I always wanted a rear view mirror when I ride. I’ve tried helmet and eye glass mounted ones, and felt they were too fragile. I don’t use a handle so there is no place to mount a mirror. Once even rigged up a wireless rear camera and a hand held LCD display, but that was awkward, and sun washed out the display. Recently, it occurred to me a mirror mounted on my arm, or on the back of a glove may work. A quick Google search then revealed the RearViz mirror.
I ordered the Standard version. It’s not exactly clear to me what the difference is between the difference is between the different versions. Looks to me that the bands are wider as the price increases, to improve the mirror stability. Today I rode with the mirror strapped to my forearm and found that it worked well. I plan to use it for all future rides. I had worried that the mirror might be loose on the arm, but it remained stable. Adjusting the mirror was simple, and once set, remained set. It was cold, so I had the mirror strapped over the sleeve of a sweat jacket. Seems like the band will remain stable on a bare forearm, but I have not tested this.
The standard version is well made, and expect it to last a few years. The mirror folds flat to get it out of the way when not in use.
So far, it seems to me that while this product was made for bicyclist, it is more useful for unicyclist.
If you are interested in one of these, they offer a discount code. Use the coupon code “RETURN” at the checkout to access your 10% discount on your next order!. I have also seen 15-30% discounts offered on their home page, during holidays.
I’m trying to imagine how the angle of the mirror would be any use at all… Can you rotate the mirror around?
In the picture, the mirror is parrallel to your arm. So if it’s on your bicep, you’ll just be looking at yourself all the time, and to look behind you you’d have to hold your arm in a sort of weird, forced-forward position. But if it’s on the other end of your arm, you’d have to fold your arm in and and sort of try to avoid your shoulder. Any pics of it in action?
can the mirror be used to admire ourselves while riding?
Looks interesting. I am nearly to the point of attempting the 1/4 mile loop around my neighborhood ‘backwards’. I am wondering if this mirror would be helpful for that attempt. BTW, it is possible to glance over the shoulder while riding backwards. I am not particularly good at it turning the head in this fashion, though, and can only do it briefly and with great effort. The same applies to looking backward while riding forward; it is disorienting enough to cause a UPD. Since I always wear a helmet, I am curious if anyone on the forum can provide a reason why the arm-band mirror might be desirable over a helmet-mounted mirror. Up to now, I have not used any form of rear-view mirror while unicycling, so I am pretty ignorant on the subject of mirrors.
I use a helmet-mounted mirror whenever I ride in traffic. Wouldn’t ride without it. This arm-mounted one looks nice, I like the large size (mine is pretty small). I may give this one a try.
Apparently helmet-mounted ones are fairly popular amongst uni-and-bi-cyclists. I don’t wear a helmet often though, so maybe an arm-mounted one would work!
And since my first reply on here, I’ve watched a couple of videos about it. I understand it a bit better now - They seem to have the mirror poking out the side, for some reason I was imagining it sticking directly upwards, showing you nothing but your shoulder!
I asked RearViz for additional detail between the different models, and they answered very quickly. Follows,
All the Lycra Armbands are the same size the only difference is between them is the Classic has a ID Tag and a pocket for it to fit in other than that they are all the same.
The Classic is our premium product which has the ID Tag in the armband and the Classic and standard housing is made of a soft plastic that will mold to your arm.
The standard and ST-35 are the same. the difference is the standard is in older packaging and we used to market the standard with a long or short armband but now you get the long armband and a bonus Universal armband.
ST-35 just comes in a wide range of colors. But you only get the universal armband.
SP-35 is a solid plastic housing and doesn’t mold to your arm.
The SL-15 is a solid plastic but is a very slim line so you can wear it on your wrist and is the perfect product for ladies and gentlemen that have very small arms.
I hope this helps with all the questions you have and we will be deleting the Standard from the website in the next couple of weeks as it makes things to confusing.
We are happy for any tips and tricks and thank you once again for the review it is people like yourself that help to spread the word about RearViz and we are excited that the word is spreading at a fast rate of knots.
I have attached a few images for you and one where you can see the size difference between the first image is the housing of the Classic, Standard and the ST-35 they are all of the soft plastic, the Sp-25 is the second image and the 3rd image is the SL-15, I hope this clarifies all the questions you have.
( It is hard to see the separate images, look for a subtle grey line between them.)
I’ve been using the RearViz since April, and still like it, don’t like to ride without it. I did buy a second one, the smaller version: SL-15. The SL-15 has the smallest base for the mirror, but the same size mirror as all the other RearViz products. I wear the mirror on my forearm and like this smaller size base, wouldn’t mind a little smaller, but it works fine. The smaller size is steady, don’t see a need for the larger size bases. SL-15 is the least expensive as well.
If you order one from the www.rearviz.com site. Make sure you get the proper currency translation. They seemed to have fixed it when I emailed them, and ordered, but originally the base price was inflated while converting currency to US. Hopefully it’s working for good. If I remember right, the prices are Australian, and converted before before placing the order. Amazon has these mirrors, but I was able to get a better price and use a coupon code for rearviz.com directly.
I have an old mirror called a see-bak (or something like that) that works in a similar way. I always liked it when i was commuting in Chicago. I’ll see if I can snap a photo. It is certainly not as sophisticated as The Rearviz, and I’m sure it’s not made anymore.
They are running a buy 1 get one right now. I paid through PayPal which does a great job of handling the exchange rate (1:1.37) for US:AUD.
The SL-15 ended up costing me about $31US, which includes the $10AUD shipping.
It’s a little confusing how to get the second unit. Here is the reply they sent me when I asked how to get the free unit:
“If you just purchase one we will include the second RearViz free in your parcel. So purchase 1 online, you will receive 2 ? purchase 2 online and you will receive 4. J FYI the second RearViz?s style and colour is randomly selected. Apologies for the confusion.”
