Bike Peddler Take-A-Look Mirror Review

Just a short review on the Bike Peddler Take-A-Look Mirror. I have used it for about 3 weeks, and I have found it very useful!

Nice retro style of packaging

Mirror with 3 attachment points (shown in black) for a very secure fit

The mirror can attach to your spectacles or to your helmet, depending on your preference. Most likely, you will need to have a helmet visor for you to fit the mirror onto your helmet. For me, I prefer to fit it on my spectacles frame.

I was surprised by the lightweight mirror, made of good quality metal parts. The 3 black rubber pieces grab onto your spectacles tightly, very unlikely to ever come off on its own.

Mirror on my spectacles

The mirror is highly adjustable, with 3 axes of rotation possible. This means that you can set the angle of the mirror to precisely what you want. Just clip it on the spectacles frame and adjust the angle on the go.

Close up view of the attachment

Even though the mirror may seem small, it is actually good enough because it is quite near to your eyes. The image it gives is very sharp and clear.

From my point of view! Seen in the mirror is my mobile bike tools cabinet. Very sharp and bright image.

Adjusting the mirror is easy, it is just like adjusting your side mirror on your car! A small difference in angle can make a big difference in the view.

I find the mirror very useful when you cycle on the roads.It is like giving you a third eye that looks backwards and tells you the situation behind you. At first, you will not be used to the mirror, it is like something distracting you at the corner of your sight. However, I found a way to use it easily.

For me, I will close my left eye, and my right eye automatically focuses on the mirror, giving a very clear picture of what is going on behind you. Of course, you should not look in the mirror for too long, perhaps 2-3 secs at max. In any case, this is much easier and safer than turning your head around to look behind.

Normally, your body will block your view of what is directly behind you. To work around this, just turn your head slightly to your right and you will be able to see directly behind you.

Here are some examples of situations where I feel that the mirror came in very useful:

1) You are cycling on the left lane, when you hear a large truck/trailer/bus coming up behind you.
It is likely that you will feel nervous as you are not sure if the vehicle is going to zoom past very close to you or not. With the mirror, you can take a quick glance and see if the vehicle is directly behind you or actually on the next lane.

2) When making a right turn, you need to turn your head frequently to check that the lanes are clear before filtering over to the right lane.
With the mirror, just keep cycling on the left lane, and glance back often to check that the lanes are clear. This is much easier than turning your head back. When the coast is clear, double check by turning your head to see, then filter across.

3) When leading a group, you find yourself looking back often to ensure that everyone is still in the group.
Just use the mirror to glance back, you can even see who is directly behind you without turning your head to look back. Very useful!

4) Sometimes, you want to cycle side by side with your friends, but it is not safe to do so if there is traffic.
Use the mirror to check behind you. It is usually fine to cycle side by side as long as there is no vehicle in sight behind you. An example would be International Road or Tuas roads at night. Even if there is, you can spot them very early as you have your mirror to help you.

For me, the only downside to the mirror is that it sometimes causes the spectacles to tilt down on the side where the mirror is attached. Even though it is lightweight, it is still heavier compared to the other side of the spectacles which has no mirror. Can be solved by putting a small counterweight on the other side of the spectacles frame.

This product is highly recommended, especially for cyclists who do not have an existing mirror on the bike. Once you have this mirror, you will understand how useful it is!