Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I agree with most reviewers that this product is a great design and a well made piece of equipment. But reviewers fail to address the bigger question as to why one might bother to use a mirror at all. The reason most bikers go without a mirror is lack a clear understanding the margin of safety and peace of mind they offer. Why is the Safe Zone mirror design best to achieve these objectives? 1. Presence: it is 5 inches from the eye so it is very easy to check with an instantaneous glance. 2. Adjustability: once trained up, you can micro-adjust with one hand with extreme precision in a split second. 3. Stress: most don't realize that unobservable threat of approaching traffic creates psychic stress and fatigue; being able to glance at the threat allows you to position your bike for the type of threat, being car, big truck, or towing trailer. The mirror is a big stress reliever. 4. More access to the road: although most of the time the biker will use road aprons or bike paths, but with the Safe Zone, moving into the adjacent vehicle lane will be appealing. If the mirror confirms that you have no traffic behind you, move over and enjoy better road surface and greater safety of the road itself (not a tactic I recommend for every biker however). Move back on the apron with a judicious time margin when you see approaching traffic. 5. Speed: If you are able to use the road rather than the apron of the road, you will go faster overall. Concentrating on a few feet of margin slows you down. The product itself: Absolutely superb design and manufacture. I have used handlebar and glasses mounted mirrors and they were useless. Mounting: Straightforward, but I have some suggestions: The mirror comes in three parts, the mirror, the boom, and a foot. The directions show the boom mounted on a diagonal relative to the base of helmet. Better, mount the foot in the most horizontal position relative to the base of helmet and you will have greater ability to adjust to optimal setting and the boom will tend to be more straight without less curve of the boom in the field of vision. The velcro straps supplied with the product are only useful as a trial measure -- use zip ties. When using a zip tie, take a diagonal wire cutter and twist/roll the cut end of the tie tightly against the latch lock. Leave the tag on the outside of the helmet to allow easy re-tightening. In sum, it is commonly said that if you are going long distances, use a mirror. I say, use one all the time and your won't regret it and it might even save your life.