Rize Side View Mirrors

 

I've never been one to have side-view mirrors on any of my bicycles, and personally I really resent the look of them. 

So? Why install them? 

Well, life in the city has changed. While bike lanes have been around for a while, motorists haven't evolved nearly as quickly to adopt them (present company included). Thumb acceleration on the Liberty as well as its overall speed, can easily propel you into unsuspecting traffic. I learned this when I had a heavy modified Yamaha BWS-50, where the general motorist public, saw someone on a scooter, and immediately assumed they were slow. Motorists tryied passing me all the time, many times resulting in them cutting me off as I was quicker than they anticipated. It was at this time I learned to love side-view mirrors.

So, in a nutshell, I'm installing them for safety, but we will see.

I ordered 2 pairs of side-view mirrors from AliExpress for a total cost of $17.85 CDN, shipped to my door. One pair is for my Liberty, the other for the wife's Bolt-X.

I want to say that these mirrors are horrible junk, and while I don't recommend anyone buying these, here is the link anyway.

One mirror arrived broken, managed to still use it.

Interestingly these mirrors are made with a brittle plastic, which just doesn't grip the bars very well (most bar ends I've ever used are nylon or rubber, which when tightened forms a nice seal) not these.

The quality is sub-par, but really what did I expect for under $5CDN/each. The design is actually quite good, with full articulation in every axis.

Installation

Slide a flathead screwdriver between the endcap and grip, and twist. After some twisting and prying, the endcap should come loose and be removable.

I added a strip of sandpaper around the mirror so it would grip the bar better, probably not needed, but I didn't want to attempt overtightening, as these mirrors are very brittle.

Slide the mirror into the bar end, and tighten with the supplied Hex key.

Repeat on the other side, and done.

Here is my Liberty

Here is the wife's Bolt-X

The wife and I will try these mirrors out, and see if we like them, we'll probably invest in a better pair.

Hope you enjoyed this post.