Beater with a mirror

Just fitted one of those small round handlebar end mirrors to my everyday hack/commuter/beater (geared not SS). It doesn't replace a proper 'over the shoulder' safety check but it does give a good view of what's approaching on the outside, for London riding it also gives a good idea of how close the car/vehicle behind is to your back wheel. It's practical but I'm not entirely convinced it's not ever so slightly 'ghey' in a man-bag sort of way.

Any of you lot ever used one or thought about it?

I remember having a mirror on my Raleigh Tomahawk when I was a nipper.

It wasn't my mirror, I nicked it off my brother just to try it. With about an 8" rod between the clamp and mirror, the vibrations were so severe it was impossible to see anything in the mirror!

Don't rely on a mirror, you'll start to trust that what you see in it is all that is there. You've only got a limited field of vision with one of those things and the rest is a massive blind spot.

I just follow the lead of my fellow cycle commuters and veer right without looking.
Anything behind me has brakes, right. Sorted!

just call "no homo" as you attach it, and you will be fine

I think they're useless. Just look over your shoulder. It takes 0.5seconds to do so and you'll see way more than you would in a tiny little mirror.

Keep it on, I think they are funny

i think they are downright dangerous, should be banned, AND banned from motorcycles too so the lazy fckers have to do the proper safety checks. can't you use that extra eye in the back of ya head that all city cyclists develop after a while?

i think they are downright dangerous, should be banned, AND banned from motorcycles too so the lazy fckers have to do the proper safety checks. can't you use that extra eye in the back of ya head that all city cyclists develop after a while?

Mirrors are only dangerous in the same sense that full face crash helmets are dangerous - they limit your field of vision. Motorcyclists (and I'm not one, never have been) can't turn to see what's right behind them while moving forward as their peripheral vision is often blocked by the sides of the helmet. Mirrors make more sense on a motorcycle for this reason, but you really don't need them if you ride properly on a bike.

when my gf and i did the ole tour d'angleterre I eventually had to get a little mirror that attached to my helmet so I could keep an eye on her (not pull ahead to far, etc.) when I led. for this purpose it was great, if stupid looking (although the entire touring ensemble is pretty dorky already).

True, proper over the shoulder safety check is the safe way forward. In fact thinking about it I was already starting to think lazy with the mirror i.e. 'cool, now I won't need to keep looking over my shoulder but just now and then...'

You may have uncovered a slippery slope chaps. That's it - the mirror gets it! (Fret not it won't be wasted as it's small enough to fix to the end of my shoe for looking up girl's skirts).

:-)

Also, continuous over the shoulder checks allows the vehicles behind you to know that you are clued up, paying attention and are aware of their presence. This has a tendency to elicit better behavior from the drivers.

I bought one to attach whenever I've got the childseat fitted. Nothing to do with traffic - only for keeping an eye on what the toddler is up to, or if he's fallen asleep.