I’ve used a mirror on my Nutcase helmet, and it works, more or less. It’s small, and it’s virtually impossible for me to do a quick check using it, since my head is never in exactly the same place when I need to see behind me. I’d read that handlebar mounted mirrors tended to be jittery, but decided that I wanted to try one, since neither of my other helmets are well-suited to an attached mirror, and I’m not thrilled with the helmet mount I do have.. I saw this on Adeline Adeline’s website, and bought one when I was in New York:
It’s got a nice retro look, which I love, but best of all, it suits my cycling needs perfectly. It’s larger than anything I could ever mount on a helmet, and it’s stationary, meaning that it is always exactly where I expect it to be, rather than bopping around on my helmet as I turn my head.
When I mounted it, I put a strip of rubber (well, vinyl, from a roll of shelf-liner) to ensure that 1) Pegasus’s handlebars wouldn’t get scratched and 2) that any vibration would be dampened a bit by the cushion. That worked perfectly: the mirror stays in place, and doesn’t wobble a bit. Unlike some with a flexible stem, this mirror is very steady; it isn’t affected by road vibration at all.
Adjusting it involved a bit of tweaking. The mirror itself rotates, but only on one plane, and the disk can only be raised and lowered in a direct line on the stem (the angle of the stem is fixed once the mirror is installed). Neither adjustment is easy to manage while riding, so I spent a lot of time in the driveway, imagining vehicles off my left shoulder.
Eventually, it all paid off, and I’m very pleased with the way this mirror works. I get an extremely clear view of what’s behind me, and, since I don’t have to either orient or re-focus when checking it, using this mirror has become second nature.
That’s a huge plus for safety and awareness; knowing what’s going on behind me is an absolutely critical part of my “road-safe” practices. It’s one way to improve the odds a bit when traveling with multi-thousand pound vehicles. This mirror has made the rear-view check easy and its accuracy dependable.
One note: I found that the nuts have to be tightened really aggressively to ensure that my adjustments don’t go awry. As with fenders and all else nut-and-bolt related, I check periodically to make sure everything stays snug.
Road Trike ~ cycling through mid-life and beyond 
Leave a Comment