One thing I don't understand

[Milkfloat]

@simonjohnross The first post stated you did not want to provocative or argumentative, in your second you accused everyone of talking rubbish. 3rd and 4th fine (although you did open yourself up accusations of not following the highway code). 5th post of the rant really starting and 6th is the strop followed by threats of violence. It is not going too well. I am usually the first to moan about the old timers giving people grief, but in this case I see people having a normal discussion being attacked by someone who does not like other people opinion. You are going to fit in well in the 'Society, Culture and Politics' part of the forum if you stick around.

For what it is worth, I don't use a mirror, I turn my head - usually a couple of times at least when planning a turn.

 

[Levo-Lon]

I too have spent my life on motorcycles..and pushbikes.

Mirrors on a MC are to make life easier...you still need to look mind..
i still look over my shoulder when changing lane on duel carriageways in the car and van..i cant help it as i know the roads are full of mindless fookers.so a look avoids the mirror blid spots too..

on a pusbike its all about awareness..a mirror wont prevent te car hitting you and neither will seeing it in a mirror.

If your a guy that whants a mirror on your bike then im happy for you..enjoy

 

[Ajay]

A bit extreme perhaps

 

[Spinney]

Mod note: this isn't the cafe, chaps - (some of the posts in) this thread could be useful for newbies wondering about mirrors - please keep on topic from now on.
Ta!

 

[G3CWI]

When I got back into cycling I got a Bike-eye mirror for the road bike. Initially I was quite enthusiastic about it. However after a while, my bike handing skills improved I found turning my head to look was better and more effective. Indeed looking at the bike-eye often felt less safe. A few months back while cleaning the bike I took off the Bike-eye. It never went back and I have never missed it.

It does rather appear that the OP was driving too close to a cyclist and felt that giving the cyclist a mirror would have made his own driving less dangerous.

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news...plains-how-to-safely-overtake-cyclists-186697

 

[shouldbeinbed]

@simonjohnross save your angst, the venom and righteous indignation against the idea from a chunk of the non mirror brigade is utterly baffling.

I'm a huge advocate for mirrors and have regularly posted, advised, suggested on them on here, as do various others.

You aren't alone, just in a small gang who appreciate the benefits either for medical need or having tried them in a spirit of open mindedness & 'what's the worst that can happen' experimentalism and realised they aren't in the same league of wrong as drinking blood or setting fire to kittens.

I've found by trial and error the ones that work best for me on different bar types and tbose which I would never trust.
Unfortunately for the cause of mirrors on bikes being more widely accepted: many of the poorest ones are also the most in your face in shops and people will try some cruddy thing with a weak joint or on a flappy arm from which you can't get a stable image, or the bike-eye frame type and realise the inherent flaws in something that your legs and panniers obstruct, leading them to decide all mirrors are c**p and are happy to claim so, along with those genuises that don't even need to try them to just know they can't possibly offer a functional benefit.

I also find it incomprehensible that so many can't seem to make the logical leap that you can have a mirror AND still use a shoulder check to give a visual clue to those around you, Even if you didn't turn the head(*) it is not like you don't give off other usual clues such as road position & poking out that big long indicator you have dangling off your shoulder to give them a bit of a hint too.

(*) and how come this small act is seemingly the thing that people expect SMIDSY and co to see.

 

[theclaud]

Mirrors are useful for recumbents, and people with limited neck and shoulder movement. Otherwise I regard them as a waste of time and yet another unnecessary piece of clutter.

 

[theclaud]

@simonjohnross save your angst, the venom and righteous indignation against the idea from a chunk of the non mirror brigade is utterly baffling..

There was no venom and indignation, just the dismissiveness of those who are being presented for the 100th time as if it were the first an idea that they've considered or explored already and found wanting. The strop is entirely one-sided.

 

[Ganymede]

I have a mirror on my recumbent - very useful although I can turn my head, and do so to alert driver to the fact that I know they are there - they can't always see that I have a mirror. I've never felt the need on my hybrid.

Interestingly I saw a chap rowing solo sculls on the Thames at the weekend - he had a rear-view mirror attached to his cap. Other scullers were going without. I didn't get a chance to ask him about it. But the position in a small boat is much more restricted than on a bike, and I guess if the mirror is on your cap it moves with you instead of you having to be in the right riding position to see. But I think I'd find it distracting on the road - the river is not so busy nor so complex and varied an environment.

 

[Origamist]

@simonjohnross save your angst, the venom and righteous indignation against the idea from a chunk of the non mirror brigade is utterly baffling.

I'm a huge advocate for mirrors and have regularly posted, advised, suggested on them on here, as do various others.

You aren't alone, just in a small gang who appreciate the benefits either for medical need or having tried them in a spirit of open mindedness & 'what's the worst that can happen' experimentalism and realised they aren't in the same league of wrong as drinking blood or setting fire to kittens.

I've found by trial and error the ones that work best for me on different bar types and tbose which I would never trust.
Unfortunately for the cause of mirrors on bikes being more widely accepted: many of the poorest ones are also the most in your face in shops and people will try some cruddy thing with a weak joint or on a flappy arm from which you can't get a stable image, or the bike-eye frame type and realise the inherent flaws in something that your legs and panniers obstruct, leading them to decide all mirrors are c**p and are happy to claim so, along with those genuises that don't even need to try them to just know they can't possibly offer a functional benefit.

I also find it incomprehensible that so many can't seem to make the logical leap that you can have a mirror AND still use a shoulder check to give a visual clue to those around you, Even if you didn't turn the head(*) it is not like you don't give off other usual clues such as road position & poking out that big long indicator you have dangling off your shoulder to give them a bit of a hint too.

(*) and how come this small act is seemingly the thing that people expect SMIDSY and co to see.

Unlike the OP you are not questioning other people's sanity for choosing to ride without a mirror or invoking God to make your post more tub-thumpingly fervent.

If newbies are wondering about mirrors (and they don't know how to use the search facility) they should ask themselves in what circumstances a mirror might help to reduce the danger they face. This is a perfectly reasonable question, but surely the onus is on those that advocate the use of a mirror to make the case?

 

[shouldbeinbed]

There was no venom and indignation, just the dismissiveness of those who are being presented for the 100th time as if it were the first an idea that they've considered or explored already and found wanting. The strop is entirely one-sided.

Yeah I see how origamist has been the model of decorum in this one sided strop.

And from page 1 onwards plenty of equally dogmatic, 'no they're useless' presented just as factually as the OPs line.

Hey ho.

 

[Lurpak]

Don't mirrors flip stuff from left to right? Imagine what other lies they're telling us.

 

[Origamist]

Yeah I see how origamist has been the model of decorum in this one sided strop.

And from page 1 onwards plenty of equally dogmatic, 'no they're useless' presented just as factually as the OPs line.

Hey ho.

I don't think they are useless and I'm not dogmatically against the use of mirrors as an aid to observation. However, where possible, I prefer a rational, evidence based approach to testing the validity of claims made for the safety benefits of any cycling accessory. In this case, that is difficult as anecdata rules the day where mirrors are concerned, but I certainly expect a little more than appeals to "common sense" and the OP's confused and het-up ramblings.

 

[Milkfloat]

And from page 1 onwards plenty of equally dogmatic, 'no they're useless' presented just as factually as the OPs line.

By far the majority of people stated that they have tried a mirror and then explained why it did not work for them. For me the reasons against are were summed up in the 3rd post

 

[G3CWI]

Don't mirrors flip stuff from left to right? Imagine what other lies they're telling us.

The weird thing is how they don't flip things from top to bottom...