my Mirrycle Mirror in the mail and the first thing I think is I must have ordered just the replacement mirror as the package looked too small....?

But on inspection of the boxes contents… all is well. Some assembly is required.

Assembled...

In the assembly instructions it stresses that the bolts WILL be tight! ;-) And this is correct!

Tried a couple of mounting positions. Out and up.

Pro's: Excellent full view to the entire road behind you. Magically looks around your back to see all the way to the right curb.

Con's: Sticks out a bit far for comfort. Hits your arm while turning sharply left. No view of your body for reference.

Down and In.

Pro's: Good view behind you. Good reference to body position Out of the way of your arm on sharp turns. Maximum clearance.(tucked in).

Con's: May hit your knee on a sharp left turn.

So for now I'm going with the down and in position...

Grip modification for installation...Shortened for shifter on the left.

Cutting hole for mount insertion with an exacto knife. Same type of material like a thick inner tube...

Final positioning and handle bar look...

As mentioned it gives a solid, shake free, wide angled view (objects are closer than they appear...) of everything behind you. I am glad I listened to this forums excellent advice.

That said, when turning you lose sight of things behind. :-0 I just can't let the rear view camera idea go! LOL

Cheers everyone, thanks for the help!
T.C.

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Ultimate rear view and helmet safety discussion! ;-)

Ultimate rear view and helmet safety discussion! ;-)

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