360 Degree Adjustable Rearview Bicycle Helmet Mirror (1)

The Life On Bicycle 360 Degree Adjustable Rearview Bicycle Helmet Mirror has a rectangular pad that slides up under the edge of your helmet (on the left side – if for some reason you wanted it or needed it on the right I don’t think it would work as the mount is made for the left), between the padding/straps and the inside of the helmet. You put a strip of velcro (included – it seems fine and is working great for me but if you needed something better try a heavier-duty velcro) on this rectangle and attach the matching velcro to the helmet side.It should fit almost any helmet. Including ones with visors (you’re not violating Rule #35 are you? Totally kidding 😉This is pretty secure, at least on my helmet, though over time I occasionally have to reposition it a bit as the two pieces of velcro get out of alignment a little. Not a big deal, just occasionally it needs a little readjustment, which is quick.When wearing the helmet there is nothing pressing against your head and you can’t even tell that the pad that holds the velcro, nor the velcro itself, was there as the padding and straps are not usually pressed flat against the inside of the helmet. Are there maybe helmets where you WOULD feel this pressing against the side of your head? Possibly, but a quick test (but without the velcro attached) on two other helmets seemed to yield the same results.This velcro also allows you to detach this mirror from the helmet that it is attached to, if you want to. And the velcro tape can easily detach from the styrofoam on the inside of the helmet if you are not careful – when you are taking it off. I personally never take it off or plan on transferring it to another helmet. Of note – if you have an older helmet or you use a stronger tape/velcro it could conceivably pull a chunk off your styrofoam if you tried to take the tape off itself.I have seen some reviews for this where people screw it into their helmet or permanently glue it. You have to consider that this could compromise your helmet, possibly, or make taking it off a big deal that leaves a missing chuck or holes. You’re better off just using the velcro that came with it unless it is really detaching on you and then go for the stronger stuff. But you shouldn’t be cutting or screwing into your helmet.Once it’s on the helmet you can adjust the angle of the shaft vertically at the back near where it attaches to the helmet by loosening the screw there, then re-tightening it when it is in place. If you don’t super-tighten it then you can even swing the whole thing up out of the way. I prefer it tightened, just enough to keep its position but not so much that it won’t swing up if I set it down on something that presses the mirror up.At the front of the shaft, you can rotate the mirror and attachment in 360 degrees – including all the way up (and upside down) out of your view. This is good if you temporarily want it out of your way but want to keep the overall adjustment in whatever position you set it to (on the shaft). The arm going from the shaft to the mirror also has a ball and socket adjustment at the top of the mirror base for some angled adjustment, for an angle forward and back and left and right up to a degree.The shaft itself can also carefully be bent if needed too. It is a fairly soft metal so be careful with this. It can be bent to angle up out of the way more, or follow/snake along the side of the helmet, or be bent to be further out, or around the front a little, or whatever works for you.You may want to experiment with slightly different positions over time. I like it high enough to be out of my way for a full unobstructed front and side view, that way I have no blind spot from the mirror (unless I get attacked by a bird or plane, I suppose) and can glance left and up to see behind me using the mirror.You should be able to get the whole set up into any position that you like, with the shaft being quite long and easy bendable.Which leads me to a tweak I made. I found the shaft to be way too long and distracting for me personally, not to mention very visually unappealing. Personal opinion here, and you may find it just right the way it is. But I did a little DIY to carefully trim the shaft, unscrewing the part that attaches at the helmet, sliding the shaft out and carefully cutting a short piece off, filing the end, and sliding it back in and re-tightening the screw. I did it in very short sections so I didn’t cut too much off at once and got the perfect (in my opinion) length. A hacksaw makes quick work of the cutting as it is very soft pliable aluminum.The mirror itself is good-sized, kind of egg-shaped or some people may say ‘shield-shaped’. About 1 inch (2.5 cm) by one and a half (3.8 cm). This gives you a good wide enough range as well as a high and low enough range if you are on a hill or something. When you receive it,it has protective plastic over the mirror so make sure you take that off after you get it mounted.The quality of the glass is excellent, there is no magnification nor is it a wider view than normal, there is no concavity or convexity to it – it is just ‘what you see is what you get’. This helps in giving you a real guide to how close or far away traffic is and also doesn’t affect its ability to be used in lower light. And because the mirror is just a plain mirror it works fine with any sort of prescription glasses and of course with sunglasses.If you find that the mirror moves around too readily and then just try tightening the screw on the end of the shaft attached to the mirror part, there is a spring inside there for allowing it to swing up and out of the way. So you want it loose enough for it to swing if you happen to set it down on something. On the back section near the helmet make sure that screw is tight enough too but be careful of tightening any of the screws too much.The whole thing is only about .42 ounces (12 grams), and I don’t feel it on my helmet at all.And for me even on a rough road it barely vibrates. But for mountain biking – I’m not sure.The Amazon page mentions that the mirror has a lifetime warranty from the company.Using a bike mirror can take a little practice, and some people may even find it more distracting or even more dangerous (glancing in the rearview and holding that gaze too long, say) than not having one, and may never even become proficient at using a rearview mirror of any type on a bicycle. Let’s face it, a lot of people can’t properly use their car mirrors, let alone a small bike mirror.But for those of us who can properly use a bike mirror – of any type – it is going to be of help in the safety department which, as cyclists, we need as much of as possible. And yes – I made a blanket statement there and some may dispute me on it but it’s what I believe and what I have found from years of cycling. And I have found that it very much benefits not only me while riding solo; but when I am riding with another or a group – it benefits everyone. Heck, even those who hate bike mirrors 😉So is this mirror going to convince your anti-bike-mirror friends to change their tune? Nah, not at all.Is it going to make you look any less bike-geeky? That is in the eye of the beholder.Might it help avoid an accident or near-accident that you might have on your own, with a friend, or in a group ride? Quite possibly.And anytime you can make yourself safer on the road is a good thing.So check out the Life On Bicycle 360 Degree Adjustable Rearview Bicycle Helmet Mirror and give it a try, if you are looking for a bike helmet mirror.There are many clones of this – but some may have the plastic lens which you want to avoid, for sure, so go with this one which has a glass mirror.

It was easy to install the Velcro tape to the inside of my helmet though the helmet padding seemed to be in the way. The Velcro tape isn’t super sticky and the contraption tends to unstick and fall off consistently when I’m not wearing my helmet.But once I put my helmet on and adjust the mirror, it does the job.(*A word to those using a side-view helmet mounted bike mirror for the first time ever:Yes, it is going to vibrate, especially if you are riding off road or somewhere rougher than a newly-paved street. You’ll also have to get used to moving your head around just right to get a good look at what’s behind you or coming up alongside. Head movement/angle/placement is everything, so practice.)I used the mirror for the first time on a crushed gravel rail to bike trail/path for about 14 miles.I expected it to fall off due to vibration but it never did. However, I had to be careful when touching my face or adjusting my helmet or swatting bugs that I didn’t accidentally knock it out of alignment. This happened a lot at first.Verdict? It works as expected, view is clear enough, and it surprisingly stays on as long as it is sandwiched between your head and helmet.

Until recently, my cycling helmets always included a visor. I used a Bike Peddler "Take A Look" cycling mirror (or equivalent), attached to the visor, and I considered it a superb safety device. I recently "upgraded" to a Smith Trace helmet, one of the best MIPS helmets, but its lack of visor meant I needed a new type of rear-view mirror. I prefer a mirror that attaches to the helmet because I can quickly shift my vision, or even just use my peripheral vision, to detect whether there is something approaching me from the rear. After looking at reviews and trying to discern which of the mirrors designed for attachment directly to a helmet was least problematic, I purchased a Life On helmet mirror, which has a peel & stick-on velcro attachment and an egg-shaped mirror similar in size to the "Take a Look" mirror. The picture instructions for attachment that came with the Life On mirror were close to useless. The mirror's attachment piece is a 4.5 by 2.8 cm piece of stiff, flat plastic with the peel-off adhesive-backed velcro pre-attached to it. The idea is to peel off the sheet protecting the adhesive on the outside of the pre-attached velcro pad and, using the adhesive strip, stick the mirror onto the bottom "edge" of the helmet. Then you are presumably ready to adjust the mirror in its own rotatable socket and start riding.Obviously, the adhesive is supposed to be VERY sticky, so initial placement is important. The mirror's clear plastic packaging included a "spare" peel-off velcro pad that I didn't notice right away. That spare could be useful in case of a placement error. The instructions, however, make it appear as though you are supposed to use that isolated spare for the initial installation. That is NOT the case. Also, the plastic part of the attachment piece features an indentation and a scissors symbol that I interpreted to mean the width of the piece can be cut down from 2.8 to about 1.8 cm. I used a large pair of office scissors to do just that, because the Trace helmet has a narrow bottom edge. In fact, the logical location for the mirror attachment piece--the relatively flat portion immediately in back of the forward-most part of chin strap--is only about 1 cm wide. Another reviewer noted that the straight rod between attachment piece and mirror is metal (aluminum?). That is critical because, like that reviewer, I needed to bend the rod so that the mirror is in a usable location: to the side at eye level and not directly in front of my eye. Finally, the length of the rod, at something like 20 cm, put the mirror too far away from my eye, limiting the size of the view. I disassembled the screw and nut apparatus that connects the attachment piece to the rod, twisted off the plastic part covering the end of the rod (the end opposite the mirror) and cut off about 5.5 cm of rod with large wire cutters. I then replaced the plastic rod-covering part on the new end and reassembled the attachment piece. I did all this without any problem AFTER the attachment piece was stuck to my helmet. Just be careful you don't lose any pieces. A single test ride indicates the mirror will work essentially like my old one. Although I don't intend on separating the velco strips very often, I just wonder whether the adhesives on each strip will hold up, a problem noted by some reviewers. The mirror may have dropped off my helmet overnight--but maybe I didn't have it secure. I have superglue ready. Added note months after earlier review (and drop from 3 to 2 stars): The included glue did not hold firm to helmet. Worse, I touched pad with glue to ziplock bag and that DID stick to the point it cannot be peeled off so the pad is now unusable (unless I use my own glue to attach it to the helmet). This mirror has been an exercise in frustration. After trying to use Gorilla Glue to secure the mirror to my helmet, another failure. I just ordered a HubBub mirror to replace this unusable mirror.