Customer Reviews

Mirrycle MTB Bar End Mountain Bicycle Mirror

5 star:		(220)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

This mirror is fantastic. I bought it to replace a helmet mounted mirror when the stem broke on the helmet mount. I can't tell you how much better I like this bar-end mirror. It's much easier to find this mirror out of the corner of my eye, and it provides a very good view of what's behind me, both in the traffic lanes and directly behind me in the bike lane.

I did have to mutilate the grip on my handlebar to remove the plug and cut out and opening for the mirror, so just trying it out requires some commitment, but once it is mounted the installation looks clean.

I didn't have any significant trouble with the installation. The directions are a little bit unclear about what to do with piece that goes inside the bar (the directions say to "secure" it, but you need to leave it loose, securing only the nut, until it is inside the bar). If you look at the piece and think about how it's going to hold the mirror in place, it's pretty obvious what to do with it.

The mirror itself stays put very well on rides. It shakes a very little bit, but really only little. The stability is surprisingly good for a piece for which it is so easy to adjust the angles.

All the parts can be replaced individually if broken for about $4 each plus shipping.

I have now used 3 types of mirrors for my road bike for both commutes and long tours: Take A Look mirror, the Mirrycycle round "mountain bike" mirror on the bar end, and the Sprintech bar end mirror for drop handlebars.

Short review: I like Mirrycycle the best.

I bought the Take a Look mirror based on the strength of reviews from Amazon and I was a little disappointed.

One strength I was expecting from the other reviews was being able to always see behind me no matter which position I used on the handlebars and without having to move my head like when you look down at the bar end mirror. This was kind of true, but you had to get your head to the same angle. I found the angle for the top of the bar to be very unnatural in the lower grips. It was impossible to tilt my head up that far on my bike with aero bars. In order to see back and to the left while on the brake hoods I usually had to tilt up and twist my head and when down on the lower grips I had to tilt WAY up and twist. You can't check behind you without moving your head because you have to do a lot of sweeping motions to see all around behind you and those are more uncomfortable in the lower positions.

I used Take A Look for a couple weeks commuting every day and doing long rides on the weekend and I sort of got used to sweeping my head around to check behind me, but the deal breaker for me was that most of what I saw while commuting was my backpack. When you have a backpack full of clothes and in a pretty leaned forward road bike position what the mirror sees looking back past your ear is back pack, even when on the top of the handlebars. If you are riding a more upright bike (hybrid, mountain bike, or others) it probably wouldn't be a problem. It also wouldn't be a problem if you had panniers (won't work for me because I have a large laptop that would make panniers severly unbalanced). It was fine on the weekend rides without a backpack.

I found either of the bar end mirrors (Mirrycycle or Sprintech) to be better than the Take A Look. The Sprintech is nice because it is convex and shows a wide area. Some people see that as a minus because it is hard to judge distance, but you shouldn't use the mirror as a substitute for looking behind you, just as a way to alert you that a car is back there somewhere and may warrant a head turn look behind. You can also get good coverage from the mirror from all handle bar positions, but the mirror is a tad small. It doesn't stick out far from the bike so it doesn't get bonked around storing the bike, but your knee can be in the way sometimes.

The Mirrycycle "mountain bike" bar end mirror is the best in my opinion. It goes fine on road bike handlebars. Since it's flat you have to compromise a little bit on the position or move your head a little to see behind you from the different grips, but there is no distortion like a convex mirror. It sticks out from the bike so you can see behind you without obstuction at all times. The downside to sticking out is that when you are entering or leaving the lower grips on the drop handle bars it is a little in the way of your left hand. It's not a big deal. Also when you want to lean the bike on anything the mirror is in the way. It's an annnoyance I don't mind putting up with to have the best view when I ride. It's big so you get a good viewing area. I guess it's not very aero dynamic, but lose some weight and gain some muscle and you can overcome that.

All three mirrors have to be adjusted everytime you ride. There is no set and forget mirror. The Take A Look itself holds position well on the ride, but your glasses never seem to fit exactly the same everytime you put them on and pretty much anything you do with them once you take them off will change the adjustment. This is even worse if you want to take the mirror off and use the glasses between rides (without looking like a dork). Take a Look also takes lots of little adjustments to get right. Sprintech mirror is flimsy and loses adjustment easily, but is also the easiest to adjust by a long shot. You just slide your hand down to the end of the bar and adjust it with your pinky as you ride, takes 2 seconds at most. It's convex and covers a wide area and the mirror doesn't move very far so it's never very far off from a good adjustment. The Mirrycycle mirror is stiff and holds position really well once you set it, but since it sticks out from the side just about anything you do to move or store the bike readjusts it. It takes a little more fine tuning than the Sprintech, but less than the Take A Look.

Of the three I prefer the Mirrycycle mirror.

After trying another on handlebar mirror we were happy to find this one. It is excellent, giving you an unobstructed view of the road behind with a substantial size mirror. The fold-away aspect helps with storage.

I use a Giant Transend LX (the Honda Civic of commuter bicycles) to do my daily commute to work. It's about 8 miles each way, mostly through neighborhoods and a few short stretches of busier roads. I bought this mirror because it received excellent reviews, and I didn't think I could get used to a helmet-mounted mirror. I'm pretty good about turning my head to check for traffic, but I thought that this might be better since I wouldn't lose sight of what is in front of me when I check.

I received it quickly after my order, but found installation to be less than simple. For my bike, the end caps on the bars come off easily, but neither the large nor the small "wedge" that came with the mirror fit into the hole properly. The large was too large, the small was too small. Let me explain the wedge system. While the photos show the mirror fitting snugly into the handlebar end, in fact it will not look like that for most bikes. A piece with a larger circumference attaches to the bottom section using a bolt and screw. The tighter the screw, the more the wedge-shaped piece moves toward the rest of the arm. I found that if you tighten it completely, the wedge moves past parallel with the arm. It's difficult to explain, but the wedge system is not well made.

I ended up ignoring both wedges and just used a nail to act as a shim between the normal arm piece and the handlebar hole. It's stable and snug. My only other option would have been to file down the larger wedge until it fit properly.

That said, now that it is in place firmly, the mirror itself is great. It is just rounded enough to provide a view of a whole suburban street, and shaking is minimal.

This is a fantastic piece of engineering! When I first put it together, I thought it seemed a bit silly -- why does it take three bolts and half a dozen washers to strap a mirror on to a grip?

Here's why:
* The first bolt runs into your bar end, pulling two plastic wedges over each other to expand into an internal clamp, providing a firm attachment to any size bar end.
* Each other bolt/washer combo is not meant to prevent motion, but rather to allow it: you screw them down firmly enough to prevent slippage, but not so tight that you can't spin the plastic piece: height, horizontal angle and vertical angle. Bloody brilliant! And, if you're a clutz like me, you'll appreciate that this means most impact angles with trees, parked cars and "the ground" just fold the mirror back, like a car mirror, rather than crushing it -- spin it back, and you're back on the trail, no repairs needed.

So: five minutes of installation (read directions, cut hole in rubber grip if necessary, pop out plastic bar end plug, thread three bolts through plastic parts and tighten with the included hex wrench) and you have a mirror large enough to see the entire road/trail/mob behind you that is attached firmly enough not to vibrate or wobble, and can be adjusted one-handed while riding.

Mine was on my bike for less than a day before my wife demanded one for her bike too.

Excellent product - the mirror gives me a great view of what is behind without getting in the way and without vibration. Easy to fold up when not in use. This is one of those products you want two of so that if something should happen you have an immediate replacement. It's not neccessary though since replacement parts are readily available. I can't imagine riding without it.

This a terrific bike mirror, especially in "View" of the mirror extension. It assembles and installs quite easily (Good instructions too). I have two and wouldn't buy any other.

This is a great mirror. Just as others have said, very solid with very little shake. No problem seeing what's coming. I had two concerns before buying it. First, I was worried it'd be too concave and distorted. It isn't. It's perfect and images are perfectly clear. Second concern, I was worried that it wouldn't reach out far enough to see around my shoulder on my narrow BikeE recumbent handlebars. Again, no problem. I can easily see around, yet it doesn't stick out too far where it'd hit stuff while trail riding. It was tough enough to take a fall, but I'm sure if it lands just right, (or wrong) where it can't swing out of the way, it'll probably break. Simple solution though. Don't let your bike fall over. Also, assembly is no problem. If you're smart enough to shift gears, you can put it together.

I bought a Cannondale Cyclocross 6 to use for commuting and I was agonizing over searching for a mirror for it. Bar end mirrors seemed like they'd be too low and too far back and would be blocked by my arm. I didn't like the idea of attaching a mirror to my brake lever housing, and my aging eyes are having difficulty focusing on things up close so a helmet-mounted mirror probably wouldn't work well for me. I read the reviews over and over again searching for something that would work. Looking carefully at the MTB mirror, I thought it would work on drop handlebars, so I took a chance on it. It does work, and very nicely. I placed a photo of mine in the customer photos for anyone who'd like to see what it looks like on drop handlebars. It didn't take long to install, and I like the clever wedge design to hold it in place inside the handlebar. I still have to look down a bit to see the mirror, but it's better than looking down at a mirror sticking straight out the back of my handlebar, and my view is never blocked by my arm or my knee. The mirror is big, so I get a great view of the road behind me. After I adjust the mirror, it stays in place, even after going up and down curbs and riding over roots. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because it interferes with my hand when reaching for the front of the drops, but I so rarely ride in that position that this really is a negligible point for me. That said, I think this is the best mirror option for my needs.

I used to do a lot of bicycle touring. One might say in a prior life (before kids). On that old Trek I had a Mirrycle mirror that mounted to my hand brake. I logged hundreds of miles on that bike over many years, and the mirror was great and never gave me an ounce of trouble. I rode in the back country, in the city and across states, and it helped me stay safe every bit of the way. The mirror was an irreplaceable part of the bike, as far as I was concerned.

Fast forward 15 years or so. I bought hybrid bikes with straight handle bars for the wife and I. I had forgotten all about my trusty Mirrycle mirror from the prior life. I searched local stores and could not find something that seemed right. I searched on Amazon and ended up trying the Sunlite Deluxe Bicycle Mirror with White Reflector. Good price with decent reviews. I pulled the trigger and tried it (x 4; me, wife, 2 kids). Good quality mirror and great price, but for the straight handle bars on our bikes, they did not provide a clear view behind us. Basically useless unless you fold your arm out of the way and lean to one side while trying to keep your balance and not run off the sidewalk or hit something. They were also a bit tricky to install tight enough so they would stay in place; probably something that could be overcome if necessary/worthwhile.

So I'm back on Amazon searching for something better. Come across the Mirrycle MTB Bar End Mountain Bicycle Mirror. Seems decent, good reviews. Let me buy 1 and try it. The wife would not be happy if I cut her handlebar end off and found out later that we didn't want to keep the mirror. I'm so smart (well trained). At this point I still did not make the connection to my old friend.

The mirror arrives and finally I find the time to install it on my bike. I remember reading a review that suggested laying the pieces out in preparation. I do that, and it is all too easy, even for me (installs usually take me twice the normal time, and that's just to figure out I did something wrong or to break something). I am really impressed with the way the mirror installs, feels, functions, etc. Starting to look familiar. I am pleased beyond reason. Feels like home. I walk over to my old Trek that is aging with neglect along the side of the garage. I check the mirror and smile. Life is good. I order 3 more and start typing my first review. And to attempt to answer one skeptic's question, no, I don't work for the vendor. Just an old friend.