What's the Best Mirror Position? Helmet-mount?

The handlebar mounted mirror arrangement has the drawback of being below the normal field of view. A rider needs to look down and them adjust her or his head position, all the while the rider's attention needs to be forward.
An additional problem with this arrangement is that the mirror's position, tied to a steering member, is dictated by the needs of steering - not the needs of visual efficiency. The mirror needs a more stable position.
One alternative is a helmet mounted mirror. I don't understand why they didn't catch on. I hardly ever see anybody with one.
I use a yellow construction hard-hat as a bike-helmet. I recently attached a 5 cm diameter inspection mirror (with a telescoping handle) to the side of the helmet to use as a rear-view mirror.
To attach, I used a plastic tie and radiator-hose tape. This will suffice until I can devise a more elegant method.
It works. It takes a while getting used to, but I’m beginning to think all other bike rearview mirror arrangements are inferior.

Part of the reason may be that steering bar positioned mirrors are obligatory for mopeds / motorbikes. At least here in Switzerland. Also, I don't like something on my helmet. Neither GoPro nor mirror.

However, your solution looks nice.

Out of curiosity- are construction helmets actually safer than biker helmets? What kind of padding/hard-foam do they have on the inside?

Kin said:

Out of curiosity- are construction helmets actually safer than biker helmets?

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Couldn't be. It's strictly kewl factor. I'm sure there's a ticket in your future if you're riding something that requires a helmet. What ARE we going to do about this doggone gubbermint?

That's absolutely adorable.




..... I have no idea how it related, though >.<.




Yeah, my intuition is that hard hats are just so that something sharp doesn't cut you, because I've never seen them to have heavy padding. That will be not very helpful when half your problem is impact on a bike crash....:/

Nehmo said:

The handlebar mounted mirror arrangement has the drawback of being below the normal field of view. A rider needs to look down and them adjust her or his head position, all the while the rider's attention needs to be forward.

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Not necessarily--neither of these is true on CrazyBike2 (or some other recumbent and semi-recumbent bikes, or other bikes with either high handlebars or long mirror mounts, that place the mirrors directly in the forward FOV).

Your other point about them being fixed to the steering and pivoting with it is still valid on most of these, however some trikes I have seen the mirrors mounted on the pivot points of the steering rather than directly on the bars, and so they do not pivot with the bars.

Kin said:

..... I have no idea how it related, though >.<.

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Trying to remember 4 days later I THINK it had to do with Government enforcement, but I didn't keep any notes on it.

I went with auto/motorcycle mirrors. Most bicycle mirrors I looked at were pretty weak. I would like to try a helmet/eyeglass mirror mount though. Maybe I'll make one out of a surplus dental mirror first.

I tried helmet mounting but just wasn't for me. I like Mirrcycle bar ends but only when positioned a particular way. I see many people use them in different positions so there's more than one way to position them. They can also serve as feelers when squeezing between gridlock cars.

But just never able to adjust to the image moving with my head. Many years of m/c probably doesn't help.

I agree with others that helmet mirrors don't work well for me either, and I've tried.

"Mirrycle" bike mirrors are the best ever, been using them for years, all the bike stores that sell them are out of stock within a couple months. This has been discussed many times before with the same results.

recumbent said:

I agree with others that helmet mirrors don't work well for me either, and I've tried.

"Mirrycle" bike mirrors are the best ever, been using them for years, all the bike stores that sell them are out of stock within a couple months. This has been discussed many times before with the same results.

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I use a Mirrycle too.

It's mounted underneath my bars so it requires changing my viewpoint a bit, but I've gotten use to it.

The problem with the helmet mounted mirrors is that they are often small and require that you get your head positioned right to see the target area. With a semi-static location (handlebars) you can have your head turned slightly and still see by angling your eyes. I feel my eyes are quicker to relocate than my head position, but that's a personal thing I guess.

Helmet mounts tend to be bouncy. I use a clip on mirror that attaches to the arm on my sunglasses and it freakin rocks. Nice steady image just to the left of my eyeball. I adjust the mirror so that just cocking my head to the left I get a full view of what's behind me. Best damn 15 bucks I ever spent.

http://www.cycleaware.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2&zenid=rs4a2d7ttabbt094pj3p0pskp2

I tried the helmet mirror, it is never pointed the right way. I tried the Mirrycle bar-end mirror, and it is a bit low on the mountain bike, and a bit obscured by the jacket or shoulder on both mountain bike and bikeE. But it works quite well. Definitely the best I have tried so far.

The amount the bars move in normal steering is miniscule.

I think a higher mirror like motorcycles or mopeds have is a better idea. I may do that on my GreyBorg.

Dual mirrors are nice, though I haven't done that yet on the ebikes. I find myself looking for the missing mirror quite often, and I often can't see what I need to from the other side.

Kin said:

Out of curiosity- are construction helmets actually safer than biker helmets? What kind of padding/hard-foam do they have on the inside?

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A typical construction hat doesn't have a polystyrene inside layer and would not be as protective as a helmet that did, like a bike helmet. But construction hats protect a somewhat larger area, have a visor, are light, can adjust to a very large size, and are cheap. I have a 64 cm (25") circumference head, which is large enough to make helmet selection limited.

cal3thousand said:

...The problem with the helmet mounted mirrors is that they are often small and require that you get your head positioned right to see the target area...

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The common commercially available helmet mirrors are too small. But actually, I considered that the *advantage* of using a 5 cm mirror on the helmet was the wide (and easily directable) field of view. You mostly position your eyes rather than your head when looking at the road behind you.

Don't like helmet mirrors, and it didn’t help that the last one I purchased wouldn’t stay put; in the heat the glue just became soft and it was a mess to touch. A real POS.

I’ve had mirrors mounted on the handlebar with some limited usefulness in the past, though I would lend my vote towards the Bar-End mirrors as being the optimum:

Example: Mirrycle MTB Bar End Mountain Bicycle Mirror

• They are already located at the at the widest aspect of the bike; if the bar-end mirrors clear then so will the rest of the bike.
• Nearly unobstructed view by virtue of their location; no need to configure the mirror for looking over-the-shoulder cos I know what my shoulder looks like! :wink:

I have one on both sides; a must-have life-saver if traveling in the lane.

Suddenly I am reminded of a famous movie quote...

Franco (played by Raul Julia): And now my friend, the first-a rule of Italian driving.
<Franco rips off his rear-view mirror and throws it out of the car>
Franco: What's-a behind me is not important. 8)

- The Gumball Rally (1976)

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WOT! KF

Construction helmets are not designed to protect the head in a fall, and they are not designed to stay on in a fall. They do not meet requirements for the purpose and other than provide shade and airspace for cooling have little value as they will provide little to no protection in a fall as they come right off and are devoid of the energy absorbing foam that a rated helmet is equipped with.

Alan B said:

Construction helmets are not designed to protect the head in a fall, and they are not designed to stay on in a fall. They do not meet requirements for the purpose and other than provide shade and airspace for cooling have little value as they will provide little to no protection in a fall as they come right off and are devoid of the energy absorbing foam that a rated helmet is equipped with.

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True, they don't come with foam, but the one I have is unlikely to come off - unless it took my head with it.
And how much protection do you need? Certainly, a construction helmet is better than no helmet, and they're cheap and light.
Personally, as I already noted, I have the additional problem of having a rather large circumference head. I can get a cheap construction helmet (with a minor modification) to fit. I have yet to find a bike helmet that will.

Now, on the subject of mirrors, I'm now using both a handlebar mount and a helmet mount. I suggest someone should use this arrangement to evaluate the relative merits of the two positions. (I am, however, using a bit larger [5cm] mirror on the helmet than most use. Plus, the distance of the mirror from the helmet is important.)

It's easier to find a object behind me with the helmet mirror than the handlebar mirror. I doubt anybody using the same arrangement I have would disagree.

Actually, Nehmo, the foam is arguably the most important part of the helmet design, past the initial skin that protects the foam from being ripped apart. It's not just about preventing the cracking open of your skull; it's just as important that foam absorbs some of the energy and stretches out the impact time so that the peak impulse isn't remotely as high. I don't know what a construction helmet is like (I.e, if it has any sort of crumpling help), so I can't argue much more than what i've said.

I feel you on the pain of a large skull though. Struggle to find a helmet here, too.


Edit: Just to clarify, one of the issues is that your brain is quite mobile in your skull. So if it decelerates or accelerates too quickly, you run the risk of subtle but very bad internal brain impact. That's why stretching out the impulse is good. I concur with Alan (below) that I don't mean to lecture and it is all up to you, but you might overestimate the relative protection of the construction helmet.

A lot of R&D has gone into the design of safety helmets of all types. A construction helmet is designed for one set of circumstances, but a bicycle helmet is designed for another. I've seen a few construction helmets with foam inside, but those are rare. I've never seen any kind of bike, motorcycle, or racing helmet design that didn't have foam. The foam is integral to the protection system. As Kin said, the foam is the energy absorption element of the protection system.

You can choose to wear whatever you wish, but construction helmets are not designed for, rated for, or legal for bicycle use.

Some people say that the money you spend on your helmet represents the value you place on your head.

I have spent a lot of years in a hard hat putting in gas pipeline and fiber optic. I had two incidence (prior to deciding to use my brain a little more thoughtfully) in which the hard hat saved me from an altered life. In one instance, the tracks off of our excavator came off. We were far from civilization, and our only option was for me to use a lever to compress the grease fitting while our operator used a backhoe bucket to try to work the track back in place. The backhoe bucket slipped and hit the top of the hard hat causing it to compress down on my head. While the hard shell prevented the bucket from opening up my skull, the straps provide little absorption of energy, and this energy was transmitted down into my neck compressing my vertebrae a little. It sounds worse than it really was. The other instance involved a flying metal projectile which deflected nicely off of my hard hat, but sent the hard hat flying off of my head. You can still see the nicks on the hat:

So, to recap: a hard hat provides minimal protection from compression, and in the event of a sudden impact, it is designed to deflect the impact, and even come off of your head during energy absorption. Neither of these two things are good in bike crashes.

So, to avoid the risk of looking like this guy:

who only really added the risk of a neck laceration to the wreck scenario, maybe go with something other than the hard hat. Of course, if that is all you have...

just bought my third eye mirror at the advice of poster, must say I LOVE it. I ill never again crane my neck lookin for cops as i wheelie down main street .....works pretty good, have to get used to looking there, and i dont trust it for shoulder checks, but mabye in time i would.....