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From: shauns@vice.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.bicycle
Subject: Re: Bike Mirrors
Message-ID: <1345@vice.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 30-May-84 12:30:15 EDT
Article-I.D.: vice.1345
Posted: Wed May 30 12:30:15 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 2-Jun-84 11:01:35 EDT
References: <1341@vice.UUCP>, <7123@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Organization: Tektronix, Beaverton OR
Lines: 36

RE: view obstruction with Mirrycles:


Viewing angle has a lot to do with your normal riding position.  Most of the
time I hang my thumbs over the brake hoods, a more inboard and therefore less
obstructing position than on the the drops.  When I ride this way, no more than
1/4 of the field is obstructed.  When I'm on the drops the field of view
shrinks, but not offensively.

There are other things to consider with the Mirrycle; two come immediately to
mind:

   a)  Brake lever angle.  I've noticed on some bikes that the brake levers are
       rotated inward.  This shortens the effective length of the mirror
       standoff.  My levers are set dead straight ahead.

   b)  Handlebar type.  My old bike had randonnee bars, a type whose drops don't
       drop vertically but flare out much more than my present bike's bars,
       which are almost vertical.  The randonnee drop places the arm farther
       outside of the brake lever and thus obstructs the mirror.  I notice
       much less difference between drop and on top positions with my new
       bars, whereas on the old bike only the on top position was satisfactory.

As a final comment - if you have more than 3/4 of the mirror clear, that's
excellent.  The only time you can critically align a mirror is when the driver
and vehicle are fixed relative to each other, as in a car.  With all the
shifting around that bicyclists do as they pedal, the field of view varies all
over the map.

The wandering squash,
-- 
				Shaun Simpkins

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