Bike-Eye £15.95 inc P&P

Do you need a mirror when cycling? Most of us will say no, going by the small number to be seen fitted. Suppose you want one. Where should it go?

Until the advent of Bike-Eye, the mirror user was limited to the end of a handlebar, the brake lever or somewhere around eye level on the helmet or eyewear. None is especially great, although the type that sat on the brake lever hood at least had the merit of being where you’d expect to see it.

Bike-Eye sits somewhere entirely new. A nicely moulded plate sits snugly on the angle between the head and down tubes, high-quality zip-ties making the job of fitment the work of a moment. Once the plate is securely in place, the mirror itself can be placed either side on the end of its rod mounting. Its asymmetric shape allows further positioning options.

The important adjustment, of course, is the one that allows you to see what’s behind you. This is done by moving the angle of the mirror, which is then secured by tightening the dome nut using the winged key provided.

Using the mirror is a matter of locating it first, then looking to see what’s in it. This is not as easy as the Bike-Eye blurb would suggest, not least because there is a lot going on in that part of the cyclist’s field of view. The mirror, which being glass is very clear, is necessarily small and, being quite far away from the viewer, offers a narrow field of view.

Still, if you get used to it you can get a rear view. Provided, that is, the mirror stays put. Ours was fine at the start of a commute into London but gradually shifted on the axis of the screw. Twisting it back in place worked for a short while until it did the same again despite having the nut tightened. Having done this, I could not then get it off without a struggle when it proved impossible to get the mirror to stay where it was wanted.

The problem proved to be with the long bolt, which is of moulded plastic. So low is the torsional and lengthways stiffness of this bolt that it twists through perhaps five degrees as the nut is tightened, the twist then slowly pulling the mirror back around. Chosen presumably to save weight, it is simply a poor substitute for a steel screw of much smaller diameter thread, perhaps 4mm in place of 8mm, which would assure a more secure fitment at no real cost in weight. No doubt the screw supplied could be got to work with really careful fitment, but our experience fell short of satisfactory.