Which cyclestar mirror bes fits USS?

[TPMB12]

I have a streetmachine GT with USS and need a mirror (interchangeable between left and right for UK and mainland Europe use). I'm planning on getting a cyclestar one but which is best? There's long curved arms and 2" straight in the ones with bar end or band on which I need because if bar end shifters.

What model works best with USS?

Also, I tend to lean my bike up against the wall or other object. Usually on my right side of the recumbent (mirror side in the UK). What happens with the mirrors when I do that? Do these cyclestar mirrors fold back to protect them?

[Kim]

Here's an old photo of a 901 - 60mm, long curved arm, band attached below the brake lever - on my Streetmachine (comedy cutlery is because we were doing voodoo ergonomics to work out how we could adapt gear controls for barkata's hand disabilities):



The long arm brings the mirror up high enough that your wrist doesn't block the view.

I've since replaced it with the 80mm 903 version, which gives a better field of view, at cost of sticking out a bit more.

If you're careful in how you arrange the band and the split in the socket that clamps to its ball (this will make sense when you fit one), it will fold most of the way in without too much trouble, though repeated folding and unfolding does mean the socket screw needs tightening every few months.  Both this and the ball-in-socket at the back of the mirror are stiff enough to stay put, but loose enough for ease of adjustment, so the mirror will move when bashed rather than being damaged (I once had the mirror pop off the arm when the bike landed on it in a crash, it went back on with a bit of force and worked fine for several more years).

I don't lean my bike against walls habitually other than when fully loaded (where the rear pannier is the contact point); I tend to just use the stand.  I do fold the mirror to make it easier to fit the bike through front doorway at the start and end of nearly every ride, though.


General consensus is that these are surprisingly durable (mine have certainly had plenty of abuse), though I've heard that the plastic quality may have declined in more recent production.  The weak point is the band-on attachment, specifically its grub screw.  I recommend a decent bit of old inner-tube under the band, so that it stays put better without having to do the screw up bastard tight.

Most people's complaints are vibration and small size related, both of which seem to be mitigated by the suspension and riding position of the Streetmachine.  (I tried mounting a 60mm one on the kingpost of an ICE trike, and it was shaky enough to be completely unusable.  I've fitted a pair of 903s to a friend's city bike which has 40mm tyres and a suspension fork, and they've been fine.  I expect the average rigid upright is somewhere in between.)

[Spooner]

I personally use the 901/2 on the left hand side of my USS fitted to the end of an ICE extension bar on that side which means I only need a short mirror. On the right I use a 901/3 straight from the bar end because I have a grip shift and need a bit of a stem there to improve the view. The 903/2 and 903/3 give bigger mirrors but have never personally used them. Both the mirrors I use give a clear steady view on the suspended trike and the 901/2 was also steady on my un-suspended DF for years, the only mirror I ever had any luck with in that regard.

However, if you lean the bike against a wall, then from personal experience of using the 901/2 on a DF with drop handlebars, it does get knocked but you simply readjust it when you set off again. Only once has the mirror come completely off the pivot when knocked hard and it was a pain to get back on, but as with Kim’s experience it caused no lasting damage.

If you want a mirror that, like a car mirror, you can ‘fold’ in when parking, B&M offer those too as shown at the bottom of this useful page of B&M mirrors from Peter White..... http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/mirrors.php.

It seems from this website as if the most useful ‘folding mirrors like the Cycle Star 80 near the foot of the webpage are only available for the LHS of the bike which is a shame. One of the big e-bike folding mirrors is also available RHS, but it is large.


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[Cunobelin]

I personally use the 901/2 on the left hand side of my USS fitted to the end of an ICE extension bar on that side which means I only need a short mirror. On the right I use a 901/3 straight from the bar end because I have a grip shift and need a bit of a stem there to improve the view. The 903/2 and 903/3 give bigger mirrors but have never personally used them. Both the mirrors I use give a clear steady view on the suspended trike and the 901/2 was also steady on my un-suspended DF for years, the only mirror I ever had any luck with in that regard.

However, if you lean the bike against a wall, then from personal experience of using the 901/2 on a DF with drop handlebars, it does get knocked but you simply readjust it when you set off again. Only once has the mirror come completely off the pivot when knocked hard and it was a pain to get back on, but as with Kim’s experience it caused no lasting damage.

If you want a mirror that, like a car mirror, you can ‘fold’ in when parking, B&M offer those too as shown at the bottom of this useful page of B&M mirrors from Peter White..... http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/mirrors.php.

It seems from this website as if the most useful ‘folding mirrors like the Cycle Star 80 near the foot of the webpage are only available for the LHS of the bike which is a shame. One of the big e-bike folding mirrors is also available RHS, but it is large.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The ICE extension bar is basically a stubby bar end, and can be bought much cheaper

[TPMB12]

I saw a short bar end with a knurled pattern on the outside of it. Might help with the band on mirror fitting to hold in place. I think it was £5 from Halfords. It's got what looks like an m5 bolt, 6mm Allen key, to clamp onto the bar. Flat plastic end, not rounded or bent like some bar ends are. Just a straight bar end about 2 to 3 inches long plus the bit that clamps around the bars on top of this. IMHO a good size for mirror attachment and possibly something else like a bell or the knog bell.