Customer Reviews

Bike Peddler Take A Look Cycling Eyeglass Mirror (Original)

5 star:		(177)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I have had this mirror for a couple of months now and I am very impressed with it. I am a roadie and I spend several hours in the saddle each week.

I've looked at several mirrors over the past year, and tried one or two. But I usually ended up riding without a mirror since they were such a pain in the butt. They jiggled around too much to be useful and I was constantly fiddling and adjusting so I could see anything at all. If the mirror is plastic everything is blurry, if it is glass it weighs a ton and pulls your sunglasses down your nose.

But this mirror is about as good as I can imagine a bike mirror being. The acrylic mirror is both lightweight and optically accurate, and is plenty big enough for a wide field of view. If you position it just right, you can see everything behind you with a slight turn of your head.

The attachment mechanism is simple and holds tight. It takes about 30 seconds to move it to another pair of sunglasses and readjust the angles. The springy bits are covered with grippy plastic which keeps the mirror in place and provides less snag points to grab your helmet straps when you put your glasses on or off.

The s steel and brass frame and swivel system is infinitely adjustable, but provides enough resistance that it has never moved out of adjustment, even at high speeds on rough roads.

And, to top it all off, it is less expensive than most of the other mirrors I have looked at. It is a simple, well-thought design, without useless complexity or expense. Beautiful.

The compact version is a smaller size mirror which is GOOD in theory, because it weighs less and drags less. BUT, the extension wire from the glasses is SHORTER which is BAD if you are older and may not be able to focus as close as you used to. The Original size is FAR better for us older bikers. If you have tried ANY helmet or glasses mount mirror and "couldn't get used to it" then try mounting it farther away from the eye. Even a quarter inch may make a huge difference. I wouldn't ride without this mirror (original size!). Peter

This mirror is great! It is easy to attach to glasses and is very durable. As it is somewhat larger than other mirrors it provides a very good field of view. It was very easy to get used to and now I wouldn't ride in traffic without it. One turn of the head and I can scan everything behind me - much more confidently than turning my head.

The mirror is VERY durable. It fell out of my pocket while attached to sunglasses and was run over by a car. The glasses were ruined and the mirror was unscathed and I'm using it a year later.

The folks at The Bike Peddler rock. So do their Take-A-Look bike mirrors.

I don't have time to write the long paean of praise they deserve, so here are the facts:

1. My son and I have both used these mirrors for years. My son prefers the Compact version, I prefer the longer reach of the Original. They are equal in quality of craftsmanship, and I'll borrow my son's in a pinch if I can't find mine.

2. This bike mirror has improved my bicycling experience more than any other accessory besides the Xtracycle FreeRadical (if you can call the FreeRad an "accessory"-- it's more like a magic catalyst for a metamorphosis from "bicycle" to "long-tail two-passenger load-hauling super-stable single-track Sport Utility Bike"). I would ride without a helmet with no qualms, and if I must ride at night without lights I'm just extra wary, but if I ride without my Take-A-Look mirror, I feel naked and afraid.

3. I have dropped it, sat upon it, stepped on it, and even sent it through the laundry in a shirt pocket, and it has held up fine. If it gets bent, just bend it back into shape and carry on.

4. I have managed to destroy one. I set it on the rear deck of my Xtracycle while loading groceries and forgot about it. It made it all the way onto a major street before slipping off the snapdeck directly into the path of traffic (of course). Didn't notice until I got home and went to put the mirror away... as soon as I could I retraced my route, and found the mirror. Rush hour was over by then. I don't know how many vehicles ran over that thing before I recovered it, but the wire frame was fine, the little rubber thingies fine, the mirror itself unbroken and still firmly attached to the frame... and the mirror surface thoroughly scratched into a perfect matte white finish.

Although the mirror was several years old by that time, I had bought a new one recently for my son, and remembered seeing a 100% guarantee. So I mailed the mirror back to them and asked if it was still under warranty, or that I'd be happy to buy a new one.

Two weeks later a free replacement mirror arrived, and a thank-you note for sending them the old one. No charge for the replacement, no charge even for shipping (except when I mailed them the old one in a letter, which at the time was 39 cents).

Now THAT is customer service.

If only I could do the same with my old iPod... ;-)

I have used bycycle mirrors before, most of the helmet mounted, I recently purchased a new helmet and did not want to mount a mirror on it, so I looked for a mirror that could mount on my glasses. this one fits the bill, with one small exception...I would like it better if it were just about an inch longer, it can be a real strain to see in it at times. But it does do the trick, and it has a lot of adjustments, making it easy to aim. Overall I would recommend this mirror!

I had never used before a small mirror like this, however, it took me 1 minute getting used to it. Believe me, there's no better way to look behind you. The closeness of the mirror to your eye gives an incredibly big picture of things behind. By the way, one mirror is enough to look both to your left and right rears.

The mirror and its attachment is better than the ones I have purchased, however, the attachment does not addapt to all helmets. I have two helmets by Specialized: one I had no problem attaching to, the other, the helmet bindings were in the way and could not get the mirror attachment to fit properly. It would be to your advantage to research and design the mirror attachment to fit all helmets. This would help the buyer from purchasing a new helmet just to fit the mirror attachment. Whether or not you print this review does not matter to me. This review is intended for your design department. Thanks for the mirror.

A few reviewers state these glasses can't be worn with wire-rimmed glasses. Although this is undoubtedly true for some glasses, I have been wearing this mirror for over 5 years on 3 different pairs of wire-rimmed glasses with no problem, so if you wear wire-rimmed glasses, don't be discouraged without trying them first. The trick is, I put the first brace in front of the hinge rather than putting all 3 braces on the temple as one would with wider temples. I also mount the braces horizontally rather than vertically as one would with wide temples. On my glasses (Polo and Safilo brands) this gives a snug, secure fit. We have busy streets around where I live, and I would never head out the door without this mirror.

I've used handlebar mirrors and helmet mirrors, but this one is the best. You can position it so you look up, move your head, or simply glance left to see behind you. The view is wide, stable and very clear. My only complaint is that it won't fasten to wire-rimmed glasses. Mostly I wear sunglasses when I bike, but on the rare occasion where I don't put in my contact lenses, I wear my wire rimmed glasses, and you can't fasten this to them. I got a helmet adapter which I haven't used yet, but perhaps this will make it possible to use this when wearing my glasses.

This is our second set of eyeglass mirrors. They are easy to use and once you get used to using them you don't want to go anywhere without them. I even find myself checking my "mirror" when I'm walking and don't have it on. One drawback that we've found is that if your frames are flimsy they could get bent. But that hasn't really been an issue for us.

Give these easy to use mirrors a try. I won't ride without one.