I don't like riding without a mirror. I have used the clip on sunglasses type and the one glued to my helmet. Both work great and I agree with one of the posters above who said turning to look behind you is a great way to cause a rider to swerve. I think every rider who rides on public roads should have a mirror. Would any of you consider driving a car with no rear view mirrors on it? I think not....

I ride a recumbent and it is lower to the ground so I also use a flag, but I rely on mirrors quite a bit. I have two that are mounted on each handle bar and I have under seat steering.

No mirrors for me. I did try a helmet attached one in the past, but it quickly broke and seemed to be more of a hassle.

My position on the road bike is leaned over enough that I can easily peek under my left and right arm pit every now and then to see what is approaching from behind.

I do most of my pavement riding on beautiful bike trails that are 16 - 20 miles long, so no need to worry about traffic on those trails. Getting to and from the trails in residential neighborhoods, I listen to cars approaching from behind and obey all traffic laws to stay safe. The rest of the time I am on gravel (can hear cars coming well in advance - and traffic is slim to none, or mountain bike trails where I have no need for a mirror). Both during mountain biking and riding on paved trails, if a rider comes up from behind and wants to pass they will announce their intent - so no need for a mirror to see that.

Hell yes! I had 1 on each handlebar, but lost the right one. Need to replace it.

I bought the same mirror as the OP here, "Take a Look" unit by Bike Peddler... what can I say, it's perfect. Looks silly as hell, but I'm already a fat man in spandex so nobody is checking out my mirror!! But seriously, it's an inexpensive mirror and it works perfectly.

Nope, think about getting them but still can't stomach the "silly" look although I'm not getting any prettier.

"Swerving" can be minimized by practicing bike control but it's hard to keep the discipline especially at the end of a hard ride. Most folks never practice it since it's assumed to be second nature and one never register how poorly it is being performed.

I've tried a helmet mount model and a bar-end model and only the latter remains. It is a small, sporty, unobtrusive model similar to the Sprintech mentioned above. (No "silly" feeling, even if I was so inclined.) It doesn't have a ton of viewing area, but it is enough to see if there is something coming up behind or if I'm leaving a gap ahead of the next rider. I noticed some mirrors are available in pairs, and I can only imagine that's for those of us with multiple road bikes because I can't really see putting a mirror on the right-hand side. (Other than to maintain bike symmetry for those with OCD.) The helmet mount worked OK once I got used to it, but I found it was more hassle than it was worth to keep from knocking it off when I wasn't on the bike. Granted, the helmet mount mirror followed me from bike to bike, but I never felt I needed a mirror when I wasn't on the road anyway.

AlwaysInMotion wrote: »

I don't like being startled by semis

No, me either

I always use a mirror. I have one of them third eye things that hooks onto the frame of my glasses. I feel naked without it. I go back home for it if I forget it.