Ideas for checking for cars approaching from behind?

[Archie_tect]

Though riding the A696 even wiere there are double white lines has never caused me any problems.... the narrower single track roads do attract Sunday morning joyriders in their 'Sunday best' sports cars. There are some middle-aged men who drive Porsches/TVRs/Ferrarris/Caterhams up here who drive like idiots at week-ends, but even I can hear them coming from half a mile away so you get out of the way before they come screaming past on blind corners!

 

[theclaud]

Noooo....you mad person!

IIRC there aren't a whole lot of roads to choose from..

 

[Archie_tect]

There are lanes I still keep finding to explore... can't beat an aimless wander to find out where they go.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

T'other option is the "Bike Eye" which is frame fitting:

And complete crap compared to a bar end mirror.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

I've never found a mirror I like that both works and doesn't get in the way.

I have, and I've been using them for several years now:

On both my bikes, I have one of these (the Zefal Spy) strapped to the right-hand brake hood, where it doesn't affect my use of the handlebars, and provides a rear view that is reliable and covers enough area. I'm one of those who prefers to use a mirror rather than twist my head backwards (something which will no doubt become more difficult with increasing age).

Before anyone mentions it, by the way: I never fail to indicate when merging or turning right, so I make my intentions abundantly clear to motorists (or at least: those who choose to see me).

These mirrors are fairly cheap, too, and the rubber strap mount is reliable. Once I came off one of my bikes, and the mirror unstrapped itself from the brake hood, so I just strapped it back on again: it was completely unharmed by my little crash.

 

[theclaud]

There are lanes I still keep finding to explore... can't beat an aimless wander to find out where they go.

Aimless wandering is all good, but would have meant a very long day, as I was en route from Berwick to Edmundbyers...

 

[shouldbeinbed]

*cracked record post* Bad neck, limited rotational range many many years of testing and using mirrors to find ones that allow me to keep cycling urban Manchester and fast rural pennine etc roads with confidence and in safety.

Zefal Dooback is the ultimate mirror for flat/cowhorn bars.

Sprintech Bar end mirror (page 1) is the best for drops.

Zefal's spy and spin are fantastic mirrors that you can fit to pretty much any bar type. NB the Spin is a bar end plug type, so butterflys are out, although it is effective on drops as a plan B after the Sprintech bespoke type.

The Spy is a fit anywhere, any bar mirror. I've even used it around the hoods of a roadie.

The minor (& it is minor) drawback of spin & spy for someone quite reliant on a mirror is their image size, you do need to give them a look rather than a glance. Dooback and Sprintech are big enough for a flick of the eye to give you all the distance and speed info you need.

All of them though will allow you to see that tell tale glimmer of movement behind purely in your peripheral vision, cueing you to take a look and be aware immediately that something is approaching into your zone

I would never advocate a mirror on an arm and have never found anything Blackburn make to be above gimmicky level, similarly the popular round cateye one, while it is a bar plug, it has a loose & weak ball joint and you can't get a proper vibration/air resistance free image out of it.
I recently had a bike-eye from a fellow forumite who found it useless & I totally agree, you can't use it with most rear luggage or a good size saddle bag nor without screwing your pedalling up by craning your leg out of the way, like a motorbike racer taking a sharp bend, every time you wish to use it. One to be avoided IMO.

& usual caveat, yes I do twist my head as far as I can before a manoeuvre as a visual cue to a following driver but by that time my ears and mirrors have told me what I need to know to be safe in my own actions & since my 1997 neck injury necessitated mirrors, I've never ridden into/near missed a following vehicle through my own lack of head mobility.

Edit: +1 to a good road position & anticipation too, never be in a position where you find yourself potentially stuck behind a parked car, obstacle etc or making a last minute dive out to avoid such.

 

[ufkacbln]

And complete crap compared to a bar end mirror.

Unless you have bar end shifters?

 

[shouldbeinbed]

Unless you have bar end shifters?

Fair point. In that instance the Zefal Spy is still IMO huge magnitudes better.

 

[Hitchington]

Motorists appear to hold some extraordinary beliefs, such as that cyclists can levitate, are indestructible, and have the power of invisibility. No wonder they are so jealous of us.

Don't forget intangibility - the ability to pass through parked cars, lorries, buses etc therefore negating the pesky habit of pulling out to go round them. This is a belief which London taxi drivers seem particularly fond of.

 

[mjr]

Zefal Dooback is the ultimate mirror for flat/cowhorn bars.

The basic problem I have with that design is that once it's mounted out wide enough to see around me, it's wide enough to strike the evil narrow A frame barriers the local councils insist on blocking cycleways with. A Zefal Spy on the back of the North Road grips might work just, I guess.

 

[theclaud]

[QUOTE 3628669, member: 9609"]that is one seriously unpleasant road, busy and very very fast. Looking at my roads done map I see I have still parts of that road to do - so you have complete some tarmac in Northumberlad I ain't done myself

did you meet any locals in Rrrrrrrrrrothbury and could you understand anything any of them said? it can be very difficult[/QUOTE]
Well it's quite a nice road in itself, but it's spoiled by a*seholes. The shocking amount of roadkill tells a story. I did stop in Rothbury for a bite to eat and had what I think was an exchange of vague pleasantries with a woman in a tea shop - one only needed to get the gist and point at the right kind of snack...

 

[shouldbeinbed]

The basic problem I have with that design is that once it's mounted out wide enough to see around me, it's wide enough to strike the evil narrow A frame barriers the local councils insist on blocking cycleways with. A Zefal Spy on the back of the North Road grips might work just, I guess.

I have numerous of those type gates to negotiate on one of my regular commute haunts, The dooback has never caused me that problem, likewise the double back kissing gate type obstacles to smooth progress are easily managed.

Its robust ratchet folding in/out mechanism, that is simple to operate one handed when in motion & returning it solidly and directly to exactly the right plane upon folding out, added to it only adding less than half an inch at most to the end profile of the bars when folded in, I've never experienced the issue you describe.

I am pretty careful generally when going through these type gates though as, mirror or not, the clearance is negligible & not something you (well I) can do at pace.

 

[Fnaar]

[QUOTE 3628669, member: 9609"]that is one seriously unpleasant road, busy and very very fast. Looking at my roads done map I see I have still parts of that road to do - so you have complete some tarmac in Northumberlad I ain't done myself

did you meet any locals in Rrrrrrrrrrothbury and could you understand anything any of them said? it can be very difficult[/QUOTE]
Funnily enough, I've ridden it a few times (Lemmington Bank to Rothbury) and found it a fairly straightforward ride (I admit there are some nutters on there though, but I must've cycled it at quieter times)

 

[Mugshot]

Same here, there's no substitute for a look over the shoulder.

It always amazes me when I see a cyclist riding towards the back of a parked car who suddenly veers right without even a glance over the shoulder.

Judging by a couple of threads on here recently I thought piling straight into the back of a parked car was considered de rigueur, no need for a shoulder check then.