Designing a Bike Mirror

Will95

Hi all

For my Design and Technology GCSE I have been tasked to design a bicycle mirror that will help make the cyclist more aware of rear view traffic and assist
in safe cycling for all.

To help me with my research can you answer the following questions by replying to this topic in the space provided for each question.

Q1. How many Bikes do you own or have access to?
A1.

Q2. Do you currently have a Mirror Fitted to your Bike?
A2

Q3. Other than brakes and shifters how many other devices are fitted to your handle bars, Lights, Bell, GPS etc?
A3.

Q4. How important would the weight of a product of this type be?
A4

Q5. How important would the Aesthetics of such a product be, Aerodynamics?
A5.

Q6. How important do you rate cost when buying a product of this type?
A6

Many thanks for your responses

Will

ooermissus

1. Two. 2. No. 3. Two. 4. Very. 5. Very. 6. 4/10. (BTW I think you need a scale for q's 4-6)

thel33ter

Q1. How many Bikes do you own or have access to?
A1. 5

Q2. Do you currently have a Mirror Fitted to your Bike?
A2. No

Q3. Other than brakes and shifters how many other devices are fitted to your handle bars, Lights, Bell, GPS etc?
A3. 2 lights in winter on my road bike, nothing on the others

Q4. How important would the weight of a product of this type be?
A4. Not very, as it would mainly be used for commuting

Q5. How important would the Aesthetics of such a product be, Aerodynamics?
A5. Important, cause looking good makes you faster, as does aerodynamics.

Q6. How important do you rate cost when buying a product of this type?
A6. Very important, because most people wouldn't consider it a neccesity.

bumpitybump

Will95 wrote:

Hi all
A1. 4
A2. fitted to 2 out of 4
A3. all 4 have bells. main commuter has two lights as well
A4. not very
A5. not very but it must not stick out too far for squeezing through stationary cars
A6. very important as bar end type mirrors easily get broken when bike falls over

downfader

Q1. How many Bikes do you own or have access to?
A1. Own 2, access to 5 in total

Q2. Do you currently have a Mirror Fitted to your Bike?
A2 No

Q3. Other than brakes and shifters how many other devices are fitted to your handle bars, Lights, Bell, GPS etc?
A3. 3 lights (one front and 2 rear), usually a cycle computer too, sometimes cameras

Q4. How important would the weight of a product of this type be?
A4 Reasonably, must not flex with the weight as the roads around here are dire.

Q5. How important would the Aesthetics of such a product be, Aerodynamics?
A5. Aero is a bonus, but the mirror itself should be reasonably big (perhaps almost hand sized) and clear to see whats behind. A decent road bike one would be cool, most are for flat bars

Q6. How important do you rate cost when buying a product of this type?
A6 If it works and the mirror is quality then I'd use one. £40 max.

rf6

Q1. How many Bikes do you own or have access to?
A1. 7

Q2. Do you currently have a Mirror Fitted to your Bike?
A2 No

Q3. Other than brakes and shifters how many other devices are fitted to your handle bars, Lights, Bell, GPS etc?
A3. On the commuter - bell, light and computer

Q4. How important would the weight of a product of this type be?
A4 It would need to be reasonable, but not vital.

Q5. How important would the Aesthetics of such a product be, Aerodynamics?
A5. Aerodynamics not so important, but I would consider looks important.

Q6. How important do you rate cost when buying a product of this type?
A6 Very important

Good luck by the way.

sc999cs

Q1. How many Bikes do you own or have access to?
A1. Four, but only two lights would be suitable for.

Q2. Do you currently have a Mirror Fitted to your Bike?
A2. No

Q3. Other than brakes and shifters how many other devices are fitted to your handle bars, Lights, Bell, GPS etc?
A3. On the commuting bike 2 (bell, computer), on the tourer 2 (computer and bar bag)

Q4. How important would the weight of a product of this type be?
A4. On the commuter bike not particularly important, on a touring bike more so, but not vital. Rigidity is more important.

Q5. How important would the Aesthetics of such a product be, Aerodynamics?
A5. Would need to look good, but aerodynamics not important.

Q6. How important do you rate cost when buying a product of this type?
A6. Fairly important because these are not used by that many cyclists so would be difficult to get people to buy if expensive.

Remember mirrors can be handlebar mounted, but can also be mounted on the frame, so when the cyclist looks down they can see behind them past their legs - i.e. they don't have to be motorbike style and stick out either side.

shouldbeinbed

Will95 wrote:

Hi all

For my Design and Technology GCSE I have been tasked to design a bicycle mirror that will help make the cyclist more aware of rear view traffic and assist
in safe cycling for all.

To help me with my research can you answer the following questions by replying to this topic in the space provided for each question.

Q1. How many Bikes do you own or have access to?
5

Q2. Do you currently have a Mirror Fitted to your Bike?
all of them

Q3. Other than brakes and shifters how many other devices are fitted to your handle bars, Lights, Bell, GPS etc?
4 x lights only 1 x lights and a bar bag

Q4. How important would the weight of a product of this type be?
not

Q5. How important would the Aesthetics of such a product be, Aerodynamics?
not

Q6. How important do you rate cost when buying a product of this type?
not at all

Many thanks for your responses

Will

Luckily all you need is out there already: go and look at the Zefal 'dooback' and 'spy' mirrors they are excellent examples to design to. If I was to make 1 suggestion above all others then it would be to plug/attach the mirror directly to the bar with no arm or linkage that increases or introduces vibration into the equation. I've paid lots for absolutly terrible mirrors that wobbled and were useless because of it,

you also need to be careful of the curvature you incorporate to match sufficient field of vision to not having such a curve on the mirror to make cars tiny dots until they are beside you.

The Rookie

Q1. How many Bikes do you own or have access to?
A1. 8

Q2. Do you currently have a Mirror Fitted to your Bike?
A2 No

Q3. Other than brakes and shifters how many other devices are fitted to your handle bars, Lights, Bell, GPS etc?
A3. 1 (lights)

Q4. How important would the weight of a product of this type be?
A4 Very important - or maybe more important than that!

Q5. How important would the Aesthetics of such a product be, Aerodynamics?
A5. Very - the only mirror I could think of fitting would be small, panoramic and plug snugly into the bar end (Flat bar rider)

Q6. How important do you rate cost when buying a product of this type?
A6 Not much, its function that counts.

gbsahne001

A1 : 3
A2 : No
A3 : bar extender fitted with 2 lights
: back up light on bar + computer
A4 : NA
A5 : wouldn't want it on the bar,
A6 : would have to be very cheap to make me even consider buying it

re-cycles

Q1. How many Bikes do you own or have access to?
A1. 5

Q2. Do you currently have a Mirror Fitted to your Bike?
A2 Yes

Q3. Other than brakes and shifters how many other devices are fitted to your handle bars, Lights, Bell, GPS etc?
A3. Lights & bell

Q4. How important would the weight of a product of this type be?
A4 Not very

Q5. How important would the Aesthetics of such a product be, Aerodynamics?
A5. Function is far more important, although if it looked good that'd be a bonus.

Q6. How important do you rate cost when buying a product of this type?
A6 I cycle on a small budget, so cheap is good, but theres no point in producing a really cheap product that is useless.


I've often thought that it'd be good if manufacturers made a mirror with a light fitted in the rear. I like dual function items!

Mr_Cellophane

A1. 3

A2 yes - only on one bike

A3. Bike 1 - 5
Bike 2 - 5
Bike 3 - 1

A4. none

A5. Very

A6. Very

shouldbeinbed

Might I suggest a more explicit supplementary question to non mirror users:

what feature(s) in a mirror would persuade you to buy and use one?

deptfordmarmoset

Q1. How many Bikes do you own or have access to?
A1. Just the one.

Q2. Do you currently have a Mirror Fitted to your Bike?
A2 No

Q3. Other than brakes and shifters how many other devices are fitted to your handle bars, Lights, Bell, GPS etc?
A3.Bell (which I never use because pedestrians either never hear it, or go left or right or freeze), computer to tell me how slow I'm going, and lights when it's dark (in my rucksack otherwise.)

Q4. How important would the weight of a product of this type be?
A4 Not very important - the person who would like a mirror would probably put concerns about quality of vision over big concerns about weight.

Q5. How important would the Aesthetics of such a product be, Aerodynamics?
A5.Not important. Utility would be the major consideration.

Q6. How important do you rate cost when buying a product of this type?
A6. Cost would have to be related to the mirrors' usefulness - or its potential ''added safety value.'' For as long as I have a reasonably flexible neck, I can turn my head to the left and to the right and make eye contact at the same time - this is free. Also, a mirror mounted on your right-hand side (in the UK) will be of no use when you want to manoeuvre into the left-hand lane, so you'd need 2 mirrors...and you'd still need to do a ''lifesaver'' check before changing lanes anyway....can you feel my scepticism?

Alphabet

Q1. How many Bikes do you own or have access to?
Three

Q2. Do you currently have a Mirror Fitted to your Bike?
No

Q3. Other than brakes and shifters how many other devices are fitted to your handle bars, Lights, Bell, GPS etc?
Just lights on my commuter and one of my mtbs. the other mtb has lights and a computer

Q4. How important would the weight of a product of this type be?
if it were for a proper road bike (ie drop bars) - very

Q5. How important would the Aesthetics of such a product be, Aerodynamics?
very, because i like my bike being pretty and fast.

Q6. How important do you rate cost when buying a product of this type?
high, as it's not sometyhing i'd go out of my way to buy normally. useful for wary commuters who can't look over their shoulder without wobbling madly i suppose and they're less likely to be the kind of person that spends a fortune on accessorising their bike.

Zombie_donkey

Q1. How many Bikes do you own or have access to?
A1. Two

Q2. Do you currently have a Mirror Fitted to your Bike?
A2 No, it fell off

Q3. Other than brakes and shifters how many other devices are fitted to your handle bars, Lights, Bell, GPS etc?
A3. GPS holder, handlebar bag

Q4. How important would the weight of a product of this type be?
A4 quite important

Q5. How important would the Aesthetics of such a product be, Aerodynamics?
A5.Very

Q6. How important do you rate cost when buying a product of this type?
A6 Very

MikeParkin65

To help me with my research can you answer the following questions by replying to this topic in the space provided for each question.

Q1. How many Bikes do you own or have access to?
A1. 2

Q2. Do you currently have a Mirror Fitted to your Bike?
A2 yes - both

Q3. Other than brakes and shifters how many other devices are fitted to your handle bars, Lights, Bell, GPS etc?
A3. Light, Airhorn, Cateye computer

Q4. How important would the weight of a product of this type be?
A4 Very

Q5. How important would the Aesthetics of such a product be, Aerodynamics?
A5. Very

Q6. How important do you rate cost when buying a product of this type?
A6 Very - needs to be affordable otherwise price would be an excuse not to buy

Many thanks for your responses

Will[/quote]

wyadvd

the bike eye is FANTASTIC

jimwin

Will95 wrote:

Hi all

For my Design and Technology GCSE I have been tasked to design a bicycle mirror that will help make the cyclist more aware of rear view traffic and assist
in safe cycling for all.

To help me with my research can you answer the following questions by replying to this topic in the space provided for each question.

......

Will

You're missing a few important questions, viz...

- Should the mirror be flat or convex? (the latter for a wider angle of view)

- Where would you fit the mirror? (bar end, downtube, toptube, other)

- What shape and size mirror would be acceptable? (round, rectangle, oval etc., 25mm, 50mm etc.)

- JimW

Klarion

Q1. How many Bikes do you own or have access to?
A1. 4

Q2. Do you currently have a Mirror Fitted to your Bike?
A2 not currently.

Q3. Other than brakes and shifters how many other devices are fitted to your handle bars, Lights, Bell, GPS etc?
A3. light, bell, zound horn

Q4. How important would the weight of a product of this type be?
A4. fairly important

Q5. How important would the Aesthetics of such a product be, Aerodynamics?
A5. not so important

Q6. How important do you rate cost when buying a product of this type?
A6. Well, if it works I would get one unless v. expensive.

II've had a bar-end mirror previously, also tried two helmet-attached mirrors. All pretty useless. It would be great if you could design a decent mirror with a good field of vision, not weighing too much, not too fiddly to fit & adjust, and which doesn't blur most of the time due to vibration caused by the road surface.

@ wyadvd- does Bike Eye fit the bill a/a?

wyadvd

re: bikeeye, on a long straight stretch you can see a car before you can even hear iit and thats useful in my book. very clear, vibration free and always looking behind you ( unlike bar ends) bike eye is it!

The Rookie

Hmm that is the first time I've seen bikeeye. looks a lot better idea than bar ends!

Simon

shouldbeinbed

wyadvd wrote:

re: bikeeye, on a long straight stretch you can see a car before you can even hear iit and thats useful in my book. very clear, vibration free and always looking behind you ( unlike bar ends) bike eye is it!

where do you put it on the bike, all the ads seem to show it mounted onto the frame, and i've never seen an ad showing it on a bike with a person sat on it at the same time. my legs, bags etc are in the way of a frame mounted one, I did try that idea with one of my spy's, it was useless there.

there are a few Zefal Dooback & spy and sprintech bar plug/end that fit directly into the bars and foit your above criteria without being obscured by body parts or (by the looks of it) being more seriously vulnerable to snapping off if you take a trip to the floor.

I've landed on the side of all of the 3 I mention and apart form a small crack in the dooback housing they all survived and were 100% useable afterwards.

wyadvd

yes it goes on the frame as pictured. my trunk bag on the hybriid got in the way of the view, but had an ortleib on the right with a topeak rack. those racks have a low hang rail so you can put the ortliebs on about six inches lower. the view is fine. You need spandex on though. check out the road cc review and comments.