180° Mirror

[blind squirrel]

No affiliation. Thoughts? Opinions?

https://maxviewmirror.com/

[raYzerman]

No experience, interesting but.... less curve (less than 180, say 130) might be better? Just need to cover the blind spots...??

[huron52]

Sorry.... nothing should decrease the need for shoulder checks ... but maybe add too

[DesignFlaw06]

Sorry.... nothing should decrease the need for shoulder checks ... but maybe add too

More visibility around you isn't a bad thing. But I agree, discouraging shoulder checks shouldn't be their number one selling point.

[Red]

No affiliation. Thoughts? Opinions?
https://maxviewmirror.com/

Blind Squirrel,

Maybe in a car (or maybe not), but the law requires USA cars to have a rearview mirror providing an undistorted rear view. You would still need the OEM mirror, although you might use this one as an secondary mirror below it. I would not expect it to have any dimming function for night driving, so you'd see every set of headlights behind you at full glare. On any bike, the rider's head or body would block some of what this mirror can see. From an optical standpoint, that curvature would make everything behind you into a small dot, unless it was very close.
Depending on the vehicle, I would rather have appropriate blind-spot mirrors.
My US$ .02 worth . . . YMMV.

[Bounce]

Isn't 180º a little hot for an operating temp?

[wheatonFJR]

Isn't 180º a little hot for an operating temp?

Must be a Gen1. They need to do the heat fix on it.

[John d]

Not for me. I don't want to see the sun from almost every angle.

[Pterodactyl]

Many vehicles come with a mirror like the one in the first post. They are normally a drop down from the ceiling and also serve as place to store glasses or other crap. They are intended to allow the driver to monitor any children in the back seat and better aim any required swats directed at the miscreants. I’ve never found them very useful.

[sacramentomike]

I saw one in LaPine--Gordon (Allrider) had one mounted right on the top of the dashboard--he's a big fan and I was very impressed too. I think mirrors are like lights: you almost can't have too many. The very best mirror I ever had was the tiny little one that clips on your glasses for bicycling but there would be no way to use that with a helmet and at motorcycle speeds, but the more views I can see and choose from of what's coming up behind me, the better. I use the little stick-on spot mirrors and they help a lot, but I still have to move my head left and right to sweep through the blind spots and make sure they're covered; this will fill in those spaces. Naturally they'll take some getting used to, and I'm sure I'll shoulder-check sometimes too, but I'll bet any skeptic who tries one will be depending on it within a very short time. I wanted to check them out and here's this post my first time back, and the price is lower than I expected. I'm definitely ordering one. Thank you for posting this, Squirrel.

Here's an edit. It's 9/19, ten days later. I'll give a report on this thing soon. I hope. If it ever shows up. I ordered it the day I posted, and so far no mirror. Or order acknowledgment. Like I said, report upcoming. On the mirror I hope.

[sacramentomike]

So the mirror finally showed up, but I might have gotten lucky, cuz when I click on the O.P.'s link it looks like an abandoned domain. Glad they didn't fold up and fail to fulfill orders in the pipe, because I really LIKE this gadget. And fyi, I did a little search and very similar/identical wide angle mirrors can be found all over the internet, mostly about $20 and even less.

I got back from a trip early this month with freaking Covid, so mounting this thing and test riding with it had to wait till today. So here's my report:

It's very flimsy feeling, just a very lightweight plastic but it has a good reflective surface with very little distortion. Of course, it's very convex, but it's a smooth and regular surface. It has peel-off sticky pads that fit inside the shield that seem to hold it very securely, and screws tighten down on the mirror's mounting bar. The field of vision shows whatever's in your blind spot from the time it's two or three cars back of you right up till it's right next to you and beyond. You see the sun in it, of course, but you also see the sun reflected off other traffic all the time, so it's no problem. You probably already know not to look directly at the sun, or at a reflection of the sun, so there's no learning curve.

Anyway, after one ride, I know I like it and for 20 bucks, I don't hesitate to recommend it, or any of the half a dozen similar ones I found in my brief search, and there aren't many decent farkles to be had for that kind of a price