After months of delays, my Reevu helmet has finally arrived. I’ve ridden with it
once (24 miles at night on my Coker), and thought I should give some first
impressions. The product was mentioned here, which prompted my order, but
I can’t remember by whom (possibly Danny as it is mentioned in the recumbent
bike group), and I can’t find a review either.
In case you don’t know, the Reevu helmet is a new cycle helmet which comes with
a built-in rear view mirror. I thought this would be useful for Cokering on roads.
The cycle helmet aspect seems pretty standard. I’m not really competent to review
the quality but it looks quite stylish to me and is built like most any other cycle helmet
(plastic shell, moulded polystyrene, vents, …). It’s better than my old one, which has
seen some wars. You can find out more at http://www.reevu.com.
So moving onto the rear view mirror…
The mirror is mounted in the peak at the front of the helmet, and is at one end of
a rear-looking periscope which sweeps up the front and over the top. The periscope
contains mirrors made of a shiny plastic material rather than glass (the website tells
you everything), and is shaped to hug the helmet. The periscope is flared a little presumably
to let in more light and to provide a wider viewing angle. It does stick up a bit but it’s not so
bad - Joe Public is more concerned about my missing wheel than my dorky headgear, anyway.
I could see the sides of the periscope in the mirror, despite it’s being flared, and the top of
the helmet’s plastic shell. The viewing angle is very narrow, and the mirror is quite small
(roughly 1 x 6 cm), so I had to twist my head about in order to locate objects.
I found it difficult to position the helmet on my head so that I could glance in the mirror
without either straining my eyes upwards or blocking my forward vision - when I got it precisely
right, the resulting image and ease of viewing it were worth the effort. I suspect I just need to get
used to it. I did have a tendency to be transfixed by the mirror once it was working, but I can
hardly blame the helmet for that! Thankfully the road surface was forgiving at such times :-).
I also found that I could see multiple specular highlights, reflected off various parts of
the helmet body, for bright lights sources. This was very confusing when a car was
approaching from behind - even Mr. Wiggins’ light gave me problems - but I was never
dazzled. I’m looking forward to trying it out on a daylight ride as the brief trial I did when
it arrived (just walking around the house) was quite promising.
I wasn’t too impressed when the periscope steamed up either (I’m such a hothead 
).
Part of the reflector is exposed to your scalp by a large vent in the top of the helmet. I’m
close shorn at the moment, but I wonder if hair is going to obscure the view for some
riders. The condensation did clear after a while.
I was concerned that I would have trouble mounting my lights on the helmet because
of the peak. My old helmet does not have one, and my lights are held onto the front by a
neoprene band that goes round the circumference (see http://www.lumicycle.co.uk). As
it turned out, there was no problem. Obviously I can’t really speak for other lighting systems,
but I think people who mount a bar on the top of the helmet with cable ties are going to be
stuck.
Overall, slightly disappointing, but one ride is hardly a fair test. Just wanted to pass
on first impressions. I’ll let you know how it works out.
I took a few pictures and you can find them here: http://www.tubulidentata.demon.co.uk/reevu/
With and without lights, plus a failed attempt to see through the mirror.
Oh yeah: I’m not affiliated with Reevu and all that guff…
Arnold the Aardvark
).