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The Italian Bike mirror review

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The Italian Cycling Mirror is an oval shaped mirror with a convex lens that attaches to the bottom of your “drops” (road cycling handle bars)

It is adjusted into place then taped with electrical tape to hold it in position, and then it is covered with your normal bar tape.

Once you know it is there, it is obviously a bit bigger than the bar, but not big enough to be an eye-sore and made out of rubber it is extremely light, so the extra gram or two shouldnt upset the weight conscious.

It is quite small and took a couple of attempts to get it set up so I had the best view. It is probably a bit to the left (ie pointing at my right knee) but it seems about right to me and I cant be bothered re-doing it.

The shape of the lens is great, I can see cars coming from quite far off, and when they fill up the whole mirror the car is right behind my rear wheel on my shoulder and passing me, so I get quite a clear sense of where the traffic is.

 

You do have to look down to see it, which is the only downside, as we should always be looking ahead, but the ability to be able to glance and see what is coming behind me is worth it, as long as you do it judiciously.

I recorded a bit of video on my phone cam as I was riding to give you an idea what you see:
It is a bit blurry on this video, but I think you get the idea. Unfortunately no cars were around at the time, and I was not keen to try suplesse` one handed in traffic.

I highly recommend this mirror, and I think it might even be suitable for racing (even though I dont). Down on your drops and watching the white line, it’s only a slight downwards glance to the mirror.

I have a problem with wind noise drowning out everything (cars, phones, trucks, you name it), so I find this invaluable.

The mirror is made by Brevetto (I think), and available from Aspire Velotech. I am hoping it will be available in shops in NZ, because it is great.

Solo Cycling Apparel @solocc

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I saw a write up on a blog about this NZ company that makes retro looking cycling gear..

So… I sent them an email because I am always looking for cycling gear that is bigger, and wondered if they had any. I got a reply back from Paul, the owner.

He apologised that they dont, due to manufacturing restraints, which I fully understand. He then noted that he did have a one off Jersey that was large and a demo for a product, and it was mine if I wanted it.

So.. I popped around (their office is 100m from mine it turns out), and met Paul and his wife, had a great chat about cycling and the industry. Got to have a look at next years range of kit and I have to say… its REALLY REALLY awesome.. Paul is inspired by Merckx and the other great riders of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s and from things like Mods and Rockers (think, quadrophenia..). 

One jacket was really awesome, it looked like something I could wear on a motorbike (being a motorcyclist as well), but its a merino based windbreaker for the bicycle. Or in fact, just wearing about. Paul’s designs look stylish enough to just wear out if you want, he does…

So.. if you want some really stylish, comfy gear, that doesnt make you look like a moving billboard.. check out SOLO, and support a great NZ based company. You wont be disappointed. Keep up the good work Paul, you rock.