Shortening flat bars

[ColinJ]

Is this correct ? surely you adjust the mirror to give the optimum view

I have recently fitted mirrors to several of my bikes. I can get a reasonable view but I do see the side of my leg and rear pannier so having the mirror a few cms further out could be better?

 

[Dadam]

Ah. So I should only shorten from one side, the non-mirror side? Gotcha.

I have recently fitted mirrors to several of my bikes. I can get a reasonable view but I do see the side of my leg and rear pannier so having the mirror a few cms further out could be better?

I don't currently have a mirror on this bike but am planning to fit one, in fact it's on order. However I don't usually find that an issue. Seeing part of my leg or pannier in the image helps to fix the position of objects (passing cars) relative to me, particularly how far out they are. I find if I don't have a reference point it's harder to understand the angle relative to me. for the same reason I set car door mirrors so I see just a little bit of the side of the car.

With a mirror on a flat bar end it's the arm/elbow that can obstruct the view, but the type I've got on the MTB folds out so seems ok. Also bringing the grip inwards brings the elbow in the same amount.

 

[ColinJ]

I don't currently have a mirror on this bike but am planning to fit one, in fact it's on order. However I don't usually find that an issue. Seeing part of my leg or pannier in the image helps to fix the position of objects (passing cars) relative to me, particularly how far out they are. I find if I don't have a reference point it's harder to understand the angle relative to me. for the same reason I set car door mirrors so I see just a little bit of the side of the car.

Ah, that makes sense. I do find the convex mirrors make distance harder to judge. I suppose that is why they started putting warnings on vehicle mirrors...

 

[Venod]

I have recently fitted mirrors to several of my bikes. I can get a reasonable view but I do see the side of my leg and rear pannier so having the mirror a few cms further out could be better?

Are they not not adjustable? I don't use one on the bike, but those bar end ones are adjustable, you should be able to get rid of your leg and pannier in the view, much like a car mirror, you can choisee to see the vehicle your in or not.

 

[CharleyFarley]

I bought a new Specialized Fatboy seven years ago and didn't like the wide bars. I cut two inches off each end, first making sure the brakes and shifters had enough room. It's a mountain bike but I ride pavement, so the narrower bars are ideal.

 

[fossyant]

I’m tempted to take a hacksaw to the bars on my hybrid. They’re those really wide bars from MTBs, about 72cm I think. Great for control on MTBs but this bike goes on nothing gnarlier than a towpath. It would make it easier to get through annoying A gates, a bit less annoying to chain up at work and possibly feel a bit sportier. Also maybe a bit comfier on a long ride.

So what do I need to consider?

Take off grips, shifters and brake levers, or loosen and slide toward the middle.
Measure (twice), hacksaw or dremel, then a file to tidy up edges.
Replace levers and shifters then grips and done?

Are you from the 90's. We all used to chop our MTB bars right down, as close as we could to road width.

 

[ColinJ]

Are they not not adjustable? I don't use one on the bike, but those bar end ones are adjustable, you should be able to get rid of your leg and pannier in the view, much like a car mirror, you can choisee to see the vehicle your in or not.

They are adjustable. I just end up adjusting it to get the best view and can see my leg.

Funnily enough, a new mirror (and other stuff) literally just arrived. I think it is the same type that @Dadam has on his MTB - a Zefal Spin. It is a bit more subtle than the larger circular ones that I have been using so far. If I like it, I will gradually replace the others if/when they break/fall off - I lost one when I didn't initially notice that it had gone and couldn't be bothered to go back to look for it.

 

[Dadam]

Are you from the 90's. We all used to chop our MTB bars right down, as close as we could to road width.

No I'm from the 60s (just), but didn't ride a bike between some time in the early 80s and 2019.

 

[Dadam]

They are adjustable. I just end up adjusting it to get the best view and can see my leg.

Funnily enough, a new mirror (and other stuff) literally just arrived. I think it is the same type that @Dadam has on his MTB - a Zefal Spin. It is a bit more subtle than the larger circular ones that I have been using so far. If I like it, I will gradually replace the others if/when they break/fall off - I lost one when I didn't initially notice that it had gone and couldn't be bothered to go back to look for it.

Small world. Just as I posted earlier, the Amazon guy posted my Zefal Dooback 2 mirror through the letterbox! Odd name, I keep wanting to call it the Doobrey. In fact yes... henceforth I shall dub thee The Doobrey!

I think the one on my MTB is the Zefal Cyclop (it was a Christmas present and I've thrown the packaging)

 

[presta]

Are they not not adjustable? I don't use one on the bike, but those bar end ones are adjustable, you should be able to get rid of your leg and pannier in the view, much like a car mirror, you can choisee to see the vehicle your in or not.

In order to see an object there has to be an unobstructed line of sight from the mirror to that object. Put an obstacle in the way and adjusting the mirror angle won't help, it needs the position moving so that it has a line of sight.

I had this problem with a mirror that fitted on my spex. Once I was leaning forward on the bars the mirror was lower down than my shoulder, so all I could see was sky at the top and shoulder at the bottom. Like this:

 

[Venod]

Put an obstacle in the way and adjusting the mirror angle won't help

In a car you can adjust the angle of the mirror in, to see just the car you are sitting in, adjust it out and you can see the road and traffic behind.
So adjusting the angle of the mirror helps a lot.

 

[Dadam]

In a car you can adjust the angle of the mirror in, to see just the car you are sitting in, adjust it out and you can see the road and traffic behind.
So adjusting the angle of the mirror helps a lot.

It’s times like these that I think the use of the word “partially” is quite helpful

 

[Dadam]

Got round to doing this yesterday. Couldn't be bothered buying a plumber's slice so having measured and taped where I wanted to cut I started trying the dremel, but stopped after a couple of minutes. My dremel is a little cheapie copy, more suited to model work than this kind of job so while it would have got through eventually it was slow. So I got the junior hacksaw out, put in a fresh blade and cut all the way through in under a minute. A nice perpendicular cut, tidied edges up with a file and very happy with the result.

Before:

And after. Cheapie cycle computer replaced with Garmin out front mount, and Zefal doobrey mirror added:

I took off 45mm each side, and I think that was about right.

 

[Dadam]

Really must sweep up those hedge trimmings!

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Is this correct ? surely you adjust the mirror to give the optimum view

It’s a simple case of the angles and your body getting in the way. Yes you change angle of mirror, but if it’s further out you can get a wider useable field of view.